Argon Steele
12-31-2002, 08:27 AM
Just got back from Mexico holidays in Sinaloa where I had plenty of time to read and ate up BOTH with much vigor. Mexico is the perfect place to read this book as the small town I was in certainly felt filled with brujos. So hear then are some thoughts.
First off let me say I really enjoyed it, cruised right through and was sad when it was over. The book seems to me the perfect introduction to psychedelics and shamanism. I'm hoping my wife (Mexican) will read it and become interested in these subjects. I think it really excels in three areas; one, putting shamanism into a larger philosophical perspective that includes western thinking on the subject, two, presenting a brief but nicely constructed history of the west's interests in mind altering drugs, and finally in telling the tale of one man's experience and growth (Daniel's).
At one level this is strictly an amateurs introduction. I think an experienced cosmonaut will find only a little new information here, the breadth of the subject matter is so large that it allows for little depth. However there are probably a few items of discussion that are far enough out of the mainstream that they will be new for most readers. In my case this was the description of the Iboga rituals and the work of Sasha Shulgin in creating new drugs. Particularly this last one seems to be a strange form of scientific and spiritual suicide, which Daniel's experiences with DPT seem to back up. I, for one, will never take that fuckin' drug! But it's very interesting to know that this kind of thing is going on. (the funny thing is I have had copies of TIKAL and PIKAL on my shelf for years, but never understood what they were).
I guess the only criticism I could make, and this comes from a purely personal point of view, is that in some ways I think Daniel prefers the "science" or "science fiction" explanation of these phenomena rather than the "spiritual" or "religious." I think all his experiences haven't really shaken his core existentialism, they just expanded his "godless" universe to include multi-dimensional beings. Even after blissful DMT trips he only really acknowledges the existence of the soul when he is faced with the demons of DPT. For me the implication of the existence of the soul is always the existence of God (or the Great Spirit if you prefer). I don't believe the word God is ever used in the book.
Finally I want to thank Daniel, again from a personal level, because more than anything this book re-awakened my interest not just in drugs, but more specifically in Shamanism. After my DMT experience, almost two years ago, I was completely blissed out and felt alot of "magic" swirling around me. However as time has passed that feeling has slowly left and been replaced with a fear of the drug (I haven't done it since). A week after finishing the book I suddenly realized that that fear is good, part of it. If I want to have that "power" I should be afraid, should go into with reverence, that is part of the price. I think this book will turn out to be an important part of my personal journey, a little nudge back onto the path, and for that I thank my Pinchbeck. Good work!
[ January 06, 2003, 04:33 PM: Message edited by: Argon Steele ]
First off let me say I really enjoyed it, cruised right through and was sad when it was over. The book seems to me the perfect introduction to psychedelics and shamanism. I'm hoping my wife (Mexican) will read it and become interested in these subjects. I think it really excels in three areas; one, putting shamanism into a larger philosophical perspective that includes western thinking on the subject, two, presenting a brief but nicely constructed history of the west's interests in mind altering drugs, and finally in telling the tale of one man's experience and growth (Daniel's).
At one level this is strictly an amateurs introduction. I think an experienced cosmonaut will find only a little new information here, the breadth of the subject matter is so large that it allows for little depth. However there are probably a few items of discussion that are far enough out of the mainstream that they will be new for most readers. In my case this was the description of the Iboga rituals and the work of Sasha Shulgin in creating new drugs. Particularly this last one seems to be a strange form of scientific and spiritual suicide, which Daniel's experiences with DPT seem to back up. I, for one, will never take that fuckin' drug! But it's very interesting to know that this kind of thing is going on. (the funny thing is I have had copies of TIKAL and PIKAL on my shelf for years, but never understood what they were).
I guess the only criticism I could make, and this comes from a purely personal point of view, is that in some ways I think Daniel prefers the "science" or "science fiction" explanation of these phenomena rather than the "spiritual" or "religious." I think all his experiences haven't really shaken his core existentialism, they just expanded his "godless" universe to include multi-dimensional beings. Even after blissful DMT trips he only really acknowledges the existence of the soul when he is faced with the demons of DPT. For me the implication of the existence of the soul is always the existence of God (or the Great Spirit if you prefer). I don't believe the word God is ever used in the book.
Finally I want to thank Daniel, again from a personal level, because more than anything this book re-awakened my interest not just in drugs, but more specifically in Shamanism. After my DMT experience, almost two years ago, I was completely blissed out and felt alot of "magic" swirling around me. However as time has passed that feeling has slowly left and been replaced with a fear of the drug (I haven't done it since). A week after finishing the book I suddenly realized that that fear is good, part of it. If I want to have that "power" I should be afraid, should go into with reverence, that is part of the price. I think this book will turn out to be an important part of my personal journey, a little nudge back onto the path, and for that I thank my Pinchbeck. Good work!
[ January 06, 2003, 04:33 PM: Message edited by: Argon Steele ]