Have you ever wondered what lies beyond what we superficially see? Have you ever contemplated the equation between religion, spirituality and plant medicine? Have you ever felt like extending the boundaries of your horizons and expanding your consciousness? Have you been considering trying plant medicine to check how it might benefit you? If your answer to any of the questions above is in the affirmative, then the documentary, The Reality of Truth,’ is tailor-made for you. Written and hosted by Mike "Zappy" Zapolin and Co-directed by Laurent Levy and Mike Zapolin, it is a must-see for those who aspire to grow their consciousness, experiment with plant medicine and surpass the supposed barrier of reality.

One of the most prominent features of the documentary, apart from the main message it shares, is the heartfelt interviews with prominent spiritual and thought leaders and celebrities including Deepak Chopra (alternative medicine advocate, speaker and bestselling author), Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living Foundation), Marianne Williamson (spiritual teacher and bestselling author), Ram Dass (spiritual teacher), Michelle Rodriguez (award winning actress, DJ and screenwriter), etc. These personalities share their profound experiences, emotions and thoughts, and how they took a chance to experience spirituality with the assistance of plant medicine.

With the assistance of honest endeavors, impactful words and powerful imagery, the documentary makes a case for letting go of the myths surrounding reality and plant medicine and accepting the reality of truth that the world may not always be ready to embrace or even hear. The buildup to the facts shared by the host presents a question as to whether the ancient plants referred to in religious texts could be the source of wisdom to find solutions to today's problems, including mass terrorism. Another question presented by the documentary is whether meditation was part of ancient wisdom/religion. The documentary further sheds light on the detail that despite accomplishing a lot in life, people may sometimes feel a void and this means that they need to expand their horizons and experience more.

Further, to solve society's problems, there is a need to transform our collective consciousness. The solution offered by ‘The Reality of Truth’ is to take inspiration from ‘Psychonauts’, sailors of the mind or people exploring inside their own minds. This is like nothing one has experienced before. There is something beyond what we see and we need to have faith to believe in what seems to be unreal. Furthermore, the documentary will help you realize the advantages of meditation by asserting the number of people who benefit from it all over the globe and even a Bible reference to the practice.

Foster Gamble, the man behind ‘Thrive’, accentuates that altering our consciousness leads to the shifting and expansion of our consciousness. The documentary will teach you that experiential spirituality, finding answers ourselves, can be a rewarding experience. It incites us to go beyond and ask questions we do not usually ask. The documentary and the words of wisdom shared by the notable personalities featured in it encourage us to have faith instead of fear while approaching the unknown. Also, drugs have several negative points linked with them but when they cure someone, it should be counted as medicine.

Perhaps the most important piece of wisdom shared by ‘The Reality of Truth’ is the real-life accounts of those who benefitted from plant medicine or psychedelics by bidding adieu to their addictions, including the alcohol problem of Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholic Anonymous and that of Gerard Powell, the founder of Rythmia Life Advancement Center. Both of them benefited from the experiences stemming from plant medicine (psychedelics) intake to the point that they got rid of their serious problems and turned their lives completely around for the better. In other words, plant medicine cured these people and many others around the globe.

Among other things, the documentary teaches us to take inspiration to meditate from Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah Winfrey, etc., capitalize on the experiences of Ram Dass to benefit from plant medicine to seek, feel motivated by the enlightening and loosening experience of Michelle Rodriguez and several others to let go after having San Pedro and conducting an Ayahuasca ceremony and experience spirituality and the feeling of a Supreme Being. Based on the experiences of those who are featured in the documentary, you may get rid of anxiety, depression, anger, hatred, inhibitions, and addictions and be a new you, lead a new life, and push the restart button. The documentary also discusses the breathing technique of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. According to him, by adjusting our breath, we can arrive at a higher state of consciousness.


The insights shared in the documentary by many make it clear that these experiences help one realize the way one wants one’s life to be. Zappy makes a point that plant medicine is illegal because of monetary reasons. Pharmaceutical companies wish to only sell petroleum-based medicine for monetary reasons, which do not actually cure and lead to several side effects. Plant medicine, meditation and breathing adjustment are among the tools that can assist one in going beyond and transforming their lives. The multilayered narratives of a diverse array of people featured in the documentary will definitely touch people and their lives for the better and you have to watch the whole thing to know what it actually says.

In sum, a person may find it easy or hard to believe some of views presented in the documentary since the subject is controversial but should still check it out because it is outside the box and compels people to ponder, experiment and go beyond what is generally acceptable. Life is supposed to be lived to the fullest or it goes to waste and ‘The Reality of Truth’ introduces a way of life to accomplish exactly that. You might transform your life like many in the documentary after being witness to the wonders of life, plant medicine and an expanded consciousness. Projects like this are few and far between and you must make the most of this. Highly recommended!




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HAHAHAHA .... The Truth Serum and Politics definitely don't go well together ! This one has got to be the funniest trip reports I've come across lately ... Hilarious as F%$^K if one can imagine what a 'self inflicted psychedelic ordeal' these guys went through !!! :D


Last week, Redditor /u/flipper8088 posted a detailed trip journal on the “psychonaut” section of Reddit, describing his experience at a Donald Trump rally while under the influence of LSD. Many have compared this journey with the style of “Gonzo Journalism” that Hunter S Thompson was recognized for throughout his career. Today, it is actually surprisingly common for journalists and thrill seekers of other varieties to attend important events while under the influence of psychedelic drugs so they can”take it all in.”

In the case of the Trump rally trippers, they were not pleased with what they experienced.

Their entry titled “Went to a Donald Trump speech on acid SUPER BAD VIBES,” can be read in full below:

“It was a stupid idea to begin with honestly. First my friends wanted to go to the Trump rally just for fun even when they don’t support his ideas. Then in the car on the way there one of my friends tells me he just got a hold of some acid and that it would be hilarious to be tripping at a Donald Trump speech, just to say we did it n that it’ll be funny story to look back on. So we all just say f*** it and drop 2 hits each. Bad idea. We walk into the place and just know that something is very wrong. The tension in the air was flowing through our bodies, everyone looked angry about something. 10 minutes pass and we all realize we must escape from this hell on earth before we lose every ounce of sanity we have left. We head for the exits, it’s packed with people and security. WE WONT MAKE IT! We all agree and head back to our seats. (We could’ve made it we were just tripping too hard to be rational) Trump comes out and the whole building starts shaking with chants of USA! USA! USA! It was proud patriotism with an undertone of depraved violence, you could feel it. We all look at each other with the most dreadful look in our eyes knowing we just f***ed ourselves into oblivion. I might post the rest of the story later when I have time ...

“Edit: Rest of story: I put both my arms around my friends and tell them I love them deeply and that we will make it through this experience together, like always. This seemed to reassure my friends a little and it also gave me a sense of comfort that I had 2 trustful companions by my side, even if their minds were being fucked beyond measure at the moment. If anything, genuine trust and unconditional love was the only savior we had left.


“The peak started intensify about 5 minutes (or was it 5 seconds) into his speech. We were sitting on the left side (ground level) about 150 feet away from Mr trump. Got a terrific view of his exquisite hairpiece in person that seemed to have a mind of its own as it was breathing and taking on different forms throughout the whole speech. The visuals were up to par with around 200 ug in my experience, some rare strong street acid, just my luck in this situation. My mind begins to wander as I stop forwarding my conscious attention to his rhetoric and start observing people in the crowd. Started to think about how weird the human race is.

“The woman in front of me had brought 5 of her kids to this rowdy cesspool. All her kids kept glancing and staring at us. One peeked around the corner of his stroller stared straight into my f***ing soul for I don’t know how long and then proceeds to point out how big my pupils are. “Mommy, look how big his eyes are. The Mother hears it glances at me with the most heinous expression on her face, she definitely knew.

“I Start paying attention to Trump again and his face starts to subtly melt. The melting intensifies until his face looks like a wax statue thrown into a furnace. I point this out to my friends and they start seeing it. Try holding back laughter on 2 hits of strong acid, it doesn’t work and we burst out laughing while Mr Trump is speaking, he pauses his speech but doesn’t pay us any mind as we cover our mouth quickly. Everyone around us knew we were on something though.

“Protesters in the crowd kept yelling things and were getting dragged out by security. Lol one guy yells ‘TRUMP DID 9/11! open your eyes to the truth’ This is when I realized the opposition is just as idiotic as the supporters. As a country we are digging our own graves. I start to look at myself and fell into a deep state of personal introspection. What was the motive for me taking this action anyway? Why was I here at a trump rally on 2 hits of LSD? Was I searching for some hidden truth by way of chemicals? Or was I here for good fun? I was just as irrational as the others I looked down upon.

“You know how sometimes YOU have ‘moments of eternity’ on LSD. Yeah well that was happening all night, the speech felt like it kept looping over and over and over and over and over. Muslims this, guns this, illegals that, something about Hilary Clinton being disgusting by using the restroom. Then every 5 minutes after a bold statement, the crowd erupts into mindless cheers and applause. Endless time loop. This when I actually convinced myself that I was living out the novel 1984. I genuinely believed this. Trump was big brother HOLY SHIT AN EPIPHANY. TRUMP IS BIG BROTHER. Yeah this when the trip started to take a bad turn again but wait a miracle. THE LOOP IS OVER. WE’RE SAVED. THE DEVIL IS DONE WITH HIS RHETORIC. The speech was over. we can get out of this zoo now. We figure we’re all too f***ed up to drive so we call someone to pick us up. After that we had a deep discussion about politics, America, Philosophy, Trumps hairpiece and how incredibly idiotic we are.”

This article (Trippers Document Their Experience Of Taking LSD At A Donald Trump Rally) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TrueActivist.com.

About The Author

John Vibes is an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. He also has a publishing company where he offers a censorship free platform for both fiction and non-fiction writers. You can contact him and stay connected to his work at his Facebook page. You can purchase his books, or get your own book published at his website www.JohnVibes.com.

Source


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Long before I adventured down the rabbit hole of awareness through meditation, magic and psychedelics I was someone altogether different. I spent a great deal of my college time doing what everyone else in college was doing: partying, drinking and generally living a life of endless hedonism. Those were fun days and I don’t feel bad about them, but I will say that no matter how much I tried to fill the cup that was my being with pleasure and experience, everything always seemed to fall short.

One night despondent and tired of the excess lifestyle that accompanied the college campus, I wound up staying home rather than go out for yet another night on the town. Going through my backlog of books I stumbled upon something that would profoundly change my life. It was an edition of “The CELTIC ANIMAL ORACLE”. These were medicine cards, each one symbolizing the power and spirit of a specific totem animal.

Now maybe it’s because my bloodline stretched back to the Celts, maybe it was because I had always had a passing interest in tarot/medicine cards, but the words in the Oracle’s guide book really spoke to me. As a cynic I had all but abandoned any form of religion or spirituality, and yet this book and the animals on the cards really spoke to me and I soon found myself memorizing their meanings, names and stories. It wasn’t long before I started doing card readings for myself and others as well. It was a fun pastime and study and with the benefit of hindsight, one of my first steps into becoming a more meditative and spiritual person.

Fast forward fifteen years, I had now found myself a tarot deck that spoke to me (The Osho Zen Tarot) and had taken to studying it intimately. I knew these cards, or at least I thought I did. It would take me one trip down the rabbit hole in Montreal to help me realize that as much as I thought I had learned to read my cards, I had a long way to go before I could call myself a remotely competent tarot card reader.


Up until that point all my readings had been by rote. I would repeat memorized card definitions, like a parrot and while people enjoyed the readings I gave them I couldn’t help but feel that I was just skimming the surface of something far greater and larger. That if I could just meditate enough or practice enough that my tarot cards would somehow speak even more to me.

It was during a wonderful acid trip with my then girlfriend, now wife, that we decided that enough was enough, if we wanted to be good card readers we would need to really engage not just with the superficial image drawn into these magical cards, but past them to the energy and spirit that they all tapped into. On a practical/therapeutic level Tarot is a lot like an ink-blot test, everyone sees and identifies with the imagery on the cards differently. Just on cold reading alone I could gauge what a person was going through based on how they reacted to the cards.

Over time I’ve come to believe that the cards also act as windows into another small world composed solely of the energy/ideas the card is trying to represent. If you look hard and long enough you can actually see this world come to life in front of you. But try explaining that concept to a non-believer without them getting uncomfortable and wishing to change the subject.



Up until I had tried psychedelics and card reading together at once, I had never been able to see that connection. It was something I believed but had yet to experience. And that one night with my wife changed everything. For some reason we decided that we would spread out all the cards from all six of our tarot decks (come people collect stamps, we collect tarot decks) and spread them out across the floor of our apartment. The air was thick with different energies and personalities as we stared in wonder at the vast tapestry of cards that we had created before us.

All of them seemed to work together and as we dropped more and more cards next to each other in an ever-expanding spiral we could see how a card could represent the energy the accompanying guide-book said it possessed. We could see the ideas and emotions that they wanted to convey.

And we came to realize that while they may not be alive, that each and every Tarot deck, like a cat, has its own personality. Psychedelics allowed me to see and engage with these personalities far better.

I remember staring into a card for what felt like hours, but was later revealed to be minutes and losing myself in the world drawn on it. I could see the leaves in the trees moving to and fro, I could almost see the people on the card moving. It was incredible and while a cynic might have dismissed that as me just being under the influence of a psychedelic drug, I know that what I realized and experienced was quite real.

My deck of cards, the one that I read on my YouTube channel, the one I’ve been reading for the past eighteen years, is imbued with an energy that has only given it more and more personality. It always drops the right card for the right occasion. It speaks to everyone and anyone I do a reading for and on that topic, my readings have become clearer over time. Psychedelics have seriously helped with that process.

It was as if I hadn’t even been speaking to the deck during all those years until that very day. And even now as I write down these words I can’t believe we’d never thought to try that. Psychedelics and magic/spirituality do have a part to play with each other. I do not think it a coincidence that the majority of first nation and indigenous cultures appear to have their own psychedelic ritual, often associated with healing and growth.

It is obvious that these trips down the rabbit hole are not just simple states of intoxication. Rather they are doorways to different states of awareness, perhaps even putting us in the receptive condition we need to be in order to communicate with this higher form or thought and consciousness. All drugs alter our awareness and bring us to a different place. Some of these places are great others not so great. And through the many years of my spirit/magic studies I have experienced the good, the bad and many spectrums in-between.

It is difficult to clearly explain with words these concepts to someone who chooses to neither believe or recognize the sacred reality we tap into while in this altered state. It would be just as hard to explain color to the blind or an I-phone to an ant. The state, the higher consciousness that the psychonaut/spiritualist community is taping into is something beyond words, beyond even dare I say Human understanding. We are wired in these biological computers to experience the universe in one way, using finite minds, lives, words and notions to explain the infinite and beyond.

But we are ever changing, ever improving, ever growing and with each generation we come closer and closer to realizing our sacred place in the universe and the role we can play in it. Will psychedelic use be the answer to the question? I don’t know, but I do know that they will be part of the answer.

What I can say is that they serve as a guide point, they point us in a direction, and it remains up to us whether we will take those directions or not. Some of us will get lost but in the end I believe we can all find our way. Some of us sooner, some of us later. In any case we will all make it to that sacred elevated place, in this life or the next.

Until we meet again.
In love, light and laughter.
Be well

DaVila LeBlanc Aka DaV

Here are some interesting videos and documentary films about Tarot and the Mysticism associated with this ancient divination tool !







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In this pursuit of happiness journeying along myriad pathways of Earthly existence, we forget who we truly are. We intellectualize spiritual concepts, others ideas and thought forms and hold them dear like they were our own, unaware of the extent of mind control we almost willfully buy into. My own journey so far along this roller coaster ride has been nothing less than spectacular and I know am not alone ... , we all somehow asked for this .... We come into this dense, physical reality from the Cosmic Womb of Eternal Consciousness, and to this same source we return once our time and purpose in this plane is done. So, clearly its more about enjoying the journey, being in this present moment ... continually, with each conscious breath.... allowing the universe to guide you along ... showing you beautiful synchronous signs that you are never alone. The divine light of spirit or whatever you may wish to call this essence, its always there ,,. its always YOU !

"Dance like no ones watching, Sing like there's nobody listening, And live like it's heaven on earth. Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world. And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."


Our experiences no matter how personal we think they are the result of the manifestation of mass global consciousness and are actually shared experiences at varying degrees across many lifetimes. We have glorified the I, our individual selves, feeding our limited egos, or suffered feeling lesser or diminished in some way from the rest for quite some time now and this is not serving us on our mission here on Earth. As we allow this omnipresent universal intelligence to guide us along, the path becomes clearer as we go ahead using the wisdom shared by the ancients as our own living experience and not just ideas we play around with in our heads. When we allow soul invigorating vibrations of sounds frequencies in the form of harmonic tones, transcendental melodies to flow through us uninhibited, we become more aware of this ever present inter-connectedness we all share !


The Universe is forever moving, forever changing and evolving and nothing stays constant in the world of form. Once we get to truly grasp this truth, we will begin to see ourselves as more than just carbon based lifeforms. Dancing to beautiful music that moves your soul is one of the best ways to tune in ... and feel, how beautifully in tune all is ... ALWAYS ! Dancing reminds us to keep moving ... keep flowing ... like everything else ... :)

I am another you and you are another me ... we are the waves ... we are the particles .... we are love ... across all eternity !

Photo Credit: Yumiya Saiki

Boom Festival



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The Psilocybin in Magic Mushrooms Could be a Promising Treatment for PTSD

PTSD is one of the worst afflictions for members of our military. It is so damaging, an average of 22 veterans commits suicide every day due to PTSD.

PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, can come from all sorts of traumatic situations. It’s extremely common in people returning from the battlefield, but also impacts anyone who has to make a major transition from a life in uniform back to civilian life. The US Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that up to 20 percent of Iraq War veterans suffer from PTSD.

Psychedelics as a Solution

Research suggests that psychedelics, particularly psilocybin (which is present in “magic” mushrooms), is a promising treatment for PTSD.

For many years, people thought that the drug was only “useful” for the “trip” – the ability it has to cause someone to see something completely different and go on a journey in their mind, leading to major introspection and a new view of the world around them. While this is certainly a major reason for the popularity of mushrooms as a recreational drug, this new research indicates that the mushroom’s qualities might restructure the brain in ways that could have a significant healing impact.


Brain Growth from Mushrooms

One study from the University of South Florida found that psilocybin actually stimulates the growth of brain cells in the hippocampus. The hippocampus, researchers believe, is the center of emotion and memory in the brain. By rejuvenating and replacing those cells in mice, researchers were able to help them overcome fear far more quickly and easily than mice who had not received the drug. That means that psilocybin might be able to treat a number of mental conditions, including addiction, OCD, and PTSD, by restructuring the parts of the brain that are the centers of addiction, fear, and painful memories.

The mouse study referenced involved mice being taught to fear a certain sound. Researchers played the sound and then shocked the mice immediately after, causing them to eventually fear the sound even when there was no shock afterwards. This experiment essentially triggered PTSD in the mice. The normal mice were incapable of overcoming the fear and became paralyzed by the sound.

However, some of the mice were dosed with psilocybins – one a low dose and one a high dose, while a third group received a saline solution. The study found that the low dose group was the most effective in overcoming their fear. That indicates that the drug may have helped the mice regrow the cells in their hippocampus that store fear and anxiety.

The Potential of Mushrooms

If psilocybin is successful in treating PTSD, it might be successful in treating other neurological disorders. While research on psychedelics continues to be illegal in the United States without special permission, if scientists continue to find these encouraging results, it’s certainly possible that the drug could eventually be used for treating these disorders regularly.

Source : Trufflemagic.com ... Where you’ll receive a wealth of information about this psychedelic substance ... and more !


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Depression is Painful

Clinical depression is an extremely common affliction, impacting more than six percent of American adults. Everyone knows someone who suffers from depression, whether or not it is diagnosed. The pain generally lasts a lifetime, although it can be alleviated with therapy, meditation, and other treatments. In the meantime, it causes a person to become lethargic and unmotivated, draining their energy.



Mushrooms may be a solution

More than half a century ago, scientists did early research on psychedelics hinting that they could have wide-ranging applications. The research didn’t meet the high standards of rigor that science expects today, but the results of those experiments hinted that these drugs may be able to significantly improve some people’s lives.

For example, one study treated more than 500 alcoholics using psychedelics. The drugs were found to vastly outperform other contemporary treatment options. However, the research stalled out in the middle of the twentieth century, since drug control made it extremely difficult to access psychedelics even in a research setting.

Imperial College London and the Beckley Foundation have teamed up to pick up where those 60s scientists left off and learn more about the potential medical uses for psychedelics.

More recent research

One study recently gave a daily 25 mg dose of psilocybin – the active ingredient in magic mushrooms – to a dozen people who had suffered from treatment-resistant depression (which cannot be effectively treated by antidepressant drugs). After their “trip,” all twelve reported feeling less anxious and enjoying more aspects of their lives. A week later, eight were in remission. Three months later, five of the study participants remained free of depression.

Another study at Johns Hopkins University found that psilocybin can be effective in helping people to quit smoking, with an unprecedented 80 percent success rate in one study.

Moving forward

Of course, depressed readers shouldn’t just head out to find some psychedelic mushrooms of their own. These are still an illegal drug, and you need to know exactly how much to use to get the best results. However, with careful supervision and parameters, it’s been proven that psychedelics can be a legitimate medical tool. However, much more research is needed before they’re widely used in treating any sort of mental difficulties.

Source : Trufflemagic.com ... Where you’ll receive a wealth of information about this psychedelic substance ... and more !


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New research has shown that using “magic mushrooms” might rewire the brain, leading people to have entirely new experiences. The brain builds pathways over the course of a lifetime, and strengthens those pathways every time it uses one. That means that people tend to get into a rut of having the same thought cycles many times over.

Many parts of the brain are not directly connected to each other. Thoughts, memories, and ideas in the different regions are not linked together, so they operate relatively independently. Some of the most creative people have had unusually structured brains so they connect different parts of the brains.

A Unique Phenomena

Typically, brain pathways don’t change. However, when someone ingests mushrooms, that can change. The main ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms is psilocybin. This drug has been shown to create new neural pathways between brain regions that were previously unconnected. That’s what leads to things like seeing music or hearing numbers.

In one study, researchers gave psilocybin to some people and a placebo (a fake) to others. They gave exactly two milligrams of psilocybin to the study participants, though mushrooms are eaten, not injected, and don’t always have the exact same dose.

The scientists found that the people who received psilocybin had more erratic brain functioning than the control group – the neural pathways that were lighting up were unusual. However, they weren’t completely random.


Restructuring your thoughts

Instead of random chaos, the new pathways formed an entirely new organizational structure, and it has the potential to do amazing things, such as treat depression. Studies have found that people who suffer from depression have too much activity in the area of the brain that’s devoted to a sense of self. It’s important to have a moderate amount of activity in that region, but when there is too much self-criticism and negative thought, a person can spiral into depression.

Since psilocybin removes old pathways as part of creating new ones, it can help people get out of a rut. The brain chatter that leads to depression – negative self-thought can be muted and lead to people having a new experience.

This effect has been studied. One Johns Hopkins study gave psilocybin to a small group of volunteers, who reported an out-of-body experience. Those volunteers reported feeling more open and more appreciative of the beauty in the world – and that the effects lasted a long time. One of the participants reported feeling a sense of a greater force, and a realization that the many anxieties they struggled with were just not as important as they felt. A full year after the study, almost two-thirds of the participants said the experience was one of the most important in their lives. Half continued to be more open than they had before.

While mushrooms (and psilocybin) continue to be illegal in the United States, there is definitely a possibility for future therapeutic use, especially in cases of depression.




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As I feel indebted to the shamans who saw themselves in me and helped me understand why I have always felt like I don’t belong in mainstream medicine, the intention of this article is to respectfully honor the shamanic tradition, and not to violate it in any way.

Because modern culture doesn’t have a role for the shamanic archetype, many people who grow up outside indigenous villages are shamans and don’t know it. Many naturally wind up in overtly healing professions, such as medicine, psychology, or life coaching. But some wind up in professions where they may feel like they don’t fit in at all. Even those who enter the healing professions may feel out of place, because the systems of Western medicine and psychology leave little room for a shaman to practice his or her natural healing art. But many will wind up in various forms of sacred activism, healing the planet, for example, rather than healing people.


Are you a shaman and you don’t know it? Here are some telltale signs that you might fit the archetype.

1. You sense that you’re meant to participate in the global shift in consciousness that is currently underway.

We can all feel it, this impending shift that New Agers have talked about for decades. But those with the shamanic archetype don’t just feel it, they feel it pulling them, like a magnet, towards leadership positions that help facilitate this transformation of human consciousness and evolution of the species.

2. You’ve been through a difficult initiation, which has prepared you for this leadership role.

In indigenous cultures, the village knew who the shaman was because he or she was struck by lightning and survived. In modern culture, you may not literally be struck by lightning, but you may have survived some other life or heart-threatening ordeal. You may have experienced childhood abuse, sexual violence, a near-death experience, or some other trauma that put you through the crucible and forged you into the healing earth shaman you are becoming.

3. You are an introvert.

Shamans are multi-dimensional beings who dance between the realms of the seen and unseen worlds, so if you’re of the shamanic archetype, you may have a hard time navigating the 3D realms of this dimension, which may cause you to withdraw into yourself so you can visit the realms of consciousness where you feel most at home.

4. You feel most at home in nature.

The shamans of a culture are the bridges between nature and humans, serving as translators between the mountains, oceans, rivers, animals, and people. You may sense that nature is talking to you or that you get your most tuned in downloads when you are surrounded by the natural world.

5. You’re very sensitive.

You may feels things others don’t feel, see things others don’t see, hear things others don’t hear, smell things others don’t smell, and sense things others don’t sense. This may make it hard for you to be out in public, where you may feel accosted by over-stimulation of your senses. If you embody the shamanic archetype, it’s likely that you’re the kind of person others may feel is “too sensitive.” But this sensitivity is a blessing. It’s part of your gift.

6. You feel a sort of spiritual calling to ease the suffering of people, animals, and nature.

Many health care providers are called to medicine the way priests are called to the priesthood. But you don’t have to be a health care provider to have the shamanic archetype. It may transmute itself into healing service to animals, sacred activist causes, or conservation of Mother Earth.

7. Physical ailments that fall under the category of “shaman sickness.”

In the indigenous cultures, shamans who have been called to service but haven’t yet said “yes” to the call often wind up struck with physical ailments. In modern culture, these shamanic sicknesses may fall into difficult to treat categories like chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic Lyme disease, chronic pain disorders, and autoimmune disorders. Acceptance of the call to shamanic service often resolves the symptoms of shaman sickness. If you’re suffering from one of these illnesses, ask yourself, “Am I a shaman who hasn’t said yes to my calling yet?”

8. You tend to have vivid dreams.

The unseen realm may be communicating with you through your dreams, so try analyzing your dreams. Pay particular attention to any animal totems that may appear in your dreams. Google search the animal and “spirit totem” and see if you can find any messages from the animals in your dreams. Or try a Jungian analysis, like the one described here.

9. You may discover unusual spiritual superpowers, or what the yogis call “siddhis.”

You might be psychic. You might get healing visions like the one in my previous post about the meeting of Western medicine and Shamanism. You might realize that you can heal people with your hands or that you can telepathically communicate with animals, people, or even inanimate objects.

10. You’ve always felt like you don’t quite belong anywhere, because you are a bridge.

Shamans tend to live on the outskirts of the village for a reason. They are not like the others – and this is a blessing! In village life, this is understood and recognized. But in the modern world, it may leave those with the shamanic archetype feeling like they don’t ever fit in. But don’t despair. You DO fit in. Your role is essential. You may find that you fit in best with others who share this shamanic archetype. Among your fellow shamans, you will feel like you are with family.

Embrace Your Bridge Work

Because shamans are always operating between worlds, you may find that you’re connecting mainstream culture and the culture that wants to be born in the new consciousness, and this may feel uncomfortable, as if you don’t quite fit in. When I realized that I am a bridge between mainstream medicine and the new world of medicine that is being co-created by others who share the shamanic archetype, it brought me such a profound sense of relief! This relief is shared by the health care providers who participate in the Whole Health Medicine Institute, which I founded for doctors and other stealth shamans. If you’re one of those bridge workers, please know that you belong with all the other stealth shamans in this program, designed to merge medicine and spirituality, and we’re enrolling for the 2016 class now.

In our culture, it can be quite challenging to be a stealth shaman. Yes, it’s a blessing to have the opportunity to help people end the story of separation, to dissolve the apparent duality into Oneness, to fulfill our callings to bring the worlds together, to heal people, animals, and the planet. But it can be lonely and disheartening and scary and isolating. I sense that many of us stealth shaman bridge workers have scores of past lives during which we were persecuted for our attempts to connect the worlds, so no matter how much we know in our hearts that we are all One and we DO belong, we have cellular memories of past traumas, during which we were literally killed because we refused to fit in. So it takes tremendous courage to come out of the spiritual closet as someone who embodies the shamanic archetype. In order to keep being brave, we need to feel safe. To feel safe, we need to foster a sense of belonging so we don’t feel isolated on top of feeling scared. In order to feel safe enough to keep bridging, we need each other.

Are you a shaman who is still in the closet? If so, please know that there are many of us, and we hold you close in our hearts while you muster up the moxie to claim your place in the world.

To begin embracing your purpose, please feel free to check out my new book The Anatomy Of A Calling. Click the link below to see if it’s for you:

http://theanatomyofacalling.com

Here’s to bridging the realms and healing our world!

Lissa


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Handling Marijuana Is Often More Difficult Than Major Psychedelics

In the fight for the legalization of various drugs, many people are under the impression that marijuana should be legalized before other types of drugs. Their thinking presumes marijuana is an easier type of psychedelic for people to handle, so it should become legal before more major psychedelics should. This certainly seems like sound logic, doesn’t it?

Indeed, it is the common belief of most that marijuana provides a mellow experience, rather than the intense psychedelic experience that comes from other drugs. That is not always the case, however. It is, in fact, the opinion of many users of various psychedelics (including marijuana) that weed can be a lot harder to handle. They claim that psychedelic overdose can be handled and is well understood, but a marijuana overdose is shrouded in confusion and misconceptions, and therefore is more dangerous when an overdose occurs.

What is a Psychedelic Overdose ?

There is a lot of confusion that accompanies the idea of a “marijuana overdose” or a “psychedelic overdose.” Many people believe it does not occur, while others imagine it to be the exact same experience as an overdose of hard drugs, like cocaine or heroine. For the sake of this article, a psychedelic overdose is not exactly the same kind of overdose as would be experienced with alcohol or other drugs. The main difference between a psychedelic overdose and a hard drug overdose is that they are not fatal at all -- the overdose is simply a stronger experience than the user would like. In other words, it might overwhelm a person's threshold.

Just like alcohol users learn to avoid a hangover, psychedelic users learn how to avoid this “overdose.” Simply being familiar with your personal limits, and keeping tabs on how much you take is usually sufficient. Also, be sure to consume in a safe environment, in case the experience is more than you bargained for. In fact, psychedelics are better to overdose on than other drugs for another reason: the overdose can be turned around into a positive, transformative trip if the surrounding environment is a good one.

The Marijuana Overdose

Perhaps the main problem that surrounds understanding marijuana overdose is the fact that everyone thinks it’s an easier drug to handle, so it is taken much more casually, without planning or second thoughts. The fact that marijuana is usually consumed via smoking rather than ingesting it (such as with most psychedelics) means that its effects occur much more rapidly. It is said that the faster a drug affects a person, the stronger the addiction is to that drug. This, for instance, is the reason heroine overpowers opium in addictiveness.

With marijuana, many of the people smoking it really enjoy the act of smoking. This means that, even once they have gotten to the point of being at the “right” level of high, they will just continue smoking because they enjoy it. They likely would not do the same thing if they were using tinctures or consuming marijuana edibles, for example.

Another reason a marijuana overdose can be difficult to deal with is the fact that a person who is overdosing will seem fine to everyone else. While their emotions begin to spiral in fearful, confusing directions, they won’t receive the care they need because they look fairly normal. A psychedelic overdose, on the other hand, makes the person look obviously unwell, meaning the proper care will be taken.

Proper Marijuana Education is Needed

Ultimately, the main problem that comes from marijuana during the present day is the fact that people are not accurately educated about the drug. If everyone learns about limits and smoking safely, these overdosing issues can easily be avoided. It should not be a more complicated issue than with major psychedelic drugs, and we can make it that way through education.

As marijuana becomes more widespread and legalized across the nation, we truly need to address this issue. The new technologies allowing for concentrated doses is just another reason why people need to fully understand what they are consuming similar care to how we treat major psychedelics. Most things are good in moderation, we should focus on defining what that is.

Author : Robert Bergman, Founder of ilovegrowingmarijuana.com.

Robert has been growing cannabis passionately for over 20 years and shares this insight to educate growers avoid mistakes and to fully capitalise on a bud's potential.




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Being a sensitive person in a highly desensitized world can be worrisome at times as one tends to absorb energies which are not our own and get conditioned to believe ourselves to be a certain way ... fueling the ego even more. There are many a pitfall on the spiritual path of awareness ... for one, the idea of having acquired knowledge or enlightenment of some kind without having lived through the hellish realms of dark despair and grief brings one back to similar learning experiences we thought we had once mastered.

Once we realize we are sensitive to energies (some call us HSP, a Highly Sensitive Person) we become more aware of the present moment, more in touch with reality without being affected by our fears and paranoia about the past and the future. Experiencing increased synchronicity and the cessation of worry are signs of an awakening brewing within our being. We can quickly be drawn into the world of illusions (Maya), getting sucked into self created whirlpools of darkness and despair, while trying to gratify the hunger of our Ego.

For all empaths its imperative to let go off unnecessary baggage and mental clutter which keeps us from accessing our intuition and other extra sensory abilities ... It's one thing to theorize universal love ... infinite consciousness .... oneness ... to live it one has to experience all the shades of life .... from light to dark ... dull to bright ... all of it. If you consider yourself an empath and a lightworker ... you know energy and you know how to trans-mutate when the need arises. Here is a brilliant article from our friends at the Openhand Foundation on being an empath ...

Unfolding the Higher Paradigm

Imagine being able to feel and sense everything, whether positive or negative around you, 24/7. An Empath can’t turn off empathy (unlike someone who is perhaps 'empathising'). It is possibly one of the most challenging of psychic gifts to master. I am an Empath who has spent nearly two decades, since awakening, mastering my empathic nature. It is an ongoing process. I am still not perfect and not sure that I ever will be whilst incarnated here. I am however content, despite the challenges of integration, as I see it as an incredible gift to humanity...

Empaths incarnate into this world without a manual. Some seem quite blessed in that they bring with them the memories of mastery from past lives. Even then, the remembering is often a bumpy journey in itself. To add to the confusion, most Empaths cannot tell the difference between their own energy and someone else’s. Something happened on my journey where I just ‘got’ the difference. It came from increased presence. There is a subtle vibrational difference that we can discern when we are fully present. Constantly attaining presence within spiritual evolution is a very important key to mastering empathic gifts that I cannot over emphasise.


Everything is Energy

Everything is energy, pulsating particular vibrations. Since an Empath feels energy, just like a living person breaths air, it is understandable why a few issues might arise as an earth-incarnated-being. Humanity (apart from perhaps indigenous cultures), is one big confusing energetic vibrational mess! The modern world is a melting pot of fractured and frantic energies: for example, loaded emotional projection, hidden agendas (whether personal or global), wi-fi, mobile phone radiation, electric gadget emissions, multi media marketing designed to allure and captivate, highly processed foods, TV, the thudding din of consumerism... the list goes on and on.

Empaths will feel the energy in the field, feel the energy of conversation, feel body language, feel words used (or not used) without intellectual interpretation. They will intuitively know what an energy is ‘really’ about despite what is conveyed on the surface. They will also know what a person is really saying, no matter what words are being offered.

Because of the tendency for people to hide the full story, or try to control the situation, an empath will tend to feel a huge inner conflict or inability to process the enormity of the engagement. One of the main problems for Empaths is the lack of transparency and honesty in the world and the consequent resentment of having to process all the energy that is not in full view. Of course lots of of these sensitive beings struggle also with things that are in full view too.

"Make it go away!!!"

Most people who have this trait do not see it as a gift. I would more often expect to hear the pleading cries to make it stop. Initially, it often involves being so overwhelmed with feeling energy that it is challenging to function in an ordinary sense. Empaths often come across as over emotional, at times others become emotionally detached in order to cope. It wouldn't be unusual that they might just 'freak out', without apparent cause. They often prefer their own company and don’t like to build many personal relationships.
In my early days I used to cry out to the universe

"I don’t want to feel all this energy - it’s not mine"...
the universe would always reply that it is a gift.
“How on earth is this a gift!!!”

I often found it difficult to get close to people in a personal ‘every day’ sense. It would drive me nuts, so I would prefer independence or distance. Independence and contentment with only a couple of close friends still feels very natural to me. In a way, it's a saving grace.

Powerful impetus to sort it out

The initial overwhelming intensity served a wonderful purpose for me. It evoked a powerful yearning to master my unique configuration here as an earth-being. It created the impetus for me to come to terms with my natural born empath traits and master them, eventually finding a high altitude of peace and functionability with it all.

The importance of releasing emotional attachment

Releasing emotional attachment is the main key to mastery. Most Empaths suffer needlessly because they cannot release their personal emotional attachment to feelings. If we let go of attachment, it doesn’t mean we won’t feel. It just means that we don’t get tangled in the feeling anymore. It means we can watch as things happen and really discern that ‘that isn’t us’, ‘that isn’t our own feeling’ and really begin to embrace when we are DIVINELY GIVEN to take action or not.

For me this involved years of becoming consciously aware and centred. Once I started coming from a centred place of presence, I began to discern what I was meant to do, releasing emotional attachment to both that which is not meant for me and that which was. This is a very powerful factor as it means that we can still feel the energy empathically, but it doesn’t bother us adversely any more. We are able to act of infinitely more divine service when we are not attached emotionally. In fact unless we come from this place, we would tend to make a situation worse not better. That’s the bottom line. It means we feel the energy with the deepest compassion, yet we can truly hold the space for another. In so doing, we reflect the light of benevolence, allowing true healing to take place.



Finding inner peace and stability

Daily centering, meditation practice, yoga, compassionate eating, conscious lifestyle, conscious choices that cleanse our energy field and promote centredness will all help big time! Being in nature serves to recentre and recharge depleted energies. Spending regular time in solitude away from idle chatter and drama can be invaluable. I would say that making sure that a bare minimum of half an hour per day consciously looking after yourself is crucial. The more the better. The above are very important. There may also be many other ways, such as swimming in the ocean, hill walking, having a bath with oils or salt, giving yourself a foot massage, listening to your favourite music, playing an instrument, conscious bodywork or massage... basically whatever it is that helps you maintain balance and build up your sense of inner peace and stability.
Another important key is ownership. If you have the trait, then to deny it just makes it worse and ensures that our spiritual evolution is dysfunctional. Our evolution will happen when we embrace our unique configuration. So we need to be 100% honest with ourselves and know that it will get much easier the more and more present with become with it. The only way out is through.

Without these practices it is very difficult (I am not sure if it is even possible) to master being an empath here. So if the motivation is a little lacking, JUST DO IT anyway until you find a rhythm to your daily life that you see working.

A true gift of benevolence

So whether you are an empath or you know one personally, hopefully this is helpful in some way.

I truly believe that, the challenges as highlighted are there to help us refine and alchemically transform this true gift of benevolence. The gifts of empathy have the power to really make a difference in this world. This is what most people who feel the call of Divine Service long for, to be able to help others in a life changing way.

An evolved Empath has the natural ability to connect on a Soul level, helping to release blocked energy with another. An Empath, if given, can also release coagulated energy within the field at large, discerning between what is benevolent and what is not. Since everything oscillates a frequency that can inadvertently influence everything around it, then a truly benevolent Empath realigning the energy field can help make a huge difference in terms of spiritual evolution.

Whether an Empath not, if we can all work together with our gifts we can allow this higher paradigm of to unfold together.

Soul to Soul
Trinity

Source : Being an Empath - Openhand Foundation