Culture Is Our Business
media maven out of NYC Join us tomorrow at 8PM Eastern as we hold a live discussion with author, teacher, and documentarian Douglas Rushkoff in the #boingboing IRC channel, to talk about some of the work he's doing to move his studies in a "'new' direction," to focus less on the tech/media sphere and towards the nature of money and corporatism
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/04/14/irc-interview-with-d.html
tags go along here?
A lot of noise on the internet today around a recently published article in a new journal called Time and Mind by cognitive psychology professor Benny Shanon on the subject of Moses and Entheogens.
Abstract:
A speculative hypothesis is presented according to which the ancient Israelite religion was associated with the use of entheogens (mind-altering plants used in sacramental contexts). The hypothesis is based on a new look at texts of the Old Testament pertaining to the life of Moses. The ideas entertained here were primarily based on the fact that in the arid areas of the Sinai peninsula and Southern Israel there grow two plants containing the same psychoactive molecules found in the plants from which the powerful Amazonian hallucinogenic brew Ayahuasca is prepared. The two plants are species of Acacia tree and the bush Peganum harmala. The hypothesis is corroborated by comparative experiential-phenomenological observations, linguistic considerations, exegesis of old Jewish texts and other ancient Mideastern traditions, anthropological lore, and ethnobotanical data.
The entire 25 page article can be downloaded for free from here (scroll down to bottom of page, if the pdf link stops working let me know in the comments, I have a copy.)
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ayahuasca |  |
peyote |  |
magic mushrooms |
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Utah High Court OKs Non-Indian Peyote Use New York Newsday – Jun 23 2004 |
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American Indian church leader sues Utah officials over 2000 peyote raid KATC – Apr 28 2005 |
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'Medicine man' arrested on peyote charges Centre Daily Times – Jun 24 2005 |
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Study: Religious peyote use not harmful to American Indians KESQ – Nov 4 2005 |
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Charges dropped vs. couple in peyote case Macon Telegraph – Feb 23 2006 |
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Netherlands bans magic mushrooms TREND Information – Oct 12 2007 |
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This is an article in two parts. The first part discusses current research in psychoactive preparations of ergot in various religious systems with a particular emphasis on Persian, Greek, Jewish and Islamic sources.
Incense is psychoactive: Scientists identify the biology behind the ceremony.
Six Degrees has problems
ScienceFriday.com's version
Chances are you've heard of the 'small world' idea of six degrees of separation. But is it correct?
The idea traces back to an experiment begun in 1967 by Stanley Milgram, in which he tried to trace how many acquaintances it would take to pass a letter between two randomly selected people. The result that entered the public consciousness was that in general it took six steps or fewer to bridge the gap between any two people. But is that result accurate? Judith Kleinfeld,
http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/200801256
tags, 6 degrees, Kevin Bacon Effect, six degrees, Milgram,
The Women's Visionary Congress is a gathering of healers, activists, researchers and artists who are redefining the use of entheogens in contemporary society. This Congress will address the traditional uses of these substances and investigations into their therapeutic applications. Read more…
Favorites:
Annie Sprinkle
Adele Getty
Kat Harrison
Carolyn "Mountain Girl" Garcia
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