From: Rick Knight (rknight@platinum.com)
Date: Mon Aug 04 1997 - 10:47:11 MDT
Hagbard Celine (?) wrote:
<snip>...people who would be most attracted to psychedelics would be
those who are, in reality (whatever that may be), uncared for and
misunderstood.
Rick Knight responds:
Having waited until the age of 34 to have transpersonal experiences
through psychedelics, I can say that those with a lot of emotional
baggage and unresolved stuff will have the hardest time with these
drugs (not counting ecstasy, the current drug of choice in the gen-X
rave community). Mushroom, acid, peyote and other potent psychedelic
experiences are not for the immature or unwise. They should be
regarded with respect.
Regardless of whether they bring more potent meaning to brain "noise"
or if they provide a trasponder to alternative realities is not of
consequence to me. After a few of my own excursions, I gave up trying
to bring back useful information and instead assimilated the
experience into honing my perception of the world. It has served to
make me a wiser, mellower and more optimistic person. This may be
coincidental with me reaching mid-life but there's no denying (in my
mind) the positive role that psychedelics played (and would continue
to play were their acquisition not so much a chore for middle-class
middle-aged guys like me) for me in my life.
For the uncared for and misunderstood to take psychedelics is for them
to unwittingly enter a pretty intense psychotherapy ritual. Depending
upon the depth of their dysfunction, their inability to deal with the
meanings that form over the course of their trip can have devastating
results which is why it's been so easy for establishment to
illegitimize their value because of the danger they pose to young
people (often the more vulnerable and emotionally charged).
Rick
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