Shamanism through the ages

Suddenly Tuesday evenings in London don't look so dull. Following on from the Goldsmiths College lecture on Psychoactive plants and psychic people this coming Tuesday, a group of us have begun organising a series of public lectures on ecology, consciousness and the cosmos to be hosted at the amazing October Gallery in Bloomsbury, London. The first of many evenings begins with a lecture by South American ayahuascero Pablo Friedlander on the following Tuesday (25th November) entitled From Ancient Eleusis to Modern Ecstasy: Shamanism Through the Ages.

October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, London, WC1N 3AL (Tel: 44 (0)20 7831 1618). Please RSVP as space is very limited, email: rentals AT octobergallery.co.uk
Entry £7/ £5 Concessions, Arrive 6pm for a 6:30pm Start - Wine available

Pablo's talk will consist of a brief and deep analysis of a mysterious evolution: from shamanic practices to the rise of the first philosophical schools. Beginning with the symbolisms of shamanism in prehistoric times, a process of sophistication is followed that leads from the visionary art of caves in different continents to the theories about nature in archaic Greece. This comparative study between ancient European beliefs and contemporary shamanic practices in the Americas’ focuses on the relationship between magical plants, cosmological chants, iconography and insights. The constants and changes in the cultivation of mystical trances through key moments of history serve to explain what the Ecstatic Wisdom is and what it means.

Magical summer (mis)adventures

OK so apologies (to both my readers) for the inordinately long delay in logging any posts. Things sure do move fast outside blog time and I’ve been busy making the most of summer, among other things, going to festivals, giving talks, writing papers, going to conferences, giving more talks, and planning and getting funding for some pretty exciting research projects. On the festival scene it was great to go back to Glastonbury this year for the first time since 2003 and view the stone circle from a liberated perspective - this one spot alone changed my life three times already over the years. Mighty blessings to the Bimble Inn crew for greasing the wheels of my adventures.

I also had a great time in Brazil for most of July giving papers at a fascinating conference on parapsychology and altered states in Curitiba. I had a chance to talk to the directors of an amazing Spiritist hospital where they use mediums to channel the voices of conventionally untreatable schizophrenics while the psychotherapist puts the voices in therapy, thereby treating the (absent) patient. I also got to take part in an Umbanda incorporation ceremony (pictured above), a Sante Daime ayahuasca ceremony, and a Guaraní tobacco ceremony as well as a dream workshop-workshop by Prof. Stan Krippner. With the great support of many people in Brazil I was lucky enough to run some preliminary parapsychology experiments with ceremony participants on ayahuasca, the Amazonian psychedelic decoction that was once called "telepathine" because of the typical paranormal experiences people encounter on it. More on that when the research is complete.

Probably the most adventurous thing that happened in Brazil was a narrow escape from the scalpel of a psychic surgeon who had me terrified at the prospect of an operation where I might have a had a pair of forceps slid all the way into my nasal cavity and twisted round a few times. There wasn’t even the slightest thing wrong with me, though I soon developed apoplectic fear. More on that too some other time. A few more talks at festivals and conferences and I’m back in cyberspace again, so expect a spate of posts…