Turn On, Tune In, Rise Up: DMT, Globalization, and Radical Psychedelic Engagement
This presentation was given by David Nickles at Liminal Village at the 2014 Boom Festival in Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal.
Forty-three years after the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances imposed global prohibition on psychedelic compounds, demarcating governmental efforts to end the first psychedelic revolution, a second major psychedelic awakening is underway. Set amidst the landscape of late capitalism, this resurgence is unfolding in the forms of renewed focus on sanctioned psychedelic research, the emergence of significant underground psychedelic research, and the rhizomorphic spread of global festival cultures.
The role of DMT in this “archaic revival” is impossible to ignore. From Nick Sands’ discovery that DMT freebase could be smoked in the early 60’s, to Terence McKenna’s discussions of the vaporized DMT experience sowing seeds in countless imaginations during the 80’s and 90’s, to the rise of internet forums and the DMT-Nexus in the 21st century, distributing information rendering the molecule accessible worldwide, DMT has manifested itself into popular consciousness at a truly astonishing rate.
This presentation explores manners of engaging with entheogenic experiences as well as their possible implications. How can participation in the divine mystery inform our actions in waking life? What is “radical psychedelic engagement” and how can it affect political action? What can the life of a psychonaut and DMT traveler look like?
Enjoy!
Comments
Fantastic talk! The work you're doing is absolutely inspirational. At one point you almost brought a tear to my eye :)
I really like the idea of an acreage of psychedelic minded people that could be accessible to activists that are burnt out. So many of the points you touched on are huge conversations in themselves; I'd love to see more engagement in the psychedelic community in regards to how psychedelic states of mind can help us to identify and overcome systemic forms of oppression, particularly patriarchy, class, and white supremacy; and how this oppression is intrinsically linked to the ecological destruction that is so apparent.
I think you've given some of the folks at boom a lot to think about. Great job! Thanks so much for all you do and keep up the amazing work!
Also I was shown that it's up to each of us to architect our life experience and influence the civilisation we share through our *actions,* as you said in your own way. The psychedelic experience means little unless we come back out of it to: create art or helpful information; shift our personal behaviours and choices; or otherwise create tangible results that serve the greater good, because *we are all of it.*