The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I-Ching by Terence McKenna

Author:Terence McKenna [McKenna, Terence]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780826401229
Google: ABudAAAACAAJ
Goodreads: 648921
Published: 2006-09-16T01:11:49+00:00

Chapter 6

An Experiment at La Chorrera

During the course of our investigation of the shamanic dimension, our attention was drawn to a report of ayahuasca usage among the Jivaro (Harner 1968); the shamans, under the influence of potent monoamine oxidase-inhibiting, harmine- and tryptamine-containing Banisteriopsis infusions, are said to produce a fluorescent violet substance by means of which they accomplish all their magic. Though invisible to ordinary perception, this fluid is said to be visible to anyone who has ingested the infusion.

Ayahuasca is frequently associated with violet auras and deep blue hallucinations; this suggests that ayahuasca may enable one to see at ultraviolet wavelengths, and that this substance may be visible only in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum. We also had occasion to ingest synthetic tryptamines and had observed as a regular feature of the tryptamine intoxication a peculiar audile phenomenon. This is a very faint, but definitely perceivable, harmonic overtone of varying pitch and frequency that seems to emanate from inside the skull while one is under the influence of tryptamines; the exact nature of this harmonic tone eludes precise verbal description, as it varies in quality and amplitude during the course of the tryptamine experience, first manifesting itself as an extremely faint sound on the very edge of audibility, rather akin to the sound that might proceed from distant wind chimes. This sound gradually increases in volume a very few minutes after it is perceived, taking on an electric, buzzing quality that might be compared in some respects to whistling wind or running water. Understand-ably, one might be inclined to classify this sound as merely an audile hallucination induced by the psychoactive agent, were it not for the fact that it exhibits several specific and regularly noticeable features that would seem to set it apart from the class of hallucinated auditory phenomena, sometimes reported in literature dealing with psychedelics. One such feature is the specific association of this phenomenon with the ingestion of hallucinogens with structures close to tryptamine, that is, the psilocybin-DMT compounds and the harmine-tetrahydroharmine complex found in Banisteriopsis caapi and B. rusbyana. The reports of similar phenomena being noted for mescaline or the lysergamides are rare; while, according to Naranjo (in Efron et al. 1967, p. 389), approximately 50 percent of the subjects under the influence of ayahuasca (B. caapi) commonly experience an extremely loud buzzing sound, emanating from the interior of the skull,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.