If you've ever eaten psilocybin mushrooms before going to the Lincoln Park Zoo, you might understand what I'm talking about.
The Lincoln Park Zoo has a collection of new and conglomerate animal species that are unheard of in both the general animal kingdom as well as in any other zoo across the country. (source: my own opinion - this IS a blog, you know).
There is a nocturnal section that houses a monkey/squirrel/human-looking thing whose facial expressions would easily give Robin Williams a run for his money.
Aside from the enjoyment of stepping into an alternate reality, what-with-all the colors and bizarre sights and thoughts - eating mushrooms is plain, earthy fun, this is a drug that opens your mind to new ideas. BEST, these new ideas are usually deeply interwoven with the things you normally think about. For me, that means seeing thru things - noticing which parts of this life are not as they seem - where the source of power lies behind it - how that source manipulates - how certain voids can be filled with my own power - and how this is all this related.
Scientifically put, a trip to the zoo on mushrooms = a substantial degree of enlightenment.
First, I have thoughts that this zoo is actually a testing ground for commoners (not the un-Royal, rather, the unsuspecting leisurely zoo stroller...Yea, I call those People "commoners"). I go on to gather that new species are being created in labs for a plethora of scientific and medical reasons - and that the zoo is here to put some of these animals on display to observe what the commoners make of it, how the commoners respond to new and weird-looking species, and how far commoners will go to accept what constitutes a "bear", for example. (From Koala to Panda to Polar to Grizzly - ALL BEARS? Uh, I don't think so.)
Next, I have thoughts about the sheer existence of these animals and, specifically, their kindred existence to mine. I conduct an experiment: I walk up to the exhibits without looking at the sign, because the sign tries to tell me what the animal is. It attempts to color my view with familiar expectations of say...what a deer is supposed to look like. In other words, if it reads, "deer", then I see, "deer", when I might have seen "horse" otherwise.
Ignoring the sign, I look at the animal and say to myself, "Well, that animal is kind of cow-like, with a little horse in it, and well, a deer kinda looks like a horse, and I actually don't look that different from a deer when it's all said and done."
Look at a deer and a rabbit. Yea, the legs are different, but the eyes, the face. We all pretty much look the same. So, this has led me to throw out the Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species theory - to a certain extent. I realize it may be useful in fields like medicine, biology, etc. But, in my world of trying to understand what is here, who we are, and how we are related, it doesn't get down to the nitty gritty enough for me.
Finally, I go to the Gorilla exhibit. I was there right after these poor creatures were stalked, tranquilized, captured, tied-up, taken away from Africa, and flown into the lovely upper-middle class neighborhood of Lincoln Park, Chicago. I experienced a gorilla just two feet away, behind a pane of glass. She looked at me, and I looked into her eyes and I heard, "What is this? Where am I? Who are we?" ...but I don't know if I was hearing her thoughts...or my own.
Unfortunately, magic mushrooms are highly illegal in the United States, and for good reason: So that the establishment can prevent you from having the thoughts I did that day. And, I don't mean thoughts of a monkey/squirrel/human face. I mean thoughts and ideas about the true nature of beings, about our own existence, about the formation of questions.
I'd love for you to come away from this post, encouraged to see all creatures in a new light, to see things beyond what your eyes permit you. But, ultimately, my wish is that you eat mushrooms and go to the zoo.
Image found at: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3166/2538825140_45af9c4cbf_b.jpg
The Lincoln Park Zoo has a collection of new and conglomerate animal species that are unheard of in both the general animal kingdom as well as in any other zoo across the country. (source: my own opinion - this IS a blog, you know).
There is a nocturnal section that houses a monkey/squirrel/human-looking thing whose facial expressions would easily give Robin Williams a run for his money.
Aside from the enjoyment of stepping into an alternate reality, what-with-all the colors and bizarre sights and thoughts - eating mushrooms is plain, earthy fun, this is a drug that opens your mind to new ideas. BEST, these new ideas are usually deeply interwoven with the things you normally think about. For me, that means seeing thru things - noticing which parts of this life are not as they seem - where the source of power lies behind it - how that source manipulates - how certain voids can be filled with my own power - and how this is all this related.
Scientifically put, a trip to the zoo on mushrooms = a substantial degree of enlightenment.
First, I have thoughts that this zoo is actually a testing ground for commoners (not the un-Royal, rather, the unsuspecting leisurely zoo stroller...Yea, I call those People "commoners"). I go on to gather that new species are being created in labs for a plethora of scientific and medical reasons - and that the zoo is here to put some of these animals on display to observe what the commoners make of it, how the commoners respond to new and weird-looking species, and how far commoners will go to accept what constitutes a "bear", for example. (From Koala to Panda to Polar to Grizzly - ALL BEARS? Uh, I don't think so.)
Next, I have thoughts about the sheer existence of these animals and, specifically, their kindred existence to mine. I conduct an experiment: I walk up to the exhibits without looking at the sign, because the sign tries to tell me what the animal is. It attempts to color my view with familiar expectations of say...what a deer is supposed to look like. In other words, if it reads, "deer", then I see, "deer", when I might have seen "horse" otherwise.
Ignoring the sign, I look at the animal and say to myself, "Well, that animal is kind of cow-like, with a little horse in it, and well, a deer kinda looks like a horse, and I actually don't look that different from a deer when it's all said and done."
Look at a deer and a rabbit. Yea, the legs are different, but the eyes, the face. We all pretty much look the same. So, this has led me to throw out the Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species theory - to a certain extent. I realize it may be useful in fields like medicine, biology, etc. But, in my world of trying to understand what is here, who we are, and how we are related, it doesn't get down to the nitty gritty enough for me.
Finally, I go to the Gorilla exhibit. I was there right after these poor creatures were stalked, tranquilized, captured, tied-up, taken away from Africa, and flown into the lovely upper-middle class neighborhood of Lincoln Park, Chicago. I experienced a gorilla just two feet away, behind a pane of glass. She looked at me, and I looked into her eyes and I heard, "What is this? Where am I? Who are we?" ...but I don't know if I was hearing her thoughts...or my own.
Unfortunately, magic mushrooms are highly illegal in the United States, and for good reason: So that the establishment can prevent you from having the thoughts I did that day. And, I don't mean thoughts of a monkey/squirrel/human face. I mean thoughts and ideas about the true nature of beings, about our own existence, about the formation of questions.
I'd love for you to come away from this post, encouraged to see all creatures in a new light, to see things beyond what your eyes permit you. But, ultimately, my wish is that you eat mushrooms and go to the zoo.
Image found at: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3166/2538825140_45af9c4cbf_b.jpg
On days like today (the last Friday of the month) I like to take part in something called Critical Mass.
