IN A PERFECT WORLD > Experiential Podcasts with Rak Razam

In which experiential journalist Rak Razam dialogues with Professor Diana Slattery of the McKenna Chair of Xenolinguistics at the Institute for the Encouragement of Outrageous Ideas. Slattery is one of the world's foremost experts on the art of alien languages or xenolinguistics, and in this fascinating interview Razam and Slattery speak the unspeakable about the linguistic phenomena of the psychedelic experience. What if on some level we are made of sound? What if in the beginning was the Word? Is language itself a cosmic app downloaded and upgraded by higher consciousness? How can we translate and anchor multidimensional experiences into our baseline understanding, and can doing so transform our DNA and reality? Slattery's thesis, expounded in her forthcoming book: Xenolinguistics: Psychedelics & Language at the Edge of the Unspeakable, involves interior dialogues with the Other, whether framed as the voice of the Logos, an alien download, or communion with ancestors and spirits.  Sentient visual languages are encountered, their forms unrelated to the representation of speech in natural language writing systems. Slattery constructs a theoretical model of linguistic phenomena encountered in the psychedelic sphere for the field of altered states of consciousness research (ASCR). She has also received and anchored the Glide Oracle, a higher dimensional, gestural glyph language now available as an app on the iPhone. Turn on, tune in, and go translinguistic in this seminal interview. For more information see Slattery's website: Psychedelics and Language. Proudly supporting the Psychedelic Science 2013 conference.
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Photo credit: Tim Girvin, art: Gerhard Hillman Experiential journalist Rak Razam chats with the world's premier mycologist,Paul Stamets, at the Uplift festival, Dec 22, 2012, about the whole systems theory of nature that the mycelium networks of the mushrooms point towards. Stamets describes his pioneering work with fungi and how that has affected his own worldview, from his own shamanic-style initiation as a teenager, to his work with bio-remediation and introducing fungi as bio-tools for corporate and government scientific use, and the cultural clashes that has engendered. Can Western culture drop it's mycophobic reaction towards mushrooms and embrace the healing benefits of these substances? Can we integrate the psychedelic benefits as well as the physical ones? Is the mushroom "earth's natural internet" as Stamens describes, and what does that mean to our scientific worldview, and a network-based future? Click here for more information on Paul Stamets and his Ted Talk. Proudly supporting the Psychedelic Science 2013 conference.
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Experiential journalist Rak Razam hosts a panel at Eclipse festival 2012 on November 16, 2012 with sacred feminine facilitator Beata Alfoldi, Undergrowth director and visionary-filmmaker Tim Parish, Jungian therapist Jeremiah Abrams, shamanic practitioner Darpan and rites of passage commentator Sobey Wing. So Dec 21st, 2012 came and went, and life goes on. What are our tribal strategies to use this time of transition as a planetary initiation? What contingency plans do we need to entertain, how will we cope if the mainstream world continues its path towards austerity, surveillance, dictatorship and environmental ruin? Can we as individuals, as well as a community, retain our integrity of vision for a world worth living in? Can we take strategic advantage of the turbulent times to chart a new course for a sustainable future in 2013–and beyond? What's our Plan B), 2013??? With thanks to Beau Deeley for modulating the raw festival audio into something slightly more listenable ;) Proudly supporting the Psychedelic Science 2013 conference.
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photo: La Chorrera, 1971, courtesy Dennis McKenna Join experiential journalist Rak Razam in a frank and revealing interview with Dennis McKenna, on the cusp of his new book publication, The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss. Dennis discusses his early life with Terence and the unbreakable bond between his brother and he; living through the first wave of the psychedelic 1960s; the Experiment at La Chorerra (recounted in full, mind-blowing detail) and the fallout that still lingers to this day. The 2012 meme, Timewave Zero, ayahuasca and the Global Shamanic Resurgence are all examined at length, as is the passing of Terence and the impact on his family, and the entheogenic tribe. Dennis also discusses the perils and pitfalls of writing not just a memoir, but a critique of sorts on Terence, his ideas and legacy, and why he wanted to get this book out before Dec 21st, 2012. With additional commentary by Australian shamanic practitioner, Darpan. To read Dennis' book click here: The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss Proudly supporting the Psychedelic Science 2013 conference.
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(aka the last 2012 panel discussion ever!) photo: Adam Taylor The Hopi Indian myths tell of a final age of Mankind, where a RAINBOW TRIBE shall appear of all peoples, all colors as one. The Mayans have their cosmogenesis telling of the shift coming in 2012, when the the Fifth World is born, even Australian Aborigines have their DREAMTIME mythos.  Ethnobotanist and philosopher Terence McKenna helped fuel the idea of Dec 21st, 2012 as a 'Strange Attractor at the End of Time'... And here we all are, the latest in a long line of youth cultures affected by our relationship with the Earth and the deeper, Gaian consciousness that birthed us... Is Global Trance Culture a bridge between previous youth movements and something even older peaking in waves throughout His-story? What can we do to sacralize our dance, to empower our hearts, and to connect with these potent times to make a difference? Are we the ones we've been waiting for…? Join experiential journalist Rak Razam on this provocative tribal discussion panel held Thursday 15th Nov, 2011 at the Eclipse 2012 Festival in Far North Queensland, Australia, with guest speakers Even Dawn, Mark Heley, Chiara Beclu, Maha Lakshmi Grace and Charles Shaw. Proudly supporting the Psychedelic Science 2013 conference.
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