"Zeitgeist Addendum" by Peter Conrad 2008.

 "We are seeing how important it is to bring about in the human mind a radical revolution. The crisis is a crisis in consciousness - a crisis that cannot any more accept the old norms." -Krishna Murti

On the morning of Friday 21st of November, a peaceful action by conservationists in the Upper Florentine was targeted by violent logging contractors, with one activist kicked in the head and blockade infrastructure attacked with a sledgehammer, seriously endangering two activists . This occurred while a Forestry Tasmania employee watched on.

The City Speaks

Acrylic on canvas

Melbourne 2008

by Tim Parish

 This piece was inspired by the poem 'This City Speaks To Me" by Melbourne's bohemian prince of slam poetry SI who has shouted the words of this at the top of his intoxicated lungs on street corners and in dimly lit bars enough times that I almost know the words off by heart. Love yr work brother.

This is an advance look at of one of the key presentations at the forthcoming  Entheogenesis Australis 2008 Symposium...

The Medical Marijuana Movement, alongside the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and others are doing great work to publicise the medical benefits of psychedelics, but greater effort is needed in promoting a return to the entheogenic foundations of religion and the spiritual arena. The time is right fort each of us advocate that organised religion reinstate the Earth/Ecological Sacraments, at least at special Earth Masses and Retreats.

Date - SAT 6 DECEMBER 2008

Location - Melbourne University, Copland Theatre


The Entheogenesis Australis 2008 Symposium is Australia's premier gathering addressing issues relating to sacred plants and expanded consciousness from social, cultural and historical/traditional perspectives.

EGA speakers, often experts in their field, draw on the backgrounds of physiology, biology, pharmacology, psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, botany and more to provide a more realistic context to the role 'drugs' and altered states play in the modern world.

If you've ever asked yourself if altered states could be an evolutionary pathway, if the 'War on Drugs' has created more problems than it tried to solve, or if the current spiritual and medical resurgence in psychedelics worldwide may be the tip of a new global paradigm – then EGA is for you.

Entheogenesis Australis (EGA) is a not-for-profit association that exists to create a supportive environment that fosters mature, open discussion about psychoactive plants and chemicals. We seek to explore ways to assess societal impacts and examine the positive applications of plant-based psychoactives and empathogens.

Altered states of consciousness have long been a fundamental part of human culture, and as our changing world demands a new understanding of our connection to the earth , alternative modes are becoming ever more significant and consciously explored.

Entheogenesis Australis is a collection of thinkers from all walks of life who come together to share knowledge about sacred plants, chemical alchemy and states of consciousness.

We hope you will join us on this exploration.

A beautiful, evocative music video for the atmospheric energy of The Spheres' wall of sound. The textured world of the video creates a vision of birds on powerlines that resemble notes on a musical stave, and a powerful visual experience that is a staple of the bands live audiovisual sets around Melbourne.

Music by The Spheres
Video by Susan Gamble

thespheres.net

November 12, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPECIAL TIMES EDITION BLANKETS U.S. CITIES, PROCLAIMS END TO WAR

Early this morning, commuters nationwide were delighted to find out that while they were sleeping, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had come to an end.

If, that is, they happened to read a "special edition" of today's New York Times.

In an elaborate operation six months in the planning, 1.2 million papers were printed at six different presses and driven to prearranged pickup locations, where thousands of volunteers stood ready to pass them out on the street.

 A biting anti-war animation directed by Dan Hartney and produced by Animators At Large. Although the smiley face leader might look like a typical white bureaucrat in glasses, Australian's will instantly recognise him as John Howard, the former Prime Minister who led the nation to join the US in the recent Iraq War. Created directly after the invasion the video is a direct response to that conflict, but also succeeds in universalizing the message to all wars.