An admixture of mindset and media
Set and setting, integration, and other subjects are discussed in my post-Ayahuasca podcast.
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What is “set and setting,” and why are set and setting important?
Listen: How Veterans Are Using Ibogaine and DMT to treat PTSD and TBI.
What is “integration”?
Listen: Integrating Ibogaine, Ayahuasca, and DMT.
This is the post I mentioned in the podcast.
Max Boot, a Never Trump’er, who called sex trafficker and terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi courageous, today Tweeted in defense of the Trail of Tears and the internment (concentration camps) of Japanese Americans.
In a deleted Tweet posted earlier today, Boot wrote, “Nixon was guilty of abusing his authority, but he didn’t subordinate foreign policy to personal interests. Other presidents – from Jackson’s Trail of Tears to FDR’s internment of Japanese-Americans – trampled our values, but they had a public purpose.”
Boot’s Tweet made itself into a column at the Washington Post here:
If there is a historical precedent for this egregious misconduct, I’m not aware of it — and Trump defenders haven’t found one either. President Richard M. Nixon was guilty of abusing his authority, but he didn’t subordinate foreign policy to his personal political interests as Trump has. (He did secretly urge South Vietnam not to join peace talks in 1968 to aid his campaign, but he wasn’t president then.) Other presidents — from Andrew Jackson with the Trail of Tears during the 1830s, to Franklin D. Roosevelt with the internment of U.S. citizens and noncitizens of Japanese descent during World War II — have trampled on our values, but they always had a public purpose and usually had congressional support.
Max Boot, a prominent Never Trump’er, seemed to be making the hackneyed Trump-is-worse-than-Hitler argument. His unhinged defense of concentration camps was disavowed by conservatives and liberals alike.
Will Max Boot be asked about this next time he is on CNN or MSNBC? https://t.co/38Pi1RJKI6
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) January 24, 2020
This is such a bizarre argument, by Max Boot.
Like, at least the horror we inflicted on the indigenous population was approved by Congress.
Not to go all Godwin, but other Bad Things globally were also for a 'national interest.'https://t.co/ubep1qoRw5 pic.twitter.com/vPqul8Sf75
— Shabtai (@velvetart) January 24, 2020
I thought we'd hit peak stupid with "weirdy" body-language analysis, but we've now moved on to Trump's Zelensky call being worse than the Trail of Tears or Japanese internment. #peak #murica https://t.co/1nEu5QiFLf
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 24, 2020
WaPo's Max Boot previously defended a terrorist leader, claiming it was brave for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to blow his family up in a suicide bombing.https://t.co/flxz3hilD8
— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) January 24, 2020
Overheard convo between two Republican Senators who only watch Fox News. "is this stuff real? I haven't heard any of this before. I thought it was all about a server. If half the stuff Schiff is saying is true, we're up shit's creek. Hope the White House has exculpatory evidence
— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) January 22, 2020
Ok maybe I made up the convo, but you know that's exactly what they're thinking.
— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) January 22, 2020
Is anyone surprised that @JRubinBlogger would push Joe Lockhart's FAKE NEWS tweet to her followers? pic.twitter.com/YBuQaWp5e1
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) January 22, 2020
We went deeper than I expected in this episode on Ayahuasca
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Fear, or perhaps terror, sets in as the day approaches. You’re about to enter a world where your Ego and Will dissolve into a collective world we haven’t been taught to prepare for. You may be greeted by a gentle tree of life or be confronted with demonic like creatures and other horrifying aberrations. You might vomit from a loss of equilibrium.
There is no way but through.
Fear dominates our lives. The fear of love because love requires loss. Loss of control over yourself or control over the world, as the world will always take away those we love, or will take away us from those who love us back.
Fear is with us even when we feel strong and angry, because anger Is fear manifested as aggression. Fear is with us when we are afraid to take a chance, even when the risk without any rational downsides. (Your feelings might be hurt if you make The Ask of someone in business or in life is a long ride away from a fear that offending the wrong person might lead to your death.)
The only way through fear is through fear.
To confront the psychological and emotional buzzsaw that rips your face off when you press forward when your mind is telling you to hide behind the wall.
Vision quests and rites of passages.
Some claim men are breaking down because there isn’t a “rite of passage.” I disagree, there are many such rites of passages today. The failure is in the lack of integration. What does the experience mean?
Even a vision question metaphor fails because in traditional societies you transitioned from one defined role to another stable role, which would last most of your lifetime. You go from boy to warrior or tribesman.
The average person will change careers four times. The number might be hire.
I myself have gone from lawyer, writer, to journalist and filmmaker, with stops as “gym bro” and “party boy” in between. I’ve worn the uniform and fought in a ring.
There is only you.
Journeys to the spirit world are led by shamans, who have seen others experience what you’re about to experience. They are with you.
As you go deeper into the universe within yourself, or the spirit world, or wherever the place that exists beyond our understanding of physical space and time, you realize the journey is yours only.
Preparing for this Journey.
There are some physical steps people recommend, for example you should go off caffeine a few days before the journey, because these travels take time, and a caffeine withdrawal headache can present some problems. You should also eat small amounts of food, and preferably easily digestible ones, as the plant medicine has to digest.
I do a sweat in a sauna and some extra hard cardio the week of the event, to ensure my respiratory system is up for it.
The power of breath.
It’s hard to feel afraid when you control your breathing.
Five or so years ago I began the Wim Hof breathing practice, with excellent results.
You can read about Wim Hof breathing here.
You’ll get what you FOCUS on.
You’ll learn and you’ll be taught.
What you learn is a product of your focus.
The week before, it’s helpful to go deep within yourself, to ask what you want to find.
Surrender to the process.
Some say we only have the illusion of free will. Illusory or not, we have a feeling that we are in control. When that feeling goes away, you’ll know true humility and powerlessness.
Until you pass through….
What happens then, is only for You to find….