HaCKeRz Kr0nlcKLeZ 1/HaCKeRz Kr0nlcKLeZ.iso/drugs/san.pedro.paper

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Total San Pedro Paper Mescaline:  A Psychedelic Catalyst for Healing



    Our society has a negative view of hallucinogenic drugs and the
psychedelic experiences that they produce.  Hallucinogenic drugs are seen as
inherently worthless and inherently dangerous, producing  negative societal
changes.   In contrast to this view is the fact that hallucinogenic plants have
been used as religious sacrament, healing medicine, and spiritual guides for
thousands of years.  As an example of beneficial use of a plant hallucinogen,
I will use the ancient traditional healing ceremonies, ceremonies still
functioning today, which use the San Pedro cactus(Trichocereus pachanoi).
The key factor in the use of the cactus is the mescaline that it contains.
The hallucinogenic effects of the mescaline is necessary for the healing
ceremony to function properly. The beneficial use of psychedelic effects in the
San Pedro cactus healing ritual contrasts with the negative associations
society has about hallucinogens.    The legal statutes and the societal taboo
against researching the effects of plant hallucinogens is an example of the
general attitude toward plants with psychoactive effects.  These laws and
opinions are crippling mostly to those who want to preserve traditional
knowledge about beneficial plants.  These laws and attitudes have come about
because of misinformation about the  psychedelics as well as widespread misuse
of them.   The consciousness expanding abilities of psychedelic drugs is stated
well in this quote from Terence McKenna, in Whole Earth Review(Fall 1989). He
says that, "Re-establishing direct channels of communication with the planetary
other, the mind behind Nature, through the use of hallucinogenic plants is the
last, best hope for dissolving the steep walls of cultural inflexibility that
appear to be channeling us toward true ruin. Careful exploration of the plant
hallucinogens will probe the most archaic and sensitive levels of the drama of
the emergence of consciousness."      Thus McKenna notes that, "The
pro-psychedelic plant position is clearly an anti-drug position.  Drug
dependencies are the result of habitual, unexamined and obsessive behavior;
these are precisely the tendencies that the psychedelics mitigate."  McKenna
is clearly advocating responsible psychedelic plant use, and not advocating
drug abuse.    Shamans all over the world and in different cultures have
traditionally used psychoactive plants, especially psychedelics, for guidance,
decision making, healing, spirituality enhancing experiences and remaining in
balance with the natural world.   It is very important to keep in mind that,
"a plant using shaman is far more than a witch-doctor who gets wigged out on
drugs; he or she is a healer, experimentalist, and psycho pomp. Anyone who
seeks to understand the dimensions of the shaman's healing system without
understanding the place of psychoactive plants is going to miss a vital
factor"(Rheingold 27).       It is interesting to note that the shamans who
use the plants claim that much of the knowledge is gained directly from the
plants. One example is that  psychedelic plants are claimed to have taught
melodies to those who ingest them.  This is found with San Pedro using
shamans, Ayahuasca drinkers in the Amazon, the Mazatec who use hallucinogenic
mushrooms, and the Huichols who use Peyote(McKenna 30).  The key hallucinogenic
alkaloid in the San Pedro cactus is mescaline.  Mescaline is unique among drugs
in that its main action is a stimulant of the visual and visuo-psychic areas of
the cortex(Kluver 65). This lets the brain experience an altered state of
consciousness. Mescaline is also found in many other cacti and succulents,
including the well known Peyote cactus.     The largest part of the mescaline
experience is experienced visually, through hallucinations.  Most hallucinatory
phenomena are usually variations of certain forms.  These form constants are:
a) grating, lattice, fretwork, filigree, honeycomb, or chessboard;  b) cobweb;
c) tunnel, funnel, alley, cone or vessel;  d) spiral. The fineness of the lines
is often stressed. They are so thin that it is hard to say whether they are
black or white.   These form constants are also seen in other altered states.
One observer has seen the same hallucinatory constants during four different
childhood sicknesses.  This has led him to conclude, "All the geometric forms
and designs characteristic of mescaline-induced phenomena can, under proper
conditions, be entopically observed"(Kluver 65). Some of the form constants are
also found in, "the visual phenomena of insulin hypoglycemia, and in phenomena
induced by simply looking at disks with black, white, or colored sectors
rotating at certain speeds"(Kluver 65).   These hallucinatory forms have also
been reported from migraine attacks.       One author tries to account for the
different form constants by referring to the various structures in the eye.  He
concludes from anatomical and observed data that,"the rods and foveal cones can
look backwards and that the retinal pigment and the choriocapillary circulation
can, therefore, be seen under certain conditions"(Kluver 65).  In essence, our
hallucinations are views of looking backward at the retina, according to this
theory. This would explain the prevalence of lines in mescaline hallucinations.
Mescaline intoxication is a complicated and somewhat incomprehensible thing.
These accounts are taken from experiments done with Peyote in the 1920's.  I am
using these accounts on the assumption that the psychedelic mescaline
experience will be fairly uniform, regardless of the plant used.  It is
important to understand that no written account can adequately describe the
experience. The form constants experienced with mescaline intoxication overlap
into the sensory sphere of experience.  A Professor Forster felt a net-like
"cobweb" on his tongue.  Another subject felt that his legs were spirals.  For
him, the spiral of his leg blended with another spiral that was rotating in the
visual field.  "One has the sensation of somatic and optic unity"(Kluver 71).
Lines are one of the most prevalent things seen while under the influence of
mescaline.  This is often seen as a "lattice" or "fretwork.  A physician, Dr.
Beringer was conducting an experiment involving mescaline.  One of his subjects
stated that:      He saw fretwork before his eyes, his arms,
hands, and fingers turned into fretwork and that he became identical with the
fretwork.  There was no difference between the fretwork and himself, between
inside and outside. All objects in the room and the walls changed into fretwork
and thus became identical with him.  While writing, the words turned into
fretwork and there was, therefore, an identity of fretwork and handwriting.
'The fretwork is I.'  In other people the "lattice", or "fretwork" became so
dominant that it appeared to dominate the whole personality.  All ideas turned
into glass fretwork, which he saw, thought ,and felt.  He also felt, saw,
tasted, and smelled tones that became fretwork.  He himself was the tone(Kluver
72).   Weir Mitchell took an extract of one and one half Peyote buttons and he
eventually saw:  A white spear of grey stone grew up to huge height, and became
a tall, richly furnished Gothic tower of very elaborate and definite design,
with many rather worn statues standing in the doorways or on stone brackets. As
I gazed every projecting angle, cornice, and even the face of the stones at
their joinings were by degrees covered or hung with clusters of what seemed to
be huge precious stones, but uncut.  These were green, purple, red, and orange;
never clear yellow and never blue. All seemed to possess interior light, and to
give the faintest idea of the perfectly satisfying intensity and purity of
these gorgeous colors is quite beyond my power.  As I looked, and it lasted
long, the tower became of a fine mouse hue, and everywhere the vast pendant
masses of emerald green, ruby red, and orange began to drip a slow rain of
colors.  Here were miles of rippled purple, half transparent and of ineffable
beauty.  Now and then soft golden clouds floated from these folds(Kluver 16).
This quote is from someone who had been injected with .2 gm of the sulfate of
mescaline by physicians:  A steel veil the meshes of which are constantly
changing in size and form...beads in different colors...red, brownish, and
violet threads running together in center...gold rain falling vertically...
regular and irregular forms in iridescent colors resembling shells and sea
urchins... transparent oriental rugs, but infinitely small...wallpaper
designs...countless rugs with such magnificent hues and such singular
brilliancy that I cannot even imagine them now...cobweb like figures or
concentric circles and squares...the pyramid of the tower of a Gothic dome...
architectural forms, buttresses, rosettes, leafwork, fretwork, and circular
patterns...modern cubistic patterns...gammadia forms from the points of which
radiate innumerable lines in the forms of screws and spirals, in flashes and
calm curves, a kaleidoscopic play of ornaments, patterns, crystals and prisms
which creates the impression of a never-ending uniformity...hexagonal small
honeycombs hung down from the ceiling...incessant play of filigreed colors...
in the face of B I saw a lattice of yellow-greenish horizontal stripes
(Kluver 17).    The power of mescaline to completely change reality
temporarily can be seen in the following experience of Henri Michaux. He
mistakenly took a dose of the sulfate of mescaline that was about six times
his normal dose.    It was where one is nothing but oneself, it was there
that, with mad speed, hundreds of lines of force combed my being which could
never re-integrate itself quickly enough, for, before it could come together
again, another line of rakes began raking it, and then again, and then again.
Intense beyond intensity, the struggle, and I, active as never before in my
life, miraculously surpassing myself, but surpassed out of all proportion by
the dislocating phenomenon.    Enormous Z's are passing through me (stripes-
vibrations-zig-zags?).  Then, either broken S's, or what may be their halves,
incomplete O's, a little like giant eggshells.    I have once more become a
passage, a passage in time.  This then was the furrow with the fluid in it,
absolutely devoid of viscosity, and that is how I pass from second 51 to
second 52, to second 53, then to second 54 and so on.  It is my passage
forward(Michaux 65).    I found one account of the effects of San Pedro in
particular.  This account is short, and obviously this is only a fraction of
the total mescaline experience, but it does agree with the experience of the
mescaline in Peyote. The effects of San Pedro are: ...first a slight
dizziness that one hardly notices.  And then a great vision, a clearing of
all the faculties of the individual.  It produces a light numbness in the body
and afterward a tranquillity.  And then comes a detachment, a type of visual
force in the individual inclusive of all the senses:  seeing, hearing,
smelling, touching, etc-all the senses, including the sixth sense, the
telepathic sense of transmitting oneself across time and matter....It develops
the power of perception...in the sense that when one wants to see something
far away...he can distinguish powers or problems or disturbances at a great
distance, so as to deal with them(Furst 130).       The San Pedro cactus,
Trichocereus pachanoi, is native to several places in South America.  It is
found in Southern Ecuador at the Chanchan valley ranging from 6,600-9,000 feet.
In Peru, in the Huancabamba valley and in Quebrada Santa Cruz at 10,800 ft.  It
grows naturally in these locales, but is cultivated all over Peru and in other
places in South America. T. pachanoi has a tree like body, 10-20 ft high, up to
4" in diameter and several branches starting from the base. It is bluish green,
and frosted at first. It has 4-7 ribs, which are broad and rounded, with slight
transverse depressions over the small areoles. There are 1-4 spines per areole,
very small or completely absent, and dark yellow to brown.    The flower is
funnel shaped, to 9.8" long and 7.9" in diameter.  It is white with a light
green tinge. The alkaloid, mescaline, is contained in the top 1/2 inch of skin.
Alkaloids in other cacti serve as seedling inhibitors and parasite repellents.
This is probably true of San Pedro as well. The mescaline comprises .12% of the
whole fresh plant material.  This is approximately 1.2 grams of mescaline per
kilo. Mescaline is also found in 10 other Trichocereus species, some of which
are used in the way that T. pachanoi is(Ostolaza 102).    Awareness of the
psychedelic nature of the San Pedro cactus has been documented for a minimum of
around 3000 years.  Engraved stone carvings, at Chavin, date to 1300bc.  They
portray a figure holding sections of the cactus.  Representations of San Pedro
also show up on Moche ceramics, Nazca urns and Chimu ceramics.  It has been
suggested that cacti were under cultivation in Peru as early as 200bc
(Davis 368). Establishing continuity between pre-Columbian use of this cactus
and present day use is challenging.  When the European explorers first landed
in South America, their religion, Christianity,  dramatically changed the
indigenous cultures. European Christianity literally invaded the original
region where the use of San Pedro indigenously evolved.  "Under such pressures,
the indigenous religious practices, including the utilization of Trichocereus
pachanoi, undoubtedly were transformed"(Davis 372).  In Peru, in Huacananda,
the imported culture has totally replaced indigenous cultures.  The San Pedro
healing cult has survived, but is quite different than it was.  In fact, the
name San Pedro is from the Roman Catholic "St. Peter".    Early observers saw
that the San Pedro cult was so Christian that they erroneously concluded that
it represented a strictly post-contact, colonial phenomenon(Davis 372).
However, the archaeological evidence points to elements of the original
ceremonies in the ceremonies I am reporting on. To understand the roots of
San Pedro healing cult we need to understand the assumptions of South American
shamanism in general. The elements are: 1) The belief in spirit guardians.
2) The notion of particular places animistically endowed with supernatural
power. 3) The concept of physical combat with disease demons or spirits.
4) The close association of certain magical plants with spiritual power.
5) The belief in spiritual or supernatural forces as the causal agents of
illness(Davis 371).       The healing role is performed by the shaman, or
curandero.  The shaman's world view is central to the meaning and function
of the healing ritual.      To the curandero, the existence of opposite forces
does not mean splitting the world in two(the 'Sacred' and 'Profane') or
establishing a rigid dichotomy between 'this' world of matter and the 'other'
world of spirit.  On the contrary, the curandero seeks to perceive unity in
the dynamic interaction between the forces of good and evil through the
attainment of 'vision'.  Such a view of the world is very flexible
and adaptable;  it leaves room for the acceptance of new symbols and ideas and
allows competing elements to enter into one's structuring of reality and the
behavior determined by such structuring(Furst 123).     For example, this view
allows the shaman to see no contradiction between modern medicine and
traditional curing.  Nor does he see modern medicine as a threat to his
vocation.  He is seeking to assimilate scientific knowledge and techniques into
practice by taking correspondence courses and reading medical literature.
Basically, if he knows more about modern medicine, he will be more adept at
healing people with San Pedro.    The reasons that people wish a shaman to
perform the ritual are diverse. They can be physical illness, or simply bad
luck.  In any case, the assumption is that there are spiritual forces which are
causing these problems. In a ritual performed in Peru, on the night of February
15, 1981, the patients had these problems:   A girl who has been paralyzed, who
also had back pain, stomach pain, and great depression.  A family's cattle herd
had got diseased and been reduced from 58 to 6.  An aunt recently gone mad.  A
businessman who wanted to know who had embezzled from his business.  Insanity
caused by seeing a wife in the arms of another man(Davis 372).    Briefly, the
ritual consists of the shaman healing the patients with the conjunction of his
own spiritual power, the mescaline which activates his power, and an altar,
called a mesa. The mesa is covered with power objects, which are seen as having
spiritual energy.  The layout of the objects on the mesa is a key structure of
the ritual.           There are three fields on the mesa.  The left is
associated with death taking, and the right with life giving.  The middle is
either a separate field or a neutral zone. In either case, the middle is linked
to the concept of balance, of mediating between good and evil. Only some of the
shamans consider the two opposite sides good and bad.  They are usually
considered complementary halves of a whole, neither good or bad.  This is a
characteristic that is common to many indigenous symbolic systems(Furst 127).
It is important to have the left field, which represents negativity.  This is
because this is the realm responsible for illness and bad luck, and
consequently capable of revealing their sources(Furst 125). Objects on the left
side are sometimes associated with animals such as snakes, deer, monkeys,
frogs, foxes, cats, and birds of prey.  These power objects usually include
things of "Ancestors"(ie: artifacts from archaeological sites), poisonous herbs
in bottles, and stones(from places of the dead(cemeteries or archaeological
sites) The middle field, or neutral zone is dedicated to finding balance
between the two opposite energies.  Good luck herbs are placed here and a good
luck charm is made during the ritual using these herbs. Balancing fields always
have sun images. There are also magnetic or reflective stones. The right field
often uses extensive Catholic imagery such as saints, and purificatory waters.
Indigenous positive power objects always include medicinal plants,
shells(fertility symbols), and the containers of the San Pedro infusion.   In
front of the fields there are meditation symbols as well as a representation of
the shaman(Joralemon 22).     The symbols on the right side are used to guide
the creation of a proper herbal healing mixture.    At the back of the mesa are
six to twelve upright staffs. These are associated with the respective areas of
the mesa they are standing in back of.    Each shaman's layout of power objects
on the mesa is quite diverse.  Some of the various objects I found listed for
the three fields are as follows; Right field: stones, shells, bowls, and a
rattle. Neutral or balancing field: a bronze sunburst,  a stone symbolizing the
Sea, and a crystal "mirror".   Left field:  A deer foot, knives and cane
alcohol.    Other objects that shamans have used on their mesas include wooden
staffs of tropical hardwoods, whale bones, quartz crystals, colonial knives,
plastic toy soldiers, pre-columbian ceramics, brass lions and deer, antlers,
wild boar tusks, silver plates, murex and helmet shells, dice, statues of the
Virgin Mary, and many photos and paintings of Roman Catholic saints. Also, each
patient places one personal offering on the altar(Davis 373).    These personal
offerings can be things like bottles of alcohol, bottles of scented water and
red perfume, or objects to represent other patients who could not come. One man
brought coins and hex stones for the proxy of a sick aunt who could not
travel(Davis 372).    The San Pedro healing ritual has always had the certain
standard elements that I have been discussing.  However, this ritual is also
capable of adapting to different times' religious ideas, which is how the
original ritual was transformed by Christianity (specifically, Roman
Catholicism).  The left field became associated with Satan, and the right field
with Jesus and Mary.  In one mesa structure, the neutral zone was governed by a
saint who was a powerful magician before he converted to Christianity.     All
shamans have many power objects they use on the mesa.  Despite often being
Christian symbols,they function very much like the negative and positive forces
and symbols do in native shamanism.      The shaman does not consider these
objects lifeless.  Each is a focus of a particular force.  Collectively, they
are a projection of his own spiritual power, which becomes activated whenever
the mesa is used in the conjunction with the drinking of the hallucinogenic San
Pedro infusion.      The ritual is always done at night.  It consists of a
lengthy preliminary purification ceremony and then the ritual itself.  The
ceremonial acts consist of prayers, invocations, and chants(accompanied by the
beat of the shamanic rattle), addressed to all the supernaturals of the
indigenous and Roman Catholic faiths.       At midnight, when the purifying
ceremonial acts are complete, there is some preliminary chanting, then all
present must drink one to three cups of the ceremonial potion. The shaman takes
the first cupful, and then the patients.  Usually nothing is added to the San
Pedro infusion.  However, in cases of illness believed to be caused by sorcery
some things may be added. These additional ingredients are usually powdered
bones, certain plants, and cemetery dust or dust from archaeological ruins.
Also, a purgative potion may be made from another plant which is to be taken
after taking the San Pedro drink. Some shamans add strongly psychoactive plants
like Datura, but this is considered by most to be drastic shock therapy(Furst
119).    In the beginning phase of the ritual each patient stands before the
left side of the altar.  As the mescaline begins to take effect, the shaman
chants the patients name and visualizes the forms of animals that represent the
poisons/problems of the patients. While each patient stands before the mesa and
the shaman chants his name, everyone else stares at the staffs behind the mesa.
Consensus among the hallucinating patients will be reached as to which staff is
vibrating.  The shaman then chants with the staff in his hand and this focuses
his vision and activates the power of the staff and associated objects on the
mesa.  This focusing of vision helps the curandero "see" the cause of the
patient's problem. This first part of the ritual is essentially to gain control
of the negative forces that have been called into play(Furst 128).    During
this first part of the ritual, the shaman may pause to massage or suck on parts
of patients bodies to extract the supernatural  source of the affliction.  In
certain very serious cases, the forces which cause the illness are believed to
be powerful enough to attack the patient during  the curing session.  This is
dangerous and requires immediate emergency action. The shaman seizes a sword or
staff and charges out beyond the mesa and the patients.  He then conducts a
ferocious battle with the attacking forces, which only he can see in his San
Pedro visions.  In one ceremony the shaman performs seven somersaults in the
form of a cross,while grasping the sword in both hands with the sharp edge held
forward.  This is intended to drive off the attacking forces and shock the
sorcerer who is directing them(Furst 130).    The second part of the ritual is
considered the most important part. The central field of the mesa is associated
with balance and luck, and there are herbs of good fortune placed in it.
Patients appear before the mesa and the shaman identifies which herbs are going
to be used for that patient's good luck charm.    The third phase is for
identifying the particular herbs that will cure the patients' ailments.  These
herbs have been placed on the right side.  After identification through
hallucinations,the shaman tosses some shells as a form of divination to confirm
if he made the right choices of herbs(Joralemon 26).    This divination is a
basic part of any San Pedro healing ritual.  It shows an association between
hallucinations, mesa objects, and the element of control that the shaman has
over the ritual.    Mesa artifacts are closely linked to mescaline-induced
hallucinations in that they serve to anchor visualizations in such a way as to
permit their application to the achievement of specific ends. By so controlling
the drug experience, the shaman is able to direct the ritual toward healing
objectives.  In other words, this control allows the shaman to structure the
course of a visionary episode so that it leads to the goal of curing(Joralemon
24).          At the end, some shamans blow perfume, water, sugar, and facial
powder over everyone.  Then there is a final benediction or prayer.  Each
participant is presented with the bottle of sacred healing herbs(Davis 373).
The patients are sent on their way.    The San Pedro cactus has a long history
of being used for its psychedelic effects.  It has often been used for healing
in a ritual which evolved in Peru.    This ancient ritual represents a journey
from life-taking to life-giving forces. This is inherently a positive event.
The use of the mescaline in the ritual to achieve this positive result is a
welcome contrast to many current negative attitudes towards psychedelic
experiences.

   Works Cited Davis, E. Wade.  Sacred Plants of the San Pedro Cult.  Harvard
University:        Botanical Museum leaflets, 1983. Furst, Peter T.  Flesh of
the Gods (The ritual use of Hallucinogens).  New York:        Praeger
Publishers, 1972. "Hallucinogens-A trip to nowhere."  Current Health 2 January
1991: 14-16. Joralemon, Donald.  Symbolic Space and Ritual Time in a Peruvian
Healing            Ceremony.  San Diego: San Diego Museum of Man; Ethnic
Technology Notes       #19, 1984. Kluver, Heinrich.  Mescal and Mechanisms of
Hallucinations.  Chicago:        University of Chicago Press, 1966. McKenna,
Terence.  "Plan, Plant, Planet."  Whole Earth Review  Fall 1989: 5-      11.
Michaux, Henri.  Miserable Miracle.  Monaco:  Editions du Rocher, 1956.
Rheingold, Howard.  "Ethnobotany and The Search for Vanishing Knowledge."
Whole Earth Review  Fall 1989: 16-23. "Trichocereus Pachanoi BR & R."  Cactus
and Succulent Journal  Vol. 56 1984:            103-104.  --------------------
Traditional preparation of San Pedro is as follows: Remove spines. Finely chop
up about 6-12 inches(I've used a blender), depending on how deep you wish to
journey.....Boil in several quarts of water for three hours.  Strain it, save
the water, and boil it again in a few more quarts of water for another three
hours..strain again. Both times, you may need to add water in order to keep it
simmering for three hours.  The pulp may now be thrown out.  Combine the two
extracts and boil down to a cup or two. This will take at least another hour.
(I have some literature that says you can just eat it, but I think that it is
easier to drink a cup of foul tasting liquid than to eat a foot long cactus!)
The percentage of mescaline is supposed to be approximately that of Peyote, so
that can be your guide when deciding how much to prepare.  Having never taken
Peyote, I don't really have much basis for comparison.  I know that the first
time,I took four inches and it didn't do that much...enough that I noticed it,
but not much more.  Then the next time I prepared 12 inches, and, to use the
vernacular of my youth,"tripped my freakin' brains out". It was the first time
I'd ever experienced Mescaline and it was beautiful, wonderful, spiritual, and
indescribably nice.  If you are prepared for a strong psychedelic experience I
would suggest 12 inches.  It is best taken in two doses, 45 minutes apart, to
minimize the shock to the system.  My literature suggests that it isn't nearly
as physically nauseating as Peyote. I have not found it to be very bad. I warn
you that it tastes TERRIBLE!, and you probably will want to cook it down to a
very small amount of liquid(a cup or two total), because of this. ------------
--    And yes, it's true, Trichocereus pachanoi  is a legal ornamental cactus
and very few people know of it's true nature. I have purchased or seen them in
Fred Meyer, Jerry's home improvement store,and in "the indoor garden" store on
11th street. I have been told they are readily available at local nurseries. I
have mail ordered several as well.  There are at least two mail order cactus
companies that carry them. Unfortunately,the ones I've seen are always quite a
bit less than 12 inches high.  San Pedro is a very fast growing cactus, and,
under ideal conditions, can actually grow up to a foot a year! Treat them like
a normal cactus except, give them more water and much bigger pots than regular
cacti.  The soil can be ordinary potting soil, mixed with cactus mix. San Pedro
is a very easy to grow and very adaptable plant. It makes a great house plant.
It is possible to buy them in large sizes, but as I said, it's unlikely. If you
do find a four foot T. pachanoi, buy it!  The biggest one I've seen around town
is about 8" high.  The ones I mail ordered were about 6", but have grown
impressively.  That's ok, I'm willing to wait. I have several out on my porch.
I have them in a window during the winter and out on the porch all summer. When
compared to the slow growing Peyote, San Pedro grows remarkably quickly. It's a
relatively short period of time before they're big enough to use.    And of
course, don't mention trips, or mescaline or anything while buying them. ------
---------------    It is so funny to find mescaline, the key to a deeply sacred
and culturally/religiously significant hallucinogenic experience...........in
Fred Meyer, the bastion of mainstream America,a veritable symbol of non-altered
consciousness.  Fred Meyer is so plain and mainstream and "normal"....I really
enjoy finding a deeply sacred hallucinogenic plant for 7 bucks on the discount
rack!  if they only knew......the vast majority of people will walk right on by
the cactus and not have the faintest clue of it's significance -----------
Absolute respect and caution are always in order when considering psychedelic
adventures. -----------  I hope this information brings you joy, peace,
introspection, and helps you progress on your path.

                        Sincerely,  T.pachanoi





(This file was obviously written by a very knoweledgable person, I excluded
his real name because it was his wish to do so. I thank him for having the
time, and for doing the research it took to write this file. With people
like this we will not have a 'strike 2' in the psychedelic revolution.
This file was uploaded to Altered Consciousness BBS on 4-21-94 by the writer.
Converted to ASCII format on 4-22-94 by Mescalito Ted,  I take all
responsibility for punctuation and/or format errors. I converted it to ascii
form so it would be readable by all, but I didn't do it justice because the
return codes were not recognizable by any prgms I currently have.
Altered Consciousness BBS rose on 04-10-94 to help those on the path towards
enlightenment through the use of psychotropics (entheogens). The number
is 206-652-3086.  Please help support the movement.) The board was risen
for many reasons...  One of those is for those who may not have FTP access
and another is that so people may speak freely without having to worry
about 'watchdogs' reading every word they wish to speak.

                       -Mescalito Ted-







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      / \\     /.~\ /__   __/      ~/  __ ~\/       ~/    ~\  INDEPENDANT
     //|:\\   //  /\\_/. /\/ _/\___/.  //  /   _/\__/ . /   \ -=FOREVER=-
    /   . \\ //  / / /  /./_ /  \ // _   _/ . _/  \/ / /    /\
   /.  |.  \/.  / / /  ///  ____ /.  /   / /  ____/ / /    /// 2 Nodes
  //   ||  //  /_/_/  /./       /   /   / .      /        ///| Ringdown
 /_____|__/_______\__///______ /___/   /________/________/ / :14.4/1.5Gigs
 Y________\________\__/_______/\__/___/\_______/_________\/; .206-652-3086
 :  _____ _____ ______ /\____  ____\__\/ _________ /\____  ________________
 . / __~//._ ~//.   ~// _____\/ __~/ __//._ ~/ /~//._____\/.  ~/ _/ __/ __/
  /./__ // / /// / .//___  \_/./___//_ // / / /.//___  \_// / / _/ /_/ /_
_/____//____//__/__\_____|  /____/___//____/___/_____|  /__/_/__/_  /_ ~/
\________________________  /_________________________ ./_________/ __/ /
=_*_=_ _Y_ _ _ _ _╖_=_*_╖\/_ _=_ _=_ _=_ _=_ _=_ _*_=\/_=_Y_ __=_*_=_ /
~ ~ Y ~ | ~ Y ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~~ ~ ~ Y ~
    |   :   : Th0usands&ThousaNds Of tExt fIleS >OnLine<  ;        |
We are not engaged in any illegal activities, we are engaged in speech, and
speech is protected.  The freedom of information shall never die as long as
    a few dedicated people continue to fight for our given rights!
       Fighting for entheogens everywhere.  Long live Teonanactyl