May 18, 2012
In this second installment of the revived Psychonatica Podcast, KMO and Olga speak with witch and art show currator, Pam Grossman and sober psychedelic researcher and author, Peter Bebergal. This episode focuses heavily on the topic of magick, and KMO explains how the word "psychonaut" has, through the work of Peter J. Carroll, linked psychedelic exploration and ceremonial magick for decades. The hosts respond to comments by Max Freakout and the Dopefiend about the heightened caution that the hosts and guests of the show have chosen to exercize with regard to making reference to specific instances of drug use on the program. Peter Bebergal, author of Too Much To Dream: A Psychedelic American Boyhood describes the atmosphere of paranoia that the Drug War creates in people, even those who don't get busted. Olga talks with Pam Grossman about the Proteus Gowanus gallery complex, and Pam dispells some commonly held misconceptions about her relationship to marijuana and psychedelics. Peter challenges psychonauts to examine their own motivations in continuing to use psychedelic drugs even after they have seen the psychedelic landscape many times, and he cautiously endorses the use of magickal ritual as a practice for inducing and investigating non-ordinary states of consciousness while steering clear of the idea that magick has the ability to effect anything in the world other than consciousness. Alan Watts makes two appearances in discourse; first to lament the lack of discipline in the psychedelic scene and later to explain why seeking a harsh path of rigorous self discipline can be a manifestation of the practicioner's fear of enlightenment.
This show opens with a clip from a talk by Alan Watts. You can hear that talk here.
Music by N8 Tronic, website: xxxsexparade.dsyn.net