Gnostic Media - Jan Irvin

What are the negative consequences of "positive thinking"? Is positive thinking a good thing, or does it have the potential to be used as a tool for mind control and manipulation? Is positive thinking responsible for the financial meltdown? Who really gets rich from the positive thinking movement? Does the human mind have the ability to directly manifest thoughts into reality? What is the difference between positive thinking and critical thinking?

Today's guest is Dr. Barbara Erhenreich who is the author of more than a dozen books, including Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch. Today she'll be on to discuss her latest book Bright-Sided, How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America.

Website: http://www.barbaraehrenreich.com/

Mitch Horowitz is the editor-in-chief of Tarcher/Penguin in New York and the author of Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation (Bantam), which has been called “a fascinating book” by Ken Burns and “extraordinary” by Deepak Chopra.

A widely known voice for esoteric and occult ideas, Horowitz has written for U.S. News and World Report, Parabola, Esopus, Science of Mind, Fortean Times, the Religion News Service, and the popular weblog BoingBoing. He has discussed alternative spirituality on CBS Sunday Morning, Dateline NBC, The History Channel, The Montel Williams Show, All Things Considered, Coast to Coast AM, and Air America Radio. Horowitz recently has spoken at the Esalen Institute, the New York Open Center, the Philosophical Research Society, and a wide range of growth centers.

For more than twelve years at Tarcher/Penguin he has published the work of writers and artists including David Lynch, Daniel Pinchbeck, and Jacob Needleman. He has designed and reissued popular new editions of the works of esoteric scholar Manly P. Hall, including the “reader’s edition” of Hall’s The Secret Teachings of All Ages.

Horowitz and his wife raise two young sons in New York City. You can visit him online at www.MitchHorowitz.com and on Facebook.

Our first interactive podcast.

In tonight's show we continue our discussion on the Trivium and Quadrivium and go for a full-blown as we complete this series with the Kabbalah and the mystery schools with Gene Odening. Here we continue to learn about learning, logic, critical thinking, Hegelian dialectics, Plato, the Trivium, the Quadrivium, the 7 liberal arts, and freeing your mind from the box that's been built around it.

This episode will free your mind. But before you continue listening, please be sure that you've heard the prerequisite episodes: #49 and #50.

In tonight's show we continue our discussion on the Trivium and discuss the Quadrivium with Gene Odening. Here we continue to learn about learning, logic, critical thinking, Hegelian dialectics, Plato, the Trivium, the Quadrivium, the 7 liberal arts, and many other facets of human cognizance.

Gnostic Media's 1 Year anniversary show!

Tonight's show is an important one. Without it, it's hard to build on the information presented in the other shows. Here we begin to learn about learning, logic, critical thinking, Hegelian dialectics, Plato, the Trivium, the Quadrivium, the 7 liberal arts, and many other facets of human cognizance.

My guest is Gene Odening.
This is the story of the 3 successive stages of the "Philosophic Life" which almost all of us live. Some of us live it consciously, others, not so much.
Gene's story is one of good fortune. Early in adolescence he was given the tools to recognize and to pursue the Philosophic Life, which he undertook to do, not as a vocation but as a serious hobbyist. This is part of what the talk is about, defining those tools and following time-tested ways of applying them.
Gene lived through the first part, the Stage of Preparing For Life, in a fashion which the ancient Vedic Sages called: "Learning by grazing through the fields of the Brahma (the Creator God), in sobriety, and with a guru". He even had his own guru! He graduated from this stage in a less than sober state. At age 18 . . . He ingested the Eucharist in fact, rather than only in effigy, and had his Crown Chakra opened. That is, he had his mind blown on large doses of LSD.
When he was 20 years old, he began the second part, the Stage of Receiving From Life. This is when he began his vocational career and started his family life. Life was good. He and his wife traveled many parts of the English speaking world scouring the libraries in particular; she reading her beloved fiction; he in the reference and antiquarian sections. His quest was to find out what Money was. Money is a very elusive thing. As ghostly as it is, it takes up much of our life’s time and energy. By happenstance, in pursuit of its secrets, almost all other known topics come into view for a closer examination, including Philosophy, a treasure beyond measure.
As he reached the age of about 56, he had the realization that he was now in the final stage, the Stage of Giving Back To Life. This is when one should properly become the elder advisor, not 'offering' advise, but giving of it freely when asked. It is also the time of beginning one's journey through mentality. This is the time of: "Examining a life which has been worth living", as the Greek sage Socrates counceled.

"Goddammit!®" Today we're going to speak with Mark Herer, Jack Herer's son, about Jack's condition, and his first word since his heart attack. This talk is only about 6 minutes long before the main interview.

Then:
From the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam to the Kennedy assassination, from Hip Hop to Promise software, from the ritual use of marijuana to Gordon Wasson's Soma, where will the Octopus Conspiracy take us next? Today my guest is Steve Hager - editor of High Times Magazine.

Order the Octopus Conspiracy: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0975290614

I thought today that we'd take a completely different direction and switch to the other side of the brain to discuss our creative side and pay tribute to a more beautiful side of life - art. But we're not going to discuss just any art - but mushroom art in particular. My guest is Arik Roper who's here to discuss his new book of mushroom art called Mushroom Magick. Which is a beautiful presentation of water color paintings of psychoactive mushrooms.

And we're going to play music. In an entire year of doing this show I've never once played background music. I guess I just couldn't find the music that I felt fit the mood on many or most of the interviews. But that's going to change on this show. I've gone back through all of the goodies that many of you musicians out there have sent me over the last year and I found some amazing stuff. Most of the background music for this show is by Shen Flindell and you can find out more about him at www.ethnosuperlounge.com. And I'll also be playing some other background music that I found fitting for the occasion. Finally, at the end of this show I'll be playing some music sent to me by a listener back in - get this - February, and it got filed away and not listened to until today. Let me just say that when I found this music on my computer today and clicked play, I was blown away. I'm not sure if it's the album's name or the band's name, but the name is Hand, and it was sent to me by Ryan Sweeney and he runs a podcast called The Common Ear. So do make sure you check out the music at the end of the show - you won't be disappointed.

Arik's website: http://www.arikroper.com/

Order Mushroom Magick here: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0810996316

Ryan Sweeney's Hand Sounds: http://www.myspace.com/handssounds

How deep does the rabbit hole go, and how many rabbit holes are there?

Today we continue our interview with Eustace Mullins for part 2 of this quite mind blowing expose on the Federal Reserve and conspiracy.

In honor of free speech and critical thinking I present you with one of the most powerful interviews I've done to date with one of the most controversial people in the entire world, Eustice Mullins, the last living protégé of Ezra Pound. Eustice joins me for the end of our explosive two part interview on the history of the Federal Reserve, WWI, WWII, the Rothschilds, JP Morgan, the New World Order, banking, Zionism, farming, G. Edward Griffin's The Creature from Jekyll Island, Ron Paul, and the state of world affairs. He joins me with his only protégé, Jesse Lee, who will help guide our discussion through the many rabbit holes of history, uncovering some of the most startling information many of you have ever heard.

Order The Secrets of the Federal Reserve: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0979917654

Conspiracy. It's a word that causes many people to have all sorts of emotional reactions, whether or not they've actually investigated what the conspiracy is about. Some say that only the foolish believe in conspiracies, but many conspiracies are proved. The word conspiracy is defined as:

• a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful act
• a plot to carry out some harmful or illegal act (especially a political plot)
• a group of conspirators banded together to achieve some harmful or illegal purpose

Every day in courts throughout this country, and throughout the world, people are tried and convicted of conspiracies. Our history books are literally filled with page after page of plots, assassinations and conspiracies. Should we believe that our politicians and bankers of today don't commit such acts? And if they did, is it really true that government is so incompetent that they could never keep a secret? Or is it really that the general masses never actually bother to look into a conspiracy to verify it when they hear about it? If I were to bet, I'd put my money on the later.

What if almost all conspiracies, to one degree or another, where true? What if, like a puzzle, each conspiracy is a single piece of a larger picture, not to be understood clearly until all of the pieces are put together?

Today and next Monday I interview one of the world's greatest historians. He's also the man who has all of the pieces to the global conspiracy puzzle - considered the greatest conspiracy theorist alive. But did he create these conspiracy theories? Or did he discover real conspiracies?

In honor of free speech and critical thinking I present you with the most powerful interview I've done to date with one of the most controversial - and yet respected - people in the entire world, Eustace Mullins, the last living protégé of Ezra Pound. Eustace joins me for this explosive two part series on the history of the Federal Reserve, WWI, WWII, the Rothschilds, JP Morgan, the New World Order, banking, Zionism, farming, G. Edward Griffin's The Creature from Jekyll Island, Ron Paul, the gold standard, and the state of world affairs. He'll be joining me with his only protégé, Jesse Lee, who will help guide our discussion through the many rabbit holes of history, uncovering some of the most startling information many of you have ever heard.

Order The Secrets of the Federal Reserve: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0979917654

The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross was one of the most controversial books written in the twentieth century. Not since Darwin's On the Origin of Species had a book caused such outrage. John Marco Allegro was a respected Dead Sea Scrolls scholar and had just left his post as a lecturer at Manchester University. His infamous1970 book The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross revealed that Judeo-Christianity is based on an ancient fertility-mushroom cult.

Judy is the daughter of John Marco Allegro. She works as a freelance writer and editor, mainly for Plain Language Commission where she's involved in turning all sorts of documents into readable and meaningful English. Besides her book John Marco Allegro, the Maverick of the Dead Sea Scrolls, she has written a number of articles about her father's work, as well as various others about writing in clear plain English.
Judy lives in Derbyshire, England, with her husband, two children and assorted animals.

This is a very special episode as we go into the detail on John Allegro's background and the untold truth regarding his work on The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. We're also happy to announce the upcoming release of the 40th anniversary edition of The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross.

http://www.johnallegro.org
Order John Marco Allegro: The Maverick of the Dead Sea Scrolls: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0802828493

What is Salvia divinorum? Is it only a party drug used by teenagers on idiotic YouTube videos? Or is it an ancient ritualistic plant that has been used by shamans for many generations for religious and healing purposes? Exactly what is Salvia and how does it reproduce? What are its effects and how dangerous is it?

Tonight we plunge back into the ancient ritualistic use of psychedelics and on to a little understood member of the psychedelic family, diviner's sage, Salvia divinorum.

Daniel Siebert is an independent researcher, pharmacognosist, ethnobotanist, educator, and author. He has been studying Salvia divinorum for over twenty years and was the first person to work on the human pharmacology of salvinorin A and to clearly identify this compound as the psychoactive principal of the plant. He has studied Salvia divinorum in its native habitat and has worked with it under the guidance of Mazatec shamans. His work appears in scientific journals and other publications. Mr. Siebert is the creator of the Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center web site (www.sagewisdom.org). This was the first Internet resource to focus exclusively on information about Salvia divinorum, and it continues to be the most comprehensive. Daniel Siebert was featured in the 1998 television documentary ³Sacred Weeds,² which aired on channel 4 in the United Kingdom.

His comments and opinions on Salvia divinorum have appeared in USA Today, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Scientific American, and many other newspapers and magazines. Similarly, he has discussed the plant on CNN, Fox News, ABC News ³Nightline,² the National Public Radio (NPR) program ³All Things Considered," and many other television and radio stations. He currently resides in Malibu, California and is completing work on a comprehensive book about Salvia divinorum.

In this episode we continue our investigation into monetary systems and the inner workings of privatized banking.

Our money system is not what we have been led to believe. The creation of money has been "privatized," or taken over by a private money cartel. Except for coins, all of our money is now created as loans advanced by private banking institutions — including the private Federal Reserve. Banks create the principal but not the interest to service their loans. To find the interest, new loans must continually be taken out, expanding the money supply, inflating prices — and robbing you of the value of your money.

Not only is virtually the entire money supply created privately by banks, but a mere handful of very big banks is responsible for a massive investment scheme known as "derivatives," which now tallies in at hundreds of trillions of dollars. The banking system has been contrived so that these big banks always get bailed out by the taxpayers from their risky ventures, but the scheme has reached its mathematical limits. There isn't enough money in the entire global economy to bail out the banks from a massive derivatives default today. When the investors realize that the "insurance" against catastrophe that they have purchased in the form of derivatives is worthless, they are liable to jump ship and bring the whole shaky edifice crashing down.

Web of Debt unravels the deceptions in our money scheme and presents a crystal clear picture of the financial abyss towards which we are heading. Then it explores a workable alternative, one that was tested in colonial America and is grounded in the best of American economic thought, including the writings of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. If you care about financial security, your own or the nation's, you should read this book.

Ellen Brown developed her research skills as an attorney practicing civil litigation in Los Angeles. In Web of Debt, her latest book, she turns those skills to an analysis of the Federal Reserve and "the money trust." She shows how this private cartel has usurped the power to create money from the people themselves, and how we the people can get it back. Brown developed an interest in the developing world and its problems while living abroad for eleven years in Kenya, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua. She returned to practicing law when she was asked to join the legal team of a popular Tijuana healer with an innovative cancer therapy, who was targeted by the chemotherapy industry in the 1990s. That experience produced her book Forbidden Medicine, which traces the suppression of natural health treatments to the same corrupting influences that have captured the money system. Brown's eleven books include the bestselling Nature's Pharmacy, co-authored with Dr. Lynne Walker, which has sold 285,000 copies.

http://www.webofdebt.com/

One of the factions that controls nearly every moment of our lives is hardly understood by the large majority of the population. To gain an understanding of today's topic deepens our understanding of the world and how it works and exactly what we can do to effect change when and where needed.

Our deepening investigation into the freedom of consciousness cannot go without a deeper understanding of what we all use for exchange or trade - money.

Exactly how we define the word 'money' defines our very society and affects nearly every facet of our lives. It also tells us exactly what we can expect from our political representatives. All we need is to understand the language of money.

Beginning today in this detailed two part series we begin to look into the fundamental concepts of money: What is money and how is it defined? What is the history of money? How does it tie to religion, government and private business? What is the difference between credit and money? What is FIAT money? Is there a difference between private versus nationalized banks and how they operate? And why is any of this important to YOU? And how could it possibly affect YOUR life?

Stephen Zarlenga is the founder of the American Monetary Institute (AMI) - the leading American monetary think tank for monetary history, theory and reform. An economic historian and author, Zarlenga provides us the clearest picture of how money and monetary systems work in his incredible 2002 tome The Lost Science of Money, and he's also the author of the American Monetary Act, submitted to congress by Dennis Kucinich in March of this year.

http://www.monetary.org

Chris Conrad

Author, internationally recognized spokesperson, and court-qualified expert on Cannabis Hemp (Marijuana)
Internationally known expert on the history, medical, social, economic and ecological aspects of Cannabis hemp.

Chris is author of four groundbreaking books and author of the booklet Cannabis Yields and Dosage. He advocates full restoration of industrial hemp, medical marijuana with a doctor's supervision, and setting a legal age of consent for marijuana use by responsible adults in a regulated market.

Hemp, Lifeline to the Future, his first book, helped launch the modern hemp industry and cannabis reform movement. It reintroduces hemp as a sustainable natural resource. Hemp for Health discusses medical marijuana and the nutritional and environmental uses of the cannabis plant. Shattered Lives, Portraits From America's Drug War, co-authored with his wife, Mikki Norris, and their colleague, Virginia Resner, explores the human cost of America's prison-based drug policy. The trio also wrote their newest book, Human Rights and the US Drug War as an analys of drug war policy within the context of international human rights law.
Chris is founder and director of the Business Alliance for Commerce in Hemp (BACH), director of the Family Council on Drug Awareness (FCDA), and a member of the Hemp Industries Association (HIA). He designed and curated the international Hash-Marihuana-Hemp Museum located in Amsterdam, Holland, where he researched cannabis culture and cultivation. He is art director for the Human Rights and the Drug War exhibit. He is also on the boards of Human Rights and the Drug War and the Drug Peace Campaign.
Chris's penetrating research uncovers the facts, faces and cost of hemp prohibition, analyzing the political dynamics working for and against legal reform. He knows his facts and won't duck your toughest questions (yes, he has inhaled). He heads up a number of prominent reform organizations. He was state community action coordinator for the petition drive that launched the 1996 California Medical Marijuana Initiative, Proposition 215, which passed with 56% of the vote. He provides expert testimony, both in court of law and for legislators and their staff.
Chris has been qualified as an expert witness on industrial hemp, hempseed, marijuana, marijuana cultivation, medical marijuana, and personal consumption of marijuana in the Superior Courts throughout the State of California. He has presented expert testimony in court and at government hearings and consults with legislators. He founded the American Hemp Council in 1989, was a chief proponent of the 1992 and 1994 California Hemp Initiatives, and portrayed "Johnny Marijuanaseed" in the PBS classic The Nineties "Hemp Show #1."

http://www.chrisconrad.com
http://www.westcoastleaf.com/
http://www.fcda.org/

Today I'll be playing a rare talk by the late John Marco Allegro. This is his last known talk in existence and was recorded by John himself while he was practicing for a lecture that was later presented at the American Atheist Society in Ann Arbor, on April 19, 1985.

John Allegro argues that the Christianity of the New Testament is a weave of many threads. It has little to do with historical circumstance, unless to recall the possible fate of the Essene Teacher of Righteousness. It has much to do with key elements of Essenism, hidden in names, titles and story motifs; and with Old Testament prophecy; and with Jewish cultic beliefs and practices which go back to ancient fertility religions. All these are woven with Hellenistic mystery cults and myths into the Pauline theology of Christos.

http://www.johnallegro.org

Today we're running late, but we're back to a more typical show format.

I interview Mitch Schultz, maker of the film DMT, The Spirit Molecule. We'll be talking to Mitch about the film: who's in it, what he's learned along the way, and when you can expect it's release.

Also check out: http://www.thespiritmolecule.com/

Today instead of the usual interview format, I'll be speaking with Richard Andrew Grove and Lisa Arbercheski of 8thestate media and Tragedy and Hope magazine about my trip to Peru, my experience with the medical system there, and some brief, and sometimes not as in depth as they could be, comparisons regarding our two cultures. Those of you out there who are seeking good and affordable health care, dental, etc, I think you'll appreciate this show, at least I hope so.

(Photo: Jan Irvin with Dr. Carlos Ortiz - Peru)

The costs for the medical care I received in Peru would have cost somewhere between $60,000 to $80,000 in the US. But how much did these Harvard University trained doctors in Peru charge me? Less than $2000 - and that's without insurance, and includes the prescriptions, consultations, hospital stay and other expenses. Exactly what are we paying for when we pay for American medical insurance? In my case they didn't resolve the problem and misdiagnosed me for 13 years.

We'll also discuss the Peruvian dental system, the American diet and obesity, cultural differences, and the similarities between Catholic and Inca religions and a few other items. Some of you will be shocked to discover that the Inca and Catholic beliefs are not so different after all.

A very short podcast recorded from my hospital bed in Arequipa, Peru.

What is the future of medical marijuana? Why is federal law violating the Constitution and states' sovereign rights? And why is President Obama still allowing federal prosecution of medical marijuana patients and care givers against his campaign promises?

In this episode I interview Eddy Lepp, a man who has spent the last 20 years of his life on the front lines in the fight over patients' rights to use medical marijuana, and is a well honored activist (honored by HighTimes as activist of the year, amongst many other awards), and is also noted as having been involved in the largest marijuana bust in DEA history, and the largest medical marijuana raid in the history of the world.

In 2004 Lepp was raided by federal agents working in collusion with local and state police (a violation of state law) and after a nearly 5 year legal battle, on May 18, 2009, Lepp was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Failing his appeal, he is to report to prison on July 6, 2009. Lepp argues that he was not given a fair trial, and that crucial evidence was blocked, and that jurors were not told the truth of the case.

This is the final episode for the season, and the official release date is the Solstice, 2009. I couldn't think of a better person to interview for this final episode, so here I honor Eddy for his life's work and his bravery for standing up for us all.

Those who want to help Eddy may help by calling the White House and your local representatives.

http://www.eddylepp.com/

How is ritual important to the safe and proper use of entheogens? And how does ritual help facilitate a deeper entheogenic experience? What is 5-MeO-DMT, and why is it so seldom discussed in entheogenic studies? And what is T.O.A.D?

Today I interview Hal Lucious Nation, the "Grand ArchBishop" of The Temple of Awakening Divinity, or T.O.A.D.

5-MeO-DMT (5-Methoxy-N-N-Dimethyltriptamine), is probably the most powerful of all entheogens and is not a "schedule 1 narcotic". Simultaneously, it is one of the least studied and discussed of all of the entheogens today. Like its cousin N-N-DMT, 5-MeO-DMT is a natural neurotransmitter found in all mammalian brains. In this interview will be looking into the use of ritual - and the ritualistic use of 5-MeO-DMT, and discussing some of the practices of the Temple of Awakening Divinity.

Hal Lucius Nation is the founder, chief officiant and Hierophant of the Temple of Awakening Divinity. A student, teacher and practitioner of the Western Mystery School tradition for nearly 20 years - his work in Ceremonial Magick, Raja Yoga, Hermetic Qaballah, the Neo-Eleusinian Mysteries, Transpersonal Alchemy and Ontology prepared him for his personal reception of Entheogenic Gnosis, which he received in 2005. In 2007 he was called by Source to bring this revelation of the ”Great Mystery” to others and established the T.O.A.D. as a vehicle to bring Entheogenic spirituality to those drawn to a direct and deeper experience of the Divine.

He has made several appearances on Dr. Martin Ball’s “Entheogenic Evolution” podcast in addition to making contributions to Dr. Ball’s book of the same name, which focuses on the Work of the Temple. He regularly conducts ceremonial circles for the Temple and is actively developing entheogenic spiritual communities across the west coast to assist members of the Temple in the integration of the Work.

Ayahuasca is a psychedelic brew that is traditionally used by indigenous cultures in the Amazon basin. The brew is made with the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and Psychotria veridis - and other ingredients may or may not be added - including the very dangerous and deadly Datura. The brew also contains MAOIs (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors) and DMT - the most powerful psychedelic drug on earth - which is also a natural neurotransmitter in all mammalian brains.

If the Ayahuasca experience were charted by a leading psychologist, what would the scientific research on its effects show? How do psychological studies on Ayahuasca differ from anthropological studies? What happens when the full-blown psychedelic experience with Ayahuasca is brought toe to toe with science? Can it be proved that the Ayahuasca experience real? Or is it only a culturally induced hallucination? Does Ayahuasca merely provide a single type "experience," or do the experiences progress through multiple uses? What if the experience of this mystical substance could be described in great literary detail that exceeds that of Aldous Huxley's Doors of Perception?

Today I interview Professor Benny Shanon, professor of Psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Israel. Benny Shanon holds the Mandel Chair in Cognitive Psychology and Education.

Born in Tel Aviv, Shanon studied philosophy and linguistics at Tel Aviv University and received his doctorate in experimental psychology from Stanford University. He is author of the 2002 book Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience published by Oxford University Press.

Benny Shanon is known for his controversial theory that the patriarch Moses was under the influence of hallucinogens when he received the law. Specifically, he believes that a psychedelic cocktail similar to ayahuasca may explain Moses's vision of the burning bush: "In advanced forms of ayahuasca inebriation, the seeing of light is accompanied by profound religious and spiritual feelings".

Order Antipodes of the Mind: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0199252939

What force do bankers have on our society and government? Do the banks really control the world? Do global conspiracies really exist, or are these just traps of weak-minded, tin-hat wearing fools? If the conspiracies really do exist, then who benefits? Is the US Federal Reserve really a branch of the U.S. government? How is money created? What does the future hold for our economy and global politics?

Today I thought that I'd do a show that's entirely different than the usual format. This is very pertinent information to understanding what's going on right now in the U.S. (and the world) with Bush and Obama's bailouts, and how the entire thing is a scam to protect the bankers and milk the public through the hidden tax of inflation.

Today's guest is G. Edward Griffin, the author of The Creature from Jekyll Island.

This is a fantastic, detailed interview at 1 hour and 40 minutes, and I thank Edward for offering this show a longer and more detailed interview than he normally provides. So make sure you listen to the entire show.

G. Edward Griffin is a writer and documentary film producer with many successful titles to his credit. Listed in Who’s Who in America, he is well known because of his talent for researching difficult topics and presenting them in clear terms that all can understand. He has dealt with such diverse subjects as archaeology and ancient Earth history, the Federal Reserve System and international banking, terrorism, internal subversion, the history of taxation, U.S. foreign policy, the science and politics of cancer therapy, the Supreme Court, and the United Nations. His better-known works include The Creature from Jekyll Island, World without Cancer, The Discovery of Noah’s Ark, Moles in High Places, The Open Gates of Troy, No Place to Hide, The Capitalist Conspiracy, More Deadly than War, The Grand Design, The Great Prison Break, and The Fearful Master.

Mr. Griffin is a graduate of the University of Michigan where he majored in speech and communications. In preparation for writing his book on the Federal Reserve System, he enrolled in the College for Financial Planning located in Denver, Colorado. His goal was not to become a professional financial planner but to better understand the real world of investments and money markets. He obtained his CFP designation (Certified Financial Planner) in 1989.

Mr. Griffin is a recipient of the coveted Telly Award for excellence in television production, a Contributing Editor of The New American magazine, the creator of the Reality Zone Audio Archives, and is President of American Media, a publishing and video production company in Southern California. He has served on the board of directors of The National Health Federation and The International Association of Cancer Victors and Friends and is Founder and President of The Cancer Cure Foundation http://www.cancure.org. He is also the founder and president of Freedom Force International. www.freedom-force.org

Order The Creature from Jekyll Island: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0912986395

Is there such a thing as mental psychosis or neurosis? What impact do entheogens have on human maturation? What are the 10 lessons of psychedelic psychotherapy? What impact can psychedelics have on clinical practice? What is it like when the doctor asks to become the patient at Burning Man?

Today's guest is Dr. Neal Goldsmith.

Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist specializing in psychospiritual development and resistance to change. Seeing “neurosis” as the natural unfolding of human maturation, he views psychology as the science of personal emergence and spiritual maturity. With the exception of biologically-based diseases, such as schizophrenia, psychology is not about “mental illness” and so Dr. Goldsmith treats “neurosis” as spiritual immaturity, not pathology. In fact, he believes the “sick” label itself tightens and distorts, actually slowing healthy realignment.

Dr. Goldsmith applies innovative techniques drawn from many schools of thought and traditional practices, such as Psychosynthesis, Imago Relationship Therapy, regressive psychotherapies, Rogerian client-centered counseling, yoga psychology, and other humanistic, transpersonal and eastern traditions. He facilitates deep life review, awakening to personal history, and life planning, with a special focus on existential and midlife crisis and with young adults suffering from lack of direction or substance abuse. Dr. Goldsmith is particularly helpful with couples – many feeling “in-love” again after years of vicious cycles.

Dr. Goldsmith has a master’s degree in counseling from New York University and a Ph.D. in psychology from Claremont Graduate University, with an orientation toward “action science” in the tradition of Kurt Lewin. Dr. Goldsmith conducted his dissertation research, on the factors that facilitate or inhibit the successful utilization of mental health policy research, as a federally-funded doctoral research assistant at Princeton University. He was also deputy principal investigator of this four-year, nation-wide study of mental health policy research utilization.

Author of dozens of popular and scholarly articles, Dr. Goldsmith is a frequent speaker on spiritual emergence, resistance to change, transpersonal psychology, drug policy reform and the post-modern future of society. He has worked to improve the innovation process and facilitate the management of change, for companies such as American Express, AT&T and Gartner.

http://www.nealgoldsmith.com

The continuation of my interview with Alan Piper.

What evidence is there of Amanita muscaria mushroom and other drug use in Afghanistan? Did the Sufi employ psychoactive substances? What are the Moroccan goat men? Is there a possible link between intoxicating sacramental use of milk and Mohammed's landmark visionary experience through the seven heavens? How does the new evidence of prehistoric mushroom use in Europe affect current academic arguments against such use? Is there a link to the word 'marihuana' and the Chinese language?

My guest is the British independent scholar Alan Piper - an expert on psychoactive substances in ancient religions. In this two part series we'll be discussing Zoroastrianism, Sufism, Amanita muscaria - the fly-agaric mushroom, intoxicating milk and meat, new evidence of prehistoric mushroom use in Europe, the origins of the word "marihuana," and much more.

[Photo of Alan Piper and Prof. Carl A.P. Ruck at Cuenca, Spain, 2008]

Alan Piper was born in 1953 and like many others of his generation encountered psychedelic culture in his teenage years. His father undertook psychloytic therapy in the 1950s and so Alan grew up with the likes of Aldous Huxley and Henri Michaux on the family bookshelves, which were a point of reference for him in his own encounters with the psychedelic experience. Again, like many others of his generation, he moved away from psychedelics and into an exploration of eastern religions and hermetic philosophies, looking for a context for his entheogenic experiences. Laid off from a macobiotic food company in the 1980s Alan took the opportunity to take a degree course in the History of Ideas, partly as an opportunity to put the new religious movements which emerged from the 1960s into a cultural context. As part of his study of religious, philosophical and scientific ideas his undergraduate studies involved the study of historical method, the discipline of 'doing history'. The second wave of psychedelia, rave culture and entheogenic neo-shamanism, hit around the time of his graduation. The writings of Terence McKenna renewed Alan's interest in the entheogens and their role in human cultures. A couple of his early papers on entheogenic topics brought Alan in touch with members the community of entheogenic scholarship and he has been lucky to have had the support and encouragement of other members of that community and to share his explorations with them. Alan has attempted to apply the methodological disciplines learned as an undergraduate to his study of the role of plant drugs in religious history of mankind. However, he recognises that there are many ways to make of sense of history some more objective and some more subjective. All attempts to 'do history' involve both reason and the imagination and our history is the product of an interplay between the dream and necessities of everyday reality.

Alan has authored and co-authored the following papers:
• Esoteric Cosmologies
• The Mysterious Origins of the Word "Marihuana"
• The Tree of Life and the Milk of the Goat Heidrun
• Burāq depicted as Amanita muscaria in a Fifteenth Century Timurid Illuminated Manuscript

Today we'll be discussing Amanita muscaria - the Fly-agaric mushroom.

Why is Amanita so prevalent in folkloric, mythical and religious iconography? Why do Amanita mushrooms seem less ergonomic than other entheogens, and if they are less ergonomic, could they have played as prevalent a role in these ancient religions as modern scholars claim? Is there a special method or technique used to gain a fuller experience from the Amanita?

My guest is German author Wolfgang Bauer, co-author and co-editor of Der Fliegenpilz - The Fly-Mushroom: Dream Cults, March Magic, Mythical Intoxication.

Wolfgang Bauer, a German psychologist, who has studied optical illusions by Prof. Rausch at the J.W. Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt/ Main, is editor of Sergius Golowin’s classic treatise on witch herbs and magic mushrooms (Magie der verbotenen Märchen, Hamburg 1973), which became a cult-book in the Seventies and which was secretly copied in the then communistic eastern part of Germany and distributed in the hippie-underground there. Wolfgang Bauer is co-editor of integration - journal for mind-moving plants and culture, editor and co-author of Der Fliegenpilz - Traumkult, Märchenzauber, Mythenrausch (Aarau 2000). His collection of objects relating to the fly-agaric has been exhibited by the Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum (Hagen) several times in Museums in Europe.

http://www.amazon.de/Fliegenpilz-Wolfgang-Bauer/dp/3855026645
http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/3879092249

Today we'll be discussing parthenogenesis - divine birth, virgin birth. Is Christianity the only religion to have believed in the virgin birth of its religious leader? Or is this a theme that runs through nearly all ancient religions? What were the ancient practices of the divine birth cults? Where did these ancient beliefs come from? How do these ancient practices tie in to entheogens and astrotheology? Is parthenogenesis really possible?

My guest is Dr. Marguerite Rigoglioso, PhD, author of The Cult of Divine Birth in Ancient Greece - whose book is out today, April 27, 2009. I've had the fortune to have already read her book, and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in these areas of study.

Marguerite Rigoglioso [pronounced REGAL-yo-zo], Ph.D., is a member of the faculties of Dominican University of California, the California Institute of Integral Studies, and the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, where she teaches courses on women and religion. Her pioneering research on female deities and women’s religious leadership in the ancient Mediterranean world and beyond has appeared in various anthologies and journals, including Feminist Theology, The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, Societies of Peace, She Is Everywhere, Trivia, and the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, where her paper on the cult of Demeter and Persephone in Sicily received an honorable mention for the New Scholar Award. She is also the editor of Where to Publish Articles on Women’s Studies, Feminist Religious Studies, and Feminist/Womanist Topics.

http://cultofdivinebirth.com

Order The Cult of Divine Birth: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0230614779

Today’s guest is Prof. Em. Marlene Dobkin de Rios author of (amongst many books and articles) A Hallucinogenic Tea, Laced in Controversy, Ayahuasca in the Amazon and the United States. We discuss ayahuasca tourism, neo-shamanism, and the future of entheogenic studies.

What impact do the tourists to South America in seek of ayahausca have on the cultures there? Are "drug tourists" hurting themselves and the indigenous cultures? What dangers do ayahuasca tourists place themselves in?

Dr. Marlene Dobkin de Rios is a medical anthropologist and licensed psychotherapist. She has a B.A. in Psychology from Queens College of the City Universe of New York, a M. A. in Anthropology from New York University and a Ph.D. in medical anthropology from the University of California Riverside. She is Professor Emeritus of the Anthropology department at Cal State Fullerton. Her area of specialization as a researcher has been hallucinogens and culture. She is the author of several hundred scholarly articles and book chapters, including two recent works: "A Hallucinogenic Tea Laced with Controversy" (Praeger 2008) and a forthcoming autobiography, "The Hallucinogenic Journey of Dr. Marlene Dobkin de Rios. 45 Years with Shamans, Ayahuasqueros and Ethnobotanists," Inner Traditions (to be published October 2009).

Dr. de Rios conducted fieldwork in the Peruvian Amazon and Coast and with the Uniao do Vegetal church in Brazil. She has worked with ayahuasca healers in urban Peru and intensively with one healer, don Hilde who lived in Pucallpa, Peru. Her recent work has been focused on what we can learn from shamanic healing and she has applied that knowledge to work with Latino clients in psychotherapy.
www.marlenedobkinderios.com
http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0313345422

Today we discuss oo-koo-he, ayahuasca, habit and novelty theory, 2012, Terence McKenna, plant communication and the future of psychedelic research.

For the last thirty years, Dennis McKenna has pursued the interdisciplinary study of ethnopharmacology and plant hallucinogens. He is co-author, with his brother Terence, of The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I Ching (Seabury Press, 1975; Citadel Press, 1991), a philosophical and metaphysical exploration of the ontological implications of psychedelic drugs which resulted from the two brothers' early investigations of Amazonian hallucinogens in 1971. He received his doctorate in 1984 from the University of British Columbia. His doctoral research focused on ethnopharmacological investigations of the botany, chemistry, and pharmacology of ayahuasca and oo-koo-he, two orally-active tryptamine-based hallucinogens used by indigenous peoples in the Northwest Amazon. Following the completion of his doctorate, Dr. McKenna received post-doctoral research fellowships in the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology, National Institute of Mental Health, and in the Department of Neurology, Stanford University School of Medicine. In 1990, he joined Shaman Pharmaceuticals as Director of Ethnopharmacology. He joined the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota in 2001 as a Senior Lecturer and Research Associate. He is a founding board member and Vice-President of the Heffter Research Institute, a non-profit scientific organization dedicated to the investigation of therapeutic applications for psychedelic plants and compounds. He was a primary organizer and key scientific collaborator for the Hoasca Project, an international biomedical study of Hoasca, a psychoactive drink used in ritual contexts by indigenous peoples and syncretic religious groups in Brasil. He has conducted extensive ethnobotanical fieldwork in the Peruvian, Colombian, and Brasilian Amazon. He has served as invited speaker at numerous scientific congresses, seminars, and symposia. Dr. McKenna is author or co-author of over 40 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, European Journal of Pharmacology, Brain Research, Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Neurochemistry, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Economic Botany, and elsewhere.

http://www.csh.umn.edu/csh/about/centerstaff/mcKenna/home.html
http://www.heffter.org/pages/djm.html

Order Botanical Medicines: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0789012669
Order The Invisible Landscape http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0062506358

What do Snow White, Red Riding Hood, werewolves, ogres, fairies, Apollo, Wily Bears, dwarfs, Saint Anthony's fire, Bacchus and drugs have to do with each other? What are the origins of the ancient European myths, legends and fairy tales? Did Europe have an ancient history embedded in drug shamanism from where these stories originate? And what were the Eleusinian Mysteries? Has this area of study been suppressed in the U.S. by other scholars?

Professor Carl Ruck has been on this show before in podcast #001. He's just come back from Greece and Eleusis and he's here to talk about the ancient mysteries of Europe.

Professor Carl A.P. Ruck is one of the original founders of the fields of ethnomycology and ethnobotany. He was the primary contributor to the famed book The Road to Eleusis, now out in a 30th anniversary edition. He also contributed to Persephone's Quest with Gordon Wasson and Jonathan Ott. He's also co-authored books such as The World of Classical Myth: Gods and Goddesses, Heroines and Heroes, and Apples of Apollo: Pagan and Christian Mysteries of the Eucharist; and Sacred Mushrooms of the Goddess, and The Hidden World, and is also co-author of the upcoming book Mushrooms, Myth and Mithras: The Drug Cult that Civilized Europe. He invented the word ENTHEOGEN. He's also the professor of the Classics department at Boston University.

Order The Hidden World: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/1594601445

Today’s guest is Dr. Brian Akers the author of The Sacred Mushrooms of Mexico.

What were the mushroom traditions of ancient Mexico? Was there just one "mushroom cult"? Or were there diverse practices spread across many cultures? What were some of Gordon Wasson's most important contributions to ethnomycology? What is the importance of the mystic, or transpersonal experience? From mycology to anthropology to mystical experiences, this conversation is an intellectual feast.

Dr. Brian Akers earned his Ph.D. in Mycology from Southern Illinois University, specializing in mushrooms, especially the Lepiota group (parasol mushroom and allies), and also possesses a Masters in anthropology and a Bachelors in comparative religion from Western Michigan University. He is the author of "The Sacred Mushrooms of Mexico: Assorted Texts" (2007, Univ. Press of America), and a series of journal publications on fungi and ethnomycology. He served a ten year term as biology professor at several colleges and universities including University of Minnesota-Morris.

He was born and raised in Detroit and currently resides in the Tampa Bay area.

Order The Sacred Mushrooms of Mexico: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0761835822

Today’s guest is Dr. David Hillman, the author of The Chemical Muse – Drug Use and the Roots of Western Civilization.

Is Western Civilization built on ancient Roman and Greek use drugs? How available were drugs in Classical times? Have the ancient texts been translated so that references to drugs and their recreational use have been intentionally omitted or obfuscated? The generally accepted theory by most Classical scholars is that drugs were not used at all, except maybe for medication. But is that the truth?

Dr. Hillman has spent several years studying the original texts to find out what they really say. And what do they say? It appears that the ancient philosophers, poets and thinkers did most of their thinking under the influence of many different types of psychotropic drugs – and combinations thereof.

D.C.A. Hillman earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in Classics and an M.S. in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin. "The Chemical Muse: Drug Use and the Roots of Western Civilization" is the result of his doctoral research on ancient pharmacy. He believes in using an interdisciplinary approach to history as well as the sciences. As a molecular biologist trained to read Greek and Latin, he favors a scientific approach to the examination of ancient primary sources. He also believes in looking at Classical texts without allowing post-Classical (Christian) linguistic and cultural influences to alter the sense of the original languages. He appeared in the March edition of Reason Magazine, in an interview with Mike Riggs (http://www.reason.com/news/show/131409.html). He lives in Madison, Wisconsin with his family, where he continues his research and writing.
http://www.chemicalmuse.com/

Order The Chemical Muse: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0312352492

Today’s guest is Prof. Michael Winkelman from Arizona State University.

Are ritual and religion a part of human evolution? What are the benefits that religion and ritual provide humanity and society? Do other animals other than humans utilize ritualistic behavior? What part do psychedelic drugs play in human evolution? Has mankind outgrown any advantages in utilizing religion? today’s guest answers these questions, and many more.

Michael Winkelman earned his Ph.D. from the University of California-Irvine, and his M.P.H. (Master of Public Health) from the University of Arizona. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. He served as President of the Anthropology of Consciousness section of the American Anthropological Association, and was the founding President of its Anthropology of Religion Section. Winkelman has engaged in cross-cultural and interdisciplinary research on shamanism and altered states of consciousness for the past 30 years, focusing principally on the cross-cultural patterns of shamanism and identifying the associated biological bases of shamanic universals and altered states of consciousness. His principal publications on shamanism include Shamans, Priests and Witches (1992) and Shamanism: The Neural Ecology of Consciousness and Healing (2000). He has also addressed the role of psychedelic medicines in shamanism, developing neurophenomenological perspectives that link the experiences to the underlying physiological processes in his co-edited books Sacred Plants, Consciousness and Healing and Psychedelic Medicine. He has also addressed the relationships of healing and religious practices in his edited books Divination and Healing and Pilgrimages and Healing. His recent book with John Baker-- Supernatural as Natural: A Biocultural Approach to Religion-- addresses the evolutionary origins and biological bases of religion.
http://www.michaelwinkelman.com

Order Supernatural as Natural: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0131893033

Are Christianity and the story of Jesus based on more ancient sun worshiping religions? Does the story of Jesus have its roots in Horus, the ancient Egyptian Sun god? Today we’ll be discussing Acharya’s brand new book – Christ in Egypt. Those of you who think Zeitgeist part 1 and Acharya’s work have been debunked, get out your library cards, because you’re going to have some homework to do.

D.M. Murdock, a.k.a. Acharya S, gained expertise in several religions, as well as knowledge about other esoterica and mystical subjects. She is the author of several books, including: The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold, Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled, Who Was Jesus: Fingerprints of The Christ and Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection.

An independent scholar, she majored in Classics and Greek civilization at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She has also served as a trench master on archaeological excavations in Corinth, Greece, and Connecticut, USA. She's a member of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece.
Visit: www.truthbeknown.com and www.stellarhousepublishing.com

Order Christ in Egypt: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0979963117
Order Who Was Jesus? http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0979963109

Do psychedelic drugs have the ability to increase or expand intelligence? What is the difference between multi-state versus single-state intelligence? Why is it important to think about thinking; and what is placebo ability?

Thomas B. Roberts (Ph.D. Stanford) investigates mindbody states for the leads they provide for learning, cognition, intelligence, creativity, mental health, psychological processes, and abilities that may reside in them as portrayed in his book Psychedelic Horizons. He specializes in entheogenic (spiritual) uses of psychedelics and is the editor of Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on Entheogens and Religion. His online archive Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy excerpts over 550 books, dissertations, and topical issues of journals. First taught in 1981, his course Foundations of Psychedelic Studies at Northern Illinois University is the first such catalog listed course worldwide. He originated the celebration of Bicycle Day to commemorate Albert Hofmann's first intentional psychedelic experience.

Order Psychedelic Horizons: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/1845400410
Order Psychoactive Sacramentals: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/1889725021

In the original 1978 edition of The Road to Eleusis by R. Gordon Wasson, Dr. Albert Hoffman (the inventor of LSD) and Prof. Carl Ruck of Boston University, a proposal was made that the sacred (and secret) drink called kykeon of the Greek Eleusinian Mysteries was derived from Ergot. In this book Dr. Hoffman proposed that the Greeks could have used simple water extraction from Ergot to make an LSD-like substance that would account for the strong effects of the kykeon. However, over the decades since the book went to print, many people have tested Dr. Hoffman’s theories and were unable to make the drink psychoactive to the degree first proposed. But recent discoveries have been made by today’s guest that may correct and corroborate Hofmann’s original proposal.

In 1992 Terence McKenna published a book called Food of the Gods which made the claim that psychedelics, and especially Psilocybe mushrooms, were the catalyst for human evolution. But more than 15 years has passed since McKenna first published this book. How well as his proposal stood the test of time? Peter Webster will provide an updated and corrected proposal that goes far beyond McKenna’s original ideas.

Peter Webster started researching psychedelics in Mexico in 1968, became an underground chemist producing LSD in small quantities for a network of friends, but retired from such as activities as the 1960s ideals melted away in the 1970s. He took a vacation from psychedelic research to run a yacht-charter business in the Mediterranean and Red Sea during the late 70s and 80s, finally settled down in Southern France in the late 80s to take up matters psychedelic once again. Peter began writing drug policy articles for the International Journal of Drug Policy and other publications, and working on a general theory of psychedelic experience. He created The Psychedelic Library http://www.psychedelic-library.org/ in the early days of the internet, first as a branch of http://www.druglibrary.org/. Parts of his General Theory project then appeared at the website and elsewhere, one part as a suggested solution to the problem of Eleusis and its psychedelic potion, published first in the journal ELEUSIS (recently published in the 30th Anniversary edition of The Road to Eleusis), and a second part as a theory of how psychedelics influenced the emergence of modern man. Both of these subjects were then presented in lectures at the 2006 Basel Switzerland Hofmann Celebration. Recently Peter started a complete re-write of the General Theory with a view to publication in hard copy.

What do we get when a former pastor, former assistant pastor, former minister, and former member of the Cornell University Chaplains' Staff decides to question the historicity of Jesus and the Gospels?

Ernest Werner, today’s amazing guest, argues that a non-historical Jesus cannot be disproved.

Ernest has provided us a fascinating understanding of the way in which the gospel writers weave history, myth, folklore and legend into one of the world's greatest masterpieces. And for someone coming from the background he does; not only a former believer, but church leader, he’s written one of the most courageous and openly self reflective pieces I've ever come across. It takes a lot of openness, honesty and bravery to do what Werner has done, which is to say that he's questioned and changed his own mind about his own religious devotion and belief.

He’s the author of Rod of Jesse – On Jesus of the Gospels and Doubt of his Existence. Jan. 2008

www.rodofjesse.com
http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0979942403

What if everything you were ever told by the government and doctors about marijuana was a lie? What if, instead of Marijuana causing cancer or brain damage, it actually cured it and generated new cells? What if our government had known this since the 1970s, but intentionally suppressed it and kept cannabis outlawed anyway?

Today I play two interviews. One with the father of the hemp movement, Jack Herer, who is the author of the famed best selling book The Emperor Wears No Clothes: Hemp and the Conspiracy Against Marijuana. www.jackherer.com Jack has, for over 30 years, been teaching the world about industrial hemp and medical marijuana and offers $100,000 to prove him wrong. He’s been fully or partially responsible for the return of industrial hemp to over 50 nations. If you know the word hemp, you likely learned it either directly or indirectly from Jack. Jack has also studied the history of mushrooms in Judeo-Christianity for more than 25 years, so we’ll also be discussing his work on mushrooms in Christianity, and his upcoming book The Most High. Jack suffered a stroke in 2000 and was expected to never walk or talk again. Through the use of copious amounts of Cannabis, as well as the use of both Amanita and psilocybe mushrooms, he not only speaks today, but walks and is also able to drive.

I also interview Canada’s Rick Simpson who runs Phoenix Tears and was involved in the creation of an amazing documentary film called Run From the Cure. Rick has made an amazing discovery based on old (and new) research that was mostly suppressed back in the 1970s. But in the back of Rick’s mind he remembered a radio host discussing the fact that THC shrinks tumor cells from a show 30 years prior. Recalling this information, Rick set out to test Cannabis bud essential oil extract (that he calls Hemp Oil) on his own skin cancer. And to his amazement, less than a week later his skin tumors disappeared. Since then Rick has been teaching people how they can treat and cure their own cancer. But why is this information not headline news? And why is the Canadian government trying to prosecute him – for curing people?

As we’ll find out, millions of jobs and billions of dollars are made on from a completely bogus cancer treatment industry - where more people are killed than cured.

Jack Herer – The Emperor of Hemp
www.jackherer.com

Phoenix Tears – Rick Simpson’s Run From the Cure
Canadian documentary film on the efficacy of Marijuana THC essential oil extract cancer cures. www.phoenixtears.ca

Do you have cancer? Present the following information to your doctor and then ask why he’s not treating you with Cannabis.

THC / Cannabis as cancer cure studies:

Study Indicates THC May Eradicate Brain Tumors
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4101

Seth Group: Nontoxic Dose of Delta9-THC Kills Human Brain Tumor Cells
http://www.sethgroup.org/featured_experiment.html

Antineoplastic activity of cannabinoids
http://www.ukcia.org/research/AntineoplasticActivityOfCannabinoids/default.html

Cannabinoids in pancreatic cancer: Correlation with survival and pain
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/116331134/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

Dr. Robert J. Melamede Ph.D. Chairman of the Biology Department of the University of Colorado: Conducting Scientific research on Cannabinoids
http://www.uccs.edu/~rmelamed/Homepage/endocannabinoids_and_medica.html
http://www.uccs.edu/~rmelamed/Evolutionism/medical_uses_of_cannabinoid_2/
http://www.uccs.edu/~rmelamed/Evolutionism/medical_uses_of_cannabinoid_2/cancer/

Cannabinoids protect against sunburn and skin cancer because of the CB1 receptors in our skin.
http://www.thc-ministry.net/cannabisinfo.htm

Unlocking a Cure for Cancer – With Pot
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/armentano-p1.html

THC to cure skin cancer?
Well, not just skin cancer. It has been documented, even videotaped (www.sethgroup.org) that THC from the cannabis plant attacks cancerous and mutated cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed
http://www.whfhhc.com/Skin-Cancer/145529.htm

One fascinating aspect of Dr. Manuel Guzman’s work is that, as the tumors being treated are in brain (nerve) tissue, the neuroprotective properties of THC become extremely important. Whereas most cancer treatments cause damage to surrounding tissue (especially crucial in the brain), THC treatments actually protect adjacent non-cancerous nerve tissue.

Anti-Cancer Properties of THC - Research in Print:
[1] Parolaro and Massi. 2008. Cannabinoids as a potential new drug therapy for the treatment of gliomas. Expert Reviews of Neurotherapeutics 8: 37-49
[2] Guzman et al. 2006. A pilot clinical study of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme. British Journal of Cancer.
[3] Galanti et al. 2007. Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits cell cycle progression in human glioblastoma multiforme cells. Acta Oncologica 12: 1-9.
[4] Calatozzolo et al. 2007. Expression of cannabinoid receptors and neurotrophins in human gliomas. Neurological Sciences 28: 304-310.
[5] Cannabinoids selectively inhibit proliferation and induce death of cultured human glioblastoma multiforme cells. Journal of Neurooncology. 2005
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16078104?dopt=Citation
[6] Cannabinoids and cancer. Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry. 2005
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/mrmc/2005/00000005/00000010/art00006
[7] The endogenous cannabinoid, anandamide, induces cell death in colorectal carcinoma cells. Gut. 2005 http://gut.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/54/12/1741
[8] Cannabinoid receptor as a novel target for the treatment of prostate cancer. Cancer Research. 2005 http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/65/5/1635
[9] Antitumor effects of cannabidiol, a nonpsychoactive cannabinoid, on human glioma cell lines. Journal of Pharmacology And Experimental Therapeutics. 2004
http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/jpet.103.061002v1
[10] Cannabinoids inhibit the vascular endothelial growth factor pathway in gliomas. Cancer Research. 2004 http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/64/16/5617
[11] Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) inhibits lytic replication of gamma oncogenic herpesviruses in vitro. BMJ Medicine. 2004
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/2/34/abstract
[12] Cannabinoids: potential anticancer agents. Nature Reviews Cancer. 2003
http://americanmarijuana.org/Guzman-Cancer.pdf
[13] Inhibition of tumor angiogenesis by cannabinoids. The FASEB Journal. 2003
http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/full/17/3/529
[14] Inhibition of skin tumor growth and angiogenesis in vivo by activation of cannabinoid receptors. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2003
http://www.jci.org/articles/view/16116/version/1
[15] Anti-tumoral action of cannabinoids: involvement of sustained ceramide accumulation and extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation. Nature Medicine. 2000
http://www.annieappleseedproject.org/anacofcanrat.html
[16] Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol induces apoptosis in C6 glioma cells. FEBS Letters. 1998 http://www.febsletters.org/article/PIIS0014579398010850/abstract
[17] The endogenous cannabinoid anandamide inhibits human breast cancer cell proliferation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. 1998
[18] Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Studies of 1 trans-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in F344N/N Rats and BC63F1 Mice. National Institutes of Health National Toxicology Program, NIH Publication No. 97-3362. 1996.
[19] Antineoplastic activity of cannabinoids. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 1975 http://www.ukcia.org/research/AntineoplasticActivityOfCannabinoids/default.html

Recent Research on Medical Marijuana
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7002

Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol-Induced Apoptosis in Jurkat Leukemia T Cells Is Regulated by Translocation of Bad to Mitochondria
http://mcr.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/4/8/549

Anti-tumoral action of cannabinoids: Involvement of sustained ceramide accumulation and extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation
http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v6/n3/fig_tab/nm0300_313_F1.html

Order The Emperor Wears No Clothes: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/1878125028

In this episode I break all of the rules. It is not (directly) about religion, entheogens, ancient mysteries or shamanism. But it is about the expansion of our (collective) consciousness.

First I interview Dr. John Loftus, J.D., the former top US Justice Dept Prosecutor under the Carter and Reagan administrations about the history of Bush family crimes such as the funding the Nazis, as well as the US involvement in the creation of Al-Qaeda. www.john-loftus.com

Next I read an article I wrote back in 1997 - The True Definitions of Liberal, Leftist and Conserviative. The word is one of the most misused in the English lexicon, and since it repeatedly comes up, why not address it?
http://www.gnosticmedia.com/liberal.html

Then we’ll hear from Prof. Michel Chossudovsky on the Israeli invasion of Gaza. And then the audio from the documentary film The War Crimes of Henry Kissenger.

And finally we'll hear from Harold Pinter from his 2005 acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize. Pinter died on Christmas eve, 2008.

No show on entheogens and shamanism can go without a discussion on the religious use of Cannabis. In this episode I interview one of pioneering researchers into the ancient sacramental use of Cannabis (aka "Marijuana") - Chris Bennett.

Chris Bennett is the co-author of Green Gold the Tree of Life: Marijuana in Magic and Religion (1995), and Sex, Drugs, Violence and the Bible. He has written articles on the history of cannabis for High Times, Cannabis Culture and other magazines and managed www.pot.tv from 2000-2005. For samples of his writing, interviews, video and audio, Book excerpts, reviews and more see www.forbiddenfruitpublishing.com

What do beer and alcohol have to do with gnosis and shamanism? Everything. In fact, they are a major part of understanding the ancient mysteries and religions – like the ancient and heavily psychoactive beer made by the Catholic brewers – Gruit, and the aqua vitae.

And were the German and other beer purity laws, the Reinheitsgebot, created to keep the beer pure? Or were they laws created by the protestants to keep psychoactive plants out?

Did the white man bring alcohol to the New World? Or were shamans brewing for centuries?

In this episode I interview Stephen Buhner, who is, in my opinion, one of the world’s leading experts in this field. Buhner is author of, amongst many other books, Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation.

Stephen Harrod Buhner is an Earth poet and the award-winning author of ten books on nature, indigenous cultures, the environment, and herbal medicine. He comes from a long line of healers including Leroy Burney, Surgeon General of the United States under Eisenhower and Kennedy, and Elizabeth Lusterheide, a midwife and herbalist who worked in rural Indiana in the early nineteenth century. The greatest influence on his work, however, has been his great-grandfather C.G. Harrod who primarily used botanical medicines, also in rural Indiana, when he began his work as a physician in 1911.

Stephen's work has appeared or been profiled in publications throughout North America and Europe including Common Boundary, Apotheosis, Shaman's Drum, The New York Times, CNN, and Good Morning America. Stephen lectures yearly throughout the United States on herbal medicine, the sacredness of plants, the intelligence of Nature, and the states of mind
necessary for successful habitation of Earth.
He is a tireless advocate for the reincorporation of the exploratory artist, independent scholar, amateur naturalist, and citizen scientist in American society - especially as a counterweight to the influence of corporate science and technology.
His most recent works are
The Secret Teachings of Plants:
The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature
(Bear and Company, 2004)

Healing Lyme: Natural Healing and Prevention of Lyme Borrelosis and its related Co-infections
(Raven Press, June 2005)
http://www.gaianstudies.org

Order Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0937381667

In May 2006 a Johns Hopkins University study on psilocybin (the active ingredient in Psilocybe varieties of mushrooms) was published stating that the religious experience had been proven through the use of the active ingredient in psilocybe mushrooms. The article by Dr. Roland Griffiths, et al, is titled: ‘Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance’. It found that:

"…when administered to volunteers under supportive conditions, psilocybin occasioned experiences similar to spontaneously occurring mystical experiences and which were evaluated by volunteers as having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance."

A follow-up study by Dr. Griffiths, et al, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology in July 2008 confirmed the first study’s findings. It found that:

"At the 14-month follow-up, 58% and 67%, respectively, of volunteers rated the psilocybin-occasioned experience as being among the five most personally meaningful and among the five most spiritually significant experiences of their lives; 64% indicated that the experience increased well-being or life satisfaction; 58% met criteria for having had a ‘complete’ mystical experience. Correlation and regression analyses indicated a central role of the mystical experience assessed on the session day in the high ratings of personal meaning and spiritual significance at follow-up. Of the measures of personality, affect, quality of life and spirituality assessed across the study, only a scale measuring mystical experience showed a difference from screening. When administered under supportive conditions, psilocybin occasioned experiences similar to spontaneously occurring mystical experiences that, at 14-month follow-up, were considered by volunteers to be among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant of their lives."

I’m happy to present the author of these studies – Professor Roland Griffiths from Johns Hopkins University.

A 2.5 hour whopper of an interview.

In this episode I interview Dr. Stanislav Grof, the world's foremost expert on LSD research, as well as one of the original founders of the field of Transpersonal Psychology.

Is everything you know about LSD and other psychedelic drugs mass hysteria and propaganda?

This is one of the most eye-opening interviews I've done to date.

Stanislav Grof’s professional career has covered a period of over 50 years in which his primary interest has been research of the heuristic and therapeutic potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness. This included initially four years of laboratory research of psychedelics - LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, and tryptamine derivatives - (1956-1960) and fourteen years of research of psychedelic psychotherapy. He spent seven of these years (1960-1967) as Principal Investigator of the psychedelic research program at the Psychiatric Research Institute in Prague, Czechoslovakia. This was followed by seven years of research of psychedelic psychotherapy in the United States.

The first two of these years, he worked as Clinical and Research Fellow at The Johns Hopkins University and in the Research Unit of the Spring Grove State Hospital in Baltimore, MD. The following five years, he held the position of Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. In this capacity he headed for several years the last surviving official research project of psychedelic therapy in the USA.

From 1973 until 1987, he was Scholar-in-Residence at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, where he developed jointly with his wife Christina a powerful non-drug form of self-exploration and psychotherapy that they call Holotropic Breathwork. They have used this method in workshops and in professional training in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. They have also worked with many individuals undergoing spontaneous episodes of non-ordinary states of consciousness, psychospiritual crises or “spiritual emergencies.”

See: http://www.stanislavgrof.com/
Order LSD Psychotherapy: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/096600194X

This episode focuses on the Gnostics. Who were the Gnostics and what did they believe? I’ll be interviewing John Lamb Lash, the author of Not In His Image – Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, And the Future of Belief.

Comparative mythologist, author and teacher John Lash is one of the foremost exponents of the power of myth to direct and shape an individual’s life, as well as history itself. Described as the true successor of Joseph Campbell, John is a teacher of world mythology, Tantra, Buddhism, Gnosticism, the pre-Christian Mysteries, alchemy, astrology, and naked-eye astronomy. He had traveled widely throughout the world and lived in Japan, the UK, Greece, Norway, France, Spain and Belgium. He lives in Europe.

For over 35 years, Lash has specialized in studies of sidereal mythology -- myths found in all cultures around the world relating to the patterns in the skies. He has a unique technique of observation, combined with as original method of reading those patterns and relating them to the way we live and view the world. He is recognized as a leading scholar on ancient astronomy, the Zodiac, and precession of the equinoxes (World Ages).

Order Not in His Image: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/193149892X

http://www.metahistory.org/

What is the future of psychedelic research and what has been discovered so far? I interview Rick Doblin, Ph.D., the founder of MAPS - the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and president of MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies), which he founded in 1986. His dissertation (in Public Policy, at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government) was on "The Regulation of the Medical Use of Psychedelics and Marijuana," and his master's thesis (Harvard) focused on the attitudes and experiences of oncologists concerning the medical use of marijuana. His undergraduate thesis (New College of Florida) was a twenty-five year follow-up to the classic Good Friday Experiment, which evaluated the potential of psychedelic drugs to catalyze religious experiences. He has also conducted a thirty-four year follow-up study to Tim Leary's Concord Prison experiment.
Doblin has also studied with Stan Grof, M.D., and was in the first group to become certified as holotropic breathwork practitioners. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise "healthy" people, and to also become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. He currently resides in Boston with his wife and three young children.

See www.maps.org for more information.

The conclusion of my interview with Dr. James DeMeo (Podcast #007), author of Saharasia - The 4000 BCE Origins of Child Abuse, Sex-Repression, Warfare and Social Violence in the Deserts of the Old World. What do sexual suppression, social violence, rape, child molestation, circumcision and warfare have to do with one another? You will be surprised.

Order Saharasia: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0962185558

In our continuing investigation into the modern phenomenon of the New Age 2012 movement, I’m going to interview John Major Jenkins to discuss his work in his book Maya Cosmogenisis 2012. Last month in Podcast #004 - The 2012 Meme, I interviewed Prof. John Hoopes, who refuted the majority of the 2012 movement. However, Hoopes separated Jenkins’ work apart from the others in the 2012 movement, challenging some of Jenkins’ positions, while supporting others and calling Jenkins to publish his findings academically. Here Jenkins roles up his academic sleeves and is provided the full opportunity to answer to Hoopes’ criticisms, as well as fire off some of his own attacks on the 2012 movement.

John Major Jenkins has been researching Maya culture and cosmology since the 1980s. While undertaking careful archeo-astronomical investigations of ancient Maya sites, he was inspired in his work by living and working with the contemporary highland Maya. His pioneering books are internationally recognized and include Maya Cosmogenesis 2012, Galactic Alignment, and Unlocking the Secrets of 2012. They document and explore the relationships between the 2012 cycle-ending of the Maya calendar and astronomy, prophecy, and spiritual teachings. John believes it is possible to reconstruct and give voice to the ancient wisdom, addressing both spiritual and scientific considerations. Recently appointed a National Fellow member of Sir Edmund Hillary’s prestigious Explorer Club for his work at Izapa, the origin place of the 2012 calendar, Jenkins has taught at conferences and universities throughout the United States, as well as in Central America, Mexico, Canada, and Europe. His work has been featured in many documentaries and on The History Channel, the BBC, and the Discovery Channel.

See: http://alignment2012.com/
Order Maya Cosmogenesis 2012: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/1879181487

What do sexual suppression, social violence, rape, child molestation, circumcision and warfare have to do with one another? You'll be surprised. In this two part episode with Dr. James DeMeo we're going to dig down into the deepest suppressed resources of the human psyche to find out. The information presented in this episode is essential for those who wish to understand the origins of human violence and aggression and what we can do to end it.

James DeMeo, Ph.D., formally studied the Earth, atmospheric, and environmental/social sciences at Florida International University and the University of Kansas, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1986. At KU, he openly undertook graduate-level natural scientific research specifically focused upon Wilhelm Reich's controversial discoveries, subjecting those ideas to rigorous testing with positive verification of the original findings. DeMeo has undertaken field research in the arid American Southwest, Egypt, Israel, sub-Saharan Eritrea, and Namibia, Africa. His published works include dozens of articles and compendiums, and several books, including Saharasia, The Orgone Accumulator Handbook, On Wilhelm Reich and Orgonomy and Heretic's Notebook. He is also co-editor for the German-language compendium Nach Reich, and editor of the journal Pulse of the Planet. DeMeo served on the Faculty of Geography at Illinois State University and the University of Miami, is a former Research Associate of the American College of Orgonomy, and is on the Advisory Board for the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC), and the Natural Philosophy Alliance (NPA). He founded the Orgone Biophysical Research Lab and Greenspring Center in rural Ashland, Oregon, holding the post of Director since 1978.

See www.saharasia.com
Order Saharasia: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0962185558

In this show we take a journey to the dark side - the dark side of shamanism - in our interview with Prof. Neil Whitehead, who was the victim of a Kanaima, or dark shaman attack in Guyana.

This show focuses on countering the New Age presentations of "shamanism" in western culture, and seeks to create balance, as well as educate about the dangers of dark shamanism - and the ignorance thereof.

Neil Whitehead is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He graduated from Oxford University in 1984 with a Ph.D. in Anthropology.

His books include:

Hans Staden’s True History: An Account of Cannibal Captivity in Brazil ed. By Neil Whitehead and Michael Harbsmeier, June 2008. Order: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0822342316

Terror and Violence - Anthropological Approaches (ed with Andrew Strathern and Pamela Stewart, Pluto Press), 2005. Order: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0745323987

In Darkness and Secrecy. The Anthropology of Assault Sorcery and Witchcraft in Amazonia. (ed. with Robin Wright) Duke University Press, 2004. Order: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0822333457

Dark Shamans. Kanaima and the Poetics of Violent Death. Duke University Press, 2002. Order: http://astore.amazon.com/gnosmedi-20/detail/0822329883

Charles S. Grob, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine and Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He conducted the first government-approved study of MDMA, and was the principal investigator of an international biomedical psychiatric research project in the Brazilian Amazon of the brew, ayahuasca. He is currently conducting an investigation of the effects of psilocybin on anxiety in cancer patients. Dr. Grob has published numerous articles in medical and psychiatric journals and collected volumes, and is the editor of Hallucinogens: A Reader. He is a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute.

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