the real dangers of Dominionism

Yesterday, Michiko Kakutani reviewed right wing "intellectual" Dinesh D'Souza's new book, which blames the "Cultural Left" for 9-11. Kakutani dismissed the book's arguments as "absurd" and "preposterous," which entirely misses the point, and ignores why this work, and others like it, need to be considered seriously by those of us who consider ourselves progressive, liberal, or Leftist.

An alternative perspective is presented in Chris Hedges' new book on the Dominionist movement, "American Fascists". Hedges is extremely worried that the Christian right could be planning to seize power in the US due to a terrorist attack, series of environmental catastrophes, or an economic meltdown. This would allow them to institute policies of "punishment, detention and quarantining" of groups that they find objectionable. Recent US history does not make this seem out of the question, especially the abuses of the Executive Branch. Mainstream reviewers have attacked Hedges' book as implausible, but certainly it is best, at the very least, to be forewarned of such possibilities in advance. Halliburton has recently received over $300 million to construct "detention centers" within the US (news.pacificnews.org/news/vi...cle.html that could be used for internment in a situation of martial law.

A greater awareness of this possibility could, potentially, help to avoid it happening in reality.

Hedges' perspective is that tolerance cannot be extended to the intolerant. This is perhaps a central paradox of the modern Democratic state. If the intolerant are given sufficient latitude to preach hate and violence, they may attract followers who will do their bidding. It would be inspiring to see progressives develop and implement overarching strategies for defusing the culture of hate and intolerance, perhaps launching sophisticated campaigns through the media, using identity politics and the spread of effective "memes" for defusing ideologies of violence. As Hedges notes in a recent article from Alternet, the basis of the success of the Christian Right is the "growing personal and economic despair of tens of millions of Americans," caused by the abandonment of the Working Class, exacerbated by economic policies enacted during the Clinton and Gore years.

Hedges' piece: www.alternet.org/story/46908/

High Times article on a recent talk I gave in NYC

This article on a talk I gave was published in High Times in February:

www.drugwar.com/pinchbeckhtimes.shtm

"Prophet Motive"

Hi folks,

I wanted to alert everyone to my new column, “Prophet Motive”, appearing in Conscious Choice Magazine in Chicago, and its affiliates in Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco. The column is also on-line here:

consciouschoice.com

consciouschoice.com/2007/02/...0702.html

The magazine are local giveaways that have just been revamped and made sexier, more relevant, political, and exciting.


The San Francisco affiliate is Common Ground (their new issue is on sexuality and Tantra, and spiritual communities in SF based around sexuality):
commongroundmag.com/

The LA affiliate is Whole Life Times:
wholelifetimes.com/

here is the text of the column:

The Open Hand
By Daniel Pinchbeck
Traditionally, writers have the job of defining the zeitgeist, but that task has never been as difficult as it is today. While this seems a singular and remarkable moment in human history, there is something indefinable about it. The weather is certainly strange—I live in New York City, where temperatures in early January remain about fifteen degrees above normal, and spring flowers started to bloom before Christmas. The political situation is most definitely peculiar—our military engages in a senseless campaign that has lasted longer than World War II, with hundreds of billions of dollars spent on spreading death and misery. We read about icebergs breaking up and a frightening lack of fish in the seas, yet there is plenty of ice for our drinks, and caviar is making a comeback.

We swim in new psychic waters. We may understand, to a greater or lesser degree, that global civilization has hit the resource limits of the biosphere, but such a general foreboding is useless. We can recycle light bulbs or build a green roof. These gestures are meaningful, but they seem almost farcical compared to the magnitude of the problem. The contradictions between our intentions and our actions are almost head-splitting.

My perspective is that we are experiencing an accelerated evolution of human consciousness. Right now, we find ourselves in an awkward transition between steadier states. For the last centuries, a limited form of scientific rationality ruled the modern world, a mindset that denied intuitive thought and saw nature as an enemy to be conquered. We developed technologies that embodied our sense of alienation and isolation. Many of us are now reaching a different perspective. As we make connections between quantum physics and Eastern mysticism, we realize we live in a participatory universe, with no place for an objective observer. Intuition is not irrational, but arational—it is the way our mind processes the overload of information that doesn’t enter our conscious filter.

My own quest for understanding led me from being a somewhat embittered New York journalist to hitting a massive spiritual crisis in the late 1990s. In the throes of existential despair, I remembered my psychedelic experiences from college, and decided to pursue the subject as a journalist. I took an assignment to undergo a tribal initiation in Gabon, in West Africa, where I ate a visionary rootbark, iboga (also known as ibogaine). I traveled to the Amazon in Ecuador to drink ayahuasca—a hallucinatory potion—with the Secoya Indians, and visited the Mazatecs in Mexico, who preserve a sacred culture using mushrooms.

The results of these investigations, and more, are recorded in my first book, Breaking Open the Head, which described my shift over time from cynical materialism to an acceptance of other dimensions and occult aspects of the psyche. By the end, I had plunged into Carl Jung, Rudolf Steiner, Walter Benjamin, Carlos Castaneda and many more, in an attempt to figure out what was going on. For my second book, 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, I investigated the nature of prophecy, particularly the sacred calendar kept by the Classical Mayans in the Yucatan, which completes a “Great Cycle” of more than 5,000 years in the year 2012. Most modern people find it far-fetched that a non-technological and myth-based civilization, such as the Maya, might have developed a different system of knowledge that is more advanced than our own, in certain respects. In 2012, I conclude that this is possible.

Somehow, from over a thousand years ago, the Maya predicted that this time would be crucial for humanity—and, indeed, it is. In the next few years, I believe that we are either going to slide into chaos, or institute a new planetary culture based on compassion and rational use of resources. The second option requires a quantum leap in consciousness—but, as I argued in 2012, our entire history has prepared us for that leap, when we view it from a certain perspective.

It has been exactly forty years since the heyday of the 1960s. That epoch could be viewed as an attempted voyage of initiation for the modern world. Today, we have embarked upon a new phase of the initiatory journey begun a generation ago—with the opportunity to avoid the tactical mistakes, strident statements and polarizations of the past. Increasing numbers of people pursue spiritual practices, such as yoga and shamanism, with disciplined intensity. Perhaps, with an inchoate sense of foreknowledge, many people are preparing themselves for the transformation just ahead.

If some elements of the 1960s are returning, they are doing so without the oppositional anger of the past. The open hand, offering friendship and reconciliation, has replaced the raised-fist symbol of old-style activism. In this column, I will offer my perspective on this on-going process of transformation, which has both psychic and physical dimensions. With its tremendous pressures and opportunities, I consider this the most exciting time to be alive in the history of our species, and I look forward to exploring it with all of you.

Daniel Pinchbeck is the author of Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism (Broadway Books, 2002) and 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl (Tarcher/Penguin, 2006). His features have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Wired and many other publications

probably means i will soon be "out"...

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...t-list/

upcoming events

Upcoming 2012 events

January 20, 7:30 pm
Mindbender at Sundance Film Festival
MindBender
An Exploration of the Mind

Park City, Utah
7:30 Doors Open
8:00 THE PREMIERE SCREENING of "Entheogen"
9:00 Panel discussion with Dr. Ralph Metzner & Daniel Pinchbeck
10:00 ILloom
12:00 BASSNECTAR
2:00 Rendr 801
3:00 DJUnYa

$15 for Film and Panel Discussion
$20 for BASSNECTAR and Afterparty
$30 for Film, Panel Discussion and BASSNECTAR
Visionary art by Carey Thompson and Martin Stensaas
Tickets on sale at: Orion Music in Park City 435.649.1850
Orion Music in Salt Lake CIty 801.531.8181
ONLINE Tickets at tickets.bassnectar.net
The Event will be at the Yarrow Hotel in Park City
1800 Park Avenue, Park City, Utah 435.649.7000
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT : www.funartsexhibits.com/mindbender

January 25,

The Ayahuasca Monologues: Tales of the Spirit Vine

Five dynamic storytellers will describe their visionary experiences with ayahuasca, the renowned sacred brew of the Amazon. For centuries, shamans have drunk this powerful concoction to heal illness, obtain mystical insights, contact spirit guides, and explore magical worlds. Hear of experiences both miraculous and terrifying when Westerners access ayahuasca's incredible gifts. Q & A session to follow. Proceeds benefit the web blog, Souldish.com <Souldish.com> .

Featuring:
Daniel Pinchbeck - author of Breaking Open The Head: Psychedelics and Contemporary Shamanism and 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl
Jamye Waxman - sexplorer, Playgirl sex advice columnist, "Sex and Spirit" podcaster
Nat Bletter – ethnobotanist
Bill Kennedy – actor/storyteller and ayahuasca guardian
Jonathan Phillips - founder of the NYC Gnostics, executive editor of Souldish.com <Souldish.com>
Thurs, Jan. 25th, 7:30p
Eyebeam, 540 W. 21st St. btw 10th & 11th Ave. $10

**

Friday, February 2, 8 PM
Reading at THE RACONTEUR
2012: THE RETURN OF QUETZALCOATL
Daniel Pinchbeck
Reading/Signing/Discussion
free


The Raconteur
A Damn Fine Bookstore
431 Main Street, Metuchen
732-906-0009
www.raconteurbooks.com

**
Saturday, February 24
2-4pm

The Mirabai Workshop Series
Winter 2007

Integrating the Visionary Experience
A workshop with author Daniel Pinchbeck (2012: Return of the Quetzacoatl; Breaking Open the Head)

Join Daniel Pinchbeck, author of Mirabai’s number one best-selling title for 2006, 2012: Return of the Quetzacoatl, as we explore how to incorporate and communicate visionary experiences to the world. Personal experiences of visionary states and non-ordinary forms of consciousness can be extremely challenging, both during and after the fact. One can feel flooded by new ideas and inspirations, overwhelmed by contact with archetypal realms within the psyche, or shocked by intensities of psychological revelation. In this workshop, we will discuss mechanisms and methods for integrating such experiences. We will focus on writing and art as tools for expressing to others, as well as discovering for oneself, the meaning of transpersonal explorations. Participants will have the opportunity to share samples of their work with the group.

Cost: $25 if registered and prepaid by Feb. 22nd; $30 if registering after the 22nd.

Mirabai of Woodstock
23 Mill Hill Road · Woodstock, NY 12498
(845) 679-2100
www.mirabai.com

**

Later that night: panel discussion with artist Alex Grey at COSM in Chelsea

Event this Sunday night

ISE-NY (The Institute for Spiritual Entertainment – New York) and New Realities are pleased to present New York’s premiere screening of the new and inspiring feature length documentary film

2012 The Odyssey

post screening discussion with Daniel Pinchbeck and Alan Steinfeld

January 14th, 8pm
Centerpoint Yoga Studios
324 Lafayette Street,
7th Floor,
NYC 10012 212 625-1511

looking for writers, editors, and a web designer or two

Hi folks,

I am about to launch a new website, Reality Sandwich, a media portal devoted to the evolution of consciousness. There is no great place on the Net to discuss the full complexities of the current situation, including its Jungian and shamanic elements as well as its ecological and political ones. We plan to debut in about 2 weeks.

At the moment, we are looking for a small number of writers to contribute regular Blog posts to the site, and a couple of editors to filter material. This may not take a huge amount of time, but it would require a regular commitment.

We are also looking for a designer or two. To get going, we need a logo and a clean, simple look to go over a Drupal site.

There is no money to pay people, at first. However, I expect revenue within two months, maybe sooner, and we will pay contributors and designers. I think that, potentially, we may find a large audience for this material.

If you are interested, please contact me - or if you know someone else who might be right for this, please pass it on. I would prefer to receive responses at my email address: daniel@breakingopenthehead.com.

Yours,
Daniel

ps - some of you may know that I was working on another web project, Evolver. That project has stalled for the time being, so we are starting this instead. For me, anyway, Evolver has now evolved into Reality Sandwich.

new podcast interview

let me know what you think.

nearthwort.com/2007/01/06...-pinchbeck/

Colbert Report wrap-up

Until I was preparing to go on, I never watched the show, as I have no television. I am extremely impressed - even amazed - by what Colbert is putting out there to the public. He is offering a raucous left wing critique of the entire system in a hyperspeed parodic style. I really enjoyed talking with him before and after the show - his energy (one might say his Shakti) is powerful, and he also seems extremely sensitive.

It was a great honor to be given the chance to present these ideas to a mainstream TV audience. I am pleased with the results.

By the way, of course I am aware that Quetzalcoatl is not a Mayan word - but I couldn't give up any of my precious six minutes of airtime to make that correction.

I was very happy with the beginning of the segment - with the long look betwen us. It was a truly tantric moment. I felt that Colbert really helped open the gates for more discussion of these ideas in the mainstream media. It is quite intriguing to me that this interview appears only a few weeks into the "Fifth Day" of Carl Johan Calleman's system ("The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness"), the 360 day cycle associated with Quetzalcoatl.

This next year promises to be an extraordinary one. I took a walk in Central Park today with my daughter, and flowers were blooming that usually do not appear until March.

The Colbert Report this Thursday night

I am going to be on The Colbert Report on Thursday night, December 14. I have been tagged as a "psychedelic advocate." This should be interesting!