Ritual is often employed for purposes of grounding and centering one's self, to set one's focus and intentions, and to instill a conception of the significance and depth of psychonautical practice. Repeated use of ritual may also train the brain to associate certain activities and states of consciousness with specific situations, creating deeper experiences and allowing one to more easily enter altered states of consciousness.

from the Wikipedia entry for "Psychonaut"

"The world is my country, science my religion." --Christiaan Huygens

Every family has one--usually the one
who writes, the one who spills family secrets
onto the page like so much grape juice
on beige carpet-- creating continent-shaped
stains that are slow to fade and never disappear
entirely.




by Wilson Diehl

When humans emerged in Africa some two million years ago, their impact on the continent, teeming with wildlife, was pretty small. Slowly over the course of time, they evolved the capacity to learn-- their brains enlarging as they developed tools, agriculture, and civilizations, until they stood poised to change the planet. Today Homo sapiens is one of the most pervasive species on Earth, 6.2 billion strong and growing by 80 million a year. Human impacts on the landscape are global in scale, on a par with volcanism or tectonic shifts. New data combining satellite imagery with historical records reveal that humans have PLANTED, GRAZED, PAVED, or BUILT UPON roughly 40 percent of the Earth's terrestrial surface. This has led to profound changes in the atmosphere, soils, and oceans. No place remains untouched.

Population, consumption, and technology are seen by many experts as driving the human impact on the planet. One hopeful sign: Fertility rates have fallen sharply in the developing world (from about six births per woman in the 1960s to around three today) due to increased education, lower infant mortality, and GREATER ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTIVES. As a result, world population may reach only nine billion by 2050 instead of the ten billion predicted just a few years ago. It may even begin to decline soon after. The bad news is that the population of the 48 poorest countries is still expected to triple in the next 50 years. Half the developing world lives on less than two dollars a day, yet consumption-- and expectations for a better life-- continues to rise.

Our large brains got us to this point. The question now is, can they get us out?






National Geographic, September 2002