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Is anyone else here a psychonaut?

its a rare word to hear these days

and also a rare mentality

if you don't know what it means, then go here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychonaut

now that we've gotten that settled

I was curious if anyone was

either through natural means

or artificial

im a bit of both

and was interested in other peoples takes/hypothesis's

i have a very scientific and rational means of looking at it

some people get all "spiritual" with it, but i think it is quite the opposite

however my recent psychonautic adventures have taken me away from the realm of atheism and into the realm of free thinking

as i used to be what you could call, an atheist zealot

now...i would call myself

"an atheistic agnostic"

or how dawkins described his atheism i guess, to an extent at least

and if your interested in my take on the subject well..hahaha i've got some interesting ideas swirling around

but i think this little quote best describes what i have learned through my psychonautic trips

"It is the mark of an educated man to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" - aristotle

i don't necessarily believe everything i think about

Tags: atheism, atheist, free, psychonaut, psychonautics, thinking, zealot

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Permalink Reply by Mary Lupin on July 22, 2008 at 7:15am

I read the article on psychonauts in Wikipedia. I found it interesting for several reasons. The first was the emphasis on DO NOT DO DRUGS. That told me a good deal about how the author of the article sees the practice of mind-diving as it appears to the larger society today. Another point of interest was the statement that mind-divers tend to be libertarian. It would be interesting to know where he/she got that impression. None of the people I know who are long-term divers would be classified as libertarian. Paying attention to human behavior in general, especially the behavior of those who take little interest the their own minds - non-attentive humans are not things I would want running around de-regulated.

There is a feeling of a-historicism in the article. It's as if the idea of mind-diving is something new, something just beginning. This seems to point to an author brought up in a social climate where the belief in individuality has far outrun the concept of human-being-as-social-animal. And it appears to affect the psychonautic results. Nevertheless, I am glad to see a little window of approach to mind-diving that is both free of religious jargon and written from the average users perspective.

I hope the trend continues. Maybe in the end we'll end up with a Dummies Guide to Mind-Diving that actually contributes something other than another source of solipsistic entertainment.

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Permalink Reply by LeaT on July 22, 2008 at 7:32am

You also forget that Wikipedia authors are not perfect, and the articles must be rewritten many times before they meet a neutral standard.

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Permalink Reply by Mary Lupin on July 26, 2008 at 7:51am

This is true LeaT. Perhaps such mild criticism will motivate the author (if he or she ever hears of it) to edit. I do think the article topic is worth the time and effort.

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Permalink Reply by LeaT on July 26, 2008 at 11:47am

Well, I am not well-read on the actual topic so I can't say anything about that, but I am sure there are people out there who are willing to make the site meets the standards of how a good article should be like :)

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Permalink Reply by Larry Auerbach on July 22, 2008 at 1:57pm

I did a fair amount of psychedelic experimentation (acid, mescaline) when in college back in the mid-70s, specifically for self-therapeutic reasons. I had some profound emotional experiences which I do not regret at all--one in particular I would truly call life-changing. I did very small amounts, as I was afraid of going crazy, so I never had some of the extreme hallucinatory experiences I've heard about or read about. Since then, I've done 'shrooms a couple of times, also in small amounts, as I respect the power of these chemicals. Never did any of the more modern stuff like Ecstasy and never sought out the more exotic stuff like Ayahuasca. I still find all of this fascinating.

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Permalink Reply by Chip on July 22, 2008 at 8:34pm

I'd be lying if I said it was for purely scientific reasons, but I have a good deal of hippie friends who are very spiritual, and said that psychedelics helped them develop a deeper understanding of their spirituality, so I wanted to see if it would have a similar effect on me. It didn't, but helped me understand how someone could believe they were having a spiritual experience. It is true that psychedelics can have positive life changing attributes, and I can attest to that, but if you really think you're experiencing something supernatural, you need to step back and say, "Oh yeah, I'm on drugs."

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Permalink Reply by Mary Lupin on July 26, 2008 at 7:55am

...if you really think you're experiencing something supernatural, you need to step back and say, "Oh yeah....

Wow do I think this is important. It is a rational response. The reason I cut off "I'm on drugs" from Chip's reply is because I think we could replace it with a host of other phrases. For example "Oh yeah, I'm imposing my own narrative." Or "Oh yeah, I'm interpreting this experience based on my childhood socialization."

Nicely done, Chip.