Hey all,
I got word of this forum by way of a friend in the psychedelic community, who linked a thread here in a discussion elsewhere about a plastic shaman who was booked to speak at the Arizona Psychedelics Conference (that speaker was later uninvited). A lot of really deep threads here led me to make an account for the purpose of greater understanding and exchange; in particular, the critiques of Harner and "core shamanism" were like a breath of fresh air to me (coming from a scene where the term "shaman" is too often bandied about carelessly).
My own spiritual practice is highly syncretic (Buddhism, science, positive/flow psychology, etc) but I hope to come here from a position of humility, since my initiation into "the mysteries" was downstream of the Harvard Psychedelic Club... which I now realize looks more like a Playskool book, in light of the fact that people have been using flora & fauna sacramentally for thousands of years (and of course, this is notwithstanding my realization that the bulk of the work in having a "good life" is largely done sober).
So even if we come from different traditions, I am happy to join you all in the fight against NAFPSs since they seem to really breed in psychedelic spaces and they're clearly harming sick people, the spiritually vulnerable, and the people whose spiritual traditions they're bastardizing. And I also come humbly in the spirit of improving my own cultural literacy in various mystical traditions (obligatory: no, I'm not looking to "get initiated in shamanic training" or somesuch). As such, I'm presently buried in the rabbit hole of pinned and "must-read" threads for now.
<3 to you all; here's hoping for a kind and productive relationship.
