My KYHOI: Evolving Entheogenic Empathy

I'm going to try my hardest to NOT present my KYHOI as if I'm rehashing the already-failed experiment of the '60s. It'll be hard, considering the idealistic explosion of the time period that was influenced by psychedelics (which from here on out will be more affectionately referred to as entheogens, despite the establishment imposing the mocking red squiggly line every time I type it).

Even though LSD, mescaline, psilocybin and the likes were introduced in a much too rapid, unregulated way to the American public, many of today's social movements were strongly influenced by these "drugs." The various environmental movements are perhaps the best examples, but the evolution of the music, movie, and literary scenes also have roots in Western experimentation with entheogens.

But, as I said, the actions of Timothy Leary, Charles Manson, and a counterculture hellbent on rejecting the capitalistic monopoly helped to all but destroy future generations' chances to study these compounds. As my professor remarked in class, if he were the author of this blog post, his academic career would be over.

Thankfully, there's been progress. Dr. Rick Strassman, as one example, has completed research dealing with dimethyltryptamine (DMT)'s effects on the human body and mind. "Why is this important?" you may be asking. The politically correct answer would have something dealing with entheogenic compounds used as treatments for drug addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, and cluster headaches.

However, as a non-scientist/teacher, I'm free to express the opinion that entheogens have the potential to create a completely new medium for human communication. It's been clear to me for a long time that verbal interchange is simply inadequate when it comes to exchanging ideas and interconnectedness within an emotion-and-bias-free framework of total empathy. In fact, language creates the unbearable paradox that as one increases his/her mastery of a particular language, the more (mis)interpretations become available to the recipient mind. That is, the wider your lexicon and the deeper your understanding of words' meanings, the more you process and analyze what you're being told. And that's when two people/parties speak THE SAME language.

To me, the key to this elusive "world peace" that seems to be humanity's ultimate goal, lies in creating a shared "thought space" in which the highest, purest, and clearest form of communication is possible. If *complete* empathy is to be achieved, the ego CANNOT BE PRESENT. That's not how human evolution unfolded, unfortunately.

So as for my project, I'd like to trace the history as well as the present and future usages of entheogens. I think this trajectory will provide some intriguing (although not YET scientifically valid) evidence of entheogens' universal potential. To me, the mere rumor that the discovery of the double-helix DNA structure might have been influenced by LSD - and the FACT that the image of eerily similar intertwined double snakes is prevalent throughout indigenous shamanic rituals - is enough to warrant a closer look at these compounds as a serious area of study.

In a world where the fibers of civilization have become so tangled and knotted that they may never be undone, this is one of the few things that still provides me with passion and hope for our species and our planet.

Posted in: