What's New
December, 2009
It's a busy month for interviews - three in one week. While it's not my favorite venue, I want to start honing my ideas about my new prophecy book, and gauging reactions to them, and radio interviews are a good way to do this.
Several revisions later, I hope to get my essay on hallucinogens and Jaynes' theory of the bicameral mind published in the Jaynes Society Newsletter's next issue.
My mother died in October, and the work that comes with such a big loss took over my life for a couple of months. Inner Traditions agreed to an extension of the due date for the prophecy manuscript, which I hope to get into them by April.
The consultation service I set up this summer has been a lot of fun. I've done about a half-dozen so far, and everyone seems satisfied with the process.
The first assay paper out of the LSU group was published recently, describing a detailed analysis of some Hawaiian ayahuasca. Another paper is about to be submitted, describing for the first time a metabolite of DMT that is much more abundant than DMT itself. Tracking this compound may let us assess endogenous DMT production in much greater detail than previous studies You can access the published paper through Cottonwood's new Digital Library resource..
August, 2009
Joanna Harcourt-Smith and I chatted at Chellis Glendinning's lovely home in Chimayo, New Mexico on the 16th, for Joanna's podcast program, Future Primitive. In the interview, we mostly discuss the prophecy book - requiring me to continually refine how I describe the reasons for writing it, and the main points I hope to express.
After months of delay, I have finally begun reading Julian Jaynes' book, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. In this book, Jaynes posits that before 2000 BCE, all of us regularly experienced auditory hallucinations of an advisory and admonitory nature, which we interpreted as the voice of invisible people, such as dead kings or gods. This ties in nicely with a biological basis of prophecy, but also highlights the weakness of a solely endogenous tryptamine-mediated biology. Thus, the verbal, auditory, spoken nature of prophecy calls for a biological system that affects primarily the auditory, rather than visual, centers. Colleagues have suggested that the tropane alkaloids with anti-cholinergic effects, such as atropine, scopolamine, belladonna, and so on, as found in datura-type plants, and in the synthetic drugs such as BZ (in Jacob's Ladder) might play an important role.
Inkblot, a psychedelic rock band, just put out their latest album, which contains a song featuring my reading a short trip account from the DMT book. 50% of royalties for that song, "Dreamnesia," will be donated to Cottonwood Research Foundation. Check out "links" to access their site.
April 30, 2009
Inner Traditions/Bear & Company, which published "The Spirit Molecule," and "Inner Paths," has agreed to publish my new book, tentatively entitled: "The Soul of Prophecy - What it Is, How it Works, and Why It's our Birthright."
This book will be a stretch for some of of the readers of my previous books, as it will deal with material from the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible, that brings up a lot of painful cultural and personal history. Nevertheless, I believe that Westernizing the spiritual perspective wrought by psychedelics is timely, and that the Old Testament conception of prophecy is as relevant to the psychedelic experience as is the Buddhist or shamanic.
I acknowledge the resistance brought on by considering the Old Testament a relevant sacred text. Therefore, I devote substantial effort in describing my personal and philosophical reasons for taking this approach.
In this model "prophecy" isn't foretelling the future; rather, it is the highest state attainable within a Western spiritual perspective. Thus, it is the logical (for me anyway!) development in my thinking about the role of endogenous DMT in human consciousness and evolution.
One of the good things about signing a book contract is that I now have a deadline. This is mid-February, by which time a completed manuscript should be on the publisher's desk.
I welcome questions and feedback regarding this idea.
December 7, 2008
A new radio interview, with Virato, from Asheville North Carolina, was a good one, yesterday.
Work is slow on writing the book proposal for my work on prophecy. I have discovered Baruch/Benedict Spinoza, who seems to have made the final step away from classical medieval Jewish views on prophecy. I feel his insights are very important to consider in the overall scheme of my thoughts on the matter.
August 26, 2008
Two new radio interviews, both with hosts I've chatted with before. I got onto my site too late to give advance notice of Dr. Bob's interview, which you can access through his archives soon. And one will be on Hilly Rose's show which posts September 7 on his site.
The article I wrote for Xpatria was accepted by the editors last night. They hope for the release of this new print magazine in January, 2009
August 1, 2008
In a tragicomedy of errors, the local Brazilian consulate lost my passort, which I had sent them in early June, to obtain my Brazilian visa, for the Wasiwaska seminar. By the time I found this out, there was not enough time to replace my passport, get a visa, and reschedule flights to attend the seminar. This is a terrible turn of events, and I apologize to those with whom I planned the spend two wonderful weeks with Luis Eduardo at his retreat center in Florianopolis.
I have been asked by the editors of a new print journal, XPATRIA, to contribute an article for their inaugural issue, due out January 2009. The theme of the journal is the expatriate experience. The topic of my paper will address "where" one goes while under the influence of a full dose of DMT or other similar compounds. Check out www.xpatria.net
July 9, 2008
"Inner Paths of Outer Space" is doing well. We've got 3 stellar reviews on Amazon so far, and some days it ranks higher than the DMT book.
Martin Ball PhD came by my home a few weeks ago, and we had a great interview. Unfortunately, his new Mac software had a bug, and there was a beep interjected every couple of seconds. Thus, he had to transcribe the interview, and his reading of it is on his site. Daniel Pinchbeck's "Reality Sandwich" site will be featuring the interview, too. See Home for links to these sites. I'm working on getting the transcription up on the site here.
A week later Bryan Bailey's film crew came by to interview me for a documentary they are doing, which also went quite well. The film follows a young man from the US who's receiving treatment for his drug abuse, living in a Peruvian village, working with an indigenous healer. I will hopefully get a clip of the interview on my site before long.
A new hard copy magazine is in the works, XPATRIA, and they've asked me to write an essay on "where" people go on a big DMT trip. Publication date should be early next year. I link to their site on "links."
I completed my two-year contract at my clinic south of Taos, yesterday, and look forward to working at home for at least the next 6 months: writing, working on The Cottonwood Research Foundation, and weaving.
March 11, 2008
Our new book, "Inner Paths to Outer Space" came out a couple of weeks ago. While we've had no reviews on Amazon nor Barnes & Noble yet, more informal feedback has been positive. The mover and shaker behind the book project, Dr. Wojtowicz, is setting up some interviews and book signings, which will boost awareness of the work.
I continue studying and taking notes on issues related to the Hebrew Bible's concept of prophecy, and I hope to have a book proposal ready for submission to agents/publishers before I leave for Brazil in late July. I think this issue is important as a way to understand endogenous psychedelic experiences from a Western point of view.
March 11, 2008
Long gap between entries here. Sorry for the lag.
Wasiwaska retreat I will be in Brazil for two weeks in early August, with Graham Hancock (author of "Supernatural") at Luis Eduardo Luna's invitation to participate in one of his excellent teaching seminars. For more details, check out www.wasiwaska.org
Our new book, "Inner Paths to Outer Space" went to the printer earlier this month, and ought to be out in May. I'll be in Los Angeles at the Book Expo of America in May 31st and June 1st to help promote it.
The DMT documentary is now being edited in Austin, by the producer, Mitch Schultz. For the latest, check out www.thespiritmolecule.com or info@thespiritmolecule.com He's hoping for a submission to Sundance for the Fall.
August 6, 2007
New Book
Three colleagues and I recently finished a manuscript for a book whose working title is "Inner Paths to Outer Space." My esteemed co-authors are Luis Eduardo Luna (who has worked and published extensively regarding ayahuasca); Ede Frecska (a Hungarian psychiatrist at the National Institutes of Health in Budapest, who has worked/published with Dr. Luna, and is an articulate author whose multidisciplinary approaches to consciousness are dizzying in scope); and Slawek Wojtowicz (head of oncology research for pharma on the East Coast of the US).
Dr. Wojtowicz is the inspiration for the book--he is deeply involved in the science fiction community, creates art for science fiction books and stories. Upon reading DMT, he was struck by how similar many of the ideas and reports of volunteers are to those described in the science fiction literature. He wished to have us write a type of "cross-over" book for both communities, and this work is the result.
Inner Traditions, who published DMT, will be publishing this book, which we hope will appear Spring 2008.
Cottonwood Research Foundation News
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which is responsible for determining if an organization is eligible for tax-exempt status, sent us a 2-page, single-spaced letter of questions regarding our application. We responded, and received a 1-page single-spaced list of follow-up questions, to which we have responded. We are awaiting their decision. If we receive tax-exempt status, all donations are tax-deductible, and we will be in a position to publicize and fund raise with a higher profile.
Nevertheless, "gifts" to the CRF remain an option. And, if we obtain tax-exempt status within a year of your gift, it is tax-deductible. Take a look at our site: www.cottonwoodresearch.org
May 16, 2007
The vagaries of Amazon.com book reviews.
Recently the DMT book received a 1-star rating, by "Garbage Recycler," who disliked the book so much he returned it after reading it. and actually got his money back.
A few days later, "Juan Serna" wrote a 5-star review, stating he couldn't put the book down (in a good way).
I think it would be interesting to conduct personality inventories on the people who really hate the book and compare them with those who really love it.
March 18, 2007
The Cottonwood Research Foundation is now a legal non-profit entity in New Mexico. We are applying for 501c3 tax-deductible status through the Internal Revenue Service of the Federal government. We will be able to solicit funds at that point, which should take 3-5 months.
February 19, 2007
This morning I recorded two interviews for Whitley Strieber's "Dreamland" show. The first was with Whitley, who published "Communion," one of the first and most readable accounts of "entity-contact." We reviewed my research, and what some of the implications might be for how to contend with non-physical realities.
The second was for subscribers only of his show, and was with William Henry, for a half-hour, and was a bit more free-ranging.
Check out www.unknowncountry.com for when the interviews will air.
NEW RESEARCH FOUNDATION
I've sent in the paperwork to incorporate in the State of New Mexico a research institute called "Cottonwood Research Foundation." The first order of business will be to solicit funds to develop an ultra-sensitive assay for DMT, 5-methoxy-DMT, bufotenine, and metabolites in human blood and urine, so we can start testing some of the theories I put forth in my book. Steve Barker PhD will be developing the assay--Steve's at Lousiana State University where he runs a state of the art toxicology laboratory, a perfect place for him to manifest his own next stage in DMT research, which spans 30 years.
DMT DOCUMENTARY
Tentatively entitled, "DMT. The Spirit Molecule," this film will approach the subject of DMT from the widest possible perspective, including science, art, medicine, technology, creativity, anthropology, religion, pop culture, and history (for starters). We will be generously covering the topic of ayahuasca, too. Mitch Schultz (info@thespiritmolecule.com) is producing the film, while I've gathered up many of the "talking heads" who will be discussing their particular view of the subject. We hope to finish filming this year. Contact Mitch for investing/donating opportunities, and me for a list of who's on board so far.