The purpose of psychedelics

[webbykevin]

William Blake - Auguries of Innocence

Spoiler: length

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.

A dove-house fill'd with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell thro' all its regions.
A dog starv'd at his master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the state.

A horse misused upon the road
Calls to heaven for human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted hare
A fibre from the brain does tear.

A skylark wounded in the wing,
A cherubim does cease to sing.
The game-cock clipt and arm'd for fight
Does the rising sun affright.

Every wolf's and lion's howl
Raises from hell a human soul.

The wild deer, wand'ring here and there,
Keeps the human soul from care.
The lamb misus'd breeds public strife,
And yet forgives the butcher's knife.

The bat that flits at close of eve
Has left the brain that won't believe.
The owl that calls upon the night
Speaks the unbeliever's fright.

He who shall hurt the little wren
Shall never be belov'd by men.
He who the ox to wrath has mov'd
Shall never be by woman lov'd.

The wanton boy that kills the fly
Shall feel the spider's enmity.
He who torments the chafer's sprite
Weaves a bower in endless night.

The caterpillar on the leaf
Repeats to thee thy mother's grief.
Kill not the moth nor butterfly,
For the last judgement draweth nigh.

He who shall train the horse to war
Shall never pass the polar bar.
The beggar's dog and widow's cat,
Feed them and thou wilt grow fat.

The gnat that sings his summer's song
Poison gets from slander's tongue.
The poison of the snake and newt
Is the sweat of envy's foot.

The poison of the honey bee
Is the artist's jealousy.

The prince's robes and beggar's rags
Are toadstools on the miser's bags.
A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.

It is right it should be so;
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.

Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.

The babe is more than swaddling bands;
Every farmer understands.
Every tear from every eye
Becomes a babe in eternity;

This is caught by females bright,
And return'd to its own delight.
The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar,
Are waves that beat on heaven's shore.

The babe that weeps the rod beneath
Writes revenge in realms of death.
The beggar's rags, fluttering in air,
Does to rags the heavens tear.

The soldier, arm'd with sword and gun,
Palsied strikes the summer's sun.
The poor man's farthing is worth more
Than all the gold on Afric's shore.

One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands
Shall buy and sell the miser's lands;
Or, if protected from on high,
Does that whole nation sell and buy.

He who mocks the infant's faith
Shall be mock'd in age and death.
He who shall teach the child to doubt
The rotting grave shall ne'er get out.

He who respects the infant's faith
Triumphs over hell and death.
The child's toys and the old man's reasons
Are the fruits of the two seasons.

The questioner, who sits so sly,
Shall never know how to reply.
He who replies to words of doubt
Doth put the light of knowledge out.

The strongest poison ever known
Came from Caesar's laurel crown.
Nought can deform the human race
Like to the armour's iron brace.

When gold and gems adorn the plow,
To peaceful arts shall envy bow.
A riddle, or the cricket's cry,
Is to doubt a fit reply.

The emmet's inch and eagle's mile
Make lame philosophy to smile.
He who doubts from what he sees
Will ne'er believe, do what you please.

If the sun and moon should doubt,
They'd immediately go out.
To be in a passion you good may do,
But no good if a passion is in you.

The whore and gambler, by the state
Licensed, build that nation's fate.
The harlot's cry from street to street
Shall weave old England's winding-sheet.

The winner's shout, the loser's curse,
Dance before dead England's hearse.

Every night and every morn
Some to misery are born,
Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.

Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.

We are led to believe a lie
When we see not thro' the eye,
Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light.

God appears, and God is light,
To those poor souls who dwell in night;
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.

Thanks for that - great stuff.

 

[.:Holy::Toast:.]

For me, I'm still at the stage where psychedelics are taken out of curiosity and for enjoyment. They invoke ponderings of sonder and crying with laughter and stillness of tranquility. They are an escape from my mind and an invitation into my own mind and the minds of others. They have gotten me out of depression and given me direction in life even though I'm not sure where to. They are a talking point and a reality check. They are anything you want them to be and for some they are everything. They help you realise how lost you are and everyone else is yet content with how this is because it is what it is.

Honestly, I don't know what psychedelics are for. It seems like they are definitely meant for something but they might be pointless, like life, and that would still be a point for them to make.

Personally, I take them recreationally with friends- but that doesn't mean I don't learn something magical every time.

This is basically how I feel, except that I don't think psychedelics have a common purpose, it's different for errybody
Some people gain introspection, others spiritual enlightenment, others a much needed shift in perspective.
However I believe what it all boils down to is that they are simply drugs we take to get high, what we learn from them is of our own fruition

 

[Black Rabbit of Inle]

IMO psychedelics don't have any purpose other than getting high. They don't deserve the pedestal they're placed upon by most users.

 

[StWd]

Psychedelics have no purpose, just like everything else. Including this thread...


Not to be a downer, but once you start philosophizing about it that's what you end up with.

Yeah but if you're going that deep into it of course they have no purpose because life and everything in it and everything that isn't has no purpose.

 

[rickolasnice]

IMO psychedelics don't have any purpose other than getting high. They don't deserve the pedestal they're placed upon by most users.

The purpose of psychedelics is for the person taking them to decide. Do you want to get high and laugh at shit? Do you want to see pretty patterns? Do you want to try and work through some personal issues?

All reasons are good reasons if the user is using them for the reason they want to.

 

[StWd]

IMO psychedelics don't have any purpose other than getting high. They don't deserve the pedestal they're placed upon by most users.

As rickolasnice said, I think the pedestal psychedelics are placed upon comes from the versatility and safety of most of them compared to other drugs

 

[rickolasnice]

Nope. It once caused me to be confused and slightly scared for roughly 20 seconds

But seriously.. almost all drugs are safe when used responsibly. And sure, psychedelics don't normally attribute to many drug related deaths but that is not to say they don't (/can't) cause harm, as many psychedelic advocates seem to think.

 

[Transform]

I removed a rather large amount of sarcastic and useless posts because I think this could actually be quite an interesting discussion. Please try not to tempt off topic discussion by posting inflammatory comments and avoid generally daft comments too

 

[Ahote]

purpose? it's fun and you can learn to know yourself better and try to comprehend certain things better with good psychedelics
(btw i like terrence mckenna vids)

 

[kidklmx]

Yeah but if you're going that deep into it of course they have no purpose because life and everything in it and everything that isn't has no purpose.

Welcome to nihilism :D

 

[StWd]

Welcome to nihilism :D

It's only nihilism if I stop giving a shit about people. I might think everything is meaningless but it doesn't mean I can't give things meaning and have morals ;D

 

[chickenclan]

Speaking of psychological ideas and doctrines, does anybody know the name of the idea that says that all human questions lies within ourselves, but through external influence we unlock the answers which already exist inside of us? I want to read up on that.