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14/11/09 - Mini EGA Fundraiser Symposium - Melb Uni

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RonnySimulacrumII

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Location: The Basement Theatre - the Spot building - The University of Melbourne. Building number 110 on the corner of Berkeley & Pelham Street. See a map at the below link;
http://openday.unimelb.edu.au/top/campus-maps.html
or visit our Web Page http://www.entheo.net/2009directions.htm

Date: Saturday 14 November
Time: 10:20am - 7pm
MC: Martin Williams
Tickets: Available at the door, so pleases be on time.
Cost $75
Concession $50
EGA Current Mailing List Members $45 (for members who have joined prior to 12th Nov 2009)

If you can't get enough EGA in your diet, or if you were unable to make it to the main outdoor conference, then this follow up event is for you. The 2009 Entheogenesis Australis Mini Symposium at the University of Melbourne on Saturday 14 November will bring together leading thinkers from Australia and abroad to examine the role psychoactive plants and chemicals play in modern society, and is one of the few conferences of its kind where the general public are welcome to attend. Please tell your friends and other interested parties!


---- Speakers: ----

Robert Jesse
'Psilocybin Can Occasion Mystical-type Experiences Having Sustained Spiritual Significance'

Bear Stanley
Topic TBA on the day

Dan Schreiber
'The kite sees the world hanging by a thread' - From ownership to stewardship'

Rak Razam
'Planetary Icaro: Using examples from ayahuasca culture, Razam outlines the boom in plant-based entheogenic sacraments that connect to the Divine'

Michael Bock
'Whatever happened to the Psilocybes and other psychoactive mushrooms Down Under'

Timothy Payne
Understanding Dichotomy - the science of the entheogenic experience

Panel Discussion
'Psychedelic Futures: What benefits can earth sacraments offer to our society? At the end of the first decade of the 21st century , in what directions are psychedelics taking us?'

---- Keynote Speaker Bios: ----

Bear (Owsley) Stanley: Considered by many as one of the underground legends of the sixties counterculture, Bear Stanley was the best acid chemist of his generation, turning on heads from the Haight Ashbury, to the Beatles and beyond. Bear was a minor participant in the Acid Tests of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. He was the first underground cook to produce high-purity LSD in the 1960s, when it was legal, including the famous White Lightning and Monterey Purple. Nowadays Stanley denies his heroic status, and spends time in Far North Queensland working on sculptures, and writing essays on various subjects.. He is renowned for his contribution to sound engineering, particularly working with live gig iconoclasts, the Grateful Dead, and perfecting the idea of on-stage monitors and high quality PAs. A tireless archivist, he kept a 'diary' of his front-of-house mixes, including hundreds of Grateful Dead performances, and has seen the release of a number of albums from his "sonic journal" tapes of PA mixes. [www.thebear.org]

Robert Jesse is the organiser of the Council on Spiritual Practices[CSP] which aims to shift modernity's awareness and practices with respect to primary religious experience. CSP also encourages people to imagine and develop social contexts to contain such experiences and help them yield lasting benefit. Through CSP, Bob and his colleagues initiated a recent study, conducted at John Hopkins University, and reported around the world, of the psycho-spiritual effects of Psilocybin in healthy volunteers . This expands the emphasis in hallucinogen research beyond the medical treatment of ill people to include the betterment of well people, contributing to a science of pro-social development. On his home front, Bob is co-convenor of a spiritual community formed around ecstatic dance. His formal training is in engineering. He resides in San Francisco. [www.csp.org]

Entheogenesis Australis is a not-for-profit association that exists to create a supportive environment that fosters mature, open discussion about psychoactive plants and chemicals. We seek to explore ways to assess societal impacts and examine the positive applications of such substances. [www.entheo.net]
 
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Finally, something down in Melbourne.

I will consider going, although the prices are quite high, think about what else I could be spending it on :)
 
2009 Entheogenesis Australis Mini Symposium Timetable

10:15 AM - Open the foyer to admit attendees
10:45 Opening address - Martin Williams

11:00 - Timothy Payne – ‘Understanding Dichotomy - the science of the entheogenic experience’
11:40 – Question Time.

11:50 - Rak Razam – ‘Planetary Icaro: Using examples from ayahuasca culture, Razam outlines the boom in plant-based entheogenic sacraments that connect to the Divine’
12:30 – Question Time

12:40 - Michael Bock – ‘Whatever happened to the Psilocybes and other psychoactive mushrooms Down Under?’
1:20 – Question Time.

1:30 --- Lunch Time Break ---

2:10 - Panel Discussion - ‘Psychedelic Futures: What benefits can earth sacraments offer to our society? At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, in what directions are psychedelics taking us?’

3:10 - Dan Schreiber – ‘The kite sees the world hanging by a thread' - From ownership to stewardship’
4:00 – Question Time.

4:15 --- 15 Minute Break ---

4:30 - Bear Stanley – ‘Reflections’
5:30 - Question Time

5:45 - Robert Jesse – ‘Psilocybin Can Occasion Mystical-type Experiences Having Sustained Spiritual Significance’
6:45 – Question Time.

6:55 - Closing Address

7:00 - PM Finished

:D
 
RonnySimulacrumII said:
12:40 - Michael Bock – ‘Whatever happened to the Psilocybes and other psychoactive mushrooms Down Under?’
1:20 – Question Time.
Click to expand...

I hope someone told Michael that nothing happened to the psilocybes and other psychoactive species down under

Maybe the plethora of other available substances in recent years has seen a decline in their use?
 
They're still around, the taxonomists have decided to rename then due to minute genetic differences between magic and non-magic psilocybes. The genus name is now Weraroa, apparently.

Had a great day, was very informative! Some lectures were better than others. I'll give a detailed review after my noggin clears up from doofing :)
 
Okay. Woah it's been a while, but with starting a new job and getting settled into a different groove I've barely had time to be on Bl, which is both a good and a bad thing. Nice to have a break! Anyway...

Timothy Payne's talk was interesting, although he tended to talk more about his personal experience with Akido and time spent with non-tilling agrarian cultures than his topic. It was interesting to see a dualist perspective on consciousness/psychedelics though, since the peak experience seems to blow duality right out of the conceptual, theoretical and personal waters. He also seemed a bit behind in the neuroscience research that he referred to (i/e likening the brain to a binary (therefore digital, i.e 0 or 1) system where it is actually more a global process, i/e non-dual.

Very charismatic and eloquent talker however, was a pleasure to listen.

Rak Razam was okay. It was interesting to hear about his book and travels in South America and the influence that Western Tourism is having on the curanderos. (i.e Ayahuasca taken from old plastic Coke bottles, Western Tourists becoming shamans-in-training because the local kids want to earn coin etc). After his summarization of his book he started to get into temporal cultural cycles (every 11 years, beatniks, hippies, punks, ravers, etc) and a bit of 2012 global alignment stuff. Got a bit too preachy and slightly condescending to me at this point.

Michael Bock's talk was very informative, however his public speaking isn't that engaging. All good though, cos the info is what counts and he provided it by the bucketload. Learned about heaps of active species I didn't know existed, why the aforementioned genus names changed and a bit of general mycology in between.

The Panel Discussion was okay. I had just had lunch and was a tiny bit sleepy, so I may have zoned off a bit. The discussion was unfortunately dominated slightly by Dan Schreiber. It would have been nice to have heard more from Bear's son (Starfinder?), the woman on the panel (I found the genders of the presenters a bit too unbalanced tbh) and the guy from the Santa Daime. To the latter, if you a reading this, it was lovely to meet you, I sensed a very positive energy behind your eyes, I was the guy in the Mars Volta shirt.

Dan Schreiber"s talk was very poetic, he has a way with words and a lot of feeling but it was a bit too airy fairy for my likings. Lots of unsupported claims and suggestions.


Bear was classic. Someone on another forum likened him to "Granpa Simpson on Acid" and that is just spot on. He started off talking about how drugs used to come in lids and spoons, then a tiny bit about how he became a cook. He then got sidetracked and ranted about the Australian voting system vs the U.S one for a while, then yelled at Rak Razam (who was asking questions for the audience) for asking too many questions and then got into his black market/world economy theory which was very interesting.

Bob Jesse's report on his study was bloody phenomenal. Quantified, qualified, peer-reviewed proof that "‘Psilocybin Can Occasion Mystical-type Experiences Having Sustained Spiritual Significance". The way his group is going is the only way forward to harm reduction/drug research at the moment, imo. Was so amazing to hear his results, the response and to know the mere fact that such research occurred.

Such a great day, so long to process (and I'm still doing it). Thank you so much Ronny (and all your helpers) and all the speakers, it's brilliant that organizations like you are around!
 
psycosynthesis said:
Bob Jesse's report on his study was bloody phenomenal. Quantified, qualified, peer-reviewed proof that "‘Psilocybin Can Occasion Mystical-type Experiences Having Sustained Spiritual Significance". The way his group is going is the only way forward to harm reduction/drug research at the moment, imo. Was so amazing to hear his results, the response and to know the mere fact that such research occurred.
Click to expand...

That was exactly what I thought at the main EGA weekend. Incredibly impressed by both the articulate way in which he presented and the foundations that his research group are based on.
 
From the way that everyone has described him, I believe I really want to hear him speak now. I am a novice speaker myself. (mostly because my classmates hate talking upfront so i get "volunteered" a lot till i became better at it)... He might be another great source of inspiration and technique.

[EDIT: Please don't post links to advertise your personal site, thanks]
 
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