In A Perfect World

Experiential journalist Rak Razam chats with "radical anthropologist" and global freakologist Graham St John about the evolution and current direction of Global Trance Culture. With origins in the 60s Acid Tests and the legendary Goa beach parties, the archaic revival of psychedelic trance and dance and group mind has blossomed into a cathartic Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ) in almost every modern culture across the planet. Why is this revival of tribality so important and what human need is fulfilled in the psychic moshpit of the dancefloor? How does an anthropological perspective inform these liminal zones and does trance culture itself point towards some gestalt consciousness awakening in the species? Graham's latest book, Global Tribe: Technology, Spirituality and Psytrance will be published by Equinox Press in June/July 2012 . Click here to download his first anthology on Australian doof culture, Free NRG: Notes from the Edge of the Dancefloor , which also contains the story by Rak Razam, "Directions to the Game". This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Experiential journalist Rak Razam talks with Kilindi, an African-American warrior-teacher who works with psilocybin mushrooms as entheogenic guides in the mapping of the inner realms. Where Terence McKenna posited five dried grams as the 'heroic dose', Kilindi regularly takes 20-30 dried grams and goes deeper than most people have experienced, right to the core bardos of existence. His background with martial arts /warfare training colors his approach to exploring innerspace, drawing upon his African ur-shamanism lineage. What are the dangers of colonizing the invisible landscape and encountering interdimensional entities? Could territorial battles result in a 'West Bank of hyperspace?' as humans found 'interdimensional villages'? Does the mushroom access an interdimensional library of translinguistic information that underpins our physical reality? Does it have an agenda and are we ourselves being absorbed by it's mycellium consciousness? Join this fascinating discussion about high doses towards an organic singularity as humans re-engineer themselves into higher consciousness by synergizing the morphenogenic field through the mycellium network… For more information on Kilidi see: The Tamerrian Institute Photo: Adam Taylor and mushroom pics Gerhard Hillman This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Experiential journalist Rak Razam talks with Kilindi, an African-American warrior-teacher who works with psilocybin mushrooms as entheogenic guides in the mapping of the inner realms. Where Terence McKenna posited five dried grams as the 'heroic dose', Kilindi regularly takes 20-30 dried grams and goes deeper than most people have experienced, right to the core bardos of existence. His background with martial arts /warfare training colors his approach to exploring innerspace, drawing upon his African ur-shamanism lineage. What are the dangers of colonizing the invisible landscape and encountering interdimensional entities? Could territorial battles result in a 'West Bank of hyperspace?' as humans found 'interdimensional villages'? Does the mushroom access an interdimensional library of translinguistic information that underpins our physical reality? Does it have an agenda and are we ourselves being absorbed by it's mycellium consciousness? Join this fascinating discussion about high doses towards an organic singularity as humans re-engineer themselves into higher consciousness by synergizing the morphenogenic field through the mycellium network… For more information on Kilidi see: The Tamerrian Institute Photo: Adam Taylor and mushroom pics Gerhard Hillman This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Experiential journalist Rak Razam hosts a panel discussion at Entheogenesis Australis on the 2012 date and the implications for entheogenic culture in the year ahead. Is there a 'strange attractor' at the End of Time that entheogens have been presaging? What do the plants and indigenous cultures say about this critical juncture in time? Can we #Occupy our Hearts and lend that energy to the social movements transforming the world? Should we prepare for the apocalypse, or awakening? Are we a culture ready to step forward into our local communities and facilitate change, and can we make a difference? If in plants we trust, how can we not? Ambient recording at the outdoor conference on Dec 4, 2011, with guests Steve Macdonald, Mitch Schultz, Margaret Cross, Joseph Gelfer, Dan Gooden and Dan Schreiber. Photo © Adam Taylor, 2011. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Experiential journalist Rak Razam hosts a panel discussion at Entheogenesis Australis on the 2012 date and the implications for entheogenic culture in the year ahead. Is there a 'strange attractor' at the End of Time that entheogens have been presaging? What do the plants and indigenous cultures say about this critical juncture in time? Can we #Occupy our Hearts and lend that energy to the social movements transforming the world? Should we prepare for the apocalypse, or awakening? Are we a culture ready to step forward into our local communities and facilitate change, and can we make a difference? If in plants we trust, how can we not? Ambient recording at the outdoor conference on Dec 4, 2011, with guests Steve Macdonald, Mitch Schultz, Margaret Cross, Joseph Gelfer, Dan Gooden and Dan Schreiber. Photo © Adam Taylor, 2011. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

A lecture given at the EntheoGenesis Australis Conference, Dec 3, 2011. At the height of the first wave of psychedelia Ken Kesey promoted the idea of the Next Step, which at the time he envisaged as "beyond acid". What if acid was merely the latest in a long line of entheogens secreted by the planet to regulate humans, and each one was merely a stepping-stone to the Gaian awareness of hyperdimensional connectivity? What if the Next Step was a post-human species upgrade seeded by entheogenesis, and synchronizing with the galactic alignment and intensified energetic bombardment? What if we all had it within us to be Gods, then what? In this provocative lecture experiential journalist Rak Razam weaves together strategic ideas from entheogenic elders and indigenous wisdom with the latest factual research from astrophysicists and other science to reveal the big picture of life on earth, the planetary changes we are now living through and the key role of entheogens as messengers and activators. The lecture has a particular examination of the notion of 'group mind' espoused by the Pranksters and the Grateful Dead and other psychedelic tribes of the 60s, the role of entheogens in creating that circuit of group consciousness, and why and how gestalt consciousness is a necessary evolutionary step that psychedelics and entheogens can empower. The NEXT STEP is a how-to handbook of strategic information for the current resurgence of planetary entheogenic culture to best understand itself and our place in the web of life, the 2012 target window of species opportunity, and how to successfully navigate the eschaton. Time is short, and the way is hard. But the call of the Other is ringing in our genes. In Plants We Trust. Are you ready to take the NEXT STEP? This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

A lecture given at the EntheoGenesis Australis Conference, Dec 3, 2011. At the height of the first wave of psychedelia Ken Kesey promoted the idea of the Next Step, which at the time he envisaged as "beyond acid". What if acid was merely the latest in a long line of entheogens secreted by the planet to regulate humans, and each one was merely a stepping-stone to the Gaian awareness of hyperdimensional connectivity? What if the Next Step was a post-human species upgrade seeded by entheogenesis, and synchronizing with the galactic alignment and intensified energetic bombardment? What if we all had it within us to be Gods, then what? In this provocative lecture experiential journalist Rak Razam weaves together strategic ideas from entheogenic elders and indigenous wisdom with the latest factual research from astrophysicists and other science to reveal the big picture of life on earth, the planetary changes we are now living through and the key role of entheogens as messengers and activators. The lecture has a particular examination of the notion of 'group mind' espoused by the Pranksters and the Grateful Dead and other psychedelic tribes of the 60s, the role of entheogens in creating that circuit of group consciousness, and why and how gestalt consciousness is a necessary evolutionary step that psychedelics and entheogens can empower. The NEXT STEP is a how-to handbook of strategic information for the current resurgence of planetary entheogenic culture to best understand itself and our place in the web of life, the 2012 target window of species opportunity, and how to successfully navigate the eschaton. Time is short, and the way is hard. But the call of the Other is ringing in our genes. In Plants We Trust. Are you ready to take the NEXT STEP? This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the passing of the legendary Ken Kesey on Nov 10, 2001, experiential journalist Rak Razam interviews Ken Babbs, one of the last Merry Pranksters, to chat about the life and impact of Kesey and his coterie on the counterculture of the 1960s–and the world. Discover the origin of the Pranksters' name and the first-hand account of their infamous 1964 journey across America in the day-glo bus 'Further', blazing the first wave of psychedelia behind them. Learn the only thing that ever slowed Neal Cassady down–and it's not what you think! From the Acid Tests to Goa and Global Trance Culture, the Pranksters' legacy expands beyond the party to a deeper understanding of reality itself, to the idea of Group Mind–and how to play the Game. Absorbed by history into the tapestry of American folk-lore, the story of these psychedelic pioneers has been recounted in the recent documentary Magic Trip by Magnolia Films. But here join master storyteller Ken Babbs as we learn why the psychedelic outlaws of yesteryear deserve to be remembered as the heroes of today. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the passing of the legendary Ken Kesey on Nov 10, 2001, experiential journalist Rak Razam interviews Ken Babbs, one of the last Merry Pranksters, to chat about the life and impact of Kesey and his coterie on the counterculture of the 1960s–and the world. Discover the origin of the Pranksters' name and the first-hand account of their infamous 1964 journey across America in the day-glo bus 'Further', blazing the first wave of psychedelia behind them. Learn the only thing that ever slowed Neal Cassady down–and it's not what you think! From the Acid Tests to Goa and Global Trance Culture, the Pranksters' legacy expands beyond the party to a deeper understanding of reality itself, to the idea of Group Mind–and how to play the Game. Absorbed by history into the tapestry of American folk-lore, the story of these psychedelic pioneers has been recounted in the recent documentary Magic Trip by Magnolia Films. But here join master storyteller Ken Babbs as we learn why the psychedelic outlaws of yesteryear deserve to be remembered as the heroes of today. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Experiential journalist Rak Razam gets all down-to-earth with Shane and Margaret, shamanic practitioners–not shamans!–in Australia trained in the Peruvian style with both Wachuma and Ayahuasca entheogenic sacraments, and part of the spiritual business of the second generation of the global shamanic resurgence. Hear their intimate stories of shamanic initiation and the challenges they and healers like them across the plantet face as they work their local communities. How much of the indigenous practice can be incorporated in the Western model without a type of spiritual imperialism encroaching? Shane and Margaret, affectionately known as "Mother" and "Father" by their clients, often young "chicks" under their wing, create space as the new elders to undergo classic initiation rites, as foretold by the Peruvian legend of the Eagle and the Condor. As the rise of Western Shamans continues are we seeing the rebirth of the Children of the Sun, or a mongrel spirituality? A laid-back, family conversation with mum and dad, not shamans. For more info see Circles Spaces and beyond Photo courtesy of EntheoGenesis Australis c 2009 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Experiential journalist Rak Razam gets all down-to-earth with Shane and Margaret, shamanic practitioners–not shamans!–in Australia trained in the Peruvian style with both Wachuma and Ayahuasca entheogenic sacraments, and part of the spiritual business of the second generation of the global shamanic resurgence. Hear their intimate stories of shamanic initiation and the challenges they and healers like them across the plantet face as they work their local communities. How much of the indigenous practice can be incorporated in the Western model without a type of spiritual imperialism encroaching? Shane and Margaret, affectionately known as "Mother" and "Father" by their clients, often young "chicks" under their wing, create space as the new elders to undergo classic initiation rites, as foretold by the Peruvian legend of the Eagle and the Condor. As the rise of Western Shamans continues are we seeing the rebirth of the Children of the Sun, or a mongrel spirituality? A laid-back, family conversation with mum and dad, not shamans. For more info see Circles Spaces and beyond Photo courtesy of EntheoGenesis Australis c 2009 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Join experiential journalist Rak Razam and his special guest 'Cleva Fela'–and his many children–in this unique character profile of a white man dreaming the indigenous Australian land and culture. 'Cleva Fellas' is a slang expression for medicine men in Aboriginal culture, and this Cleva Fela, whilst making no claims to the role, has spent years in the indigenous way of life, and shares with us here his experiences. Learn about the songlines, mobs, naming conventions, the dreaming clusters, the use of entheogenic plants and altered states of mind within a culture that already sees the world as an altered state of being. Cleva shares his initiation into the cultures of Australian aboriginals and the challenges of integrating their world view into our own, in this intimate family conversation held in Mullumbimby, NSW. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Join experiential journalist Rak Razam and his special guest 'Cleva Fela'–and his many children–in this unique character profile of a white man dreaming the indigenous Australian land and culture. 'Cleva Fellas' is a slang expression for medicine men in Aboriginal culture, and this Cleva Fela, whilst making no claims to the role, has spent years in the indigenous way of life, and shares with us here his experiences. Learn about the songlines, mobs, naming conventions, the dreaming clusters, the use of entheogenic plants and altered states of mind within a culture that already sees the world as an altered state of being. Cleva shares his initiation into the cultures of Australian aboriginals and the challenges of integrating their world view into our own, in this intimate family conversation held in Mullumbimby, NSW. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

You are cordially invited to the 50th podcast of In a Perfect World, for which experiential journalist Rak Razam hosts a dinner party unlike any other, held in these perilous times of planetary awakening in late July, 2011, or as is soon becoming apparent, the Edge of the Apocalypse. Joining us tonight are the Wizards of Oz: Darpan, global shamanic facilitator, Dan Schreiber, founder of Starseed Gardens in NNSW, Nen, perhaps the Grandmaster of Spice on the DMT-Nexus forums, and Kaiser Om, ruly zen master… On your menu in this epic conversation of fine minds and shamanic memes: * The origin of existence, and the nature of all things *Entheogenic plants, DMT and tryptamines in all their myriad forms as the chemical messengers of the earth * The shamanic revival and the hyperspatial experience as a precursor to species migration *Astronomical alignments, 2012 as a cosmic event, not a date; space weather, Comet Elenin and imminent planetary change *The End of Time, the Apocalypse or "lifting of the veil", the revealing of truth and the world as it really is * The secret to the mystery and the mystery of the secret… No delicacy shall be left untasted, no mind left unsatied. Join us in this rambunctious and insightful dialogue, in celebration, acceptance and love of this perfect world… This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. Hey all, if you listen to my In a Perfect World podcasts please join the Facebook page and I'd love to discuss some of the content and ideas that are raised there with you xxx rak

You are cordially invited to the 50th podcast of In a Perfect World, for which experiential journalist Rak Razam hosts a dinner party unlike any other, held in these perilous times of planetary awakening in late July, 2011, or as is soon becoming apparent, the Edge of the Apocalypse. Joining us tonight are the Wizards of Oz: Darpan, global shamanic facilitator, Dan Schreiber, founder of Starseed Gardens in NNSW, Nen, perhaps the Grandmaster of Spice on the DMT-Nexus forums, and Kaiser Om, ruly zen master… On your menu in this epic conversation of fine minds and shamanic memes: * The origin of existence, and the nature of all things *Entheogenic plants, DMT and tryptamines in all their myriad forms as the chemical messengers of the earth * The shamanic revival and the hyperspatial experience as a precursor to species migration *Astronomical alignments, 2012 as a cosmic event, not a date; space weather, Comet Elenin and imminent planetary change *The End of Time, the Apocalypse or "lifting of the veil", the revealing of truth and the world as it really is * The secret to the mystery and the mystery of the secret… No delicacy shall be left untasted, no mind left unsatied. Join us in this rambunctious and insightful dialogue, in celebration, acceptance and love of this perfect world… This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. Hey all, if you listen to my In a Perfect World podcasts please join the Facebook page and I'd love to discuss some of the content and ideas that are raised there with you xxx rak