Santa Claus, Christmas, and Mushrooms.

"Mellow is the man who knows what he's been missing
Many many men can't see the open road.
Many is a word that only leaves you guessing
Guessing 'bout a thing you really ought to know, ooh!
You really ought to know"
-- Led Zeppelin


Figure 3. The Little People
Often associated with Gnomes, Fairies and ‘little people’, the beauty of this mushroom makes it a favorite for artists. Certain artists also reveal deeper symbolic information. The mystical aspect is generally reserved for those that happen to be ‘in the know.

---

The information on this website is for everyone. Humanity's connection with the gifts of the Gods and the myths surrounding them is as ancient as it is universal. This website offers you gifts, some of them can be found under Pine trees in nature. Just as presents are placed under trees and exchanged during Winter Solstice (Christmas) there is a present waiting for you under the trees if you have the understanding of where to look and what exactly to look for. These pages will offer explanations for this and many other mysterious things.

Mankind's connection with other life forms on this planet, including those in the plant kingdom, is often dismissed with ambivalence or ignored as unimportant. Plants that produce altered states of consciousness are similarly dismissed, or even reviled as something at odds with normal human consciousness. However, knowledge and usage of these plants may be the most important thing man has ever known. In an evolutionary sense the consciousness expanding substances incorporated into human diet are responsible for unique contributions to our genetic makeup and heritage. Make no mistake about it; these plants manipulated human DNA over the course of millions of years. The reality is that the plants that expand (multidimensionalize) consciousness are truly the bounty of the Gods. We are talking about substances that have played a role in the evolutionary genetic and chemical libraries of the human brain as well as the cosmology of the mind (Myth and Religion).

In a larger picture these earthly and heavenly gifts have contributed to humanity's ability to transcend the body. Consciousness based journeys within the vibratory fields (dimensions) generated by these plants are reportedly filled with beings, places and a myriad of indescribable things. Some of these things have become a part of human cosmology having manifested themselves into human myth and imagination. Either that or these real things have manifested themselves into our cosmology via our journeys within the realms of consciousness provided by these plants and/or chemicals. These plants are crucial to who humans really are and according to many ancient world traditions have been responsible for transforming primitive humanity, possessor of limited life, into beings capable of transcending the physical body and living forever. This is what many of the myths and religious stories are actually about.

These plants are very likely to have been instrumental in evolving human brain structure and chemical makeup and even consciousness to the point that remnants of the states achieved through their usage have remained as elements of what we call regular consciousness. We owe the advancement of consciousness and capacity for higher thinking to our plant allies. Still today the usage of these plants is beneficial to the mind in the extreme, thus we can recognize this recurring theme from the worldwide myths detailing the finding or receiving these gifts of the gods.

Mankind's connection with spiritual and physical beings considered beyond the veil of vision and time is an extremely complex and rewarding study. We can call it Philosophy, Mythology or even Theology but whatever you want to call it, it is a part of every human being's life journey in one way or the other.

http://www.jamesarthur.net/mushroom.html
http://www.jamesarthur.net/mm.html
http://www.jamesarthur.net/mm_01.html

I remember them well. Oh for the 70s.


Cher

The visionary James Arthur is the opposite of the careful and straightlaced Dan Merkur in the field of the entheogen theory of the origins of religion. This book is so wide-ranging, it's hard to form a clear mental picture of its scope. Arthur has innovative coverage speculating about entheogens in Egyptian and Asian as well as Christian religion.

This subject is just getting started so there are few books and what few there are are speculative. The entheogen theory of the origin of religions *makes sense*, particularly when focusing on the specifically religious aspect of religion rather than other aspects such as political, ethical, or sociological aspects.

Scholars, including esoteric and Literalist Christian scholars, agree that entheogenic plants are basically reliable triggers for religious experiencing. Historians of religion are trying to use "psychology", "anthropology", and "sociology" to explain the origin of religions. These explanatory threads point to entheogens at the fountainhead of religion, religious experiencing, and religious myth.



This book provides some evidence but most of all provides the all-important *perspective* from which we can see how well it makes good sense to look to entheogens for the origin of mystic experiencing at the root of religion. There's really no reasonable argument against the entheogen theory of the origin of religion -- it enables a full-spectrum, integral-theory explanation of religion to finally come together.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1585091510

and the enlightening ones usually taught you the lesson that if you don't get it right you're dead.

You don't need drugs to experience mystical states. In fact stringent abstinence in diet and mental discipline is the first usual step. Second, those who tried and experienced some of these things flamed out without genuine mystical insisghts at all. "les Paradis Artificiels" by Charles Baudelaires is a good read since he tried a lot of the stuff available and as with other writers, bemoaned their destructive effects on the imagination and reason. Stephen King in "On Writing: A memoir of the Craft" is yet another debunking of the search for the wild explanation(drugs, alcohol, madness) to explain imagination and genius.

The cults which did center on drink or drugs didn't offer much of any depth or creative thought compared to those who simply fast and naturally dream. The search for removing of barriers both conceptual and psychological is a shortcut to the first baby step and stops with idolizing the sensation itself(which occurs in most early stage mystical progress).

a bit more to the topic than you outline.

I'm not advocating anything, especially picking and eating wild mushrooms, but this is a much deeper and interesting issue than you give it credit.

http://www.egodeath.com/index.html

This Egodeath theory presents a rational, systematic model of religious experiencing based on loose cognitive association, experiencing no-free-will and its transcendence, and timeless block-universe determinism.

Includes:

o The entheogenic trans-determinism theory of religion

o The maximal entheogen theory of religion

o The entheogenic theory of myth, perennial philosophy, and esotericism

-- Michael Hoffman

http://www.egodeath.com -- simple theory of the ego-death and rebirth experience. The essence, paradigm, origin, and fountainhead of religion is the use of visionary plants to routinely trigger the intense mystic altered state, producing loose cognitive association binding, which then produces an experience of frozen block-universe determinism with a single, pre-existing, ever-existing future. The return of the ordinary state of consciousness is allegorized as a transcendence of Necessity or cosmic determinism. Myth describes this mystic-state experience. Initiation is classically a series of some 8 visionary-plant sessions, interspersed with study of perennial philosophy. Most religion is a distortion, corruption, literalization, and cooptation of this standard initiation system.

---

Tomothy Freke's work is particularly fascinating.

http://www.egodeath.com/frekeenthnofreewill.htm

Halucinogens, when used in real mystical awakening, are used rarely
and in early days. Its like instant coffee... fun for a thrill, but
filter dripped is so much more rich and deep. Likewise, direct
meditation and kundalini yoga practices will get you much further in
your mystical awareness than popping shrooms.

That said, i wholly respect halucinogens and see them as part of the
smorgasbord of life, an instrument of re-centering people swept in to
illusory life choices by a distorted destructive culture of statist
secularism. Even christians, when put to it, are not mystics, and
nobody will suggest in a pinch that life is really 100% magic.

To live in the magic involves surrendering the sensory-attachment,
not getting re-addicted to the thrill of melting cosmos. Then we,
in ecstatic contemplation, forget to take our mushrooms and are
merely awake.

Cheap thrills come in many forms.

Frankly, i don't dispute your argument. I agree that halucinogens
(including the ones that are not mushrooms like Lysergic Acid Dyethylamide-25Right, and Lysergic Acid amides from Morning glory
seeds and hawaiian woodrose seeds) among others... play a very
important role in self discovery.

That said, if you need mushrooms to get aware after moving on to
meditation, you either are not meditating, are stuck in a rut, or
its been a damn hard year/incarnation. Pharmaceuticals have their
place, and it is a small box in self discovery, not the basis of
awakening. That was my point, that if they become central to
the matter, the long term awakening benefits are slim.

Enlightenment is called "the natural state", not "trippin on shrooms". I encourage whatever it takes for people to wake up, and
if halucinogens are your path, then ain't it cool.... but that is not
all folks, and they do have wearing effects when done too much over
too many years.

The american indians, i order to do peyote, would be out in a
sweatlodge in the desert having fasted, and deliberately sought out
a vision quest. This is wholly more formal and preparatory than
eating some mushrooms out of cow pies in the texas pasture.

That's like saying "you don't need a shovel to dig a ditch, just use your hands". This is not an issue of judgment, but a discussion of the tools of mankind. More than a tool to some, more of a sacrament.

It is what it is. I'm not selling anything here.

--

The visionary James Arthur is the opposite of the careful and straightlaced Dan Merkur in the field of the entheogen theory of the origins of religion. This book is so wide-ranging, it's hard to form a clear mental picture of its scope. Arthur has innovative coverage speculating about entheogens in Egyptian and Asian as well as Christian religion.

This subject is just getting started so there are few books and what few there are are speculative. The entheogen theory of the origin of religions *makes sense*, particularly when focusing on the specifically religious aspect of religion rather than other aspects such as political, ethical, or sociological aspects.
That's like saying "you don't need a shovel to dig a ditch, you can do it with your hands". This is not an issue of judgment, but a discussion of the tools of mankind. More than a tool to some, more of a sacrament.

---
Scholars, including esoteric and Literalist Christian scholars, agree that entheogenic plants are basically reliable triggers for religious experiencing. Historians of religion are trying to use "psychology", "anthropology", and "sociology" to explain the origin of religions. These explanatory threads point to entheogens at the fountainhead of religion, religious experiencing, and religious myth.


This book provides some evidence but most of all provides the all-important *perspective* from which we can see how well it makes good sense to look to entheogens for the origin of mystic experiencing at the root of religion. There's really no reasonable argument against the entheogen theory of the origin of religion -- it enables a full-spectrum, integral-theory explanation of religion to finally come together.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1585091510

They have a place in self-discovery, and unfortuntately, their legal
status, has made education regarding proper use rather thin.

The various chemical means, serve to stop the internal dialog, that
one is in direct communion with ones enlightened inner awareness.
This can be very disconcerting, if the person is living a huge lie,
and often, this can cause a casual user a bad trip, if they have not
respected the "experience". In this regard, taking shrooms and
heading off to a night of drinking at clubs can be a misuse,
unfortuntately such things happen when all substances get lumped in
to the category of "drugs" that get you f**ked up.

Yet if one respects the spirit of the substance, and the sacredness
of inner exploration, tripping can change one's life. It certainly
did so for me, once upon a time, realizing that there was so much
more to human awareness than i had thus far awakened to; and that
the lucid states of tripping are frankly more sane than the mental
trips people live in most of the time.

Cannabis, can as well, be a soft-trip, for someone who finds the
harder trips too strong. So much depends on the weed, and the sprit
of its growing, and harvesting. Best if a very conscious person has
grown the plant from seed as a sacrament. Consciousness being very
vey very subtle, the vibes from the cannabis plant can affect the
trip. Mostly, though, this does not count, unless the taker of
said drugs s already treating the whole thing as very sacred.

In india, before a yogi partakes of a chillum (cannabis - very strong), they say "Bom Shiva". "May the god of illusion awaken
me". It seems that our trash culture has taken the drugs out of
their sacred setting and rather quaffs them down between bottles of
lone star. (not you indigo, but culture).

For a meditator who feels their life stuck in a rut, i would
recommend a shroom trip. Take a trusted friend to a sacred wilderness
area where you will encounter no people. Have your friend block all
people from access to you while you are tripping, as people are
toxic with their mind-states. Then offer a prayer to awakening that
may the benevolent forces of the universe, god, nirvana, or whatever
you call it, guide you in your vision quest... as you take the
substance.

One following this path will get 1000 times more out of tripping, and
may not ever do it again.... its a real life changing thing if
respected well... very positive, profound and intense.

We agree indigo, what concerns me more, is that ANYONE can read
these threads, and misread them, if we are not careful to warn folks
to treat sacred consciousness altering substances as just that.
People (some) have great respect for firearms, and yet the same
respect somehow is culturally lost when it comes to consciousness
altering..

Wow, what a fine commentary. I applaud and endorse your view. So much more to this than meets the eye. While I posted this as an overview, this could be become a seriously in-depth conversation reaching into many areas and many topics.

So much falsness in the culture today, it is refreshing to strip down the concepts, look at them from all angles, and form an honest opinion. Then, maybe, we can get on down the road of a brighter day.

of sacred proportion.

This is not a casual thing. Many people have suffered horribly, directly and indirectly, as a result of casual use.

It is indisputable, the historical significance here, but a ritualized sacred ceremony seems most appropriate.

Cheers, sweetheart!

Police called to Santa rumble
By Daily Mail

Police called to a mass brawl found an army of Santas punching and kicking each other.

Officers had to use batons and CS spray to quell the fight in the centre of Newtown, Powys.

Four were hurt and there were five arrests.

The battle of the Santas followed a 21/2-mile charity run involving more than 4,000 people dressed as Father Christmas. Some of them are believed to have overindulged in alcohol after crossing the finishing line.

The fun run is expected to benefit up to 200 charities and it is hoped that it will exceed last year's total raised of £80,000.

Organisers believe they have broken their own world record for having the most number of Santas in the same place. Last year a mere 3,200 took part.

http://www.thisislondon.com/til/jsp/modules/Article/print.jsp?itemId=15228144

That made my day...HAHAHAHAHA!!!:7

to ring in the holiday season, and remind one what it's all about.

I wonder if any were on mushrooms?

I'll be using one that on my Christmas card.

Is Santa Claus Really Satan in Disguise? Quite frankly, the answer is yes!



The Devil Is In Your Chimney!

Is Santa Claus, Satan? (A Special Report Concerning the Origin of Santa Claus)



Freehold, Iowa - Satan's evil plan has created jobs for hundreds of thousands of old lecherous pedophiles throughout this Godly country every December. These filthy homeless hobos just lay on their urine-stained cardboard beds 11 months out of the year, dreaming of Christmas when they can drunkenly traipse into the warmth of departments stores and have innocent little Christian children sit on their vermin-infested laps. Unwary parents happily snap pictures while Satan's obesely wheezing drunks ask their children whether they've been "bad" and whisper lewd suggestions in their angelic little ears with their filthy booze-breath and cigarette-discolored lips. How many unsuspecting tots have suffered a quick grope before Satan's little helper moves on to the next hopeful child in line?

snip

http://www.landoverbaptist.org/news1299/santy.html

Who, REALLY, is this man we affectionately call Santa Claus?

What do we REALLY know about Santa?

Is Santa just a jolly ol’, harmless, friendly fellow?

Or is there something or someone else hiding behind jolly ol’ St. Nick?

Before we look at Santa, let us establish some basic Bible facts:

The Bible clearly teaches a powerful, rebellious, subtle, evil being called the Devil, Lucifer or Satan.

Revelation 12
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
The Bible teaches Satan rebelled against God. Satan rebelled because he desires to be like God. Satan’s mission is to de-throne God and persuade mankind to rebel against God.

Isaiah 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
The Bible teaches Satan’s primary attack is the most vulnerable. In Luke 10:19, Jesus Christ compares Satan to lightning, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven". Lightning, like Satan, always travels the path of least resistance. The Bible also likens the devil to a "roaring lion" The lion is a "predator of opportunity". The lion looks for the injured, the youngest, the smallest, or the weakest – the one with the least ability to run or fight. So it is with Satan. He is actively "seeking" those "whom he may devour".

1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

snip

http://www.av1611.org/othpubls/santa.html
--
Man, oh man...

to grow oyster mushrooms for the local fancy restaurant like 10 years ago...

Mushrooms they changed the human race, some monkey ate one and thought "what if?"

This is interesting simply from an anthropological perpective.

:evilgrin:

gate gate paragate parasamdhigate bodhi swaha
---

???please translate???

something along the lines of

gone,
gone,
gone all the way over,
everyone has gone over the other side.
Enlightenment!

boy it really loses something when I put it like that...

I can't quote the sutras, but the diamond sutra and the heart sutra are two that help me collect myself when I go all wobbly.

GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA
(gone gone totally gone totally completely gone enlightened so be it)

this shit with translations gets real confusing real quick... Im more of a Sri Nisargadata Mararj man myself his lessons are very plain spoken and base.

Im sure you have better understanding of Sanskrit than I do...

A Hindu warning of bad Santas, or something?

interesting.

Ganesh comparison. Trying to find bad Santas in Sanskrit is hard! let alone warnings about him!lol


http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:HgpfYD6dHEoJ:www.classicalyoga.org/most_everyone_knows_the_form_of_.htm+bad+santa+sanskrit&hl=en&lr=lang_en

Here's to the Original Santa!!

Most everyone knows the form of Santa, but could it be that Ganesha (who has been worshipped by Hindus thousands of years before western religions were ever created) was the original prototype? Let us look at some of the amazing similarities:

The Name: Santa is a Sanskrit word spelling meaning peace. All the MahaDevas (Great Spiritual-Beings) of Hinduism have several forms and numerous names denoting their various characteristics. Ganesha is called Santaya or the (Saint) bringer of the gift of peace. In Sanskrit, Nikila refers to the Lord of All. mmmm...Saint Nikila! Ganesha or Ganapati means Lord of the elements. Just like Santa driving his earthy animal team, Ganesha's rope/reins (upper left hand) signifies "reining in" or controlling the earth elements and animal senses. Ringing (sleigh) bells is always done to invoke Ganesha's presence. Ganesha is always accompanied by his little mouse (Mushika) ... not a creature was stirring not even a mouse!

Birthplace: Ganesha is the son of Siva ("God" to many Hindus) and their abode is on the world's highest, snowy peaks, the Himalayas (The North Pole?). The colors of the Saivites (followers of Siva) are red and white! In the worlds most ancient scriptures the Vedas of the Hindus, Ganesha is called Brihaspati or Lord of Speech and the primal sound (repeated 3x's) Om, Om, Om (Ho, Ho, Ho?).

Celebration: The original (and still observed) celebration called Markali Pilliyar (the Divine Child) lasts from middle December to the middle of January. This time of year has always been for the children (or the child within everyone). I believe! Hindus often have visions (and visions of sugar plums danced in their head) of Ganesha as the Divine Child (Bala Ganesha) and the Dancer (Nritya Ganapati). Hindu children especially love Ganesha. The modern festival of Pancha Ganapati focuses on his five shakti's (powers of harmony): family, friends, business associates, culture and Love of the Divine--isn't this what the modern seasonal festivals are all about? At this festive time, Hindu homes and Temples are decked with boughs of (Holly) various greenery.

The Form: There is an immediate resemblance: plumb belly; cheerful look; rosy cheeks; gentle eyes; big ears (to listen to all those wish lists, while sitting on his throne); and could the beard have replaced the trunk? Santaya gives a gift of little white sweet cookies (made with milk!) To add to the fun, why do you think he has bare feet? As Vigneshvara, he is the remover of obstacles (the upper right hand implement), and he knows (or has a list) his devotees past and future (He knows when you've been good or bad ... He's mak'in a list, checking it twice...). As Ekatantaya, he has one broken tusk (which he, of course, uses to write).

More Symbols: From, The Night Before Christmas: His mouth was drawn up like a bow (look at an elephants mouth) The stump of a pipe (His tusk) he held tight in his teeth, and the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath (incense is always burnt which curls around the image). He had a broad face (naturally) and a round little belly (indeed) that shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. He was chubby and plump (we love Him that way!) and a right jolly elf (a beloved Deity to all Hindus and head of ganas, the elemental elfs). And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself. (Anyone who has ever attend Ganesha puja (worship) knows the laughter and immense feelings of good will.) A wink of his eye, and a twist of his head, soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. (Ganesha's lower right hand is held in Abhya Mudra meaning have no fear.) And laying his finger aside of his nose, and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. Ganesha is the Lord of the first Chakra (spiritual center) at the base of the spine (the chimney within). In Hindu/Yoga practices, we place a finger aside the nose and deeply breath (pranayama) and awareness up the "chimney" arose! Happy Pancha Ganapati to all, and to all a Good-night!

thread...

and apt.

Good show!

Because here in south Louisiana I just found a spot where a whole boatload of them have come up a few days ago. I don't think anyone ingests them here, since we also have Psilocybe (is that the spelling?) which are so much less "noisy." They are just for pretty.

There are some interesting insights into human development in this subject that I find interesting. First hand info, I'll leave to the "experts".

to dry them and make tea. Siberian shamans would supoosedly drink the tea and their urine would be drunk by other memeber of the tribe sometimes circulating down through 3 or 4 ingestions.

The amanita experience is very body centric, and leaves the mind more dreamy and drifting.

Up north amanitas or sort of cold snap mushrooms, usually have them in mid autumn. They grow off the roots of pines.

There are several types of amanitas that could really harm you or kill you.... so as with all thing fungi, dont do anything unless youre with an expert or are one yourself.

Ther is also a cold weather psilocybe called azureaceans (sp??) that is about 4 times as potent as your cubensis which is the most common found at concerts and raves and whatnot. Interestingly it grows out on hardwood chips, and fruits after the first couple of heavy frosts... there is oodles of 'em in the North West. Most cool thing about this strain is that you can use the hardwood chips from the year before to reinnoculate an area foru or five times the size of the original area of hardwood chips!

Noisy little amanitas!!

on edit: I have no first hand knowledge of any of this except from youth... so dont do anything because it was discussed here! Figure it out yerselves.

From proud patriot's thread:
---
funny if you like parady songs

my favorites so far
are "osama got run over by a reindeer" ,
"o come all ye greatful deadheads"
"Decorations"
"I'll be stoned for christmas"
and
"It's the most fattening time of the year"

Enjoy

http://www.twistedtunes.com/

From proud patriot's thread:
---
funny if you like parady songs

my favorites so far
are "osama got run over by a reindeer" ,
"o come all ye greatful deadheads"
"Decorations"
"I'll be stoned for christmas"
and
"It's the most fattening time of the year"

Enjoy

http://www.twistedtunes.com/

From proud patriot's thread:
---
funny if you like parady songs

my favorites so far
are "osama got run over by a reindeer" ,
"o come all ye greatful deadheads"
"Decorations"
"I'll be stoned for christmas"
and
"It's the most fattening time of the year"

Enjoy

http://www.twistedtunes.com/

OK...we need a new Santa thread so we can post all of the pics from that site...I also like the one with santa splattered on the nose of the airplane.