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Modern Society Tm
Los Viejos
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The idea there is that we have gone sick by following a path of
Untrammeled rationalism, male dominance, attention to the visible
Surface of things, uh, practicality, bottom-line-ism. We have gone
Very, very sick and the body politic, like any body, when it feels
Itself to be sick, it begins to produce antibodies or strategies
For overcoming the condition of dis-ease. And the 20th century is an
Enormous effort at self-healing. Phenomena as diverse as surrealism
Body piercing, psychedelic drug use, sexual permissiveness, jazz
Experimental, uh, dance, rave culture, tattooing, the list is
Endless. What do all these things have in common? They represent
Various styles of rejection of linear values. The society is trying
To cure itself by an archaic revival, by a reversion to archaic
Values. So when I see people manifesting sexual ambiguity or
Scarifying themselves or showing a lot of flesh or dancing to
Syncopated music or getting loaded or violating ordinary canons
Of sexual behavior, I applaud all of this because it's an impulse
To return to what is felt by the body, what is authentic, what
Is archaic. And when you p- when you tease apart these archaic
Impulses, at the very center of all these impulses is the desire
To return to a world of magical empowerment of feeling. And at
The center of that impulse is the shaman, stoned, intoxicated
On plants, speaking with the spirit helpers, dancing in the
Moonlight and vivifying and invoking a world of conscious living
...Is what the world is. The world is not an unsolved problem for
Scientists or sociologists. The world is a living mystery. Our birth
Our death, our being in the moment, these are mysteries. They are
Doorways opening on to unimaginable vistas of self-exploration
Empowerment, and hope for the human enterprise. And our culture has
Killed that, taken it away from us, made us consumers of shoddy
Products and shoddier ideals. We have to get away from that, and
The way to get away from it is by a return to the authentic
Experience of the body. And that means sexually empowering ourselves
And it means getting loaded, exploring the mind as a tool for
Personal and social transformation. The hour is late. The clock is
Ticking. We will be judged very harshly if we fumble the ball. We
Are the inheritors of millions and millions of years of successfully
Lived lives and successful adaptations to changing conditions in the
Natural world. Now the challenge passes to us, the living, that the
Yet-to-be-born may have a place to put their feet and a sky to walk
Under. And that's what the psychedelic experience is about, is caring
For, empowering, and building a future that honors the past, honors
The planet, and honors the power of the human imagination. There is
Nothing as powerful, as capable of transforming itself and the planet
As the human imagination. Let's not sell it straight. Let's not whore
Ourselves to nitwit ideologies. Let's not give our control over to
The least among us. Rather, you know, claim your place in the sun and
Go forward into the light. The tools are there. The path is known
You simply have to turn your back on a culture that
Has gone sterile and dead, and get with the program
Of a living world and a re-empowerment of the imagination
Thank you very, very much. Thank you, thank you