Part Four: Of Scientists and Shamans: Mind, Molecules & Magic
By Zoe Seven
(From AVS Journal)
Here’s a representative passage which describes a different combination than plants and technology. It is the dissociative anesthetic called ketamine together with hemi-sync frequencies. Ketamine was used by doctor John C. Lilly, the inventor of the flotation/isolation tank in a series of experiments in consciousness which he wrote in his books; most notably Center of the Cyclone. Lilly’s experiments were loosely portrayed in the film Altered States. From Into The Void:
After putting on my headphones and as the pleasing hemi-sync tones were beginning to synchronize both of my brain hemispheres, I made myself comfortable on my home office recliner. Next, I proceeded to inject the awaiting dose of ketamine into my left thigh. I then began to describe out loud a brief outline of my experiment into an overhead microphone. For I had started to try and record my explorations in real-time. (But this didn’t workout very well, for all of the body’s muscles become paralyzed when using this substance. However, this is not the case with LSD.)
Then, for a very brief period of time—until the pharmacological effects of ketamine began—I preprogrammed my coming voyage with the following command: “Go to the night of December 25, 1996…which I repeated as many times as I could. Within two minutes of injection, the nauseating effects of ketamine began coming over me. I felt my eyes roll back and my body started to become paralyzed, while my mouth remained almost halfway open.
In seconds my sense of being began to spin round and round, and continued in a circular motion until it seemed as if I was going to spin out of my ‘axis’, out of my normal state of mind, out of control. At this point the REM binaural frequencies became my only lifeline to my self-conscious awareness; and within moments, I became completely engulfed by a ravishing centrifugal force that eventually culminated by forcefully and rather violently ripping me out of my body and shooting me into hyperspace.
I raced through the dark tunnel at an indescribable speed, faster than what I had traveled in the past—at least this was my sense. I also felt an overwhelming raw energetic force engulf my consciousness. This in turn made me feel like a comet or a shooting star. The speed was staggering, and, as usual, I could not close my eyes. A few moments later, hues of materiality began to become discernible within the ethereal-like mist that I was traveling through. My speed gradually began slowing down, and in a few more seconds, I glided into a physical reality urban scene. I found myself floating above a number of houses and began descending towards a large dark-colored mansion. Although it was nighttime, the entire area was somewhat illuminated from the Christmas lighting that adorned the town’s neighborhood homes, which made it possible for me to see.
As my non-physical body went through the roof, everything went black, but within one second or so I was hovering above a large living room area. Although it was dark, I had a sense of grayish night vision. While I was experiencing all of this I had the sensation of being underwater, for I had no weight and felt no gravity to pull me down. This caused me to struggle up in the air a bit. For I was trying to reach the floor and move horizontally—the way one normally walks—as opposed to the ceiling-level floating I was experiencing.
End of Part Four.
Copyright: Zoe 7 for AVS Journal. All rights reserved.