Indigenous Knowledge and Psychedelic Medicine in the End Times
Join me on a guided river walk through Australia's stunning South West forest, soundtracked by Graham Hancock and Carly Rae Jepsen.
So, fellow diggers… what lies around the corner?
Are we in the End Times: the last stages of the inevitable, cyclical collapse of “advanced” human civilisation that has occurred, like clockwork, throughout human history?
Are we actually on the brink a golden age for humanity: with the apparent chaos surrounding us simply the birth pangs of a New Earth; an invitation to break from the old systems and start building our own?
Or, for the doomers: are we at a false dawn, a manufactured fake apocalypse, designed lead us gratefully into the New World Order?
Or… are these future timelines all, in fact, the same: but merely dependent on your own mindset and preparedness?
Converging timelines or not: things do seem to be escalating/deteriorating/glitching with increasing urgency, without any apparent evidence of a reversal in sight. Thus, the old adage “expect the best, prepare for the worst” feels increasingly apt.
How to prepare? For someone who lives on the land of arguably the longest-surviving continuous culture on Earth, reconnecting with country and the protection it offers seems like an obvious first step — and I have been upping my camping game accordingly:
I am in a privileged position (if you call single and childless at 35 privileged) to live a lifestyle that allows me to connect with nature in such regular and intimate ways. I am, therefore, doing my best to spread the love: documenting my adventures while adding in some mild-to-medium conspiracy spice to keep things interesting.
I recently camped at Honeymoon Pool: a freezing freshwater pool 6 kilometres (4ish miles?) downstream from Wellington Dam, two hours south of Perth near the coal mining town of Collie. I got up at the crack of dawn to walk the Jabitj (running water) trail that runs along the river to the Dam and back, capturing the majority of the journey with my glitchy iPhone 7 camera (this was before Christmas; for future rants I am now stocked with a 5G-summoning 12 model and a fancy selfie stick to go with it).
It was originally intended as an acknowledgement to the original people who once walked this path (without my fancy backpack, shoes and non-chafe bamboo undies) and to share the wisdom of the land that has been translated through the numerous pieces of educational signage along the way. But, as I listened to a podcast by OG alternative history conspirator Graham Hancock — and perhaps also inspired by my magic fruit smoothie — the walk turned into something more.
Hancock is known for many things: most notably, postulating for the presence of an ancient, realm-spanning civilisation lost to history after the Great Flood.
However, he has also been one of the most outspoken and articulate advocates for psychedelic plant medicines: medicines he personally explored with true Gonzo Journalism commitment in his book Supernatural.
Now — like every medicine — psychedelic plant medicines are not for everyone, and they should above all be treated with the respect deserved of a medicine. When treated with this respect, they offer a mode of transformative healing that could almost have been designed for our present times: specifically the wave of trauma and grief that is only just starting to be brought to the surface.
Hopefully once all this Jibby Jab bollocks runs its course, we can get back to the real battle of freeing these medicines from their legal captivity… and our consciousness with it.
As Hancock says, still better than anyone:
“If we are not sovereign over our own consciousness, then we are not sovereign over anything, and it’s impossible to speak about freedom when the Government holds the keys to our consciousness and tells us what we may or may not experience”.
So, enjoy this 12ish minute highlights package of my walk, including some interludes by Carly Rae Jepsen (my guilty pleasure sunrise walking music) to keep things on Vibe.