Integratron

I can't believe I almost wasn't able to make this trip! For the longest time I have tried to make it out to Joshua Tree and I'm glad this class field trip brought me their and to the Integratron. The little bit I read about the Integratron left me intrigued. Supposedly a man by the name of George van Tassel was contacted by aliens from Venus who gave him the blueprint for the Integratron and told him to build it to harvest human energy and send it back to Venus. Sounds crazy right, in addition to the unique architecture of the Integratron, the inside allows for incredible reverberation of sound.

Climbing up into the Integratron was like climbing into a rural spaceship. Constructed out of beautiful solid pieces of wood, I was pleased to find a floor mattress awaiting me as we embarked on a "Sound Bath." As we all laid down and relaxed, a woman who had at her disposal several large quartz bowls proceeded to play them like instruments. The poly-aural quality of the trance inducing quartz came at me from all different directions. More a minute it felt as though a large balloon of sound was being squeezed in one ear and pushed out the other, after this feeling I fell into a deep trance and lost consciousness.



I woke up feeling like I had just lost track of time. I was in a daze, but extremely relaxed. As I looked around it seemed as though everyone else was coming to consciousness around the same time. It was very refreshing.

Enter The Void

By far one of the craziest films I've ever seen. It has all the aspects of a film that I would like, a great soundtrack, scored by Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk, innovative cinematography by Benoit Debie, and a dark drama about young adults which takes place in Tokyo. The film is written and directed by Gasper Noe who also made Irreversible. Well equipped with special fx, the film does a good job of conveying the drug trips experienced by the characters and immersing the spectator in them as well. This film was definitive of trippy, with disorienting colors and camera movements designed to emulate psychedelic experiences. The film challenges the viewers to try to grasp reality, much like they would if they were on drugs. Enter The Void can definitely be viewed as "psychonautic" media as it is capable of inducing analysis of the viewers' own psyche.

Week 1 Readings

1. Programming: the concept of planning out a psychedelic trip to achieve a desired goal. Ralph Metzner and Timothy Leary believe LSD trips can be used as an aid for diagnosis, therapy, intellectual understanding, aesthetic appreciation, interpersonal communication, and self-understanding.

2. Yantra: Used in Hindu and Buddhist tradition to aid and outline the focal points of consciousness. Embodies concept of guiding a trip through the use of visual images that carries significance.

3. Mantra: The use of sound to center consciousness and transcend normal conceptions. Although the literal meaning of the sound may carry significance, mantras are primarily concerned with the vibrations in the sound.

Prompts:

-How might a Mahayana Monk react to the psychedelic effects of LSD?

-Of the six reasons for programming in the Metzner and Leary article, which would you choose and how would you go about programming (music, images, activities, etc.)?

Sound Voyage

Dipping Into the Realm of Soundscapes As I lied on the ground and closed my eyes I immediately prepared myself for a state of deep meditation. However this takes time and I had to get rid of my basic analytical process of the situation. The sounds being played sounded familiar, having been familiar with i-Dosers, I quickly realized that these were binaural1 sounds. Sad that I was not hearing them in actual headphones, I quickly let these impeding thoughts go along with the rest of my concerns. I pictured myself in the classroom and proceeded to eliminate everything in my memory. As the sounds throbbed, I threw tables, chairs, and even people in to the abyss of a darkness that I sought to surround myself by. It was then that I was able to start meditating.

The music help facilitate this meditation2 and I began to see things. I saw a reddish purple creature of many tentacles flowing from the top of my vision. I then questioned why am I seeing this creature and that is when the realization about hallucinations seen on psychedelics came to me. It became clear to me that when I let my imagination run free there may be many different creatures and shapes that flow through my thoughts, that I simply choose not to add to my memory since they do not make “logical” sense. Which leads me to believe that under the influence of psychedelics3, the brain begins to see thing in a less bias manner allowing such never seen things or never realized thoughts come to fruition and allowed into the memory. This realization was complete and the sound voyage then took me to the top of a windy mountain where a ceremony was being led. However, my creative vision did not form any faces of people during the ceremony, I felt an outsider as if peering from behind a bush. Jimi Hendrix brought me back to analyzing all of the sounds, since his music felt abrupt in comparison to the other things played during the beginning. With Pink Floyd following I soon realized a trend in trippy music that was quintessential of psychedelic trips of the past. The techno in the end sealed the deal and I found my ears chasing after the rollercoaster ride of synthesizer keys and knobs. When it was all over the silence was the most exciting as my anticipation grew while I wondered it the voyage had ended.

1. Binaural-"pertaining to both ears," 1861, from L. bini "twofold, two apiece" (used especially of matched things) + aural. In ref. to electronic recordings, from 1933.
2. Meditated-Early 13c., "discourse on a subject," from L. meditationem (nom. meditatio), from meditatus, pp. of meditari "to meditate, to think over, consider," frequentative form from PIE base *med- "to measure, limit, consider, advise" (cf. Gk. medesthai "think about," medon "ruler," L. modus "measure, manner," modestus "moderate," modernus "modern," mederi "to heal," medicus "physician," Skt. midiur "I judge, estimate," Welsh meddwl "mind, thinking," Goth. miton, O.E. metan "to measure"). Meaning "act of meditating, continuous calm thought upon some subject" is from late 14c.
3. Psychedelic-1956, of drugs, suggested by H. Osmond in a letter to Aldous Huxley and used by Osmond in a scientific paper published the next year; from Gk. psykhe- "mind" (see psyche) + deloun "make visible, reveal," from delos "visible, clear." Psychedelia is from 1967.