**What Sparked This Whole Journey? Setting the Scene** So, what got this whole project going? Well, back in the early 1970s, the authors felt a strong pull to investigate "hallucinogenic tryptamines". Their main assumption was that the interaction between the physical brain and the elusive concept of mind could be influenced by these drugs. They intuited that manipulating this interaction via hallucinogens might open up radical new ways to shed light on age-old problems, like how metabolism relates to mind, and even the very nature of memory at a molecular level. They weren't looking for simple answers; their hope was to create a model of the mind that could account for both the normal and what we often call the "paranormal". Crucially, they looked at the practice of shamanism. In their view, shamanism isn't just folklore; it's a "folk science" where the normal and paranormal seem to merge, and where hallucinogens are used to physically manipulate "psychic space". Unlike many researchers who might dismiss the paranormal aspects of shamanism as mere psychological quirks, the authors went into their research with an "open-ended premise". They suspected that when you're dealing with something as mysterious as the nature of mind, you should be prepared for surprises. Their goal was to experience shamanic phenomena firsthand, on whatever level of reality they presented themselves. They certainly weren't wrong in anticipating that what they encountered would severely challenge their existing cultural understanding. This book, in fact, attempts to lay out the assumptions that led them to the Amazon in the first place and to describe the research they conducted there. **Deep Dive into Assumptions: Mind, Life, and the Unconscious** Let's peek a bit more closely at some of the really fundamental ideas they started with. They assumed that mind and life are deeply rooted in a "bioelectronic field phenomenon". They reasoned that a corpse is physically similar to a living body, but what's missing is that continuous exchange of energy and metabolism – that "bioelectronic continuum". This led them to hope they could understand the intricate mechanics of how mind and the physical organic structure are connected at the very tiny, "submolecular junctures". They posited that if mind, including both conscious and unconscious aspects, somehow resides within the structure or dynamics of our genetic material – the "genetic matrix" – then finding a way to enhance access to those parts of the genetic apparatus might allow us to explore the unconscious mind, both personal and collective. They noted that many techniques, from drugs to yoga, have been developed over time to make unconscious mental content available for conscious contemplation. These techniques, they suggested, likely all involve some kind of physical change in the organism's state. The key idea here is that a change at the cellular and molecular level might be the common factor underlying all these different methods. If such a molecular mechanism exists that can unlock the realms of the personal and collective unconscious, then understanding and applying it could be a huge benefit in the human search for liberation. Based on their experiences in the Amazon, they felt, however cryptically, that the liberation which motivates conscious life might be more "tangible" than they had previously thought. **Shamanism vs. Schizophrenia: Different Takes on Non-Ordinary Reality** A significant part of their exploration involved looking closely at the figure of the shaman. They devoted a chapter to the traditional shaman in primitive societies and another comparing the shaman to the schizophrenic. The question of how much our experience of the supernatural might stem from mental illness or altered states like trance or intoxication has long fascinated researchers. The authors argued that significant similarities exist between the process of shamanic election (the calling to become a shaman) and initiation, and the intense effort at "psychic reorganization" that defines some forms of schizophrenia. If, as they proposed, mind and its unconscious contents originate at a "submolecular interface," then it's reasonable to think that a similar physical mechanism might trigger the emergence of these contents in both shamans and schizophrenics. Comparing these two states could be useful for understanding not only what triggers access to unconscious material but also how to control it. While a schizophrenic may or may not gain control over their non-ordinary experiences, in shamanism, achieving this control is absolutely essential. The shaman's initiation is a wild process. It often involves a deep trance state where the novice might lie as though dead or in a deep sleep for days. During this time, they might be visited by helping spirits in dreams and receive instructions. A universal motif in this trance is a symbolic death and resurrection. The novice might see themselves reduced to a skeleton and reclothed in new flesh, or boiled and devoured by spirits before being made whole again. This isn't just symbolic; it's understood as a radical transformation into a superhuman condition. After this, the shaman has access to the supernatural realm, can travel in the spirit world, cure others, and perform feats like touching red-hot iron. They are transformed from a "profane" to a "sacred" state. Importantly, the shaman isn't just a sick or mad person; they are a sick person who has _healed themselves_ and who must continue shamanizing to remain cured. While some cases of shamanic initiation can be linked to mental illness like epilepsy or catatonia, the authors stress that this isn't always the case. Initiation can also be triggered by encounters with magical animals, finding special objects, or ordeals in the wilderness. Even when mental illness is a factor, it might be rooted in predispositions to seizures, hysteria, or anxiety, rather than necessarily schizophrenia. Regardless of the initial cause, the _ability to cure_ is the true foundation of the shaman's status. Shamans undergo theoretical and practical instruction, not just ecstatic experience. Because they have healed themselves and can heal others, it's implied that they understand the "mechanism, or rather, the theory of illness". The shaman achieves their abilities through ecstasy. They use techniques like drumming, dancing, chanting, sleep deprivation, and fasting. These aren't so different from practices found in other mystic traditions. And yes, many shamans use "narcotic plants" like tobacco juice or inhaled hashish smoke. While some, like Eliade, suggested that using drugs indicates a decline in the tradition, the authors, citing Wasson, express doubt, noting that plant use is widespread globally in shamanism. Both schizophrenics and novice shamans sometimes exhibit "pathological staring" or intense focus, which is seen as a kind of perceptual fixation leading to self-initiated sensory deprivation. Experiments with sensory deprivation have shown that this state can produce hallucinations, voices, imaginary people, and distorted body images – phenomena also common in shamanism. The shaman's journey, where they are instructed by spirits appearing as visions or apparitions, involves themes of death and rebirth, including bodily dismemberment and reintegration, similar to what's seen in sensory deprivation states. In both schizophrenia and shamanism, this is followed by a fusion of lower and higher mental processes, inundating the mind with archaic imagery perceived as coming from external sources. This stage is typical of the fully developed shamanic trance. The authors speculatively suggest that in literate cultures, the schizophrenic might be a "victim of a culturally misdirected attitude". They propose that the schizophrenic could provide a necessary connection to the collective unconscious, just as the shaman does in tribal societies. The authors worry that modern culture's "spiritual atrophying" might be due to losing touch with the collective unconscious. They ponder whether reinstituting a shamanic role in modern society could prevent total estrangement from this fundamental source of human culture. This raises some interesting questions: - Could altered states induced by different means (drugs, trance, deprivation) tap into the same underlying physical/mental processes? - What societal role _could_ a modern "doctor of the soul" play in connecting people to the collective unconscious, especially in a culture often seen as alienated from the numinous? **Unpacking Mind and Reality: Beyond the Physical** Moving beyond the individual state, the authors delve into the very nature of mind and reality itself, grounding their philosophical outlook in the work of Alfred North Whitehead. They wanted to move past the idea of mind as something vague and ill-defined. They felt that understanding mind, ideas, and consciousness requires making explicit the philosophical assumptions underlying any investigation. They found that the traditional scientific view of material entities having "simple location" and being infinitely divisible in time isn't sufficient, especially when looking at tiny "submolecular" levels. Instead, they found that describing material entities as "vibratory epochal processes" aligns better with quantum mechanics. This model, they argue, also opens the door to explaining organisms and mind. They adopted a view where mind isn't just a byproduct of the physical body. They believed that "the organic even in its lowest form prefigures mind, and that mind even on its highest reaches remains part of the organic". A complete explanation of life, they argued, must confront the problem of mind squarely, and it _cannot_ be reduced to purely physical or chemical terms. Just as organisms transcend the physics and chemistry of their parts, mind transcends the organic processes from which it arises. Mind has its own unique qualities and isn't simply reducible to events in the organic matrix, although it certainly includes them. An adequate explanation needs to look at more comprehensive levels of organization. Whitehead's perspective suggests that mind is an "element of the total process comprising an organism". This implies that the states of mind influence every component, down to the smallest particles like electrons. As Whitehead put it, an electron inside a living body is different from one outside because of the body's "general plan," which includes the "mental state". This leads to big questions: - If mind is more than just the sum of its physical parts, how do we investigate it scientifically without falling back into reductionism? - Could physical processes at the submolecular level actually be influenced by mental states? **The Brain as a Hologram: A Model for Mind?** So, how does the brain reflect this complex view of mind? The authors explore the idea that the brain's organization might be "holographic". Holography offers a fascinating model for understanding both brain and mind structure. What is a hologram? Imagine a special photographic plate where, instead of just recording light intensity from an object, you record the interference pattern created when light reflected from the object meets a reference beam. The incredible thing is that if you shine that same reference beam (a laser) through _any fragment_ of the developed holographic plate, you can reconstruct the _entire original image_. Even a tiny chip can yield the total image, though the detail might decrease as the fragment gets smaller. The "essence of the entire message" remains. This is key: the information is distributed ubiquitously throughout the hologram. This property aligns nicely with puzzling observations about the brain, particularly concerning memory. How can the brain store new information without constantly growing new nerve cells? And where is memory located? Karl Lashley's experiments showed that destroying large areas of a rat's cerebrum didn't totally wipe out learning or recognition; only removing the _entire_ cerebrum did. This suggested memory isn't stored in specific locations but is distributed throughout the cortex. Lashley called this "mass action" and "equipotentiality" – the intensity of recall depends on the total brain mass, but memory is recorded everywhere. This "ubiquitous storage" quality strongly resembles a hologram. The authors note that holograms don't require visible light; they rely on interference patterns. In the brain, nerve impulses arriving at synapses might create electrical "standing wave fronts". These wave patterns from many synapses could interact, forming interference patterns. These patterns could then somehow have a lasting effect on molecules at the synapses, forming a "neural hologram" from which memories or perceptions can be reconstructed. Functional areas like the visual or auditory cortex might act like the reconstructing laser beam, processing and recalling information from the distributed holographic storage areas, rather than being storage sites themselves. Different "functional centers" being activated might be like using different wavelength lasers, resulting in visual, auditory, or other types of perceptions. The idea is that if the brain is organized holographically, and the mind arises from the brain, then the mind itself must also be "holographically structured". They use an analogy of two overlapping circles: Circle A is the physical world, Circle B is the mind (consciousness, will, creativity), and the overlapping region C is the brain-body system. C is like the physical apparatus for generating a hologram; the brain is the plate, the body's pathways are the lasers. Realm B, the states of consciousness, is the holographic image itself. The physical world and the body's state (A) are encoded into the neural plate (C) and reconstructed as part of the mind's model of reality (B). Since reality is constantly changing, this is like a "holographic movie," with the brain continuously encoding shifting patterns read out as the unfolding hologram of the mind. The mind's holographic capacity is seen in imagination – we can imagine the whole universe, suggesting the mind "contains" the physical world like a hologram. This echoes ancient ideas like man as "microcosm" and the Hermetic axiom "What is here is everywhere; what is not here is nowhere". This, the authors suggest, is a formula for a holographic matrix. The mind's tendency to create "symbolic totality metaphors," seen in myth, religion, and even everyday objects, might also reflect its holographic structure. Jung's work on archetypes and mandala symbolism, representing psychic unity, could be seen through this lens. The "unformed archetypes of the collective unconscious" could be the "holographic substrate of the species' mind". Each individual mind-brain might be like a fragment of this total hologram, yet containing the whole. This holographic principle explains individuality: each fragment has a unique point of view while still containing the essence of the whole. If each mind is a holographic medium, they are contiguous because information is ubiquitously distributed. Each mind is a representation of reality's essence, but details are resolved only when fragments of the collective hologram are joined. Other holographic qualities seem analogous to mind: - Reconstructing a hologram with non-visible light is possible; this could be compared to unconscious content in the mind. - Holograms made from interference of beams from two objects, when reilluminated by one, show both; this is like associative recall in the mind. Considering the holographic structure of both brain and mind, they then ask _why_ this might be so. They speculate that holographic principles might operate on _all_ levels of nature's organization. An example is the ubiquity of DNA: every cell in an organism theoretically contains all the genetic information needed to regenerate the whole organism, much like a hologram fragment contains the whole image. Different cells express only certain parts of this "DNA-hologram". They even venture to ask if a holographic structure underlies external reality itself, citing Leibniz's concept of the cosmic Monad. This model of reality as holographic doesn't violate relativity, they suggest, if the fundamental substrate exists in a higher, potentially fourth spatial, dimension. While acknowledging this is speculative, they feel a holographic picture has enhanced their understanding of mind and reality. Consider these points for further thought: - How could the brain's electrical activity create interference patterns analogous to light waves in a hologram? - Does the distributed nature of memory _necessarily_ imply a holographic model, or could other mechanisms explain it? - If individual minds are fragments of a collective holographic substrate, does this offer a potential mechanism for telepathy or shared experiences? **The Molecular Dance: Neurotransmitters, Receptors, and Hallucinogens** Now let's get down to the tiny, exciting world of molecules! The authors emphasize that the strict separation of mind and body, known as Cartesian dualism, doesn't hold up anymore. Most scientists see the organism as a complex, integrated system that's more than just the sum of its parts; organization is key. This idea extends to consciousness: it's seen as the manifestation of a highly organized biological system. The outer world provides sensations, and the system produces actions, including mental ones. This fundamental link between mental phenomena and physical processes is a basic understanding in neuroscience. Nowhere is this connection clearer than in the study of "psychotropic drugs," especially hallucinogens. These substances alter mental function, showing how much our perception of reality is shaped by our brain's chemistry and physiology. Our nervous systems are structured a certain way due to evolution, giving us our particular version of reality. The deep interdependence of mind and the molecular makeup of the brain seems to challenge the idea that nature is "mute". Despite progress, the central question remains: What is the nature of the "physical interface" between molecules and mind? The authors present their own theoretical model based on existing information. They explain that **neurotransmitters** are chemicals that carry signals across synapses (the gaps between nerve cells). They bind to **receptors** on the next cell, either exciting or inhibiting it. Well-known neurotransmitters include acetylcholine and norepinephrine, with serotonin (5HT), dopamine, and epinephrine as likely candidates. A substance needs to meet criteria to be a neurotransmitter: produced by nerves, released upon stimulation to cause a specific response via a receptor, and have a mechanism to stop its action quickly. Looking at the structure of many hallucinogens, the authors note how often "indole structures" appear, specifically as **tryptamine derivatives**. This includes LSD and psilocybin, which are described as the "most specific and most potent hallucinogens". The similarity between hallucinogen structures and "neurohumoral factors" (like neurotransmitters) has been noted. There's evidence that the brain has the machinery to produce "endogenous psychotomimetic substances" (compounds that mimic psychosis) from neurotransmitter building blocks. They also highlight a potentially important, though poorly understood, relationship between the **pineal and pituitary glands** in regulating these precursor substances. The pineal gland, in particular, has been shown to respond to external stimuli like light, temperature, sound, and even X-rays. They speculate that neurotransmitter-like molecules might also carry information _from_ the environment or even _between_ organisms. Studying how drugs act at the receptor site is technically challenging. While the molecular shapes of neurotransmitters and drugs that interact with them are known, this hasn't fully revealed the structure of the receptor itself. Receptors are thought to be proteins, lipoproteins, or glycoproteins in the cell membrane. The binding of a neurotransmitter is thought to cause a change in the receptor's shape, opening an "ionic channel" that allows charged particles to pass through. The authors delve into **J.R. Smythies's theory** that the receptor site might involve RNA or ribonucleoprotein. This is where things get particularly speculative and exciting! Smythies proposed that hallucinogens might work by binding to RNA. This binding might involve **charge-transfer complexes**, where one molecule transfers an electron to another. This can make relatively inactive molecules highly reactive. Smythies's model suggests that substances like 5HT (serotonin) or similar drugs could "intercalate" into the RNA helix (insert themselves between the base pairs), causing the strands to separate and open the ionic channel. Now, for their own hypothesis, building on Smythies and others: They propose that what we experience as thought or consciousness is based on **quantum-mechanical phenomena**. Specifically, they suggest that the intercalation of serotonin, other neurotransmitters, and hallucinogens into an RNA receptor site leads to charge-transfer complexes. This initiates helix separation (opening the ionic channel). They add another layer: these complexes might also produce an **Electron Spin Resonance (ESR)** signal. ESR involves unpaired electrons and their interaction with magnetic fields. Their bold speculation is that the combination of modulated electromagnetic waveforms originating from the millions of active synapses at any moment might be detectable by the organism, through some unknown mechanism (perhaps akin to holography), as **higher cortical experience – as thought or consciousness**. These signals, they propose, reflect the constantly changing shape of the nucleic acid or nucleoprotein molecule. The information carried by the ESR signal might not be from the genetic code itself, but from the _dynamic conformational changes_ happening in the molecule. They then ask how the organism could detect this modulated carrier-wave signal. They suggest the **pineal gland** could be the answer. Since the pineal responds to various stimuli (sound, light, temperature), they propose it could function as a **transducer** for detecting ESR signals. It might act like an antenna, converting the electromagnetic wave into a pattern of nerve impulses. This pattern would trigger further neural patterns, which would in turn generate more ESR signals, creating a self-propagating, evolving process that we experience as thought, memory, or perception. Intriguingly, they speculate the pineal might even be receptive to the ESR signals of _other_ organisms. Could overlapping ESR signals from many synapses form structured, perhaps helical, standing waveforms? Such waveforms, they note, can be seen as "spatiotemporal crystals" with a vibratory structure. This kind of structure is precisely what constitutes a holographic image, leading them back to the idea that holography is analogous to mind. Here's a key speculation linking this to memory: they propose a memory mechanism based on the interaction of these amines (like serotonin) and neural DNA. They hypothesize that while serotonin might primarily interact with RNA at receptor sites, opening channels, something like harmine or LSD, when introduced, might have a _greater affinity for DNA_ and bond there instead of serotonin. This could cause a stronger charge-transfer reaction and an _amplified ESR signal_, potentially granting greater access to stored memories and subconscious content. They suggest that populations using harmine compounds in shamanic practices, or organisms that can produce such compounds internally, might gain an "enhanced access to the informational gestalten of its own holographic genetic storage system". They even speculate about the possibility of **superconductivity** playing a role in living processes, allowing charge transfer complexes to sustain strong interactions indefinitely. They carefully note that these ideas about quantum-mechanical processes forming the physical basis of mind are _not_ equating them to mind; that would be reductionism. Mind, they argue, is likely an expression of laws on a higher, "superordinate" hierarchical level than just organisms. It has properties unique to itself, transcending the physical or organic structure. While mind might influence some properties of the physical processes at the molecule-mind interface (like ESR), the molecules themselves, however complex, cannot _by themselves_ determine mind. Pause and ponder: - How could quantum-mechanical phenomena like ESR relate to something as complex and subjective as conscious thought? - Could the pineal gland really act as a transducer for detecting subtle electromagnetic signals within the brain? - Is it possible that hallucinogens like harmine act by providing enhanced access to information stored in our genetic material? **The La Chorrera Experiment: Putting Theory to the Test** This dense theoretical background set the stage for their experiment. Hearing a report about Jivaro shamans using ayahuasca (a brew containing harmine and tryptamines) to produce an invisible, fluorescent violet substance visible only to those who had taken the infusion captured their attention. Ayahuasca is often associated with violet auras and deep blue hallucinations, leading them to speculate it might allow vision in ultraviolet wavelengths. They also noticed a peculiar "audile phenomenon" when ingesting synthetic tryptamines – a faint, harmonic overtone seeming to emanate from inside the skull. This sound, described as starting like distant wind chimes and becoming an electric buzzing, seemed specifically linked to tryptamine-like hallucinogens. While it might seem like an auditory hallucination, its consistent features and association with specific compounds led them to think otherwise. Naranjo's reports of a loud buzzing sound from inside the skull being common among ayahuasca users supported this. They speculated that this "tone" was caused by the ESR of metabolizing tryptamine molecules in the brain, somehow amplified to audible levels. They discovered they could imitate these tones with their voice, and that vocalizing seemed to _amplify_ the interior sounds. They suggest that tryptamines affect motor nerves, particularly those controlling facial and vocal muscles, leading to "spontaneous burst of imitative vocalizings" and a "vocally modulated pressure wave". Drawing on studies showing that metabolism and consciousness might influence each other, and Whitehead's idea that thought is among the conditions influencing even electrons, they incorporated the premise that thought can influence quantum events into their experimental approach. They saw psychedelic drugs as affecting the "temporal process of metabolism" in the brain, which in turn affects the "temporal overstructure" that is mind. This suggested that psychoactive molecules might have a "temporal aspect" that manifests during metabolism. Their reasoning about tryptamine ESR was based on their biosynthetic relationship to tryptophan. They had long speculated that harmine's action was a kind of "genetic readout" from molecularly coded information in cerebral neuron DNA, facilitated by harmine intercalating into it. But the mechanism of binding and detection was unclear. Their theory about audilely induced superconductivity and ESR harmonics could potentially solve this. Their experiment was designed to trigger harmine intercalation into DNA and stabilize its charge transfer energy in a superconducting state. Using an infusion of ayahuasca (harmine) plus mushroom (tryptamine) admixtures, they reasoned they could: 1. Hear and vocally imitate the ESR modulation of the tryptamines interacting with RNA receptors. 2. Amplify this tryptamine-RNA ESR, which they hypothesized would be a harmonic overtone of the harmine-DNA resonance frequency. Vocal modulation of these frequencies could "cancel the two waveforms," potentially causing both complexes to lose electrical resistance and become superconducting. 3. The superconducting harmine compound, bonded to DNA, would then "broadcast its waveform hologramatic ESR configuration" through this circuit. 4. This sustained resonance of the harmine-DNA macromolecule would excite the tryptamine-RNA complex into sympathetic resonance, causing it to act as a "radio transmitter," broadcasting the coded information from the DNA-harmine sustainer circuit. This modulated, sustained ESR of the macromolecule, they proposed, might manifest as a "standing waveform," a "waveform hologram" of the entire resonating molecule. This would be a "superconductive holographic information storage system," potentially containing all genetic and experiential information. This system would respond to thought (an interference pattern from tryptamine-RNA complexes). Where the ESR from the tryptamine-RNA complex was in phase with the harmine-DNA matrix, a three-dimensional "standing waveform" would be created, a "hologram of an idea". Conceiving an idea would create a specific resonance pattern, and where this resonated sympathetically on the superconducting DNA-harmine molecule, that part of the molecular chain would be "beheld holographically as a three-dimensional image". They imagined the harmine-DNA complex as a "radio-cybernetic matrix" storing information like nested Chinese ivory balls. Information searches could be conducted through a process like retrieving information from volume holograms. This process wouldn't lag behind human thought; indeed, conscious thought might be this process, but on a limited scale. The degree of consciousness might relate to how serotonin reflects the ESR of the genetic material it interacts with. Actualizing such a system with a controlling intellect would be like a "hyperdimensionally mobile cybernetic entity," a "transdimensional vehicle" actualizing the Hermetic axiom ("What is here is everywhere, what is not here is nowhere"). This is similar to Jung's view of the psyche and the effect this holo-cybernetic matrix would create. If neural DNA stores information, this system could make _all_ information available to consciousness: personal memories, collective knowledge, and evolutionary/cultural history stored in genetic makeup. Such a system could have immense capabilities in a tiny space. Achieving a permanent DNA-harmine bond and sustained charge transfer might create a state resembling both toxic psychosis from abnormal metabolism and the shamanic trance from prolonged ayahuasca use. In both cases, amine levels in the brain are altered. The shaman, they note, manipulates this state intentionally and effectively for cultural reasons, while the schizophrenic is an unwilling, terrified traveler. Their experiment aimed to enter this "numinous landscape" as modern humans using their analytical framework. Reflecting on the subjective experience, they describe ingesting _Stropharia cubensis_ (mushrooms) as erecting a "star antenna". The tryptamines make one better able to "hear and perhaps to see the standing wave of species' experience". The mushroom experience is characterized by a deep sense of "understanding". This understanding, they suggest, might be the amplified appearance of DNA electron spin resonance at the level of higher cortical experience. They see the mushroom as a low-toxicity tool for intensifying access to the "atemporal unconscious". The tryptamine trance often involves dynamic, apparently self-sustaining, non-three-dimensional spatiality. A key feature is encountering "autonomous and intelligent, chaotically mercurial and mischievous machine elves". These strange teachers produce intricate "toys" from air and their transforming bodies. Their "marvelous singing" makes objects appear. A sound becomes a topology, then a form with a voice, which then presents "idea complexes" with the purpose of teaching. These ideas are difficult to bring back, creating a polarity between the ego and the ecstatic content. This place is where ideas seem to come from. Vast idea complexes are understood instantly, with many clamoring for attention. The emotional richness is profound and positive. The idea of a coexisting "alien dimension" all around us, accessed through this "tryptamine doorway," must have been as strange to the first shamans as it is to modern society. The nature of this "invisible landscape" is linked to the nature of mind. If this world gains scientific validation, it could open up "whole new worlds of possibility" for humankind. The "speech-become-visible phenomenon," where language is perceived visually, was a key motivator for their research. They ask if sounds in certain ranges could penetrate the skull to create "audile holograms" (visual images) in 3D space or another's mind-brain. They suggest charge transfer involving tryptamine ions might be the physical reflection of ongoing thought processes. A major epochal shift might allow these "audio-holograms" to become telepathically shared or even condense into light or matter. The ecstatic nature of language during the mushroom experience is noted. It feels like existence is speaking through the user, with words leaping to mind coherently. Language is seen as an "ecstatic activity of signification" and a vehicle connecting us to reality. Following the experiment, they reported experiencing "enormous disruptions of statistical norms in the form of accumulations of meaningful coincidences" and physical phenomena beyond current understanding. Telepathic phenomena were subjectively judged to be manifest multiple times. These experiences strongly suggested involvement with a "paranormal phenomenon" potentially violating conventional physics laws. This experiment opens up many avenues for inquiry: - Can subjective experiences like the "audile phenomenon" be linked to specific molecular events like ESR? - Could the pineal gland play a role in mediating altered states of consciousness or even receiving information from beyond the immediate senses? - Is there a plausible physical mechanism by which hallucinogens could trigger enhanced access to genetic information? - What are these "machine elves" and the "invisible landscape"? Are they purely internal projections, or something else? **The I Ching: A Map of Time and Change?** Following their experiment, the authors found themselves intensely involved with the I Ching (Book of Changes), a classic Chinese divinatory system. They felt the unconscious contents accessed during the experiment seemed "constellated around the I Ching". Divination is a key prerogative of the shaman, signaling mastery over a "superhuman condition". The I Ching, with its 64 hexagrams, is an ancient mathematical tool likely originating in regions linked to classical shamanism. The I Ching, they propose, is deeply concerned with the dynamic relationships and transformations of archetypes and the nature of time as necessary for their manifestation. By detailing change and process, the I Ching might hold a key to modeling the "temporal dimension that metabolism creates for organisms," without which mind couldn't appear. They supposed that their intense focus on the I Ching after the experiment arose from the functioning of the harmine-DNA complex and the enhanced broadcast of its modulated ESR signal. The I Ching consists of 64 hexagrams, each with six lines (yao), either solid or broken. They were seen by the Chinese as reflecting "universal categories, or archetypes". While consulting methods varied, the authors focused on the structure itself. A key "objective fact" they focused on is the number 384. This number is significant because 13 lunations (lunar cycles) equal approximately 383.89 days. And 384 is also the result of multiplying the number of hexagrams (64) by the number of lines in each hexagram (6). This striking coincidence, they argue, suggests the I Ching was related to an ancient calendar system, possibly pre-dating known historical accounts. They apply two assumptions about ancient Chinese culture: "hierarchical or resonance thinking" and the idea of "cyclical recurrence of events and situations on many different scales". Resonance thinking means that operations performed on one level (like multiplying the 6 lines) might also apply elegantly to higher levels (like multiplying the 64 hexagrams by 6). The cyclical idea means patterns repeat across different durations. Using these assumptions, they propose a possible structure for this lost calendar. - 64 hexagrams x 6 lines = 384 days (approx. 13 lunations). This they call a lunar year. - 384 days x 64 hexagrams = ~67 solar years (approx. 6 minor sunspot cycles). - ~67 solar years x 64 hexagrams = ~4306 solar years (approx. 2 Zodiacal Ages). - ~4306 solar years x 6 lines = ~25,836 solar years (approx. 1 complete precession of the equinoxes). They note correlations between sunspot cycles and psychological disturbances, suggesting a possible link between astronomical cycles and human states that ancient Chinese might have observed. The I Ching itself seems to link great changes ("Revolution," hexagram 49) with calendar reforms. The commentary on hexagram 49 explicitly connects the shaman's role with that of a "calendar maker". This, they suggest, hints at the I Ching's esoteric function as a calendar and astronomical calculator, describing "psychological seasons" or epochs rather than just weather. They argue that the structure of abstract systems like the I Ching might reflect the organizing principles in the physical structure of the human organism. Just as Jung used myth to reveal psyche structure, the authors look to the I Ching to understand the "physical organization schema that lie at the foundation of brain and mind". They believe time isn't a smooth flow but a "flux of variables" or "field of nonstochastic perturbations". Quantum theory revealed these laws microphysically; understanding organisms might involve extending this idea into a "hierarchical theory that recognizes quantized flux phenomena at every level of space-time organization". The King Wen sequence of the I Ching represents a "neolithic intuition" about "psychic time," potentially reflecting the nature of the temporal variables it aims to describe. These variables, they suggest, might have been the formative conditions life had to adapt to. They point out that the number 64 has special properties. Wallace's work on cultural taxonomies suggests a "two-to-the-sixth-power rule" (64) limits the complexity of cultural categories, supporting the link between experiential archetypes and the I Ching's numerical basis. They analyzed the King Wen sequence mathematically, looking at the "first order of difference" between hexagrams. This analysis reveals a deliberate ordering in the sequence. They propose treating the graph of this sequence (which represents the entire I Ching) as the smallest unit (a "yao") in a "modular hierarchy". This means the entire sequence is multiplied by six and sixty-four, just like the individual lines are. In a modular hierarchy, a structure (the wave graph) can be seen as a whole (decomposable into parts) and as a part (combinable into larger structures). This wave-hierarchy of energy, they suggest, regulates the "ingression of novelty into time" and shapes our experience. It applies to any span of time or space. These maps should function as graphs of the "continuum of metabolic energy, which we call time". They should be relevant to individual life (ontogeny) and species' history (phylogeny). Their hierarchy requires 26 levels to describe the totality of temporal existence. Each level is described by the same wave pattern. They speculate that the 384-day lunar cycle is a "primary cycle of biological importance". This lunar year is just one level in a hierarchy. Within this hierarchy, smaller cycles influence the "color, tone, and feel" of experience, adding depth and complexity and making precise deterministic prediction impossible. General predictions, however, might be possible based on larger scales. This wave-hierarchy and its quantification make it subject to "rigorous scientific investigation". This section sparks several questions: - Could the I Ching, an ancient system of symbols, actually encode a scientific understanding of time and natural cycles? - Is there a measurable correlation between astronomical cycles (like sunspots) and biological or psychological phenomena? - Can a mathematical model derived from an ancient oracle system truly map a "continuum of temporal variables"? **Putting It All Together: Mind, Time, and Evolution** The core idea weaving through the book is that cognitive categories, memories, and even archetypes are rooted in dynamic processes and structural changes at the molecular level, mediated by DNA. These mental phenomena, they argue, reflect the same organizing principles found in the physical structure of the organism. Techniques like shamanic and yogic practices, which offer insight into consciousness organization, might also provide an intuitive sense of physical organization. They believe consciousness reflects the shifting patterns of metabolic energy flow, which _is_ time. They posit that the universe might be heading towards a "final concrescence," a growing together of diverse entities into a unity. The experiment at La Chorrera is seen as "tapping in on a growing sense of the imminence of a major shift of epochs". This shift, they suggest, might be stirring in many species and individuals. They present a "tentative minimal description" of their experiment and premises. 1. Tryptamines (like serotonin) and beta-carbolines (like harmine) allow for an "informational readout" via molecular intercalation into neural nucleic acids (DNA/RNA) and broadcasting an ESR waveform. Serotonin's ESR forms the basis of typical consciousness, but harmine's carries _more_ information. The shift towards higher beta-carboline levels and inhibited serotonin might mark an evolutionary advance of consciousness, seen as improved ESR resolution of the holographic species' experience stored in DNA. Artificially inducing this state with Banisteriopsis infusions anticipates these future adaptations. Harmine's effect is experienced superimposed on normal consciousness, understood as a "continuously self-defining totality symbol". 2. This phenomenon can be stabilized, potentially permanently, by bonding harmine into DNA using audilely induced ESR harmonic canceling. This stability is then maintained through the body's own synthesis. 3. During these techniques, the individual will spontaneously produce increasingly complete descriptions of the energy patterns stored in DNA – the patterns that give life its preformative, atemporal teleology. These ideas feel external to the ego but internal to the self, presented by an impersonal agency they call the DNA matrix. This source offers models describing the process towards a final "concrescence" and predicting when it will happen. These predictions can be mapped using mathematical operations on the I Ching. The I Ching, they believe, contains the categories of all reality. These categories are in the human mind, and reality must obey the laws prescribed by the mind. Fate can be shaped by knowing its laws. While reality is limited by time and space, the "Spirit" is not and can bring them about as it requires. They propose that shamanism and the La Chorrera experiment are precursors to how consciousness will eventually transcend reductionism and understand things in an "atemporalized and holistic mode". The search for a general theory of systems is a quest for "an encounter with the divine image conceived as understanding". Ultimately, they suggest that the universe may be incomplete, and humans, through visionary means, are tasked with further levels of creation. The way we approach the final, intense moment of concrescence might be a personal decision. Time, they sense, is growing short. They end by noting that their vision, unlike poetry, attempts to reveal the mechanics of vision itself. It offers a hierarchical model of time and a new understanding of organism and mind. It is testable by its own temporal predictions. This grand synthesis prompts us to ask: - Could the subjective experience of altered states be directly linked to quantum events and molecular structures in the brain? - Does the structure of DNA or other biomolecules encode information beyond genetic blueprints that could be accessed by consciousness? - Is it possible that ancient systems like the I Ching contain a deep, perhaps intuitive, understanding of the fundamental nature of time and reality that modern science is only beginning to grasp? - Are we, as a species, approaching a significant shift in consciousness or a "concrescence" predicted or reflected in these ancient and experiential systems? This briefing document has only scratched the surface of the ideas presented in these excerpts. The authors weave together anthropology, psychology, physics, chemistry, philosophy, and mysticism in a bold and highly speculative tapestry. They encourage us to look beyond conventional boundaries and consider the possibility that the invisible landscape of mind, potentially accessed through ancient shamanic techniques and modern substances, might hold profound truths about ourselves and the universe.