Vision Quest

Before we go into the ritualistic use of Cannabis in more detail, I would first like to point out that the metaphysical ground from which it evolved was the concept of the Vision Quest. And one of the first things I discovered in this regard, was that the most appropriate place for the use of Cannabis was in some secluded spot out in Nature: in the forest; high in the mountains; out in the desert; down by the sea, river or lake, etc.. It has been my experience that to remove one's self from your usual surroundings is very important. In this process you will be opening yourself up to the greater reality found in Nature, which in itself can have a profound healing effect. This is not the time for TV or socializing. It's a call to solitude.

In this regard, I find it interesting that Ronald Siegal a psychopharmacologist at UCLA's school of Medicine discovered in his research with chimpanzees, that animals which usually helped sick or wounded members of their group, avoided or even chased away chimps that were intoxicated. The chimpanzees that were intoxicated, usually sought out secluded areas until their usual state of consciousness returned.(21)

I also found that in a natural and secluded setting, feelings of paranoia are completely eliminated. In fact, in the light of Siegal's findings, if one is feeling uncomfortable or frightened then you haven't found the appropriate setting, a place not only where you can feel safe and protected, but a place where you can begin to sense the numinous, the mysterious power of Nature. You have to open yourself up to the call of some particular place of power. Several times I've walked over a mile before I found this special place.

If you remember, the Knights in their Quest for the Grail all entered the forest where they found it to be the thickest, and where there was no path. Each had to find their own way. What is even more revealing is that Parzival, who eventually finds the Grail, upon entering the depths of the forest let the reins of his horse drop, so that the horse was free to go wherever he wished. This is exactly what one must do to find his or her own place of power: drop the reins of the rational, linear mind just enough to allow the instinctual impulses to guide you.

Finding the Sacred Place of Power is one of the foundation stones of the initiatory experience. Once you find your special Place you will be able through the ritual, to deeply synchronize or resonate with the specific energy or energies of this location.

If on the other hand the weather does not permit you to be outside, than the next best choice would be to set up a special place within your home, a corner of the room reserved for meditation or the construction of a simple altar. In the Tantric Yoga tradition there is a whole science regarding the creation of Sacred Space in terms of the Mandala or Yantra. I have spent many years researching this subject and I have found that by far the oldest geometrical symbol of power is the triangle. Triangular designs have been found in or outside caves that had been occupied by humans more than 30,000 years ago.

The triangle was known universally as the symbol of Divine Creative Power associated with the female pubic region, the vulva or vagina. In ancient cultures all over the world this geometrical structure was held to represent the form of the Goddess, specifically the universal womb, the matrix of generation and the source of all Life.

It has recently been discovered by archeologist that in the hill country of Central America, women of the surviving Mayan culture continue their ancient tradition of arranging three large stones in the form of a triangle to contain their cooking fires.

In modern day India, Tantric priests who still perform the ancient fire sacrifice always use a triangular fire pit; while numerous Tantric scriptures portray the Divine Feminine as Trikonabhidha-Shakti - a triangle in which the apex is downward.

In what has been considered an extremely esoteric scripture of Tantric Yoga, the Paduka-Pancaka, I discovered a detailed description of the triangle of Shakti called the KamaKala which has been defined as The Manifestation of Creative Desire.(22)

In my exploration with this Sacred Space of Power I was led in a rather strange and indirect way over the course of no less than 9 years to my current level of understanding. It started in 1988 with a detailed study of the Paduka-Pancaka. This obscure Sanskrit scripture held a particular fascination for me. But after reading it several times and taking extensive notes, the meaning behind the words still escaped me. So I put it on a shelf and pretty much forgot about it.

Years later I decided to further explore the shamanic context of the Vision Quest. This was primarily done in rather remote areas of wilderness. And one day while sitting in a Place of Power I had found near a river, I was drawn to an unusual looking stone that seemed to emanate a particularly strong attraction for me. Consciously, I didn't have any plans for it. I just knew that I should take it home, even if it meant carrying its more than 10 pounds a quarter mile back to my car.

Over the next few years the same thing happened with two other stones at different sites and at different times, so that eventually I had three rather large stones sitting in my bedroom. Through their association with previous Vision Quests, I felt the stones somehow contained a special power for me. I also felt they might at least contain some of the energy from the Places of Power in which I had found them.

My Power Stones however remained in my bedroom gathering dust, until one day I read a book published in 1993 titled: Maya Cosmos, Three Thousand Years On The Shaman's Path. This masterpiece of scholarship was written by two outstanding archeologists and recognized experts on the Mayan culture, David Freidel and Linda Schele. Anyone with more than a passing fascination about the Mayan culture will find this work to be absolutely invaluable. The first time I saw the book I was in a bookstore to pick up another volume that I had ordered on a completely different subject. The Maya Cosmos caught my eye and I began reading pages at random. I was completely captivated. Two and a half hours later I bought the book, as well as the one I originally went to pick up.

One of the things that particularly interested me was how the Mayan shaman considered "the first act of the gods was to create the hearth at the center of the universe where the first fire of Creation could be started."(23) The shaman believed that the hearth at the center of the universe was a specific place in the night sky, located as a triangle of stars in the constellation of Orion. These three stars designated the area called the "First-Three-Stone-Place" and served as a symbolic prototype for the hearthstones used in Mayan homes for over three thousand years.

In a ritualistic replication of this celestial hearth of Creation, the Mayan women construct their cooking hearth using three stones arranged in the same triangular form as found in the night sky. Just as the three stars/stones of Creation centered the Cosmos, the hearthstones of the cooking fire established the center of the home. I felt a tremendous excitement, as knew I was definitely onto something here. * * * Illustrations * * *

After reading this amazing piece of information I immediately went home and dove back into the Paduka-Pancaka to review the KamaKala. Talk about mind blowing! Here were two supposedly independent belief systems on opposite sides of the Earth describing the very same thing. The Sacred Triangle of the KamaKala is described as "the abode of Shakti, She who gives birth to the universe". The KamaKala is considered to be the "Yoni Pithas": the Sacred Space where Creation has its origin. Could this simply be a coincidence?

At the next New Moon which happened to be just before the Autumnal Equinox, I was consciously moved by the ancient shamanic practice "to replicate the conditions that existed at the beginning of the world." On my living room floor I constructed the triangular mandala of the KamaKala using my special Stones of Power and three candles. According to the instructions of the Tantric text, I placed the stones, each with its corresponding candle, in a large triangle with the apex pointing toward the South. One stone/candle is placed in the Northeast representing the Moon and the faculties of Intuition. The remaining stone/candle is placed in the Northwest representing the Sun and the faculties of the Intellect. The apex stone/candle set in the South represents the union of the other two, the union of the Sun and Moon, the Intellect and Intuition, the Male and the Female. It is this union of all three points that metaphorically symbolizes the Manifestation of Creative Desire.

At this particular time I was not in possession of Cannabis or any other psychoactive substance, nor had I been for nearly 6 months. So I can't really attribute the subsequent events to any help in that regard. I had been fasting for several days and had spent considerable time in yogic meditation.

On this occasion almost as if in a dream state, I entered the Sacred Space of the KamaKala in an ancient spiritual practice that is still done today at certain temples in India. Very slowly I walked around the triangle of stones three times in a counter-clockwise direction. As I completed the last of the three circumambulations, I lit the three candles. I then entered the structure between the two stones in the North. Offering the smoke of sage to the four directions, I sat down in the middle of the triangle facing the apex stone/flame in the South. I then closed my eyes in meditation.

After about an hour or so I was moved to tears with overwhelming emotions of awe and humility, as I began to be flooded with vivid memories of a dream/vision I had 9 years earlier, in which I had been transported into a state of ecstasy.

I now found myself with tears streaming down my face repeating out loud "Parampara . . . Parampara . . ."

As I got up to leave the KamaKala, I realized this was beyond my little intellect to rationally figure out. I was left with no other choice than to accept the whole experience as Shamans all over the planet have always understood it: when Sacred Time and Sacred Space intersect - a doorway opens between dimensions of Reality.

I then left the Sacred Space as I had come in - between the two stones in the North. I moved slowly now in a clockwise direction circling the triangle three times. On the last of these circumambulations I blew out the candles.

Several weeks later, while reading a book titled The Earth Mother by Pupul Jayakar, I discovered to my utter amazement the word Parampara, which means "time without beginning". At this point chills where going up and down my spine as I began to realize what I had experienced: the KamaKala Mandala is indeed a doorway to Parampara: "Time Without Beginning".

Further on in the book, the author writes about the KamaKala and its ancient origins in India:

"In a recent discovery at an upper Paleolithic shrine in the Siddhi district of Madhya Pradesh, a group of archaeologists came upon a circular platform of sandstone. At the center of this platform was a fragment of a natural, ferruginous stone with triangular laminations, the color of which ranged from a light yellowish-red to a dark reddish-brown. Additional fragments of the stone where found lying around, and when the fragments were put together, the stone took a triangular form. It appears that the original stone had been placed at the center of the circular platform. The dating of these Paleolithic finds is expected to be 10,000 to 8,000 BC."(24)

If this dating is correct, it certainly makes this the oldest shrine to be found anywhere in the world.

I would like to mention here that the first time I performed this ritual within the KamaKala, I did so with a specific intention in mind. I had been puzzling over a certain life-changing situation for more than two years. I reasoned that if I really had discovered something of significance, then it should be also practical; I should receive some kind of help here. The answer I received was that I would find a resolution to the situation within three months time. To my surprise, that is exactly what happened.

Since the first time I constructed the Sacred Space of the KamaKala I have continued its exploration, with and without the ritualistic use of Cannabis. And each time I'm continually awe-struck by what I find. The KamaKala is the rediscovery of an ancient portal, a "Star-gate" to other dimensions of Reality. The information as to its construction was locked in the cryptic language of the Tantric scriptures of India, while the key to unlocking this code was preserved in the rituals of the Maya Indians in Central America. But as if this wasn't amazing enough, there is also an Egyptian connection to all this.

In 1994 a book was published with the title: The Orion Mystery, Unlocking the Secrets of the Pyramids, written by Robert Bauval and Adrian Gilbert. This book is not another New Age metaphysical bedtime story. Robert Bauval is a civil engineer born in Egypt. And he has turned the peaceful world of Egyptology completely upside down with his discoveries. Explaining in great detail he shows beyond any doubt, how the three primary pyramids of Giza along with several others, were intentionally built to replicate on the ground, the position of certain stars in the constellation of Orion.

The main focus of this magnificent building project however, lies in the critical position of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Robert Bauval contends that the Great Pyramid symbolically represents on the Earth, the star Alnitak which is located in what has been euphemistically called the belt of Orion (originally it was considered to be his penis).

Within the ancient Egyptian Cosmology the central concern was the resurrection and rebirth of the king. It is no coincidence then, that we find within the "king's chamber" in the Great Pyramid a shaft cut through the stones to the outside which was perfectly aligned with the star Alnitak. It was believed that this shaft would direct the dead king's soul to the auspicious place of his rebirth in the constellation of Orion.

Now what is particularly amazing to me, is that this very star, Alnitak, is also associated with the rebirth of the Mayan king in Central America. In fact, it represents the apex star/stone of the celestial triangle the Mayans believed was the Source of Creation, called The First-Three-Stone-Place. In the Mayan writings the dead king is pictured as riding in a boat across the sky to this specific area to be reborn. The exact same picture is found in Egypt among the Pyramid Texts of 2,300 B.C.E.

I found many other parallels between the two cultures as well, but the main point I'd like to make here is that in both cultures, the constellation of Orion is associated with resurrection and rebirth. And in both cultures the focus seems to be on Alnitak, as it symbolically represents the union of male and female energies.

The line/belt of three stars in Orion represents the penis, culminating with the star Alnitak. Below this star are two other bright stars Saiph and Rigel, which form the base of the feminine triangle with its apex at Alnitak. As we can see in this image, Alnitak represents both the tip of the penis and the opening of the vagina as they join.

Now when the people of these ancient cultures gazed up into the night sky and saw this particular group of stars, they actually perceived a celestial vision of How Creation Began, as well as a perfect archetype for the origins of their own life. Truly, their scriptures could be read in the stars.

Now when considering all of the foregoing and applying it to our understanding of the KamaKala, we can begin to unlock the real mystery as to its importance in the Tantric scriptures. For the KamaKala represents exactly the same constellation of stars that were held in such reverence by the Egyptian and the Mayan civilizations. The three Bindus or points of light that form the Sacred Triangle of the Goddess, "the Abode of Shakti", are none other than the stars Saiph, Rigel and Alnitak. And when constructing this Sacred Space on the ground, one is using the three stones and candles to symbolically represent these stars.

With the construction of the KamaKala, in a true Shamanic sense, it is done on Earth as it is in Heaven, and thereby "replicates the conditions that existed at the beginning of the World." This has been the guiding principle for the construction of Sacred Space on this planet, probably for as long as human beings have lived here. Please keep this in mind - if you choose to enter this ancient Star-gate. * * * Illustrations * * *

Part V

A very important aspect of the initiatory experience and the Vision Quest is that of entering into it at the Sacred Time. When reviewing the rituals of all the traditional peoples of the world, we find one thing they have in common: they all believe that just as sanctity or power is increased by the separation and reservation of location in space, so it can also be stored by limitation in time to certain occasions.(25) To designate these periodic occasions, they all follow the cycles of Nature in some way, whether they be solar, lunar, or seasonal cycles.

Sacred Time is then measured by the rhythms of Nature, and is far more important than the clock of the everyday world of work and entertainment. Sacred Time is when one leaves the mundane world to go into the Sacred Place. You may want to experiment with the various cycles of Nature for yourself. Observing the solstices and equinoxes is very beneficial in this regard.

You also might consider observing the Wiccan feast days, or Sabbats. These four major Sabbats celebrate the Earth's agricultural cycles of seedtime, growth, harvest and rest. Respectively they are Imboc, Beltane, Lamas and Samhain.

Imboc (February 1) is a major Sabbat, which is also called the Feast of Candles in recognition that light is returning to the Earth. This day celebrates the first stirring of Spring and the sprouting of seeds under the ground, soon to show the resurrection of green life everywhere.

Beltane (May 1) is another major Sabbat. It is also known as May Day. It celebrates the joy of fertility in all its wonderful forms. Traditionally it was a festival of flowers, which included dancing around a tree or "maypole" as a symbol of fertility. This was also one occasion where marriage vows were temporarily suspended.

Lamas is celebrated on August 1 which marks the feast of ripening fruits and grains, when everything comes to fruition and promises great abundance.

The next major Sabbat of the year is Samhain (pronounced "soe-en"). This festival is celebrated on October 31 when all that has flowered and bore fruit is now dying. The veil between the living and the dead grows thin, and communication between the two worlds is most easily accomplished. This was the original intention of the celebration we call Halloween. This is also the Wiccan New Year's festival, which embodies the faith and intuition that in the spiral dance of Life, death is not the end - only a transformation.

I have observed these Sacred Times of the year through ritual, meditation and sometimes the sacramental use of Cannabis. And I have found them all to be wonderful ways to celebrate Sacred Time. In the future I believe our culture will once again begin to honor the rhythm of the Seasons, and observe these transitional points in the Natural cycle. For they do indeed release power and insight to those able to tune in.

Over the course of some 10 years of studying natural cycles and the concept of Sacred Time, I have gradually come to recognize the power and importance of one cycle above all others: the magic of the Moon as she dances her way across the sky, shape-shifting as she goes.

In the long evolution of humanity's various concepts of time, the Moon is the very Mother which gave them birth. For it was the Moon originally that determined the measurement of our years, months and weeks. The exact observance of the Moon's phases was very important, for they indicated the precise dates and times of all religious observances. In this regard the Moon continues to determine feast days and holidays in almost all cultures of the Earth. Easter being a good example of this, calculated to fall on the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox.

I have found that at the time of the New and Full Moon there is definitely some kind of corresponding transition in human consciousness, and that this natural rhythm is particularly suited to mark the advent of Sacred Time.

If the use of Cannabis is limited to only the time of New and Full Moon, the question of abuse of this sacred plant is completely eliminated. By following this pattern, the mind is allowed to establish a rhythm as natural as the tides of the sea. The mental focus will gradually shift back and forth in its perspective to maximize both the intellectual and intuitive aspects of consciousness.

If on the other hand, one begins to use Cannabis more frequently, the body is not allowed enough time to clear the intoxicating THC from the system, which results in the mental focus to become "stuck" as it were. In other words, one remains "high", without coming down, without adequately "grounding" or allowing the psychedelic experience to become integrated into the conscious rational mind. It's like expecting the sea to always remain at high tide, or the Moon to always remain Full. What is most significant here, isn't one point or the other in the cycle, a high or a low, but the shifting between the two extremes. The emphasis is not on one particular static state of consciousness, but on the dynamic process of integration.

This is a very important point here, and it's not merely academic. If one goes into the wilderness of the Mind in Quest of a Vision, in order for that Vision to be honored and expressed in one's life it has to be sufficiently integrated back into the rational, analytical mind. If the Vision isn't integrated, the principle of polarity will ultimately prevail, and that which had a potential for re-generation can then become an influence of de-generation.

It's out of a deep respect for this principle that every society that's ever used psychoactive substances in a religious context, has also established definite rules regarding their use. All these societies have recognized through hundreds and even thousands of years of experience, that the creative power which is the very life-blood of a culture can very well become its own destruction - if abused.

I'm not trying to lay down any specific rules here, but rather trying to explain the underlying principle for such guidelines. Ultimately, each person will have to discover for themselves what constitutes appropriate use.

It has been my experience that the cycle of the Moon can serve as an aid in this regard, and is a wonderful way to synchronize one's life with the rhythms of Nature. Even without using psychedelics, I still ritualistically observe the New and Full Moons. For I have come to realize that the tides of the sea and all Life on the planet, are influenced by this Goddess of the night.

It's not without good reason that at one time, every culture on Earth looked to the Moon for guidance and inspiration. By following the steps of her dance, you too may discover her magic, the rhythms of the seasons, the language of the wind, the enchantment of the sea. By observing her Sacred Times of transition one begins to become more consciously aware of the wonderful harmony of Nature, the infinite and expanding kaleidoscope of interconnecting associations, and the underlying synchronicities of all experience.

The lunar cycle then, can be seen as a convenient clock. With all the wisdom of Nature herself, the Moon indicates the opportunity for the Vision Quest, the journey to the Sacred Place. Once the Time and Place have been appropriately determined in this way, sometimes before I enter the Sacred Space I remove all my clothing. This is an ancient ritualistic gesture that symbolizes the removal of all social conditioning, all self-protective masks of decorum and disguise. In the ancient Sumerian civilization, if one entered the Temple clothed it was considered a gross profanity. The condition of nakedness is a symbolic return to the condition of our birth. One came from our mother naked, and now in the Quest we return in a gesture of humility to the womb of the Natural World, to seek a Vision of that Creative Power that brought all Life into existence.

Before entering the KamaKala I slowly, almost as if in "slow- motion", circle the Sacred Space in a counter-clockwise direction three times. I light the candles on the third pass. I then enter the triangle from the North. Once at the center of the Sacred Space I offer the smoke of burning sage or some other incense as a blessing to the four directions. This offering is like a key inserted into a locked door. By turning it, one opens the door between the Worlds.

I then pick up the Sacred Pipe. While fixing my attention within the voidness of the bowl, I visualize and consider this space as being at the center of my heart. Then holding the bowl of the Pipe over the smoke of the incense or sage, I let the smoke raise through the Pipe, coming out the stem which is held towards the Sky. Through this gesture the Pipe becomes the vehicle through which the blessings of the Earth are offered to the Sky. In this manner the Great Spirit can be seen to be the first to smoke the Pipe, and in this way the Pipe is purified and made Sacred.

After this is done, I hold the Sacred Pipe up to the four directions, beginning in the East the place where the new day beginnings, and ask that the Powers of the Four Directions come into the Pipe.(26)

From this point on, one is moving into uncharted waters. You are calling on the Power of the Numinous to reveal itself as "the mystery of a presence and the presence of a mystery". And it is precisely at this point here, where the theory begins to become a Reality, and not just some other "thing" you think about, but something you experience.

After about 10 to 15 minutes of meditation and when I feel the time is right, I address the Sacred Herb through the prayer/mantra: "Bhava na sana hridayam" ("May this Cannabis be a blessing to my heart"). With this, I apply the fire of transformation and inhale the sanctifying smoke.

How much one should take is simply too subjective for anyone to decide for another. Each individual has to determine for oneself what constitutes enough.

If we have observed the rhythms of the Sacred Time and moved into the center of our Place of Power, and done the ritual with a good heart, our Quest will not fail. The magic of the numinous will be all around us and within us. The veils of time and space will in various ways be lifted. And the mysterious power animating and flowing through all things will begin to show itself, and speak to us in many ways; for the Natural World is the World of the Living, the Intelligent and the Powerful. The sacrament, the ritual, the initiatory experience then, provides the opportunity to reveal this Truth to us.

For those who have had the courage to make this journey and consequently found something of value, they are then required to return to their communities and share their vision, their revelation in some way. This is done primarily through integrating the message into your life, and secondarily by using your creative talents and gifts to express the Truth you have found.

The journey of the Vision Quest is a journey in consciousness back to the Intelligent and Creative Power of Nature. Consequently, since we are all inherently part of the Natural World, we also reconnect with that same Intelligence and Power within ourselves.

One of the reasons we undertake this journey in Consciousness is for the redemption of the Waste Land. The Waste Land is a society, culture or individual life where the sense of the Sacred is no longer felt or recognized, where the Natural World is no longer valued for itself, where Creativity is no longer expressed, where individual Freedom is no longer allowed. It's a land where the nurturing streams of Love are no longer flowing.

Some people who live in the Waste Land might try to dismiss or even condemn the Vision Quest as merely "Nature Worship". But if we look at the original meaning of the word "worship", we find that it means to recognize an object, person, place or event as having inherent worth or particular value; to find something deserving great respect and honor.

In this context then, we can clearly see how human beings all over the planet are now in fact being appropriately called to "Worship Nature". For if we as a species don't soon begin to find some sense of Sacred Worth in Nature, the quality of life for our species will completely degenerate. It's precisely because people do not "Worship Nature", that thousands of plant and animal species have disappeared forever, and huge and ever growing areas of once fertile land are rapidly becoming barren deserts. That which we no longer value will be taken from us; and The Waste Land will increasingly become our collective reality.

The fact that this society even tries to condemn this particular view of Nature, reveals a deep pathology. We all preach the sermon of Religious Freedom. It's even Constitutionally recognized as one of our unalienable rights. But if one truly believes in a religious point of view fundamentally different than what the majority holds as "The One True Way", then collectively this society not only condemns that person, but in various ways seeks to punish the individual as well. In 1970 I was put in a cage like some dangerous animal because I informed the Federal Government, that I couldn't kill other human beings for something as vague and abstract as "our national interests", and that as a matter of conscience I couldn't support their actions in Viet Nam.

I now find it just as insane that this same Government, thinks it has the right to put tens of thousands of its citizens in cages for simply growing a plant that all serious scientific studies have not only declared harmless, but even beneficial. May we all live to see the day, when even these people shall be healed.

Part VI

Before I conclude, I would like to mention something that I think is very important. Every society in the world shares a deep concern for its children. We all know even beyond the rational level of awareness, that if our culture or way of life is to continue, certain values and actions must be passed on and mastered by the next generation.

Mastering the complex grammatical forms of language is one of the first of these basic requirements. And it is now understood that learning a language is a stage-specific process. In other words, in the development of the brain there is a certain stage where learning a language is very easy. It's the "window of opportunity" specifically designed for language. If a language is not offered to the baby at this critical stage of development, he or she will learn it with much more difficulty later on. In fact, the later it's taught the more difficult it becomes. So much so, that if a child has received absolutely no human language imprint before this "window of opportunity" closes, the chances that the child will ever speak a language are very few.

Just as learning a language is stage-specific in the child's development, there are other process that are as well. Probably the most dramatic and certainly the most visible is puberty. Puberty is a decisive process of hormonal and emotional adjustments whereby the biological child becomes an adult. It's a fantastic process and we're only now beginning to understand the depth and magnitude of this transformation.

If we keep in mind these stage-specific biological examples and expand them just a bit to include psychological development as well, then we can begin to see childhood itself as a stage-specific process. The newborn baby can then be seen as making an effort at focusing the mind in physical reality. At first, the baby does so for only short periods with the majority of time spent in another level of awareness we call sleep. As the baby gets older he or she spends increasing amounts of time focused in waking reality, and begins to manipulate various objects in his or her environment. Through this slow process the baby eventually learns the basic ground rules for this level of reality.

As the child matures it continues this same process only in more subtle ways. The individual however is still engaged in the important program of tuning into this frequency of reality, and learning to manipulate objects, information and events within it. He or she is consequently developing the necessary skills to effectively support themselves as an independent and mature adult later on.

Now we could say without exaggeration, this whole period of "childhood" is a stage-specific process of maturation that is crucial to the future of the adult human being. If this is so, then it seems obvious that anything that might impede or retard this process should be avoided. For as the mind and body are naturally programmed to develop at certain stages, the introduction of drugs or even psychedelic substances can unnecessarily complicate, confuse and even impede this natural stage-specific development.

With our current level of understanding of how the mind/body work, we simply don't know enough to definitely say what detrimental effects long term use of Cannabis might have on the development of children. However as a parent of two beautiful adolescent girls, I definitely would like them to wait until the age of 18 before considering the use of Cannabis or any other psychoactive substance.

I also realize that each individual matures at a different rate, so when we begin talking about age limits I realize I'm using a generalization. On the other hand, I also feel that if there are any mistakes to be made in this regard, I would much sooner make them on the side of caution.

If a person has finished high school and is 18 years of age, I can see no objection if he or she wants to explore the sacramental use of Cannabis as I have outlined. After 18 years of constant acculturation and intense left brain programming, they are more than adequately equipped to step outside the mainstream culture and begin the adventure of the Vision Quest, the Quest within themselves for those creative values by which the Waste Land is redeemed. Goddess knows - we need their help.

* * * * * * * *

Christianity 101	Vamacara Tantra Vol.I	Vamacara Tantra Vol.II
History - A Spiritual Analysis	In Her Fields - Poetry to the Goddess	Roderick W. Marling Biography

THE CANNABIS PAPERS

The Sacramental Use Of Cannabis Sativa