Snowbound

86 T I K K U N W W W. T I K K U N . O R G W I N T E R 2 0 1 1 PSYCHEDELICS alive, as did everyday experience. After I came down from the LSD trip, I was deliberately determined to hold onto that freedom—a determination informed by a structural psychological awareness that had been obtained in the intensity of my earlier psychotherapy experience. My subsequent introduction to marijuana freed me of physical and sexual awkwardness, turned me onto intimate discourse, facilitated a heightened closeness in my friendships, and furthered my sense of being a creative person. This was not completely linear. There were ups and downs, andtheprocesstookplacewithabsorption in the growing Movement, which came with a sense of being in a community of progressivepeopleworldwide.Psychedelic use in that formative period increased my self-confidence and sensuality. It did not prevent me from making all manner of errors in personal and political life, but I was much better at discernment, moving on, kindness, and forgiveness. Psychedelic use invariably affects the personal/psychological matrix. Starting a journey forces an encounter with fear—of the unknown, of the lurking dangers believedhiddeninone’sownmind,ofcoming back altered. In the encounter the first period is generally absorbed with the personal:relationships,guilt,love,longing, grief, attachments, and self-concepts. This encounter opens the way to examination, release, and change, to reframing and heightened awareness of self and the others. A bad trip—usually in an uncomfortable setting under stressful circumstances —can result in fear, paranoia, and a recoil from the opened space that is perceivedasthreatening.Somefolksnever use psychedelics again. Occasionally too young people and some others—I know personally of several twelve- and thirteenyear -olds—experience damaging mental effects that may last far too long. Set (the mind’s orientation) and setting (the circumstancesofuse )alwaysaffectthequality of significant psychedelic experiences. Conscious preparation, good location, and thepresenceofsupportivefriendsmakefor betterexperiencesandoutcomes. The Empathic State: Generally any psychedelic experience may heighten empathy and empathic awareness. This awareness can manifest as love and affection ; as the ability to see another’s point ofviewandputoneselfintheotherperson’s shoes; as deep respect and regard; as elimination of barriers that separate; as communion with nature; or as a transcendentfeelingofwarmthforallthings .Inthe eighties, the potency of ecstasy (MDMA) was recognized as a means—a tool—for heightening the quality of communication between people and for fairly reliably producing a state of warmth, affection, and nonsexual sensuality. Many therapists, including myself, introduced MDMA psychotherapy within couple, family, and group contexts. Because the experience wasfairlyreplicable,generallypositive,and without much in the way of distortion and hallucination,anewnamewascoinedfora cluster of substances for which MDMA was the exemplar: “empathogens.” Those of us who saw MDMA’s potential for positive impact were able to demonstrate its medical utility before the Drug EnforcementAdministration ’sownadministrative lawjudge.Theagencywentagainstitsown judge’s finding, which would have placed MDMAinanaccessibleScheduleIIclassification , and placed it in the highly criminalized and inaccessible Schedule I group of substances that included other banned psychedelics and heroin. In the years that followed the 1986 ruling, MDMA use soared, and the “rave” phenomenon began toattracthugenumbersofpeople—againa testimony to the power of the substance to facilitate loving, intimate, sensual experience . MDMA’s appeal continues to be based on the facilitation of a state of communion and community larger than the personal self’s usual strictures allow. MDMA consciousness can be learned and generated without the drug as part of an expansive, loving, daily life. Much of the concern about brain damage due to serotonin depletion was based on phony researchthatwasretractedfromtheliterature when it was exposed. Hundreds of millions of doses have been consumed in (continuedfrompage12) PSYCHEDELICS Snowbound The boxwoodhedgethat stood against thewall Lies splitbeneatha cataractof snow, Withbrancheswrenchedas wideas it was tall. Maybeit’s really broken,I don’t know. Andsnow has sealedthegardenlikea tomb, Fusing,effacingwhatever’s still below The wind-erodedpeaks. And the livingroom Is darkened witha drift againstthedoor. FinallyI decideto use a broom To tryto clearthesides of the compressor, Andsee, pokingout,face frozenin the blowing, That evenwheresnow capstheelectric meter Anda scalybeardof iciclesis growing, The numbersmove;thepowermust be flowing. — David Danoff POETRY ...