Alchemeyez Visionary Art Congress -- Honoring the Legacy of Terence McKenna

http://www.alchemeyez.com/

Two weeks ago, I had the extraordinary privilege to attend the Alchemeyez Visionary Art Congress. From June 10-13 on the Big Island of Hawaii, 22 of the world's most talented and renowned visionary artists gathered to paint, lecture, and co-create together on the magical land of the retreat center Kalani Honua. Alex & Allyson Grey, Robert Venosa, Martina Hoffman, Luke Brown, Raul Casillas Romo, Autumn Skye Morrison, and Rio Gordon were there just to name a few. -- Much like my first Burning Man experience in '09, this was thrown together in a matter of weeks.

From the get-go, landing in Hawaii I felt like I was in another dimension... a place quite alien to the mid-west vibes in Indiana. This was my first real solo adventure... I've traveled alone before, but usually to meet someone, but this time it was a venture into the great unknown. I was supposed to take a bus from Hilo to Kalani/Kalapana, but I discovered that the bus didn't go that far. So it was suggested to me that I get as close as I can, then hitch the rest of the way... I had never hitch-hiked prior to this experience, but I did not doubt a thing, and everything ran smoothly. Within minutes of getting off the bus (holding up a sign I had made prior to getting on the bus), I was picked up by a pair of lovely fire-dancers who were heading to Kalani for rehearsal that evening. They passed me once, but turned around to come get me ~ I had a good feeling when I saw the driver wearing a fuzzy hat with cat ears >_<

The book I took with me on this trip is called The Alchemy of Nine Dimensions. and the section I had finished reading on the bus was discussing the second dimension and galactivations. What a way to setup the whole experience. The whole Terence McKenna aspect of it was a huge part of what brought me there in the first place. I've been listening to podcasts from the Psychedelic Salon since 2005 now, and that probably includes almost 100 hours or more of The Bard's eloquent elocution.

The opening ceremony was where things really started to sink in regarding what was happening (about to happen). I will post all the video I recorded from the event on YouTube (OMnascence is my account) as soon as I figure out how to edit it down. Rio (the event organizer) explained his vision and how it was received. A long-faced angel appeared before him in his hotel room in Miami, and revealed the Alchemeyez vision. The style of this visionary arts congress follows in the footsteps of these gatherings that were held by Terence McKenna in 1989 and 1990 on the Big Island of Hawaii. So even though this was the first annual Alchemeyez Visionary Arts Congress, it was not the first event of its kind.

As a volunteer, I arrived an entire day before the general public was allowed in, so I got to spend some time poolside with the artists Autumn Skye, Raul Casillas Romo, Xavi, Krystle Smith, and Roman Villagrana. It was so cool to just chill & swim with those cats-- I also got the chance to have Watsu massage, a psychedelic water experience. Look that up if you're interested. Kalani Honua (which means Heaven on Earth) is some of the most gorgeous space on the planet.

Blessings, chant, and prayer followed the greeting. Two native Hawaiians representing the Kamehameha Royal Society shared words and song. Following that, Rio then introduced the 22 visionary artists sharing in the space of Alchemeyez. You can check out the list on the website~ but it was definitely the most collective presence of an awe-inspiring cast of characters in one space that I've ever had the privilege to witness. In addition to the visionary artists was an elite (although I don't really like to use that word) group of DJs, fire-spinners, and musicians. I will be there next year as a musician/artist or an attendee rather than a volunteer for sure though. I missed out on a lot doing gate greeting and parking lot duty lol. But I don't regret anything!

One of the coolest people I've ever met is an artist named Zsoltima. I don't know if any of his stuff is online or what-not, but that dude just radiates joy. And his art is beautiful. He gave me an image of his called Hanuman.

In the time leading up to the congress, I was learning a little bit of "Huna" from a book of the same name with the added phrase "Ancient Secrets for Modern Living." I'll quickly list here the seven principles of Huna:

1. The World is What You Think It Is
2. There are no limits
3. Energy flows where attention goes (haha, 'the secret')
4. Now is the moment of power
5. To love is to be happy with
6. All power comes from within
7. Effectiveness is the measure of truth

--- some cool & powerful stuff there, just sharing it :o) ---
through that book I also began my love affair with the Hawaiian language. so beautiful! ~ on one of my parking shifts at Alchemeyez I learned some things about Hawaiian culture, I forget the word for it, something along the lines of hauli 'pronounced how-lee' and it means 'someone who wouldn't share breath with you' -- which is a big 'dis' because when you meet someone new, that their way to meet and greet, a hand-shake being very impersonal...

one of the highlights of the trip was that I met Burning Dan & Tea Faerie, whom I had seen on National Geographic's documentary "Inside LSD" -- they are of the Flow Temple in LA. They taught a POI workshop and I got myself a couple pairs of practice POI. -- POI to me is like a key to the doorway of becoming interdimensional. Luke Brown mentioned something about interdimensional tensegrity, and that is something that I feel POI can hone/develop. Another thing I learned through the POI workshop, is conscious breathing. I feel like my entire life up to that point had been mostly unconscious/subconscious breathing... I learned a new way there, and the thing that gets me, is that it's really hard to keep the focus on the breath all the time... but it's like the most important function -- through which all other capacities and functions of the human are mediated. Through POI I'm learning more ways to learn, and having fun doing it. check out http://www.flowtemple.org/ for more info on POI.

Agh, there's so much more to share with you, like meeting Carolyn "Mountain Girl" Garcia, and getting to talk to Alex Grey for a bit. -- You'll have to check out my videos of some of the presentations. I got Luke Brown's "Hyperspatial Topography" and presentation of his art, some of the art of Android Jones, a presentation from MAPS, Alex & Allyson Grey presenting the Past & Future of CoSM, and the first 20 minutes of Robert Venosa doing a presentation. What I didn't get on video that was a spectacle to witness was the 4th Density Dance performed by Phadroid - or Android Jones & his partner Phaedra... look that up fo sho ;o)

I'll close this blog with a few links shared with me at Alchemeyez:

http://www.sourcemaui.com/
http://www.omananda.com/

Blessings & Be Well