Evolver - Chimbre. Take a bite of this reality sandwich!

I very much appreciate your perspective. I've recently been falling into the aya-skeptics camp, mainly on the grounds that aya tourism is for people who can afford to make the trip and that it leaves out those who can't.

But I very much resonate with what you are saying. Maybe it is precisely those people, the rich white folk, who need to go into the jungle and freak the fuck out on some jungle brew. I really hope the best for Rob and Chimbre, and pray that the vision is realized.

Me personally, I'd rather just eat some local shrooms. But if any of my rich white lawyer friends start talking about going to south america, I'll recommend Chimbre to them.

http://www.evolver.net/user/ginnie_jester/blog/2012_starting_here_and_no...

Namaste,
Ginnie Jester
www.theempressproject.com

Daniel thank you for that impassioned defense. Remind me to call you if I'm ever dragged before a military tribunal. >:0/

Ladies and Gentlemen I wish to state openly and plainly that Eion has given what I feel is a very biased and creative interpretation of what I actually said, so I would like to thank him for giving me the opportunity to share with you what I actually do feel about this situation.

First off, I'm sorry, Eion, that you didn't like what I said, but I really wonder, was it necessary for you to get as nasty as you did, impugn my book and my credibility, and attack Daniel, all because someone simply disagreed with you? You mocked my ayahuasca experiences, mocked my suicidal depression, the hardships I endured. This was really uncalled for, in my opinion, and in very poor taste.

I did not make any blanket pronouncements of "right and wrong" or that that people "should not" go to Peru. I used the phrase, "we should leave Peru alone" out of my concerns over the commodification of spirituality and spiritual practices, which I feel played a key role in the Chimbre fiasco, and I stand behind that. Even though I firmly believe the medicine is meant to reach us now, I am deeply conflicted about the indigenous pimping their gods to affluent Americans. I also said that "ayahuasca tourism" is fraught with a number of critical moral quandaries, and is neither sustainable nor accessible for large numbers of people. I proposed that those who can afford to go go, since most can't, and they should bring the practice back to the States and create circles in our communities, so that the ceremonies happen for everyone on the land on which we live.

I argued that if we wanted the medicine to work on any kind of mass scale, it was not feasible to send everyone to Peru, and that that made it a predominantly class issue. I argued that poor people, particularly American people of color whose ancestors discovered these medicines, have no awareness of them nor ever use them, and is that right or fair?

Yes, the Entheogen Movement is predominantly white, educated, and middle-class, particularly the research end of it. I don't think that's really disputable.

When I said, "why else would you go to Peru except to tell everyone you had," I was being glib, but getting at an important point. Admittedly by those who shared in the Spore, going to Peru was a deeply personal and transformative experience, but one that was almost entirely self-serving. I don't mean that as a moral judgement, but rather as a means of pointing out that if we are talking about using the medicine to change the way things are, the intention behind it needs to shift from "this was highly significant for me and myright" to "how can I share this with those who matter to me so that they can experience it too, and it can benefit my community.

Thanks again for the chance to clarify. This here "wild card" is signing off the evening. >:0)

Charles Shaw

Author - Exile Nation

Charles Shaw

Author - Exile Nation

First off, these masculine-dominated ego conflicts are undermining what we're trying to build here. I suggest that people like the writer of this article seriously check that, and take provocative critiques as an opportunity to gain understanding, rather than getting all defensive and reactionary, and mis-characterizing one another.

Also, I am somewhat bothered by Daniel's distancing from Charles, though they have different perspectives, I thought we were all building one movement. Personally, I think both perspectives are fully valid.

I agree with Charles, and want to echo his sentiment with the suggestion that we start doing what indigenous folk have been doing for eons: building relationships with LOCAL sacred plants, or at least regional ones.

In the southwest, for example, we have San Pedro cactus, mushrooms, peyote, and other entheogens, that might be completely ignored if the ayahuasca experience, lauded by corporate gurus who want to manifest success and awakened yuppies who want to touch God, but still refuse to deal with their own cultural privilege.

We can fetishize Ayahuasca, but ultimately we have to do the personal work to "earth" the knowledge and use it to create a more equitable world.
So, practices like yoga, exercise, writing, etc...are still necessary, and may work for many, less severe cases, on a therapeutic level, and these are also catalysts of altered states.

I am all about making therapeutic experiences like these accessible to lower income communities, and truly get a sick feeling when I think about the commodification and fetishization of the Amazon people and practice. This doesn't necessarily invalidate the true experience of traveling to Peru, which I am sure can be amazing and magical. But if we move forward in creating mainstream representations, organizations, and events, without acknowledging and coming to term with white western privilege, and how it functions in a post-modern world, we are doomed to repeat the failures of our capitalist economy, and will suck the life out of whatever we touch.

Finally, I want to say that I feel that the RS crew is pretty sensitive to these issues, and that Rob Chimbre seemed to have these issues at heart since he came from Peru and is returning to enrich the local community. Still, Charles' critique is important to consider, save for the hasty generalizations that he may make for the sake of argument.

Eion, I appreciate that you kept the spore itself diatribe-free. However, I feel that your question "Doesn't it all have to start somewhere?" is a red herring.

Of course it has to start somewhere. But if the beginning of the story entails a class disparity, environmental concerns, and the possibility of creating a dependence economy in the Sacred Valley, then don't we want to progress to the middle and end of the story as smoothly and quickly as possible? How long should ayahuasca incubate? (until enough films are released . . . until philapnthropists take the reins. . . until it's on the government's radar . . .)

As a mostly conflict-adverse person I want to emphasize that the question is genuine and disclose that I have never been to the Amazon and have no experience with ayahuasca. The socio-political angle is the only one I can take on this.

One of the many things I've been so impressed with concerning the Evolver Regionals and all the work they put into bringing together community and creating positive transformation in their areas is just how much care they take in creating a safe, open space for the Spores to take place. You can see this immense consideration in Tony's, Baza's, Jill's and Erin's emails above. We actually spend a lot of time on conference calls and on our group list discussing how to better serve our communities in this way.

That said, it gets a little trickier when people post without having a face-to-face interaction. Eion, I can see you're encountering some life-changing transformations and are looking to connect with people. I'm not surprised you may be feeling like "an outsider in both Hollywood and the Entheogenic, burning man, new age community [you] find yourself increasingly around," as you came on this site attacking others. This goes directly against our community guidelines. Posts like this are often removed if the community flags them (we really don't condone personal attacks of any kind).

I suggest taking a kinder approach to bringing up worthy topics like this one. I think you'll find more friends and feel better connected to others that participate in this, and other, communities. I've included the guidelines below so you can reference them for future postings.

Also, I might make a personal request that you talk to my friends Jon, Elke, Olga, and Alexander, who've all been involved in the Chimbre project, as I think they'll have a much more positive impression of Reality Sandwich/Evolver, having followed what we've been up to for the last three years. We've been very carefully, and as consciously as we can, helping to foster an international transformational community.

All the best,
Jonathan

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