Toad venom: They don't call it the God Molecule for nothing!
Many years ago I visited Zacatecas, an old colonial silver-mining town
in northern Mexico with lots of historic architecture and stuff. And a strange
thing happened to me back in Zacatecas as well. I met a young
Mexican man named Vicente who belonged to some unpronounceable Native
American tribe up near the US-Mexico border.
I had forgotten all about Vicente and my experiences in Zacatecas until
the other day when I found an old wooden box containing my photos from
back then. Here is the story of my encounters with Vicente. How could
I possibly have forgotten about this!
Vicente was selling small bead-work craft items on the street in front of my
guest house when I met him. "I'm on my way to the Feria de San Marcos
in Aguascalientes," he said, "to sell toad venom gathered by mis amigos in the northern desert." Yuck! "Would you like to try some? It will change your world." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmwfylNDOlU
Change my world? Who could possibly resist such an offer. "Sure."
You gotta remember that I was a young beatnik back then, it was a
different time, LSD was still legal in the United States, there were no
iPhones to distract folks with cat videos -- and I was pretty much up
for anything that might make me spiritual and wise. I inhaled the
venom. I passed out cold. I saw visions. I was floating. I became an
angel, a goddess. I saw colors and rainbows and stars. I loved this
stuff!
I found out later that toad venom is called the "God Molecule" -- clearly for a good reason.
https://michaelpollan.com/books/how-to-change-your-mind/
https://michaelpollan.com/books/how-to-change-your-mind/
That whole experience took about 45 minutes and then I was once again
suddenly back on planet Earth -- and equipped with the firm realization
that my life was going in the right direction, that things were lovely
and that I needed to keep up working for Peace on Earth. "Let's do this
again!"
Then there was the second time that I took toad venom. A totally
different story altogether. It was like a dress rehearsal for Death.
The best way to explain this experience was through the acronym
P.A.N.D.A.
First I was physically Paralyzed. Couldn't move a muscle. Just laid there. My brain was fully engaged but nothing else worked.
Second, I was given the clear realization that I was all Alone in this world. Period. No backup. No friendly friends, no family -- just me.
Third, it became crystal-clear that I had No future. "Not even any?" I asked the toad. Nope. None.
Fourth, I was visited by Death
itself. And death was a good thing, absolutely nothing to be afraid
of. And on the other side of Death there lay a beautiful magical
kingdom, Heaven, the Big Rock Candy Mountain, the Pure Land. "Wow!"
And, last, I found myself floating up through the stars, At one with the universe.
A half-hour later, I was back on this planet -- and much, much, much
wiser. "But Vicente," I asked. "Isn't all this exactly what a toad
might want me to think -- right before it eats me? Paralyzed, alone,
with no future, not afraid of Death?"
Vicente just laughed and thought I was cute. He went back on the road
to the fair and I went back to the Lower East Side where I was living at
the time -- feeling both more spiritual and a little bit wiser.
Maybe it's time that we also gave our current government leaders in
Washington some toad venom as well. It could either make them more
spiritual and wiser -- or else toads might come and eat them up too.
P.A.N.D.A. But this would be a fate they totally deserve for being so
ugly, greedy and evil -- for starting all those endless and stupid
"wars" for fun and profit, lying about almost everything and stealing
food out of our babies' mouths. Yep, let's do it. The God Molecule
don't like ugly!
PS: Things
have changed a lot since rmy trip to Zacatecas. No one in America
today seems to be even the slightest bit interested in becoming either
more spiritual or wiser. And for those of us who do try our best to
become more like Christ or Buddha? We have no media megaphone at all --
and in fact the screws on us are getting tighter and
tighter. All too many of us are ending up in jail just for speaking
the truth.
I just heard a talk by an author who, in desperation, had to turn to
comic books and graphic novels to get his point across to Americans --
that we are being used and abused by the non-spiritual and definitely
un-wise dolts in DC who are currently at the top of their wicked pyramid scheme to steal our country's wealth.
The other author on the platform talked about weaving her heroine's
fight against disaster capitalism into her romance novels. Harlequin
Romances
goes rogue? Apparently so.
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