Welcome!

Welcome to the adventure! This blog explores consciousness-expanding exercises in the context of the 'Eight-Circuit Consciousness' model expounded by Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson, Antero Alli and others. For a succinct description of this model, see the following links:

http://www.paratheatrical.com/pages/talkingraven/INTOXICATION.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8-Circuit_Model_of_Consciousness
http://deoxy.org/8circuit.htm

You can also find a number of discussion groups around the internet with just one Google :-) ...

Before we begin, let me note that there are a number of approaches for activating the 'higher' states of consciousness. These include the 'drug' methods and the 'non-drug' methods. Being a good-old law-abiding American citizen with a wife and family, I shall be exploring the 'non-drug' methods. I cannot speak for or espouse in any way the 'drug' methods; my personal opinion is that these might be useful in a carefully-controlled context, but that they come with some inherent dangers, not the least of which are the risks of arrest, property seizure, divorce, etc. So let's not even go there. Also, let's take the example of one of the legal drugs: alcohol. Sure, you can trigger altered states of consciousness with just beer, but when you do, typically your body will be so out of sorts that you will be rather limited in what you can do with those altered states. Implicit in this discussion is the idea that the altered states are not necessarily the end goal; rather, they are a tool for personal growth and personal development. In other words, we're not just here to party; after the exploration is finished we want to bring back something useful for ourselves, our families, our society, our planet, our universe.

A hangover, though easily achieved, is not the goal :-)

Another thing. There is a well-received book out there by Antero Alli, available from Falcon Press for a very reasonable price, entitled "Angel Tech". I have not read this book. From what I know of the book (which could be wrong!), Alli presents many practical exercises for activating the different circuits of consciousness. Wait, isn't that what this blog is all about? Yes it is, and that's why I've decided not to read Alli's book at this time. I want this blog to explore the terrain from a fresh standpoint, one not colored by Alli's experience. So there is the possibility that one of the exercises explored here may duplicate something Alli presents. That's okay; if that happens it would tend to validate both what Alli writes and what we discuss here. It will be interesting if some approach gets explored in both sources but with different conclusions! Then, you the reader will have to explore both results and resolve the issues yourself. In any case, I hope some of you will take the discussion here seriously and will share your thoughts and experiences with the rest of our readers!

Perhaps after we've explored this a little, opening Alli's book will be more appropriate. For you, the reader, it might be appropriate right now to explore Alli's work. I don't want to slow anyone's journey; I simply want to keep the exploration here unswayed by Alli's until at least we have a solid basis for comparison. I don't want to fall for the tendency to parrot another's experience before I have my own, perhaps. All in good time, though if you're human, time is both short and uncertain!

So, welcome aboard, and I hope this voyage takes you someplace 'higher'!