ILLUMINE

I shared the following poem as part of the presentation I gave at MAPS’ Psychedelic Sciences Conference in June 2023 in Denver, Colorado.

The following is the transcript of a talk given in Berkeley, CA in April of 2023 at “Forms of Psychedelic Life” entitled “Nondual Ontologies and the Training of Psychedelic Guides”.

My husband spotted a peregrine falcon this morning. Dark back, white breasted, it sat atop a fence post, gazing down at the gopher holes in the front field. Sharp eyed, smaller than the hawks I am used to hearing around here, striking in its appearance. Peregrine falcons are the fastest animals on earth. When they dive, they can reach speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. This one sat, still except for quick, darting movements of its head, scouting, alert. Peregrines are migratory, never staying for long in one place.

I am thinking about the history of hand spinning, a practice arguably over 10,000 years old. When Western scholarly inquiry meets an ancient amalgamation of practices across time and space, what emerges? A contemporary understanding of an ancient term, fibers of cotton grown in the 5th century, spun into textural threads and refined by classical Indian culture, revitalized first by the rise of the anti-war movement and counterculture movement of the 60s and 70s, and here now, in my hands, lies the living lineage. How do I relate to this term, tantra? What do I seek to create?