A lecture given at the EntheoGenesis Australis Conference, Dec 3, 2011. At the height of the first wave of psychedelia, Ken Kesey promoted the idea of the Next Step, which at the time he envisaged as "beyond acid". What if acid was merely the latest in a long line of entheogens secreted by the planet to regulate humans? Was each one merely a stepping-stone to the Gaian awareness of hyperdimensional connectivity? What if the Next Step was a post-human species upgrade seeded by entheogenesis and synchronizing with the galactic alignment and intensified energetic bombardment? What if we all had it within us to be Gods? Then what?
In this provocative lecture, experiential journalist Rak Razam weaves together strategic ideas from entheogenic elders and indigenous wisdom with the latest factual research from astrophysicists and other science to reveal the big picture of life on earth, the planetary changes we are now living through and the key role of entheogens as messengers and activators. The lecture has a particular examination of the notion of 'group mind' espoused by the Pranksters and the Grateful Dead and other psychedelic tribes of the 60s, the role of entheogens in creating that circuit of group consciousness, and why and how gestalt consciousness is a necessary evolutionary step that psychedelics and entheogens can empower.
The NEXT STEP is a how-to handbook of strategic information for the current resurgence of planetary entheogenic culture to best understand itself and our place in the web of life, the 2012 target window of species opportunity, and how to successfully navigate the eschaton.
Time is short, and the way is hard. But the call of the Other is ringing in our genes. In Plants We Trust. Are you ready to take the NEXT STEP?
Originally aired on: Dec 13, 2011
