come back through the dance of space and time

through all the things you’ve avoided

through all the things it seems

you’re the only one willing to see

redirect your rankled conscience

find your bed of feathers

slip into yourself

return home to the place you never left

your beautiful body

be with what you know

and discover it all anew

let the past rewrite itself

pray with me

on the forest floor

follow the primordial scent

and become instinctive again

woven by the gravity of root deep longing

and levity of impulse

we seek and grow

finding these bodies

we are linked

soul pilgrim

to all we experience

no matter the flavor

show up

cry the sorrow

scream in agony

burn with anger

sing your heart out

fill with joy

dance any way you can

let’s not let any moment

escape our tasting

Since 1978 I’ve been interested in the effects of psychedelic drugs and entheogens on individuals and societies. I have pursued that interest as a student, conference organizer, researcher, outlaw, guide, college and graduate school instructor, editor, writer, publisher, and now as a philosopher who loves the stories of these marvelous substances, what they’ve done and can do….

I’ve had the great privilege to have studied or worked directly with many of the founders of the modern psychedelic movements and leading scholars of the history and psychology of religion, including R. G. Wasson, Albert Hofmann, Stanislav Grof, Frank Barron, Timothy Leary, Mircea Eliade, Huston Smith, Alexander Shulgin, and many others whose work I’ve published in three anthologies. The first, Entheogens and the Future of Religion, according to Huston Smith, was the “the best single inquiry into the religious significance of chemically occasioned mystical experiences that has yet appeared."

For many years I have studied and taught the esoteric and healing dimensions of psychedelic and entheogenic plants and drugs, but lately I’ve been more focused on the sociological and political aspects of the different psychedelic movements of our time. My studies have in recent years brought me to realize another layer to the psychedelic scene, revealing a story that is somewhat at odds with the prevailing mainstream narrative that is broadcast enthusiastically in contemporary media.

This space is for sharing and discussing all these ideas with like minded scientists, scholars, practitioners… To participate in these discussions please subscribe. I’m inviting you all for a nominal fee of $20 per year to ensure an engaged readership and high level of conversation. If you can’t afford the fee and wish to join us, please contact me directly. I’m seeing this space as constantly evolving, ‘living book’ about the altered states of America.

Robert Forte