(Richard Enos) The notion that we need to have an authority figure tell us what to do and what not to do is coming more and more into question in modern times. In fact, wresting away the power we have given to our authority may turn out to be the single most important challenge we face in our collective awakening.
Related Mainstream Media Falsely Claims Vote to Decriminalize Magic Mushrooms Failed—It Passed
by Richard Enos, May 11th, 2019
To some extent, we can look at human history as the struggle between those who have aspired to hold the mantle of authority, each one promoting their paradigm in a kind of competition with the aim of consolidating and expanding their power over the people. The rise of democracy has turned this struggle from one that mainly employed brute force to one that uses the subtle arts of persuasion and manipulation to garner consent for their rules and rulership.
All this to say that when something that our authority had previously called ‘illegal’ (meaning its commission could result in fines or imprisonment) is suddenly legal, it is worth examining whether this truly represents a victory for personal freedom, a small step towards the unshackling of the bonds of authority.
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The Psilocybin Mushroom Initiative
In the shadow of the trend towards the legalization of marijuana in Western society, the decriminalization of so-called ‘magic mushrooms’ in Denver has come in a little bit under the radar. Here is what voters in Denver were asked to consider in Initiated Ordinance 301, Psilocybin Mushroom Initiative:
Shall the voters of the City and County of Denver adopt an ordinance to the Denver Revised Municipal Code that would make the personal use and personal possession of psilocybin mushrooms by persons twenty-one (21) years of age and older the city’s lowest law-enforcement priority, prohibit the city from spending resources to impose criminal penalties for the personal use and personal possession of psilocybin mushrooms by persons twenty-one (21) years of age and older, and establish the psilocybin mushroom policy review panel to assess and report on the effects of the ordinance?
Note that this move does not actually remove the illegality of the personal use or possession of psilocybin, for actually making it legal would be a sign that our authority truly wanted to give some of its power back to the people. Rather, they chose to make it a law to ‘prohibit the city from spending resources to impose criminal penalties’ in order to keep the reigns of control over the matter and more easily reverse it if their ‘review panel’ deems it too dangerous.
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The Arguments For And Against
The organization Decriminalize Denver made the following argument in favor of decriminalizing psilocybin mushrooms on its website:
We envision a society where individuals can use psilocybin mushrooms without fear of criminal or civil penalties. Psilocybin is shown to reduce psychological stress and suicidality, reduce opioid use and dependence, and be physiologically safe and non-addictive.
The Libertarian Party of Colorado stated that Decriminalize Denver’s “effort matches the Libertarian Party of Colorado’s platform planks of ‘The Individual’ and ‘Victimless Crimes.’” Meanwhile, the Denver Green Party stated that the “psilocybin effort encompasses six of the Green Party’s Ten Key Values: Grassroots Democracy, Social Justice, Ecological Wisdom, Non-Violence, Respect for Diversity, and Personal and Global responsibility.”
Opposing the measure, Jeff Hunt, director of Colorado Christian University’s Centennial Institute, stated, “Denver is quickly becoming the illicit drug capital of the world. The truth is we have no idea what the long-term health effects of these drugs are going to do to the people of Colorado … At a certain point, parents are going to look at the city of Denver and say, ‘I don’t want to take my kids to that city.’ And I don’t think tourists are going to want to come to this state.” (source)
The Results And What They Suggest
According to online results from the Denver Elections Division, 89,320 people voted in favor of decriminalizing, while 87,341 others voted against it.
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People may have had many reasons for voting for or against the issue. Perhaps many didn’t care. One could argue that what one flaky, oddball city in the United States decides to do has no major impact on a country, let alone the movement of consciousness in the world. However, one fundamental thing can be said about the decriminalization of the personal use and possession of psilocybin mushrooms in Denver: a majority of the population has said that it would prefer to leave the decision to the individual rather than to the state.
It may very well be that this represents a further awakening of society to the potentially positive benefits of natural psychedelics in the same vein as the positive benefits for marijuana were promoted, first for strictly medical reasons and then for general consumption. It could represent a victory over Big Pharma who undoubtedly would have wanted to maintain a monopoly on the market for products that treated psychological stress and maintain the demand for opioids.
I will leave the question to others as to whether the consumption of psychedelics in and of itself is beneficial for the individual and society. CE has touched upon this in several articles including ‘New Study Shows The Science of How Psychedelic Drugs Repair Neurons In The Brain‘ and ‘How The New Science of Psychedelics Can Teach Us About Depression, Trauma & Much More…‘
Perhaps the best CE has touched on the psychedelic question is in a podcast episode having a deep discussion on it here.
The questions here are whether or not we are seeing signs that our authority’s grip on power is weakening, if our growing awareness is leading to a reduction in the prosecution of victimless crimes, and if a growing number of us as individuals are reaching more for the reins of self-responsibility while actively looking for ways out of the yoke of control long held by our authority.
If this is taking place–and I think in the long view it ultimately must be, though perhaps not accelerating as quickly as many of us had hoped–then we may be able to take solace in some of the changes we are seeing taking place in our society that would not have been considered possible just a short time ago.
The Takeaway
Our individual sovereignty is a right and is the natural order of things, endowed by creation, as the Constitution states. I believe it is the most important thing to devote our energy to, the most important thing to fight for. I believe it is our destiny as a collective. It is incumbent upon us as members of the Awakening Community to bring notice to the small steps we are taking in that direction, and perhaps the decriminalization of ‘magic mushrooms’ in one city in America is such a step.
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Stillness in the Storm Editor: Why did we post this?
The preceding article reveals the entheogenic nature of medicinal compounds produced by the biome of earth, which human beings are intimately connected with. This information reveals that endogenous processes (in the body) can be stimulated by exogenous substances (out of the body), thereby revealing the fact that the human organism appears to be “preprogrammed” for mystical experiences or making contact with deity realities. Properly understood, this information can “prove” that the purpose of the human agency is one of questing for the Creator of all things and that through that quest, all the challenges of life find their resolution. It also reveals that the Deep State uses these substances for their own purposes and is likely aware of the power and potential of what they have to offer humanity.
– Justin
Not sure how to make sense of this? Want to learn how to discern like a pro? Read this essential guide to discernment, analysis of claims, and understanding the truth in a world of deception: 4 Key Steps of Discernment – Advanced Truth-Seeking Tools.
Stillness in the Storm Editor’s note: Did you find a spelling error or grammar mistake? Send an email to [email protected], with the error and suggested correction, along with the headline and url. Do you think this article needs an update? Or do you just have some feedback? Send us an email at [email protected]. Thank you for reading.
Source:
You write an article about legalization of ‘magic mushrooms’ which are psilocybin sp. (cubensis and sinensis) and yet highlight your article with a picture of the fly agaric (amanita sp.) which are an exceptionally poisonous genus – and that is stupid and misleading and dangerous.
While Pisilocybin is relatively harmless and exceptionally beneficial in a variety of applications, including clinical healthcare, Amanita is deadly and should not be consumed by anyone who is not under the strict supervision of a trained mycologist, some of whom are DEAD now because despite being a trained professional, they ate the wrong mushroom. Amanita is very common and often encountered in the forest and this article might lead the unaware to an extremely painful death. The author of this article is completely irresponsible and uninformed, and the publication of this article with a picture of Amanita is equally irresponsible on the part of the publisher who presents this information to the public.
A retraction should be published, and your readers properly informed that what has been presented here is NOT factual and is in fact misleading and dangerously deceptive. I should think the last thing you want on your conscience is having published an article that might well encourage people walking in the forest to harvest and eat Amanita, which is likely to kill them.
We should be grateful that Denver has decriminalized Psilocybin, because that is a wonderful blessing from the Earth that can really contribute to a spiritual awakening for our planet… but let’s not be hasty about the science and the facts behind ‘magic mushrooms’…. When it comes to fungi, it’s important to be factually precise. We aren’t in Alice’s Wonderland. .. and we aren’t likely to get there by consuming Amanita muscaria and/or other Amanita genera. …Psilocybin is entirely different.
The longer you leave that article up as is the more you are likely to contribute to someone’s death; and as a publisher, you are responsible and should be held liable.
Any legal liability is removed by the disclaimer at the bottom of the site. Thanks for your concern.
and thank YOU for publishing my comments, Justin. Psilocybin is wonderful, useful medicine and relatively safe in clinical terms, whereas Amanita is exceptionally dangerous and unpredictable; and given the widespread appreciation of Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and the classic story of Santa and his flying reindeer who ate Amanita in order to fly…, that particular fungus has garnered a great deal of positive publicity and what might be termed beneficial folklore. Amanita muscaria is also easily recognized and commonly encountered in the wild because of it’s striking appearance, and to employ a picture of Amanita to represent ‘magic mushrooms’ is exceptionally misleading and irresponsible.
I can imagine any number of people who depend upon Stillness in the Storm and trust this site to provide factual information now being misinformed by that picture. Amanita is certainly more visually striking and photogenic than Psilocybin, which is drab and unremarkable in comparison. Mushrooms are a blessing to us all, but gathering them in the wild is not something I recommend for those who aren’t well acquainted with the various species considered valuable for their particular benefits. One mistake can be folly, and the author of this piece was reckless. I hope he doesn’t eat Amanita either. My intent here is safety and factual authenticity. I don’t think your readers are well served by misleading content, especially when they might be deceived into eating a highly poisonous mushroom that will make them very sick.
I won’t post a picture of Psilocybin here, principally because that species can be mistaken for a number of other common, small, brown and otherwise ordinary mushrooms, and harvesting Psilocybin in the wild is often a matter specific habitat and cultural considerations. There’s too many charlatans who profess to be shamans, and that would include ‘journalists’ and others who feel a need to be ‘right’ or flashy rather than factual. Thanks for reading.
Amanita muscaria is used in homeopathy so it isn’t without its benefits, but it’s not a recreational fungus and requires extreme caution unless you are very familiar with it. Many if not most of the mushroom species wild crafted and typically harvested in the Pacific Northwest and regularly eaten need to be cooked first or the alkaloids in the fungus will make you very sick.
Amanita happens to be one of the more dangerous..
….perhaps in part because of Lewis Carrol’s ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ I apologize for the repeated comments, but I’m posting as the insights come to me and I wouldn’t want anyone to get sick, or worse.
Thanks for listening.