“Trees are the earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.”
The Electric Tree In Three
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Tag Archives: terence mckenna
Mind Control…
“Television is by nature the dominator drug par excellence. Control of content, uniformity of content, repeatability of content make it inevitably a tool of coersion, brainwashing, and manipulation.”
―Terence Mckenna
Dare I say we add Netflix, your cell phone and any other device where you can binge watch to this quote?
Is There Anybody Out There?
“Nature is not mute; it is man who is deaf.”
―Terence Mckenna
Think about it-When was the last time you were hiking and actually listened to what the woods were saying to you? If you pay careful enough attention, you will be able to hear the many conversations that are occurring right where you stand.
The myriad of animals, both large and small, speaking to each other, warning one another of any dangers lurking as you make your way down the trail.
The trees, moving as the wind blows through them, each season telling a different story.
It really is that simple. Don’t rush through your hike. Take the time to just sit and listen. You will be absolutely amazed at what you hear.
Happy Hiking!!!
Winter Is On Its Way
“Nature is not mute. It is man who is deaf.”
-Terence McKenna
Even though I don’t know anyone who had pink eye, I managed to get a rather nasty case of it in both of my eyes. After waking up with both of my eyes crusted shut, I made my way into work and after about an hour was banished by the school nurse to seek medical treatment. A trip to my local urgent care confirmed the obvious…that I had pink eye in both eyes. The remedy? Eye drops every six hours for five days.
Since I couldn’t return to school and didn’t want to sit at home, I decided to…you guessed it, go hiking! The day was clear and the temperature hovered around fifty degrees. Even though a steady breeze made the relatively warm day for November seem just a little cooler, it was still a perfect day to be out in the woods.
Heading out to Ward Pound Ridge, I figured it would be smart to carry a whole bunch of paper towels to wipe my eyes if I needed to. Besides the gritty feeling I had in my eyes every time I blinked, I felt pretty good and was ready to move! Crusty eyes be damned!
Overall it was a decent hike. I took it a lot slower than I normally would have, but that’s ok, just being able to clear my mind was good enough. As you can see by the pictures, the colors of fall are now gone and the long dark days of winter are almost here.
2017 Mileage:
11/21/17-5.2-319.12
The Sky’s The Limit
“The main thing to understand is that we are imprisoned in some kind of work of art.”
-Terence McKenna
When I pulled into the parking lot at work yesterday, the clouds were the color of cotton candy. Hovering above the building was a huge pink mass that appeared to be motionless. Even with the lack of motion and the beauty of the clouds, the photo conveys more in that single moment than I could ever put into words on this page.
When I am lucky enough to see a sunrise such as this, the Terence McKenna quote at the beginning of this post makes perfect sense. Would being trapped in either photo be such a bad thing? An interesting quote to think about….
It was an excellent way to start the day!
Perception Is King…Or Is It?
“We have to recognize that the world is not something sculptured and finished, which we as perceivers walk through like patrons in a museum; the world is something we make through the act of perception.”
Perception is a peculiar thing. When we perceive the way an event happened, we are trying to cultivate an understanding of how and what occurred through our own personal lens. Does this mean then that our perception is not reality? We know that what people perceive is usually what they believe, and this is based on what they hear, see and think. When it comes to events that happen in our lives, most of the time we cannot control what happens but we can always control our reaction to an event.
When then does the perception of an event become the reality? If enough people see the same event, and as a result have the same perception of the event, is it then considered the reality? And what then do we do if different people have different reactions to that same event? Is this where, after seeing and hearing something, we then rely on the thinking aspect to gauge an emotional response? One of anger, or of sadness?
Should we be careful to limit our analysis of events if we are not sure of their origin?
Start In The Dark, End In The…
“Nature is not our enemy, to be raped and conquered. Nature is ourselves, to be cherished and explored.”
-Terence McKenna
What a beautiful and exhilarating morning! I decided that on my hike today (11/4/17) I would test out the headlamp that I recently purchased (previous post). Starting out at just about 5:20 am, it was still fully dark and would remain so for almost the full duration of my hike. I also finally got the chilly morning that I have been waiting for! Even though the temperature was 35 degrees, it didn’t feel that cold and as I entered the woods, it was almost perfectly silent. The only sound that I could hear were my boots shuffling through the fallen leaves as I walked up the trail.
With the exception of the last 15 minutes of the hike, I used the headlamp to illuminate the ground as I walked. I thought at first that it would be difficult to see the trail in front of me, but the lamp proved to be very effective in making sure that I could see any rocks or roots that could prove to be an issue as I hiked.
The picture below, although it is a really crappy cell phone photo, shows you how well the trail was lit during this hike.
As I made my way out of the woods, I saw the last of a huge moon setting and when I turned to the east, I was treated to a beautiful sunrise.
Happy Hiking!!!
2017 Mileage:
11/4/17-5.3-313.92
The Green Machine
“If you don’t have a plan, you become part of somebody else’s plan.”
―Terence Mckenna
Autumn this year has been a strange one. Even though you have to expect some pretty drastic temperature changes during the months of October and November, at this point it has been way to warm to count as weather that you would associate with the coming winter. With that said, at four in the afternoon today (11/2/17) it was a toasty 72 degrees. Even with the higher temps, the absence of any humidity actually made for another incredible hike.
It seems that with my afternoon hikes I am resorting to a “go to” on the Green Trail at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. It is a nice loop wth a couple of hills that will actually make you work.
Happy Hiking!!!
2017 Mileage:
11/2/17-4.1-308.62
The Zen Hiker 