Rak Razam
The NEXT STEP: Beyond Entheogenesis
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, and each one was 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 synchronising 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?
Rak Razam is a freelance writer, journalist, copywriter, editor and media provocateur specialising in writing and editing books (fiction and non-fiction); scripts for the screen and feature articles.
Two of his books: AYA, a shamanic odyssey, a travel-memoir of his time with shamans in the Peruvian Amazon and a companion volume of interviews: The Ayahuasca Sessions, are due out in April, 2009 from Icaro Publishing. He is also the editor of The Journeybook a collected anthology of psychedelic writing from Undergrowth publishing, out now.
In his ten-year freelance career he has written and edited for magazines and companies including The Age, the Australian newspaper, Dazed & Confused, High Times, Tekno Renegade Magazine (TRM), Gizmag.com, EnTrance digital magazine, Sensis (AUS), Bread TV and See advertising. He is currently the gonzo reporter-at-large for Australian Penthouse and is writing for and editing Undergrowth magazine online, which he co-founded in 2004.
He has interviewed and written about Hollywood filmaker Jan Kounen, LSD creator Albert Hofmann, the psychedelic movement, the shamans of Peru and ayahuasca culture, Rael of the UFO Raelian religion, Aussie poker champ Joe Hachem, dance festival culture, the marijuana industry, old growth forests and environmental activism, anti-globalisation activists, Australian counter-culturalist writer Richard Neville, electronic musician Ollie Olsen and many other luminaries.
His short stories have been published in Alternative Australia: Celebrating Cultural Diversity (excerpts of which were read on JJJ national radio), FreeNRG: Notes from the Edge of the Dancefloor; Global Eyes Electronic Music Yearbook; The Program.net, the Future Cities Project and his short story collection Psyence Fiction is available from Undergrowth Publishing and is chocked full of street level science fiction for the turbulent times we live through.