Psychonautics (from the Greek ψυχή psychē ["soul", "spirit" or "mind"] and ναύτης naútēs ["sailor" or "navigator"] "a sailor of the soul") refers both to a methodology for describing and explaining the subjective effects of altered states of consciousness, including those induced by meditation or mind-altering substances, and to a research paradigm in which the researcher voluntarily immerses himself or herself into an altered mental state in order to explore the accompanying experiences.
-- Wikipedia introduction on Psychonautics
Whatever your age, country of birth, beliefs, hobbies and passions, and professional occupation is, there are some common features you will have in common with the rest of the human race.
Central to this short essay is the notion that, in your waking state, you are conscious - and this we all share - an experience that every Human free of catastrophic mental development mishaps who has ever lived, is living, or will ever live, have in common.
Our brains portray for us a rendition of a world outside of ourselves - a portrayal sculpted through thousands of years of evolution, to give the Human animal a way to navigate - and survive, thrive, even - on the external/physical world around him/her.
Perception is a curious thing, if you stop to think about it.
Science tells us that atoms vibrate at unbelievable speeds, and that matter is made atoms, which themselves are mostly "empty space" (though not really, but let's not go too deep into the Physics).
How is it then, that the outside world appears quite stable, and objects appear, and feel solid to us?
"On a very tiny scale, objects act like both particles and waves.
On a big scale, like our solar system, we can think of planets as discrete particles, interacting through gravity only, and it works pretty well.
Our semi-evolved brains want to think of electrons that way as well: little spheres whizzing around atomic nuclei. But that’s not the way the Universe works on the quantum scale; electrons act like waves, and that means they can interfere with each other. When a crest meets a trough they cancel, when a crest meets a crest they add together. If you have a wave bouncing around inside a box the result can be chaos."
-- Bad Astronomy Blog
The answers are more complicated than I can even suppose, but perhaps we can agree on the following.
We perceive the world the way we do partly because as our species evolved on this planet, those representations were evolutionarily advantageous, and over time, grew to become the default.
In other words: Evolution shaped the way our nervous systems model the world in order to better adapt our species to survival on this planet.
Exploring perception
As each of us knows, besides this representation of the outside world that comes to us through the senses, there is also a inner world of mental imagery, thoughts, emotions, and so on;
I can think of few things more human than exploring this process, what amounts to essentially peeking behind the curtains; to try and understand a little bit how the nervous system of this animal we embody is shaping our perception and experience moment by moment.
You don't need to become a monk, or go live in the mountains, in order to do this. As it turns out, you don't even have to leave your living room!
It is also not necessary to turn such an exploration into a daily hobby -- this is especially important when pursuing the path of mind-altering substances.
There are some self-exploration practices much better suited for daily (or any kind of frequent, really) use.
Mental landscapes
Over the centuries different groups of Humans (tribes, kingdoms, empires, etc) explored this planet.
From desires of control, to carefree roaming, to simply wanting to explore the world because it's there to be explored, the reasons to do so were varied.
Today, many of us who have the opportunity and means to do so, enact our own explorations, and you would be hard pressed to find many travelers who would say that their experiences have not broadened their horizons and enriched their lives.
To travel and experience new ways of living, new landscapes, new people, and grow from these experiences is a time-tried Human activity, which, to reiterate, is almost universally described as incredibly positive by those who undergo it.
Here is what I would like to relay to you: There is an equally rich inner-world, begging to be explored.
Here is a parallel I enjoy making: Try explaining the rich world of the internet to an elderly person who has had very little contact with computers. All the information, all the crazy technological ideas being thrown around, all the machines gloriously communicating with each other in this networked world, the insane and unmeasurable potential to enrich ones' intellect through this information super-highway... and the contact with so many other people from all over the world that otherwise would be all but impossible.
Very little of it will make any sense to someone who barely knows what a computer is.
And so it is before one becomes aware of the possibilities of exploring inner space.
No crystals here
You will hopefully find in time that there's very little (if any) New Agey influence in my writings. I consider myself a man of Science and Reason, while simultaneously acknowledging that:
Science does not know, and will never know, everything there is to know about the (physical) universe.
Reason and Logic are not always the right tool for the job.
The kind of experiences that arise from altering your consciousness can seldom be explained by logic and reason.
More than that, they can often not even be explained in language, although this is true of many other things (how do you explain in words how it feels to get your finger wet? You don't, the other person has to try it for themselves). This is a source of much confusion, as such experiences tend to appear outrageously impossible for someone who is not aware of the possibility of them existing.
The above point does not, however, mean one should abandon skepticism and reason - in my view, this is where many people go astray and embrace all sorts of nonsense.
Tools of self-knowledge
Mind-altering substances are but one way, one tool, to explore the vastness of mental phenomena that we, as conscious beings, are capable of experiencing. And believe me, there is so much more than the normal waking state can deliver!
Throughout my writings, these tools will be the central focus, though this does not necessarily mean that they are the best tools for everyone. Indeed, as stated in my introduction, my belief is that for most people, psychedelics are not the right tools.
There is also a host of contraindications, pitfalls and dangers to these explorations, which I intend to elaborate in later writings. Altough they have been greatly exaggerated in the media, this does not mean there are no risks.
No exploration, no leap into the unknown, comes without risks. But the alternative, if you ask me (being afraid and never taking the leap) is an even worse fate.
This applies to many things, and one has to be wise and decide which battles are worth fighting.
Why Psychonautics?
If you are this kind of person, by now the answer is obvious - because it's there, begging to be explored.
Through my writings I hope to be able to impart some wisdom to those getting started, so that they may have rich and safe explorations of their own inner world.
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