The largest uncharted territory that lies before man is not the depths of the oceans, the surface of the moon or the depths of space. What is this un-mapped landscape that refuses to be surmounted. The mind, generator of languages, cultures, art and dreams, is the mystery we are immersed in and is the subject and center of our contemplation.
What can be known of the mind? As mind reflects upon mind what information, in this feedback situation, can be brought to light? Can there be of notice qualities, characteristics or even aesthetics of mind? The Journey into mind has been highly regarded by cultures throughout all recorded history. Tribal cultures have astoundingly active techniques in altering consciousness giving practitioners access to critical information. In these cultural styles the mind is coaxed into visibility through ceremony and ritual. During such rituals the healing practitioner employs disciplined control over his state of consciousness.
A Growing Volume of tools for this journey have been developed including combinations of fasting, sleep deprivation, strange ordeals, sensory deprivation, and various plant medicines which can range from mild euphorant, entheogenic or psychedelic to extreme dissociatives. Due to the number of tools, their combinations and variations, there is a wide variety of styles that can be interwoven into the experience.
In some situations psychedelic compounds have been employed to dissolve ordinary mental styles and begin to reveal deeper elements of the mind. The word psychedelic means “Mind Manifesting” These compounds work in such a way that brings to awareness processes and information that are normally, not only out of reach, but in some cases incomprehensible. In these states thoughts and memories can be arranged, sorted and explored at the whim of thought itself and patterns become increasingly apparent. In scientific studies it has been shown with LSD and Psilocybin, that patients get such an insight and exploration into the mystery of self that it leaves them with long term positive effects in personality and behavior modification.
As new techniques and compounds emerge to further explore the mystery that is mind we will continue to see cultural and global shifts in awareness and trends. The flood of visionary art and the artists that manifest these works are leaving us cultural artifacts to share and explore those things that spoken language could not share. The Art that seeks to coax mind onto the main stage is this art that revolutionizes our metaphors, reshapes our ideas of form and linear thinking and pulls the mind of the viewer out of the gray water from the pool of contemporary thinking, and releases him into the flow of the waterfall that is pure possibility.