Discovering Entheodelic Storytelling

Greetings Readers,
It has been sometime since this blog has been updated and we apologize for that.  My wife Jessica usually maintains and posts upon this site but this semester has been long and taxing with teaching and grading for her. So, in an effort to reinvigorate G&G, I’ll be posting some of my own explorations into things Green and Growing.

In addition, both she and I are currently editing our 4th book for our Independent Press Myth Ink Books, which is entitled Dark Tales from Elder Regions: New York. This anthology is a collection of urban horror stories from authors in the field set in the New York City landscape. 

However, with that said, I wanted to write today about a few inspiring items I am currently exploring.  Today I listened to the Mind Mover’s Podcast interview with Entheodelic Storyteller Benton Rooks, and recently have been digesting Rak Razam’s book Aya Awakenings: A Shamanic Odyssey. Accompanying this read has also been Razam’s own podcast In a Perfect World.

With this my own study has been reinvigorated alongside a desire for a career change has been brewing in my minds eye for a while now and these visionaries have fired that up. So a tad about my own interest in these fields is pertinent to the discussion since this is the first time I have publicly written of them.
I have a dual career currently, for the last 15 years or so I have been seriously studying all things Native American in North America and especially in the New York State and Northeastern US regions.  From indigenous culture in North America my focus has ventured Southward to the Amazon, Peru and Mexico in understanding everything I could about visionary plants.  Our library is stuffed with everything from Burroughs and Ginsberg (The Yaje Letters) to Terence McKenna and Daniel Pinchbeck, to Steve Beyer’s Singing to the Plants, to Moerman’s Native American Ethnobotany and lots and lots more. My interest in Shamanism and healing plants started when my father had a garden each year in our yard. I learned a lot from those experiences and sought to have some live plants somewhere in our living space.  Furthermore, I gave a paper in 2007 at MythCon the annual conference of The Mythopoeic Society concerning the myths and stories of the Algonquin in New York State. In attendance was our late friend Alexei Kondratiev who politely corrected my linguistic pronunciations afterward.  My inner fire and passion for visionary plants and indigenous culture was fueled by my discussions with Alexei, who shared the same birthday as my father. Unfortunately we lost Alexei one week after our first book signing, of which he was in attendance, in 2010.

In this educational journey I have sought to experience visionary plants in someway.  When I was younger, I experimented with Psilocybin and LSD. These experiences were more recreational than Shamanic but opened my mind up to higher forms of consciousness and astral exploration when I later focused upon studying shamanism and experiencing ayahuasca.

With that said, I have recently discovered the term “Entheodelic Storytelling,” via Rak Razam and Benton Rooks.  The term itself has broad mythic applications in just sounding it out. As a writer who has sought inspiration in all avenues of life experiences to bring to the page along with having had my own visionary, shamanic experiences, I have found a new doorway to explore in Entheodelic Storytelling.

Firstly you may ask, “What is Entheodelic Storytelling?” This term was coined by Benton Rooks with Graham Hancock, Rak Razam, and Jeremy D. Johnson.  Entheodelic Storyteller Benton Rooks has defined and explained this “new international transmedia paradigm led by many important scholars and artists interested in shamanism…,” brilliantly in his blog “What is Entheogenic Storytelling?” a highly suggested read for you all.

Above I noted the Mind Movers Podcast that I listened today, which had an interview with Benton Rooks, which is a show not to miss.  This was not the first time having heard Benton speak of Entheogenic Storytelling nor my first experience hearing of the topic. I previously listened to Rak Razam’s show, In a Perfect World episode 84: MythMaker but was not able to “live tweet” about it while driving to work.  I generally listen to podcasts on my mp3 player while driving to work. Today I listened to the show while out doing laundry, which afforded me the opportunity to exchange messages with Benton Rooks and the hosts of the Mind Movers Podcast, Brando and Steve on Twitter.

This discussion covered the topic of Entheodelic Storytelling in very focused and broad applications, not only in a very intellectual way but lots of great references to geek topics I am a fan of, such as Neil Gaiman, JRR Tolkien and HP Lovecraft. The interview hop-frogged to connected topics such as ayahuasca tourism, visionary plants healing patients and lending to our mind’s eye for storytelling.  I certainly grokked all of this and found the discussion of mythic narrative as a form of healing incredibly well said and inspiring. The chat went deeper as meditation, and astral projection by the force of one’s own will was explored.  Alongside that topic was a chat about our subjective tuning to frequencies, vibrations and channels all around us, connecting to a larger organic, neural network all of which unclogged my static channels and fused them with the necessary inspiring fuel for future literary and artistic ventures. (Pheww was that a run on)

Benton discussed his forthcoming graphic novel as an example of Entheodelic Storytelling “Kali-Yuga,” “KALI-YUGA is a story about a time traveling wizard who must defeat the seven Lizard Kings– Kaos sorcery masters who manipulate the fabric of space-time,” which I will be obtaining, reading and reviewing as soon as possible, I suggest you all stay tuned to the website of Benton Rooks for future updates.

This show and their other previous podcasts are a must listen for anyone who wants their minds to move as my own has today.  I especially was keen on their Herb of the Day spotlight opening the show. On this show they discussed Astragalus and their affiliate Mountain Rose Herbs, which any reader of this blog Green and Growing will know my wife Jessica is a huge advocate for Mountain Rose Herbs in all of the herbal recipes and articles she has written here.  The Mind Movers Podcast has a dedicated new follower and will continue to tweet and write about their show, and Rak Razam’s In a Perfect World as I am able.

Continuing upon this train of thought of plants, storytelling, shamanism and healing, I have been fully absorbed in Rak Razam’s book, Aya Awakenings A Shamanic Odyssey.  I will be reviewing this book wholly on it’s own once I have completed it for a future article here on Green and Growing. I also bought the DVD and the downloads that come with that purchase. I have not viewed the film as of yet, as I want to finish the book first.  On Goodread’s I have been posting status updates as I progress through this non-fiction journalistic shamanic odyssey, or captivating form of Entheodelic Storytelling. In recent months I have been fully absorbed in horror stories for our forthcoming anthology and needed a break, so I turned to Razam’s book.  My own study of Shamanism and visionary healing plants has been a bit dormant due to editing and publishing our books over the last year, which is a productive excuse at least.  However, upon reading Aya Awakenings and having progressed to section 2: Initiation as I have, it has already awakened, or shall I say re-awakened my shamanic interests.

Furthermore it has elicited a career change in me.

To elaborate aside from editing and writing for Myth Ink Books, I have a full time job (not a career, just for paying the bills and medical coverage) working security.  At the age of 42 and having done this type of job, security and law enforcement, for 18 years I am due for a career change and a change into something more aligned with my interest in healing plants and gardening.

So this summer I will begin my certification courses in Horticultural Therapy and upon completion start off on a new career.

Many thanks to Rak Razam for invigorating the spirit within me to push my education further through his book, which is  a brilliantly well written tome of the author’s personal journey and experiences traveling to South America exploring Ayahuasca tourism.  Razam’s style is inspired by many previous psychonauts, McKenna, Thompson, Burroughs– to name a few. This inspiration shines through and Razam has his own unique take on the warnings and blessings of an ayahuasca journey. A fresh fast paced read with chunks of popular culture references I identify with.  Razam’s linguistic ability to convey his story through his exquisite writing skills is beyond measure. When reading this book we can see those who have inspired and influenced his research, study and style, however this is completely his own. Personally, I can identify with his “geek” side with various pop culture references, especially his use of “Jedi” and “grok” throughout.”

As I cited above this is by no means a full review just some brief thoughts on the book.  Thanks again to Rak Razam, Benton Rooks, Brando and Steve all of this great new information.

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