DMT and Dante Alighieri

[Ripheus23]

I don't know how a 14th Century Italian could've gotten a hold of something like ayahuasca (I've read essays on how John of Patmos, the guy behind the Book of Revelation, and Ezekiel, re: the Book of Ezekiel, could've made a Middle Eastern version of the drink, but those essays rely on the fact that there were plants in those authors' environments that could be as such used; Italy's flora I'm way, way unfamiliar with). But what does the following sound like to you?

I saw a light that was a river flowing,
light within light between enameled banks
painted with blossoms of miraculous spring...

... No sooner were my eyes' eaves sweetly drowned
in that bright stream to drink, than it appeared
to widen and change form till it was round. [Paradiso Canto XXX, lines 61-63 & 89-90 (John Ciardi's translation)]

What is this round thing that Dante sees? A "Mystic Rose." But it doesn't quite look like a rose, it looks like this:

That looks a lot more like a chrysanthemum than a rose.

 

[AlbertKLloyd]

Having read most of his Comedy, it strikes me as social satire amalgamating the Christian and greek pagan ideals in a mocking way, basically ridiculing both.

I don't think he underwent the actual journey, but was a brilliant author.

I can't say I ever experienced anything like a chrysanthemum using DMT, or aya, or anything like what he wrote, but the theory is still interesting and likewise psychedelic fungi are found almost worldwide....

 

[Learning]

Yeah, I doubt Dante used psychs. There are a lot of genius, visionary writers whose work often pushes into "psychedelic" modes (homer, shakespeare, blake, kafka, joyce, woolf, beckkett, etc). Definitely don't have to use psychs to open your mind; for some it seems thinking and writing is enough.

 

[Learning]

And what's really interesting, I think, is how consistent the mystical/visionary imagery is across time and cultures, regardless of whether these images are drug-induced or not. That Dante's images are NOT DMT-induced, and yet reminiscent to DMT imagery, is really strange.

Perhaps Jung was right, and there are certain archetypes that continue to define human experience/consciousness, generation after generation.

 

[Umantis]

in a former life, I wrote a thesis for a Dante society project that was centered around how the author's interaction with ergot while foraging for food after being expelled from his city-state catalyzed a quantum leap forward in his poetic abilities, and how this was demonstrated not only with the powerful imagery but also the diligent use of mathematics and patterns and layers in the construction of the artwork, which was all very groundbreaking stuff at the time. The period of authorship of the Divine Comedy just barely preceded the rise of the well-known ergot poisonings of the Middle Ages, so it's not complete fantasy to suggest the possibility, but in the context of an academic document of course this was all completely baseless speculation that was not at all well received by the "society" - i think i probably was under some influence myself during the conception and execution of my thesis. i just think it's neat that this idea popped up to greet me again after so long - thanks for that

 

[Nutella]

I've had my first aya ceremony a few days ago and it was an overly overly happy experience. I've seen and learned great and important things and the words to best describe how reality revealed itself to me was the divine comedy. I knew nothing really about Dante and this literary gem, i had to look it up afterwards. My impression is that the divine comedy is an archetypal principle, a truth that can be realized in a number of ways, aya being one of them.

 

[RhythmSpring]

Don't forget, mystical experiences similar to the ones psychedelics offer are available to some of us without the use of entheogens.

Plus, our body makes its own DMT.

 

[Nathanial.Dread]

Plus, our body makes its own DMT.

Yeah, but there's a lot of conflicting theories about what we're doing with it once it's made. I'm not convinced it's involved at all with mystical-type experiences.

Blessings
~ND