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HEAD over HEELS
Saturday 5th June 2004, 6pm till late
At the Green Angel, Trundle St., Borough, South London
An evening of talks, films and music around the theme of altered states, religion and healing, presented by Donal Ruane. Celebrating the launch of the new web site.
Tobacco healing ritual performed by Donal Ruane
The evening will begin at 6pm with a traditional healing ritual using indigenous tobacco (nicotiana rustica), the most sacred plant of them all in the Americas. Donal will provide a general introduction to some of the medicinal plants of the Upper Amazon region, their various uses and the mythologies that surround them.
Shamanic initiation among the Mestizo population of the Peruvian Amazon: A talk by Donal Ruane
Donal has had a life-long interest in shamanism, folklore and the occult and spent several months apprenticed to a Mestizo shaman in the Peruvian Amazon in 2001-2.
In this talk he will explore the mythology, topography, dietary and sexual proscriptions of shamanic initiation and their relationship to the ‘supernatural’ experiences of the Apprentice shaman. He will argue that many of these manifestations, which he experienced himself during his own initiation, have echoes in accounts of Witchcraft, and encounters with fairies and the dead as reported in Europe throughout the past. By examining the visually stunning iconography of the ayahuasca visionary paintings of Pablo Amaringo, with their unique mix of Amazonian mythology and European folklore, Donal speculates that this might point towards an archaic native tradition of shamanism, now forgotten.
Stories on a Stick: A film by Donal Ruane
A five minute trailer of the forthcoming film about Donal’s astonishing journey from a near fatal encounter with polio as a child to a secret ‘invisible’ world of magic and witchcraft in the Amazon jungle in Peru. An archaic world of rainforest dwellers, where shamans consume a legendary hallucinogenic brew called ayahuasca, literally meaning “Vine of the Dead”, to communicate with spirits. Donal spent several months apprenticed to Pablo Amaringo’s cousin Graziella Shuna in an isolated jungle hamlet, where he underwent the rigorous training that is required of an initiate. Profoundly alien and sometimes terrifying, this is an excursion into the very nature of consciousness itself. It was an experience which shattered ma ny of Donal’s beliefs and changed his life forever.
Plus 30 mins. of specially selected footage of internationally renowned visionary painter Don Pablo Amaringo Shuna sharing some of his encyclopaedic knowledge of the botanical and shamanic traditions of the Upper Amazon and his educational work among the poor in Pucallpa, Peru.
The White Darkness: A film by Richard Stanley (59 mins)
Cult feature film director of Hardware and Dust Devil Richard Stanley will present a special screening and answer questions on his extraordinary documentary about Haitian Voodoo. This will be a unique opportunity to see this fascinating film and its first screening in Britain.
Born out of the bloody uprisings of 1791, the complex primal rituals of Haitian Voodoo fused west African, Masonic and Roman Catholic ritual in ways that many still find shocking. During a bizarre and prolonged initiation, film maker Richard Stanley shot hundreds of hours of material depicting the voodoo priests (houngan), priestesses (manbo) and the spirits (loa) that were regularly invited to possess them, ejecting the displaced egos of writhing supplicants into the void, a state of non-existence known as the White Darkness.
The scenes shown here are footnotes from a journey to the outer limits of faith and a brief insight into the violent faultline between that faith and the mindset imposed at gunpoint by the American marines and missionaries acting as a vanguard for an alien New World Order – self-proclaimed footsoldiers in what they believe to be a millennial struggle between the forces of light and darkness.
Beyond recreation, psychedelics, ritual and time: A talk by Dave Lee
The psychedelic experience challenges us to make better use of its incredible potential for healing, ecstasy & transformation. Using the techniques of breathwork, energywork, chanting, meditation & magic, how do we create psychedelic rituals for the 21st Century?
Dave Lee has over 20 years of experience researching effective techniques for changing our realities, and ourselves including magic, psychedelic sacraments and body alchemy. He is qualified in neurolinguistics and as a breathwork coach and is a leading light in the Chaos Magic organization the Illuminates of Thanateros. He continues to present workshops and talks in the UK, USA and mainland Europe. Best known for his in novative study of magic and ecstatic states, Chaotopia!, Dave’s published work also includes other books, audio CDs and magical fiction. He has appeared in more occult and underground magazines than he cares to remember and was one of the early editors of Chaos International magazine.
Special Guests: The Stella Maris Drone Orchestra
Live trance music from the 15 piece ambientdoomkrautraga orchestra.
Line up includes tablas, arabic pipes and drums, electric sitar, mouth harp, bass, vocal contortions, violin, 2x electronics, human percussion andexotic dancers. |
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