Tripping into Yom Kippur

Preparing to do penitence for my sins of the year 5770, I spent the weekend preparing for Yom Kippur where the Pagan/Ju-Bu in me has to face off with long bearded one, the guy with all the gelt who gives the guilt. and oye, do I need more ...I DON'T THINK SO...in preparation for repenting for everything awful I've done, mostly to moi-meme, I attended the psychedlic conference for healing held at Judson Memorial Church.. Ok,so you went to an apple picking orchard or had sweaty sex, chacun son gout... I can you imagine a synogogue allowing a conference on psychedelics? well i can't but who knows what will happen after 2012? Synogogues may even start selling things again, like before Jesus tore down the market.. the gold old days, “Hey honey, I'm going to make a blessing for my uncle Zooley, he's sick...need anything? Oh, yea, pick up a carton of milk while you're there, 2 percent.”.

This conference on psychedelicsand healing,, helmed by Neal Goldsmith, had an emphasis on cancer patients.. It was so excited to know there were healers around who were more interested in compassionate work than their golf swing...oops dating myself... still... docs from Johns Hopkins, (why is there an s on John?) William Richards, and NYU, Stephen Ross, gathered to talk about studies being done with cancer patients --- they are monitored during a psychedelic treatment and face their fears and anxieties, ego and other deaths and come out happier and stronger and much better able to deal with their healing.

It is amazing that this is happening in this backwards country...hooray, sorry drug companies, but I hear Walmart's hiring...This a small, growing vibrant community of people who have as Jim Morrison sang "gone to the other side", and appreciate reality on both sides of now. Sorry for the hyperbole, but this was not a room filled with burned out wanna-be bitter hippies, but exceedingly curious, compassionate people who are part of a growing mass who want to see controls lessened on drugs as well as clear information offered.

One of the highlights of the conference was Bob Wold, creator of Clusterbusters, an organization formed to help sufferers of cluster headaches take the gun from their forehead and live life. Psilosybin, sorry spelling, but it's late, heals cluster headaches...people who have suffered 5 cluster headaches a day for 20 years, suddenly have eliminated them from their lives by following a psychedelic protocol. It's a bloody miracle, and I know. I suffered headaches for years, not cluster, perhaps duster, but one lasted a whole week. It wasn't until my predominant shaman teacher at the time, John Harris, called and talked me "out of it" after five hours -- it went away. It was a shamanic healing experience and I believe that psychedelics perform an equally shamanistic role in our lives.

Andy Letcher, an urchin from the UK, charmed with the historical verite on shrooms and of course, the question of what is a religious experience came up.

Check out his music Telling Bees on my space with absolutely enchanting artwork by his art partner Ms. Staines.

Now after such stimulation, how exciting could synagogue look? Well, they cleaned up the old gal on Clinton Street, so I hiked up to the balcony where the girls are sequestered and sang a few tunes for my dad. I was saddened to learn that goats are the most sacrificed animal in the bible, esp as that was my family name in zee old country. As if Lambstar isn't enough.

5770 comes to a one... let's hope this is a new beginning of kindness, compassionate, peace, meaning all aspects of one's life, and a recognition that the old guard is over, patriarchy collapses, duality goes with it, and love is all there is -- almost, because, a little gelt doesn’tt hurt either

Barnes and Nobles, not so noble

a friend who shall remain nameless sent me this following email today explaining a horrendous work situation that pervades all of the B&N stores. I feel it is my duty to share this with you fine book readers, cafe drinkers and magazine perusers. With so much unemployment in this country, it is sad to think that a business, especially a BOOK business, is harassing its help. Please read below:

The Assistant Manager and the Supervisor both told me that they were actively looking for another job and they advised me to do the same. This new Manager is being really difficult and she's actively promoting the head honcho's (one of whom is her cousin) agenda, which is basically to run people into the ground so that they will eventually quit and the store can have a revolving door of "new" employees every year or so. She let it slip at a manager's meeting that the company is looking for young, strong "shelving machines" who are available at any hour to do any task, and they are to be written up for the smallest infraction so that there will always be adequate ammunition to fire them, especially if they start making too much money. Literacy, sales ability, book knowledge, all of that is pretty much irrelevant. The important thing is youth, bodily strength and the willingness to do conform to any situation/treatment for the least amount of money. Her typical MO is to stride out of her office, complain about something, issue some last-minute, unreasonable sort of directives ("oh, before you leave could you manage to set up the new gift display for me", a job that takes about 40 minutes to do properly but the person has to leave in 15 -then she can complain that they did a sloppy job or didn't finish or whatever) criticize a few things or people and then stroll back into her office and make personal phone calls. I wish I knew someone with some real power, not against her, she's just a pawn, but against this sort of "company policy". It's outrageous. And the kicker is that no one can easily go anywhere else because there are no decent jobs out there for them to go to....ugh.


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