Neuro-Alchemy: Beta-Carbolines as Potentiating Agents
by J.B. Fleming

"I began to get high-and then the whole fucking Cosmos broke loose around me" —Allen Ginsberg

During the nineteen twenties, ethnographers returning from the Amazon jungle gave strange accounts of tribal shamans who used a telepathy-increasing plant drug to direct the course of their societies. The drug was a hallucinogenic drink which had several different native names including Ayahuasca, Yage, Caapi, and Natema. It was brewed from a species of woody vine called Banisteriopsis along with various admixtures which commonly included the leaves of Banisteriopsis rusbyana, Psychotria viridis, and Brugmansia.

Native users of ayahuasca were reported to experience collective hallucinations of jaguars, snakes, and jeweled birds. These visions were often accompanied by contact with dead ancestors, the ability to see future events, and telepathic communication among tribal members. Secondary effects included heightened sexual responses, vomiting and diarrhea. Ayahuasca’s purgative effects also made it useful as a general medicine to stimulate health and fight diseases.

Toxicologists were fascinated by the drug and soon extracted the active compound from the Banisteriopsis vine, naming it Telepathine. However, in the nineteen thirties, research interest in ethnopharmacology faded and the matter was left to rest. The case on ayahuasca was reopened in 1957 when researchers discovered that Telepathine was actually Harmine, one of several compounds from the beta-carboline family of hallucinogens. Secondary alkaloids called Harmaline and Tetrahydroharmine were also identified.

The beta-carbolines were first isolated in 1841 from the seeds of Peganum harmala, a small, bushy herb known as Syrian Rue which grows along the Mediterranean and throughout Central Asia. It is also reported to have escaped cultivation and can now be found throughout the American southwest. Middle Eastern people have long used Syrian Rue as a folk medicine and for the unique red dye in Turkish and Persian rugs. Egyptians employed the seeds as an aphrodisiac and the plant has been considered as a possible (although unlikely) candidate for the mysterious Soma described in the Rig-Veda. Beta-carbolines have since been identified in several more plants including Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), Tobacco (Nicotiana rustica), and even within the human pineal gland.

The beta-carbolines are members of the indole family of alkaloids which includes the highly illegal drugs LSD, Psilocybin, DMT, Bufotenin, and Ibogaine. Interestingly, the beta-carbolines have never been scheduled as illegal substances. All of the indoles possess a structural similarity to the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine. However, the beta-carbolines have a unique quality called MAO inhibition that sets them apart from other psychedelics.

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) is an enzyme produced in the human body which serves several regulatory functions. Within the nerve terminals of norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin neurons MAO acts to modulate the amount of neurotransmitter present. MAO bonds with the transmitters and deactivates them preventing the build up of excessive neurotransmitters at the nerve synapses. MAO is also responsible for deactivating many of the toxins that are present in the foods that we eat. Tyramine is an example of a toxin found in many common foods including aged cheese, red wine, pickled herring, figs, and yeast. Without the presence of MAO to inactivate it the consumption of tyramine would be followed by a severe, and possibly life-threatening increase in blood pressure.

In addition to the beta-carbolines psychoactive effects they are also powerful, short-term, MAO inhibitors. For the six to eight hours that the beta-carboline trip lasts MAO activity is suppressed, allowing serotonin to build up at the neuron synapses. This action may be responsible for some of their mental effects. It also means that the body is vulnerable to any toxins that might be consumed.

The South-American indians learned to take advantage of this condition by adding DMT containing plants to the ayahuasca mixture. Normally DMT is inactive when taken orally. Up to a gram of this powerful psychedelic can be consumed with no noticeable effect. However, when combined with beta-carbolines, DMT is absorbed through the stomach and its normally short action is extended for several hours. Although the principles of MAO inhibition were not described by Western science until the nineteen fifties the indians have exploited it for hundreds of years.

Western Experiments with Beta-Carbolines

In the 1960s Chilean psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo carried out a series of experiments using pure harmaline taken intravenously. He reported its effect in his book The Healing Journey as producing vivid mental imagery which took the form of dreamlike sequences accompanied by physical sedation and nausea. His subjects, all drawn from an urban background, often described the same jungle imagery of snakes, vines, jaguars and birds that native ayahuasca users reported. Other researchers since Naranjo have concluded that the beta-carbolines when taken orally do not produce a psychedelic state except at near toxic doses. Instead they seem to create a hazy, dreamy mental state along with an uncomfortable lethargic condition closer in effect to tranquilizers than psychedelics.

It appears that the real value of the beta-carbolines lies not in their psychoactive effects but in their ability to potentiate other psychedelic substances. Over the years there have been numerous accounts of this potentiating quality from underground sources. In Terence and Dennis McKenna’s book The Invisible Landscape and its companion book True Hallucinations by Terence McKenna the effects of a Banisteriopsis and Psilocybe cubensis combination are described. In a series of events that culminated in what they called "The Experiment at La Chorrera" the brothers drank an infusion of boiled Banisteriopsis vine and consumed Psilocybe mushrooms supplemented by smoking dried shavings of Banisteriopsis. What resulted was a spectacular, month long experience of an extremely bizarre nature best left up to the McKenna’s to recount.

Another set of experiments using beta-carbolines to synergize DMT was carried out by "Gracie and Zarkov". Their collection of samizdat reports titled Notes from the Underground detail their use of beta-carbolines to prolong and intensify the effects of synthetic DMT, Psilocybin and LSD. Their procedure was to extract beta-carbolines from Banisteriopsis vines, Passionflower, and Syrian Rue seeds. After drying the extracts were smoked and followed by DMT or other indole psychedelics. The effects of the beta-carboline extracts when taken by themselves are described as "…not particularly psychedelic or hallucinogenic. One feels calm. …At higher doses, dizziness and nausea sets in with very little increase in the high. Closed eye imagery is at best hypnagogic."

Jim DeKorne in his book Psychedelic Shamanism also looks into the potentiating action of beta-carbolines. Working with "Mushroom Ayahuasca", a combination of Syrian Rue extract with Psilocybe cubensis, DeKorne describes its effects as; "This is in no way a ‘recreational’ compound… One is quite simply ‘flattened’ by the mixture. Like most authentic ayahuasca experiences, some gastrointestinal upset is par for the course, but by then one’s consciousness is so profoundly transformed, that nausea and vomiting are somehow beside the point."

There is a possibility that ayahuasca "analogues" can be created using plants found in North America. The goal is to render the DMT found in certain plants orally active by combining them with threshold doses of short-term MAO inhibitors such as the beta-carbolines. Jonathan Ott provides a wealth of information on experimental ayahuasca mixtures in his books Pharmacotheon and Ayahuasca Analogues. Ott’s detailed experiments using harmine extracted from Syrian Rue seeds and DMT clearly show that DMT can be rendered orally active when combined with low doses of beta-carbolines. However, a suitable source for pure DMT is problematic. Much research must still be done in this area.

Given time, underground researchers will find an easily obtained and legal plant which contains DMT. This will enable home users to create what Dennis McKenna calls Ayahuasca borealis, the North American equivalent of the legendary Amazonian ayahuasca brew. Once this technique is perfected it will possible for anyone to explore the psychedelic experience free from the stigma of criminal activity and profiteering drug dealers.

Aka : Re’em, Ki-lin, Kirin

Description

The unicorn is a mythical creature. Strong, wild, and fierce, it was impossible to tame by man. Plinie, the Roman naturalist records it as "a very ferocious beast, similar in the rest of its body to a horse, with the head of a deer, the feet of an elephant, the tail of a boar, a deep, bellowing voice, and a single black horn, two cubits in length, standing out in the middle of its forehead."

Origin

The unicorn is an archetypal monster, present both in eastern and western mythology. In the Bible, God is said to have the strength of a unicorn. [Num 23:22 & 24:8]; The warlike fierceness of the unicorn is referred to when Ephraim and Manasseh are described as being like the horns of unicorns. [Deu 33:17]; The terrifying destruction of Idumea is completed when God sends unicorns and wild bulls to attack the people. [Isa 34:8 see also Psa. 92:10 & Psa 22:21]

Modern zoologists have generally disbelieved the existence of the unicorn. Yet there are animals bearing on their heads a bony protuberance more or less like a horn, which may have given rise to the story. The rhinoceros horn, as it is called, is such a protuberance, though it does not exceed a few inches in height, and is far from agreeing with the descriptions of the horn of the unicorn. The nearest approach to a horn in the middle of the forehead is exhibited in the bony protuberance on the forehead of the giraffe; but this also is short and blunt, and is not the only horn of the animal, but a third horn, standing in front of the two others. Other believes that the narwhales, along with the Indian Rhinoceros (which only has one ‘horn’) are creatures that, through travelers’ exaggerations, became the fabled unicorn. The narwhale is a whale that has a single tusk protruding from its forehead. One can admire two carved narwhal horn in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and in the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside (NMGM); the two are thought to be a pair. The horn is 110 cm long with a diameter of 5.2 cm tapering to 2.5 cm.

The Oryx, a desert antilope, is also a potential candidate.

Powers

It was traditionally believed that a virgin who was naked sitting beneath a tree could only catch the delicate unicorn. The unicorn, who craves purity, would be irresistably drawn to the girl and lie down with his head in her lap. While it slept, the hunter could capture it. If, however, the girl was merely pretending to be a virgin, the unicorn would tear her apart.

Throughout the stories of the unicorn, its horn, the alicorn, is said to have great medicinal powers. In Ctesias’ writings, the dust filed from the horn was supposed to protect against deadly diseases if mixed into a potion. Or, if you drank from the horn, you would be protected against any poison.

Often, a narwhale tusk was sold as an alicorn, and it was often ground up and used for its magical properties.

Symbol

Its white coloring made it a natural symbol for purity, chastity and virginity. The horn of the unicorn was the weapon of the faithful and of Christ.

The mythological unicorn was a symbol of chivalry with qualities befitting this status, proud and untamable.

The legend of the hunter and virgin bait became an allegory of the Incarnation of the Christ and was later forbidden by the Council of Trent because of the lack of real unicorns in the present world.

Today

As far as modern fantaisy litterature for children is concerned, another mention of unicorns is in"Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone".  The "bad guy" uses it to prolong his life by a drinking a very little amount of the unicorn’s silver blood.

THE WENDIGO
The North Woods of Minnesota 

While this creature is considered by many to be the creation of horror writer Algernon Blackwood in his classic terror tale, "The Wendigo", this woods spirit was, and is, very real to many in the northern woods and prairies of the state. Many legends and stories have circulated over the years about a mysterious creature who was encountered by hunters and campers in the shadowy forests of the upper regions of Minnesota. In one variation of the story, the creature could only be seen if it faced the witness head-on, because it was so thin that it could not be seen from the side. The spirit was said to have a voracious appetite for human flesh and the many forest dwellers who disappeared over the years were said to be victims of the monster. The American Indians had their own tales of the Wendigo, dating back so many years that most who were interviewed could not remember when the story had not been told. The Inuit Indians of the region called the creature by various names, including Wendigo, Witigo, Witiko and Wee-Tee-Go but each of them was roughly translated to mean "the evil spirit that devours mankind". Around 1860, a German explorer translated Wendigo to mean "cannibal" among the tribes along the Great Lakes.

Native American versions of the creature spoke of a gigantic spirit, over fifteen feet tall, that had once been human but had been transformed into a creature by the use of magic. Though all of the descriptions of the creature vary slightly, the Wendigo is generally said to have glowing eyes, long yellowed fangs and overly long tongues. Most have a sallow, yellowish skin but others are said to be matted with hair. They are tall and lanky and are driven by a horrible hunger. But how would a person grow to become one of this strange creatures?

According to the lore, the Wendigo is created whenever a human resorts to cannibalism to survive. In years past, such a practice was possible, although still rare, as many of the tribes and settlers in the region were cut off by the bitter snows and ice of the north woods. Unfortunately, eating another person to survive was sometimes resorted to and thus, the legend of the Wendigo was created.

But how real were (or are) these creatures? Could the legend of the Wendigo have been created merely as a "warning" against cannibalism? Or could sightings of Bigfoot-type creatures have created the stories. While this is unknown, it is believed that white settlers to the region took the stories seriously. At times, they even took the sightings and reports quite seriously and made it enough of the local culture that stories like those of Algernon Blackwood were penned. Real-life stories were told as well and according to the settlers’ version of the legend, the Wendigo would often be seen (banshee-like) to signal a death in the community. A Wendigo allegedly made a number of appearances near a town called Rosesu in Northern Minnesota from the late 1800’s through the 1920’s. Each time that it was reported, an unexpected death followed and finally, it was seen no more.

Even into the last century, Native Americans actively believed in, and searched for, the Wendigo. One of the most famous Wendigo hunters was a Cree Indian named Jack Fiddler. He claimed to kill at least 14 of the creatures in his lifetime, although the last murder resulted in his imprisonment at the age of 87. In October 1907, Fiddler and his son, Joseph, were tried for the murder of a Cree Indian woman. They both pleaded guilty to the crime but defended themselves by stating that the woman had been possessed by the spirit of a Wendigo and was on the verge of transforming into one entirely. According to their defense, she had to be killed before she murdered other members of the tribe.

There are still many stories told of Wendigo’s that have been seen in northern Ontario, near the Cave of the Wendigo, and around the town of Kenora, where a creature has been spotted by traders, trackers and trappers for decades. There are many who still believe that the Wendigo roams the woods and the prairies of northern Minnesota and Canada. Whether it seeks human flesh, or acts as a portent of coming doom, is anyone’s guess but before you start to doubt that it exists - remember that the stories and legends of this fearsome creature have been around since before the white man walked on these shores. The legends had to have gotten started somehow, didn’t they?

Sources & Bibliography:
Blackman, W. Haden - Field Guide to North American Monsters (1998)
Clark, Jerome - Unexplained! (1999)
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen - Atlas of the Mysterious in North America (1995)
Hauck, Dennis William - Haunted Places: The National Directory (1996)
Personal Interviews Writings & Correspondence

(C) Copyright 2002 by Troy Taylor. All Rights Reserved.

King Cobra

Not a true cobra

Order: Squamata

Suborder: Serpentes (Ophidia)

Family: Elapidae

Genus & Species: Ophiophagus hannah

APPEARANCE

Unlike its name suggests, the king cobra is not a true cobra, but is placed in a separate genus from them. The king cobra is longer than the true cobras — in fact, it is the longest venomous snake in the world. They average at 13 ft (3.9 m) in length, bu can attain a length of 18 ft (5.4 m). To put this in perspective, the king cobra is longer than most crocodiles. Although they generally move with their body flat on the ground, they can rear up to 1/3 of their total body length, making them up to 6 ft (1.8 m) tall — as tall as a full-grown human.

King cobras have the basic snake appearance, with a long, round, scaled body that tapers to a pointed tail. The head is flat on top, with two black beady eyes located on the front. The neck is exaggerated due to folds of loose skin on either side of it. When the king cobra becomes scared or agitated, ribs in the neck flatten out, expanding the folds of skin and creating a long, narrow hood. This hood lacks patterns of any kind, distinguishing it from true cobras.

King cobras vary greatly in colour. Depending on where they live, they could be brown, black, yellow, or green, interspersed with yellow or white crossbands (chevrons). Generally, king cobras found in darker forests are darker in colour than those found in open forests or savannas. The colour of the belly also varies, from a uniform light cream-colour to a creamy colour interspersed with darker bars.

King cobras shed their skin 4-6 times per year for adults, every month for juveniles. To get the skin to start to peel, the king cobra will rub its body against rough edges. By the time the shedding is complete, the king cobra has new skin, fangs, teeth, eyes, and tongue tip. Shedding will leave the king cobra with poor eyesight for up to 10 days.

King cobras are covered with scales, which are composed of keratin. The number and arrangement of the scales remains the same with every shedding. The scales on the back are small and rounded; the scales on the belly stretch the entire width of the belly and are arranged in a single downwards column.

King cobras are most noted for their venom, which is located in salivary glands behind the eyes — these glands are attached to two hollow, erect fangs. These fangs are ½ inch (12 mm) in length and are attached to the upper jaw. The lower jaw consists of two bones loosely hinged together, which can allow large prey to be swallowed.

King cobras have good eyesight, being able to see 330 ft (100 m) away. They lack external ears, but can still hear due to sound traveling through their skin to the jaw bone, then to the quadrate bone (next to the ear bone), and from there to the inner eardrum. They taste and smell with their forked tongue, drawing scents into their mouth which are then recognized by the Jacobson’s organ. Holes in the trachea emit a low hiss resembling a dog’s growl.

King cobras are more intelligent than true cobras, being able to distinguish their caretakers from strangers. They have a life span of 20 years.

HABITAT

The king cobra can be found throughout southeast Asia, from India to southern China to Malaysia, from Indonesia to the Philippines.

King cobras are generally found in dense or open rainforests, as well as mangrove swamps, bamboo thickets, savannas, and even around human settlements. They are excellent swimmers, often being found near streams, and are avid tree climbers. They are often found in mountainous regions of India, up to altitudes of 6500 ft (1981 m) above sea level. They hunt during the day and during the night.

King cobras spend solitary lives, getting together just to mate. They may, however, mate with the same snake each year.

FOOD

King cobras do not have the typical diet of rodents associated with most snake species. Instead, their diet is composed solely of reptiles, namely other snakes. They usually prey upon non- venomous snakes such as Asian rat snakes and pythons, but will also prey upon Indian cobras, kraits, and even smaller king cobras. They will also feed on lizards. In zoos, some are found to be picky eaters, only feeding on one type of snake.

King cobras hunt for their food by smelling the air with their forked tongue. When they find a suitable quarry, they rear up to 1/3 their body length and strike. If their prey flees, they are able to follow in this upright position for long distances. When they catch their prey, muscles send the venom from the glands, through the fangs, and into the victim. The venom is a neurotoxin, and in humans can cause pain, swelling, hypertension, nausea, abdominal pain, drowsiness, limb paralysis, unconsciousness, and finally death. The symptoms begin to show 15-30 minutes after the attack. Death in humans can be prevented by an anti-venin.

The prey is swallowed whole, and the king cobra may not feed again for several weeks.

ENEMIES

The king cobra has few natural enemies as an adult, but the juveniles do. They are preyed upon by mongooses, civets, army ants, and giant centipedes, and the eggs may be eaten or trampled by wild boar and, once again, mongooses.

The king cobra’s biggest enemy is man. Habitat destruction drives them into populated areas, where they are killed due to misplaced fears that they are savage attackers. The truth is, a king cobra, unless defending its nest, is more likely to slither away than to attack. There are fewer than 5 king cobra-related fatalities each year.

King cobras are also killed for commercial purposes. The skin, meat, and bile are used in ancient Chinese medications, and the venom is used to treat tuberculosis, cholera, and arthritic pain, as well as being used to block nerve transmissions and as an anti-venin.

King cobras are considered to be threatened.

BREEDING

King cobras reach sexual maturity at 5-6 years of age. The breeding season begins in January, and is evidenced by a shedding of their skin. In females, the shedding releases pheromones, which help males to find a female. When they find each other, the male entwines its body around the female, and they may stay in that position for several hours. The male’s sperm eventually fertilizes eggs, and the female becomes gravid (snake term for pregnant). The female can store the sperm for several years, using it to impregnate herself several times.

The female lays 20-50 white eggs two months after mating. The eggs are laid in a nest made during the two- month period. King cobras are the only snakes known to make a nest, perhaps a sign of their intelligence. After a 60-70 day incubation period, the eggs hatch. Just before the juveniles emerge, the female abandons them, possibly to keep her from eating her young.

The juveniles are glossy black at birth with yellow bands. The babies measure 14 inches (35 cm) in length and are about ½ inch (1.25 cm) wide. Their venom is just as potent as that of an adult, and after their first molt at 10 days of age, they are ready to hunt.

RELATIVES

The king cobra is the only species in its genus.

RESOURCES CITED

1. www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/kingcobra/
2. www.redcross.or.th/science/science/king_cobra.html
3. animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/ophiophagus/O._
hannah$narrative.html
4. www-surgery.ucsd.edu/ENT/DAVIDSON/snake/Ophiopha.htm
5. www.beavton.k12.or.US/vose/kidopedia/cobra.html
6. www.the-planet.net/co/animal/kcobra.html
7. www.zoomwhales.com/subjects/reptiles/snakes/kingcobra.shtml
8. www.gov.sg/moh/mohiss/poison/prkingco.html
9. "King Cobra" Wildlife Fact File, IMPub Inc, USA

In the 1500s, Michel de Montaigne,

"Man is certainly stark mad: he cannot make a worm, yet he will make gods by the dozen."

As you work on a computer, remember Tesla. His Tesla Coil supplies the high voltage for the picture tube you use. The electricity for your computer comes from a Tesla-designed AC generator, is sent through a Tesla transformer, and gets to your house through 3-phase Tesla power.

Here’s a short list of some of the stuff he invented:

• The polyphase induction motor
• The hydroelectric generator
• Radio
• X-Rays
• Vacuum tubes
• Fluorescent lights
• Microwaves
• Radar
• AC power
• Broadcast power
• The rotary engine

Oh, yeah - and

• The Tesla Coil

And here’s a short list of some of the other stuff he fooled around with:

• Radio wave propagation
• Missile science
• Robots
• Remote control
• Satellites
• Beam weapons
• Ball lightning

The only thing that matters about the whole fucking universe is the frequency, the resonance–down at the atomic level holding our flesh together. They (science) have found the frequency of the atoms vibration, everything is a constant vibration. Sometimes I walk down the street, and think,"fuck the only thing holding our bodies together is the valence of the different chemicals of the different atoms in our body". Ya’know valence, attraction. I’m like fuck man–if somebody found a quick frequency disrupter, that’s like the best weapon right there

-DJ Spooky

My friend told me a story about how he was trying to cross the street in front of a grocery store parking lot when a man nearly ran him over. The man was looking right at him when he perpetrated the preposterous violation.  The man had his wife and child with him in his car.  My friend followed the car because it parked in the parking lot.  He knocked on the window asking the man to apologize to him for nearly ending his life.  The man reved his car and spun out reversing, to perform a bevy of brodys around my friend.  Screaching through the crowded parking lot in a cloud of burning rubber the man drove off over a hill.  My friend proceeded about his business and approached a pay phone to make a call.  Suddenly who should appear behind him?  Yes, yes the family man come to get revenge on his would be victim.  While trying to put his quarter back in his pocket, the man punched my friend full in the face and the brawl ensued.  My friend got the man down on the floor and pinned his neck down with his boot.  The police arrived promptly (!!! !!!) and arrested my friend while letting the family man go free.  My friend was let go when the cops interviewed several reluctant people in the grocery store parking lot and found out about the dangerous doughnuts.  This all happened because my friend did not have the right amount of change for the payphone closest to him, and had to walk to another one down the street.  Was that the reason?  Or was it a secret lesson for his soul shoved into his otherwise mundane day. 

I was shopping for Garlic powder and I observed several brands of Garlic powder whose ingredients contained one or more of the following:

High fructose corn syrup

Fully hydrogenated oils

and I thought to myself, my god…my god.