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Ask The Old Hippie

Thanks for the great response to Ask the Old Hippy
The Old Hippy regrets he an’t answer everyone’s questions.
The most recent questions and answers are below.

“Old hippies don’t die, they just lie low until the laughter stops and their time comes round again.” – Joseph Gallivan 

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About Life, Death & Love

i love you old hippie. i love the way you help people out, young people who have become lost are need to find their way, or at least need a song to sing on the journey. i might be one of those people, i dont know.
maybe i am just searching for answers? there are so many questions in my head. but i know that i have a lot of power and thus need to be properly informed. i also know that i have to take care of myself, which i am not very good at.

i hope that you can help me. i didn’t know where else to turn. please don’t desert me old hippie!

i will begin:

it begins with a boy whose name starts with t. he has too much hair and a cheeky smile. he looks like harry potter, only a bit. i fall in love with him. he falls in love back…at least he says he does. we are together and happy. he betrays me, and i become scared. i cling. i suffocate. he does not say anything as it is his fault that i am so insecure. inside he crumbles. he freaks. he runs. i grab, and my fingers clutch on nothing. clutch on something..on nothing…on love…on indifference…on love again…on indifference again.

i wish he’d make his mind up! he does make his mind up, and i cry into his pillow. he holds me. …i’d love to still be friends’. we are friends. we might come together in the future. i am scared…confused…hurt…loved…happy…relived

can you help?


You have lots of questions, about life and your place in it. That is good. Don’t ever stop asking questions, cause then you’ll stop growing.

Love affects us in many ways. Confusion is a normal byproduct. Don’t get hungup on one person, especially when you’re so young – a common mistake, from which there is much to learn. Realize he is feeling as much of an emotional rollercoaster as you. So don’t hold things against him, or yourself. You’re both young and inexperienced, but that will soon pass, and you’ll be more confident about what you want from a relationship as you get more experience. Sounds to me like you’re making this into way more than it needs to be, and laying heavy trips on this poor boy. Let it go for now (no more clutching!), and look around at all the other guys. I’m sure there are several trying to get your attention…


second: animals are killed and eaten by other animals. we are animals.
we kill and eat those smaller than ourselves. is this wrong? being a vegetarian is tricky… not that i would know. but i’ve heard! i want to be, i want to be and i want to be healthy.


We are animals. Yes we are, indeed. But aren’t we supposed to be smarter than they? We don’t need meat to survive. Yet we CHOOSE to eat it. Therefore our karma is tainted by our choices on food. Why kill an animal if there is no good reason? Oh, that’s right, it tastes good! That’s a good enough reason to kill, right?


old hippie, i am sick of being sugar-soaked. not fat-soaked you understand, but dripping with sweetness and sugar and i can feel it course through my veins and it drives me mad.
i fear i am addicted.


Sugar addiction is very dangerous. Learn what foods are healthy for your body. Those that give you more than just energy or a sugar rush. Learn, learn, learn!


…and so it goes on. what is anarchy? am i an anarchist? i want to be, i want everyone to be happy, but if it was the best wouldn’t we already have it?


To learn more about anarchy, just do a search for the word on Hippy.com.


and some more, schooling, college, uni: my life. i don’t know what to do, where to go. i tell myself i want to be this, or that and then i lack the dicipline to carry it over. or maybe my system is telling me it’s not right for me. my father is rich and expects me to do the same. oh, the same sad story over and over and over! must be the thousandth time you’ve heard it: what did you tell the others?


As far as school and a career goes, you’re still too young, not too old to make these decisions. Yes, it’s not the best time to start to learn somethings, but other things are out there waiting for you. Keep looking. Once you start college you’ll discover many other opportunities you didn’t even know existed. How about getting involved in serving others? You seem to care a lot about the world and issues of importance. Why not do something about it? You can volunteer your time, or get involved in politics or social issues. There’s a lot more that people can do constructively than work a 9 to 5 and pickup a paycheck.

If you have a wealthy family, you are in a much better position to help others than most. Also once you start doing things for others, in a selfless, unconditional way, you will be amazed at what that does for your own self-esteem. Indeed, scientists have just discovered that giving to others (not just money, but time, attention, etc.), activates the pleasure centers of our brains! So this is now an established fact! See for yourself!


recently i have found a friend in the form of a tarot reader. she reads my tarot and we talk about me. she tells me i am beautiful: i am scared that she simply wants my money. how do i trust?


Tarot reading is fun and can be enlightening. But too much of it leads to a dependence on your part as well as the tarot reader. People will take advantage of others if there’s money to be gained. Get your own cards and learn how to read ’em. It’s not hard. Take the power and embrace it. You control your own destiny!


at night i cry for the world. i want to fix it. i am scared for the future. old hippie, how is the future looking?


The future is not looking too good. My generation was the last to actively be really concerned about the future of ourselves, our loved ones and the planet we live on. The past couple of generations haven’t cared much about the future and it shows. Most people are living from paycheck to paycheck, (if they have a job), and can’t plan anything beyond their next vacation. So why should our government’s or corporations be any better? They only care about this month’s profits and the reactions of their shareholders. They don’t give a flying fuck about the rest of the world, the environment or the future of mankind. That doesn’t help their bottom line. Used to be governments made 5 and 10 year plans and stuck to them. Not anymore. So you wonder what the future is going to be like. Of course you do! Cause nobody else gives a shit! So nobody can tell you, or is willing to tell you the truth about it!

But I will. Unless you and your generation get off your fat asses, and wake up and smell the putrification of our planet, you and your children are going to be living in the most vile sewer man has ever created. And that’s the good news. Fascists will soon have complete control of the planet (but not until after the worst world war ever!). Freedom will be a distant memory. Slavery will become the norm, although it will continue to be sugar coated. Those with the money and power will live apart from the miserable masses of humanity (they pretty much do already). Our once fertile, green planet, will no longer be so. Massive die offs, starting with sea creatures, continuing with the extinction of hundreds of land animals and ending with an unprecedented loss of certain varieties of plant life will spell our eventual doom.

But it needn’t be so. You can act! And so can your friends. But time is running out. If your generation doesn’t change things, there’s not much hope. But YOU have the power, so use it!


i have a friend who ends with l. he is in the airforce cadets over here in australia. they have a heirachy. he was telling me about it. he is somewhere in the heirachy. he gets to yell, to scare,to boss around. i think this is wrong. no human should have this type of power over
another. but i feel his song, and it is good. i have two friends, him and another. they both have a way of making me feel inferior. i resent it. they are too cocky.


One big problem with our society is the abuse of power. Power corrupts. So we must find new ways to ensure that power is distributed equally among all the people. There is no good, valid reason why someone should have more power than someone else. You can just as effectively manage the world with an even delegation of power. Then people wouldn’t feel powerless about their situation, and would be actively engaged in improving their lives and their communities. As it is, few people feel empowered by our system. That’s why most people don’t bother to vote or even voice their opinions. They feel there’s nothing they can change. But that’s where they’re wrong! But it’s going to take more than just a few to change the entire system. And boy does it ever need changing!


old hippie, why do we find death funny? why do we enjoy watching people be hurt or humilliated? the soapies are full of it. why can’t we be pumped full of love, music and sex? it doesn’t make sense.

old hippie, sometimes i get so angry that i fantasie about death. it’s a dark and horribly amused anger and it scares me. it wells inside me and i revel in it. help me remove this from myself.


We are amused and entertained by the deaths we see portrayed on TV and the media, as it touches our fears, yet doesn’t quench them. Our society refuses to acknowledge the importance of death, instead we hide REAL death from view. Instead they give us numbers. Or show us dramatizations, leaving out the cruel reality.

Death is like shit. It stinks, nobody likes looking at it, yet we all must experience it. Instead we’d rather just flush it from our memory than face the truth. You can embrace death’s cold hand by realizing that it’s just another part of life, and that it is just a transition to another state. Fear death not, for its truth shall set you free. And you needn’t die to recognize the truth. Just let go of your fears. It’s the fear itself that keeps us living like paranoid zombies. Afraid to take risks and experience all that life has to offer. Afraid to change things too much, less we suffer harm.


i am considering changing my name. help???


If you want to change your name, check out the list of hippie names on Hippy.com


how much does big brother watch us?


Big Brother watches everything, remembers everything. On the Internet anyway. In our cities now too, there are cameras everywhere. This is great for fighting crime. But today’s freedoms are tomorrow’s crimes. So those who say only the criminals need to worry, don’t realize that tomorrow they will be considered criminals if they don’t do exactly as they are told. New laws restricting freedom are being passed everyday. In another couple of years, I might not even be able to answer all these questions the way I do today, without committing a crime. And then they’ll have no trouble finding me and putting me away, without due process, which is almost history already. Things are changing so fast, nobody can keep up with what is being lost!


i was brought up a catholic. i have a christain fundamentalist friend. he tells me god is coming, that i’m going to hell. i don’t want to burn. i become scared.


Religion is the opiate of the masses. Fundamentalism is for retards. The Catholic and Christian churches bear no relation to the life of Christ. They are hypocritical institutions that are covers for child abuse, ripping off the poor and feeble, and stealing the land and hopes of millions. They are anachronisms whose time has come for the truth to be revealed. Best to deprogram yourself from these heinous cults. But don’t try to convince others (a waste of time). Let them find out for themselves.


i need to know about dope.
i need to know about control.
i need to know aout free love and in-love.


Dope – the biggest one I know is sitting in the White House planning a war.

Control – Those who would control others need head transplants.

Free Love – This concept has been passed down for generations and millennia. It surfaces every so often to remind people that LOVE is what’s important. With love we can save the world! It’s been perverted by those who think it only means sex. It means freedom to do as you please. To love not just those you’re taught to love, but EVERYONE. It is the most revolutionary meme ever created. If we love everyone, we cannot hate, we cannot make war, we cannot be controlled.

We should be, we must be, we shall be free!


old hippie, i become jealous too easily. so much so that the smallest thing can cause me to vomit. it is oppurtunities, not possessions which drive me to this. how do i counteract this madness?


If you experience jealousy that others get to do things that you don’t, this will pass. When you turn 18 then 21 and get to do what others do, you’ll realize that it’s no big deal. What you are really getting upset over is the lack of freedom. When you have more, and you explore your new found freedom, it will at first be a joy, but then as the responsibilities that go along with those freedoms kick in, you’ll see that it can be a drag and not as pleasurable as you imagined. So enjoy your freedom from responsibility while it lasts!


i want to know what’s happening in america. no bias, just the facts. is it about oil?


Yes it’s about oil, about energy, about big business, about capitalism, about exploitation, about selfishness, about lack of concern for others and the environment, about propaganda, about power, about greed, about money, about undue influence, about the military/industrial complex, about lies and coverups, about secrets, about dirty deeds, about the FBI, CIA, NSA, about the death of democracy, about the rise of fascism, about the ignorance of an entire country about the truth.


i use my mother and don’t respect her.
i am lonely.
i need to dance more.
i want a tight group of five to eight friends that are my group, but it’s tricky.
i just moved to a new school see.

i really want to sing dance and act
i was told to be smart and get a profession behind me first i say who needs money, but i know that i do somtimes i just want to leave the world to fight on its own – when i do leave it for even a few seconds i feel like a weight has been taken off my shoulders.

i’ve always wanted to sing
i’ve always wanted to be famous, and to be able to fly

i wear bright colours,
i have a whimsey-hat,
i am 16,
i live in australia,
i am jessica…
…and i need your help.

lots of love: the future.


Dance and sing your song, and if it comes from your heart, people will listen and your message will be received. If it gives you pleasure, then that is the only justification you need. The world needs those who sing of love more than ever! So dance and sing for a better world.

May you find the peace you need,
The Old Hippy

Posted by: skip
Views: 30655
Topic:16

Internet Romance or Freedom?

Hey Hippie,
I am not a hippie kid, no, I am a middleaged hippie chick who happened upon your site by accident (or an act of the universe).
Hippie I spent the last 18 years as a drafted (widowed) single mother. Now its my turn. Selling the house in the suburbs and heading for the life I always wanted. Problem is, I met a guy online 9 mos ago. He is a hippie and wants to share my new life with me. We will be meeting soon but except the for the thrill of romance, I worry about how compatible we actually are.

Part of me is tickled at the prospect of a new relationship with a fellow hippie at this stage of my life, but a part of me yearns to be free, you know? To do what I want when I want to, finally, after all these years. No settling into domestic bliss, no one to answer to, no limitations. In my logical view, it seems that being alone until I am sure I want to share my life, makes sense, but this guy says he wants all or nothing and NOW.
Help me hippy!
featherearrings


Featherearrings,

You say you haven’t even met this guy yet? And he says he wants all or nothing? Somethings not right here. Sorry to be so blunt. But someone’s living in a fantasy world. I suppose you can get to know about someone over the Internet, but I would be very hesitant to want to commit myself to someone I NEVER EVEN MET in person. I suppose there’s always a chance it will be love at first site (pun intended). But let’s get real here. Even if you’d been going out on dates for 9 months and someone lays a trip on you that you must be theirs or nothing, isn’t that rather demanding? Is that some kind of weird marriage proposal? If so, it would seem to be at odds with hippie philosophy, which emphasizes personal freedom.

Again, something seems wrong here. And I think you should proceed with that in mind. Take it one step at a time, and don’t commit yourself. In fact, I’d discuss your feelings with him more. Take careful note of his reactions. You don’t say how you feel about him at all, so I suspect your feelings aren’t as obsessive as his. If he’s still of a mind that it’s all or nothing, then that is extremely unfair to you and rather inconsiderate. And my guess is you can expect a lot more of that in your relationship.

I really think meeting him in person might not be a good idea until you’ve sorted out the expectations involved in the meeting. If you’re going to meet this person, do it in a public place, so if you don’t want to go, you won’t have a problem saying no.

Compatibility is not something you can discover via the Internet. It could easily take you months living together to know if you have what it takes to make the relationship work. His demands make no sense, and I am suspicious. You should be too.

If this is the moment of freedom that you have been looking forward to for years, then THAT is what you need to experience. Don’t let some dude you don’t really know, snag you on the rebound. Go for that freedom and discover your real self again. If you’re meant to be with this guy, he’ll be waiting for you. If not there will be many other great guys waiting to meet you (in person!), who perhaps are more considerate of your needs.

Good luck, I hope you find what you’re seeking,
-The Old Hippy

Posted by: skip
Views: 12287
Topic:16

Should I Marry A Pot Smoker?

Dear Old Hippy,

I met my boyfriend in Costa Rica on a tropical biology course, and we have
been dating long-distance for five months. We are both totally crazy about
each other, and in fact when I was visiting him last week, he asked me to
marry him! I said yes, and I am very excited about spending our lives
together. 🙂

My concern is that he smokes pot every day (a couple hits from a bong),
though he has only smoked once while we’ve been together (visiting/ in the
same place, that is). He is 35 and has smoked every day for about 5 years,
and regularly for maybe 10 years before that. Does this mean that he is
addicted to pot? I mean mentally/emotionally addicted, since pot is not
chemically or physiologically addictive. I am not opposed to marijuana
(though I have only tried twice myself), but every day seems a bit excessive
to me. I fear that it is a sign of his needing to escape or cope with
something bigger, rather than fun, recreational use. Do you have any
thoughts on this? Do you think I should be so concerned about it as not to
marry him? Would it be ‘fair’ to ask him not to smoke for my sake? How can
I figure out if it’s okay with me if he smokes that much before I marry him?

I would greatly appreciate any input you can give!

Thank you.
Peace,
L.

 

Dear L.,

Why do you think taking a couple of hits from a bong is any different than drinking one beer every day? In fact it’s probably healthier. People need to unwind someway. Why do you think it’s a bad thing? Other than the legal risks (which vary from locality to locality), and the minimal health risk (2 hits is really nothing), why do you assume there’s a psychological dependence? You say he’s only smoked once in your presence, so I don’t think that could in anyway be considered excessive or indicative of a psychological dependency.

The reasons I smoke (only in the evenings, anywhere from 2-8 hits) is
because it helps me take my mind off work (otherwise I’d never stop thinking
about it), as it let’s me disengage from anything that would normally obsess
me. It does tend to numb me to a certain degree, but it also lets my mind
wander so that I become more creative, more receptive and more
appreciative of music, art and the company of others.

And then there’s sex! Marijuana is one of the best and most effective
aphrodesiacs known to man. If your boyfriend wants to smoke before sex, I
would encourage you to encourage him. You’ll certainly notice the
difference in his performance and sensitivity to you.

And then when it comes time for sleep, I will sleep very soundly, rarely
waking at all. I feel refreshed in the morning, if a little fuzzy, but that
wears off in a hour or so after a cup of coffee (and isn’t that normal
anyway?)

So I’m still trying to figure out what the downside is here. Help me out…

The only problem I see here is your own preconceptions and prejudice about
marijuana.

-The Old Hippy

Posted by: skip
Views: 32057
Topic:10

Forcing Religion on Children

Hi Old Hippy!
I would like to ask you what do you think about parents (and society, in
general) forcing children or teenagers to submit to their religion?

I was raised in a catholic country (Portugal) and attended a catholic
school and I hated it! I don’t understand how people can be raised and
basicly forced to have a certain religion if they aren’t even old enough to
know what religion or spirituality is.

I think everyone should have the
right to choose their own religion whenever they feel like it! I think
religion (at least *some* religions) and spirituality contribute a lot to
our well-being and help us open your minds and deal with life better, but why do people on this planet constantly force others to share the same
religion as them? I mean, I know it’s part of the country’s own culture,
but is it really necessary? I wouldn’t mind living in a society where every
person has a different religion and is equally treated and respected!

I
think
Children are very easy to influence. I myself wasn’t, thank God!!! Can you
imagine, if I had been influenced easily by my parents and the community in
general, I’d probably be a strict narrow-minded catholic asshole instead of
the liberal open-minded person that I am! I will never force my kids to
have a certain religion or follow a certain spiritual path, I think that’s
gross and totally unfair, I can’t believe there’s millions (or probably
billions) of people that do that. What a weird planet!

Anyways, what do you think about this? 😉 I would appreciate having your
point of view on this.

Thank you!

Peace,
Antiloop

Yeah it really sucks how religion is forced down our souls from the moment
we’re born in some cases! And the things done to us in the name of religion
(circumcision for one, forced sex with priests is another)are crimes against children. And yet it continues.

Freedom of religion. Yeah as an adult you can FREELY choose your religion,
but as a child you have no choice (oh, but wait… didn’t you choose your
parents?). So you see there’s another way of looking at it that implies
that you choose the circumstances of your life before you’re born, so that
you can have these experiences and learn from them.

So now you are a more enlightened person for having learned how religion is
abused and used as a form of mind control by society. Most people never
reach that point of awareness because they’re so wrapped up in the illusion
that their organized religion has created.

As a cultural meme, religion is used to communicate important information
that has survival value to its members. It helps keep people together and
gives them a pretext for helping each other in times of need. It comes down
from our clan/tribal roots, but religion really fucked up when it became
institutionalized. Too much power in the hands of a few.

And now religion is being used as a pretext for rallying people for a new
World War. As has been done before. These people never learn their
lessons, and thus repeat them over and over, lifetime after lifetime.

-The Old Hippy

Posted by: skip
Views: 19176
Topic:15

Is Cunt a Bad Word?

My college placed a huge sign in the common areas saying Cunt to publicize a book with the premise that if you say the word enough it will loses its power and no longer be derogatory. Obviously I support freedom of expression but I believe this word communicates hatred and minimization of women. What is the right response? What would a hippy do? Thanks dude.


I would have to agree with your college. It’s exactly what we’ve been trying to do with the word hippie. You just need to expose people to positive associations with the word, and suddenly it starts to mean something else. Originally the word hippie meant people who looked and acted and thought differently from the mainstream but were very interesting and hip.

Then the more conservative elements in society villified the word with negative associations like drug abuse, dirty people, etc. Likewise, cunt was just a word for a body part. Again conservatives (& chauvinists) looked askew at this and decided there was nothing good about that word (implying there was nothing good about that body part!), and thus it came to be used in a derogatory fashion.

Sexual liberation and Women’s Liberation happened decades ago! People need to wake up! I say it’s time to liberate the words cunt & hippie so they regain their original meanings and not let conservatives dictate how we view the world. It’s their view that is perverted!

The Old Hippy

Posted by: skip
Views: 40820
Topic:16

Depressed about America

Hi old hippy im 17 and suffer from what i believe is manic depression. I have deep, prolonged depression that can last for months on end with only weeks or days to break the monotony.

I refuse to seek any psychiatric or medicinal help because of the reason i feel that i suffer from this. My belief is that it stems directly from this life that we are forced to live. I feel that my life is controled by forces i have no control over.

Our government that denies all their individual freedoms as a human, and then has the gull to claim that we are the land of the free. this way of life has created a superficial society that has no idea(nor does it have any interest) in how limited our possible life paths are, due to this and all governments. Safety has become something our nation is willing to trade anything for, and there is so many that feel this way. There is nothing i can do to change any of their minds.

I feel Ignorance is bliss should be our nations moto and it makes me physically ill. I wish i could make everyone open their eyes and see this, they are so convinced that their is no better way to live than with our government, that no one has put the time or effort into creating a new lifestyle, or at least improving (significantly) on the one we have. and i believe its rather comical that we as a nation destroyed what possibly was the most perfect way of life in our earths history.

What was better than how the indians lived, granted they had some basic forms of govt., but i would consider it more as a leadership role than anything. Traveling a beautiful land in a groups consisting of family and friends, living off the land with a devine love for its beauty and appreciation of its gifts to man. they danced, acted, smoked pot, played music, told stories, and were generally peaceful. i think about what it was like and can’t imagine any way to improve on it. instead look around u this life we live is hell, morrison was right, life is the bad part, when you die that all goes away. these thoughts in my head circulate daily and have prevented me from conecting with others, i havnt had a girlfriend in years and all my friendships seem rather superficial.

I’m sorry for having rambled alot but i have trouble expressing the ideas in my head. i really want to know if in your experiences you’ve met anyone with my similar problem/blessing or if you could just give me any advice at all.

thanks
peace


I can relate to exactly what you feel. I’ve had the same feelings and doubts about the American way of life for quite sometime (like 30 years). And yes it can be very depressing. However obsessing over this is not healthy.

Manic depression is a clinical diagnosis of a very specific disease. I would hesitate to self-diagnose this unless you’ve consulted medical journals and know exactly what you’re talking about. You don’t mention anything that indicates you get manic, and believe me, if you did, you would know (and so would everyone around you!). Perhaps you just left that out. Do you also go into rages, and talk incessantly about these subjects (regardless of whether anyone is listening)? If so, then you may qualify for the label manic-depressive.

You can break your depression by breaking the monotony in your life. There are many ways to do this. Exercise, travel, new friends, nature all help restore your perspective and add positive experiences to your life. Getting a breath of fresh air is always good. You could even move to another place which can help too. Sometimes there’s environmental factors that make us ill. I discovered that allergies were making me sick and depressing me too. Now I take a pill when I need to, and I don’t have that problem anymore.

I’m finding many hippies are getting very angry and depressed at the state of affairs with the US and the world in general. We are facing imminent ecological, economic and social disasters just by keeping things as they are. But with the threat of war and terrorism and fear mongering, the situation threatens to spiral out of control even before these other disasters come crashing down on us. There is much to worry about.

But lately I’ve come to the realization that all these things will soon become visible and obvious to everyone. Thirty years ago, many wise ones warned us about what was coming, and urged us to change. We didn’t heed the warnings, and now we must pay the price of progress. I believe that by the time I’m in my late sixties (say 15-20 years hence), people will once again be roaming the American countryside in search of food. But it won’t be buffalo they’ll be hunting. Oh, no. Sorry, but I won’t go there right now. There’ll be plenty of time to think about how badly we fucked things up, after the shit hits the fan.

In the meantime, we hippies must rediscover the ways of native americans and those cultures that knew how to live off the land. Time is running out to prepare. Get ready.

Posted by: skip
Views: 18351
Topic:11

What’s The Worst Drug?

Hey old hippie!
First off I would like to say that Hippyland is awesome and I come here everyday to check out the information and chat with other hippies like me! Anyways… I was wondering what you thought was the worst drug. One that could really hurt someone. I am thinking of heroin but I am not sure. Maybe you could help me out with this question. Thanks. Peace
Always!
Jaded_Acid420


I’d have to say the worse drug today, is the one that enslaves the most people into a lifetime of addiction, whose addiction affects all those around them even to the point of killing family, friends or co-workers (who don’t do the drug), and terminates the addicts life in a slow agonizing death, or if they’re lucky it ends in a quick heart attack.

In the meantime the addict forks over money on almost a daily basis. First to those who produce, market and sell this drug (everywhere it seems), reaping billions of dollars in profits each year, first denying then ignoring completely the painful death they sell to so many innocent people. Then the legions of addicts must pay in their final years billions more to the medical establishment to try to cure them, then try to keep them alive, then finally to make their last days less painful.

This drug has been marketed to children and you can even see children using it outside schools. In fact it’s often very fashionable for kids to be seen using this most addictive of drugs (that’s right it IS the most addictive drug!). There’s also a lot of peer pressure from friends to use this horrible drug. So eventually kids give in and will become slaves to this drug the rest of their lives (which are shortened by decades in many cases).

Which drug am I describing? The actual drug’s name is nicotine, but you know it as tobacco. It is more addictive than heroin (don’t think so? most people who try heroin NEVER become addicted, but most people who try tobacco DO!). It’s a fact.

Believe me tobacco hurts EVERYONE who uses it! And over a billion people smoke, and most will one day die from their habit. Are you addicted to the worse drug on the planet?

There’s many more facts and figures available. Just search the net. I’m sure a little research will more than support my choice as the worse drug.

Posted by: Skip
Views: 85312
Topic:10

Bad Trip Flashbacks

There are so many myths to psychadelics and i dont trust anyone at all with what they say since my trips have been entirely different than other peoples experiences but maybe you can help because of your age old wisdom!

i wanna talk about mushrooms (i know you dont do them anymore but you have done them and i need some reassurance) and the really bad trip i had on them. like it all started off great, the hardest i ever tripped in my life (i dont recommend mushroom tea unless you are prepared to be overtaken) but then turned into a tremor all of a sudden and i was scared to death and thought i was going insane and no one would be able to help me and/or i might die.

now this sucks when it happens but its ok when its over i mean you dont die on a bad trip but ! i have long term issues i need to talk about.

this might sound crazy but maybe a week after the bad trip i smoked pot and started having all these bad feelings like i had when i did the mushrooms but just went to my room and went to sleep and it made me nervous but i didnt worry too much about it. then a week later i smoked a sufficient amount of weed and i am damn sure that it wasnt a mind game it was like a mild trip on mushrooms and i started freaking out like having so called flashbacks (which i totally did not believe until now)

so i am definitely done with psychedelics for a while at the very least but even worse than now not being able to smoke weed is that now i am having these like mild panic attacks like in broad day light i will just get all paranoid and nervous for no reason at all and i am usually able to subside it but its still very uncomfortable.

i was just wondering what if anything can i do about this because whereas before ! it may just have been something someone said that set me off on a bad trip, now self inducement is causing all this and i am kinda lost with this. if you have any advice, have ever heard of such strange instances, please email me back, maybe just talking with an outside source will help. thanks, john


John,
This kind of reaction is unusual, but not that rare. Flashbacks are real experiences in that you can get into almost the same headset as when you tripped. The chemical balance of the brain is something we still have much to learn about. Psychedelics upset this balance, by either causing more of certain chemicals to be released, or to prevent their accumulation. These are chemicals that are already in your brain. So you have the chemicals on hand all the time in your brain, whether you are tripping or not. So what can happen is something reminds your brain of what recently happened on your trip, and suddenly your brain starts doing the weird chemical thing it did when you are tripping. It’s not too different from when you hear a favorite song and it brings back the memories associated with that song. You can actually relive the feelings you had when you heard that song before. That’s a flashback.

So to fix your problem you need to do stop that song playing over and over. Sorta like that song you can’t get out of your head. I know one way is to play another song, but then that one could become the next one for your mind to obsess over.

It seems to me you probably have a lot of things you still haven’t worked out yet in your life. These things are nagging in your subconscious and seek release. This might inspire you to do more psychedelics to get to the bottom of it, but I implore you not to do anymore at all. For some people psychedelics are not good. People with underlying psychological problems find that psychedelics often exacerbate these problems. This may be the case with you. Anything from repressed memories to borderline psychosis can surface and cause far more problems. In addition, as I’ve mentioned before, some mushrooms contain quite a few toxins that can damage your body. So these factors combined can explain why some people don’t have pleasant experience.

The best thing I can suggest for the moment is that you try to anaylze what is happening to you and why. Why are you having such strong reactions long after the trip? I know that when I had some heavier trips I had to go completely straight for a period until I could sucessfully integrate the experience into my psyche. Pot would just give me flashbacks or prevent me from dealing with the internal issues that were trying to bubble up. That is what you should focus on. What is going on inside your head…

Now another thing you can do is get your body back in shape. Heavy trips often deplete essential nutrients from your body. I always recommend megadoses of B and C vitamins, and improving your diet to restore your body’s functioning to normal. Also exercise does wonders for getting your system back in equilibrium. Long walks or hikes in nature will work wonders for you. Do it! It worked for me.

I hope this helps!
May your path be clear.

-The Old Hippy

P.S. I don’t knock mushroom tea because it’s an easy way to control your dosage if you wait and sip a little at a time over the course of hours. If you drink several cups without waiting, then you’ll probably be in for a surprise, like the one you had.

Reader responses:

I just read your response to the person who had an unpleasant trip on
mushrooms, and is having anxiety-laden flashbacks of varying intensity from
using milder hallucinogens.

I went through a three-month long unrelenting anxiety flashback from taking
LSD beginning a week after I’d taken it for the third time, when LSD was
legal (1961).

What finally saved me from the anxiety was talking on the phone for five
minutes with a Chicago psychiatrist who was familiar with the drug’s effects
from giving it to terminal cancer patients and from taking it himself.
After asking me if I felt as though I might go out and not come back (lose
my mind), and getting a yes answer, he said, The next time you start to
feel that way, just lie down, get real comfortable, and say, ‘Fuck me’. I
felt anxiety free immediately and never was troubled by a flashback again,
despite my efforts to induce the flashback anxiety and despite my taking
several different psychedelics after that.

I later read the psychiatrist’s (Eric Kast, M.D.) monograph, entitled
Toward a Theory of Attenuation of Anxiety, in which he explained that
fighting the anxiety induced by LSD as the mind reorganizes and expands
itself under the drug’s influence only serves to increase the anxiety in a
vicious circle of anxiety, resistance, greater anxiety, more resistance,
etc.

Please share my experience and Kast’s monograph with the person who wrote to
you, so he can evaluate both for himself.
I’m keenly aware of what
this guy’s going through.


Heya! I was reading John’s story & it sounds just like what I’m goin’ through. I was at a festival & mixed too much. I started out with whipit’s, then acid, then mescalin, then I ate some rice krispy treats, then more acid (I ended up doin’ 65 whipits although I didn’t realize it til we counted the empty cartridges). After the second hit of acid, the music & lights stopped, so we laid down. I started melting. Into everything. Jim, the mattress, the earth, the universe. It was definitely the greatest trip. It was very spiritual until I realized I wasn’t breathing. I eeked out to Jim that I wasn’t breathing. He sat up & checked me(he’s amed student), sure enough, intermitent shallow, slow respiration at best. (he says that I let the whipits breathe for me too long, not to mention the change in gas exchange) He picked me up to help me put some sweats on & as soon as he let go of me, I fell back. He said I looked like I was dead. All I remember was feeling like I was drowning, & every so often, Jim would call to me & I would look up & see him like he was looking down a well at me, & I would try to swim back to him. He carried me to the car & drove me up to the camphouse where he had a nurse look at me (She wasn’t on duty, just my luck that she was there). She sat me down in a brightly lit room & between her & Jim kept me stimulated enough to stay awake through the night. When the sun came up, he drove me to his cousin’s house where he sat up & watched me sleep. He says that every once in a while I would stop breathing for a sec, then gasp & then settle asleep again. I wheezed for several weeks, & physical exersion brought on quick bouts of exhaustion. Since then, all my trips on anything have been identical. No change whatsoever (that night was a year & a half ago). I have anxiety attacks randomly with fears of dying or not breathing. I am very aware of my breathing & sometimes I feel a physical manifestation like I get a warm wave come over me, tingling, dizziness, etc. I am still able to smoke weed, & I can occasionally have a very mild trip, but they’re always the same, I don’t enjoy it the way I used to because they’re always the same & I’m always worried. I’ve sworn off whipits. I don’t want to give up tripping, I’ve had some great ones, but I have taken a break, for how long I guess it depends. I guess pass this on to John if you could, to let him know he’s not alone. His letter really struck me. I know exactly what he feels like. Thanks!

Posted by: skip
Views: 51026
Topic:4

Can marijuana damage a good relationship?

Hi there

I’ve slowed my weed smoking way down, so I’m only smoking several times a
year now – in a large part, because I think it’s beginning to really mess
with my head whenever I smoke.

I have a wonderful girlfriend who I adore. We have a really great time
together, been together almost four years, planning to be together a lot
longer. We generally have a great relationship.

Every single time I’ve gotten high over the past several years (which is
maybe five times), our relationship gets bad for several weeks afterward. I
stop being in to her, forget why I love her, fail to see the wonderful
things about her. Then, after several weeks, things come back together, and
we’re in love again.

Since these bad feelings seem to come on just when I smoke (or after), I’m
starting to conclude that smoking weed is too disruptive to my life. A four
hour high just isn’t worth three weeks of feeling frustrated and helpless
with where my life is.

Other consciousness altering activities don’t cause me problems. Mushrooms
seem fine. Yoga and meditation bring me closer to my girl and make me feel
good and hopeful about where my life is.

Any thoughts on this? Is the problem the weed?, the girl?, me?

thanks!

 

Something doesn’t make sense here. Smoking cannabis doesn’t usually lead to relationship problems, unless the smoking itself is an issue in the relationship. You don’t mention whether your girlfriend approves of your use of cannabis, or whether she gets high along with you.

The only physiological effect of smoking once in awhile, that lasts more than a day, is that THC does remain in your system for weeks, at ever decreasing levels. That THC should affect your mental state and relationship over that long a period is very unlikely.

What THC does do, quite well in fact, is change your perspective on things. And let’s say that before you were in this relationship you were smoking quite a bit on your own (you sorta imply that). Let’s go one step further and suggest that when you were doing all this smoking you were free and not committed to any relationship. So what could be happening in this scenario is that you are now involved in a relationship that requires you to constantly be aware and concerned about another person. Something you didn’t have to do before, especially when you were getting high more frequently. Now when you smoke, you miss that freedom from responsibility, and regret that you must now live for another person, not just yourself.

You don’t mention how old you are, but my guess is late teens to early 20s. This can be a factor, as I’ve noticed that some people who start smoking weed when they’re young (like 13 or so) don’t mature socially as fast as those who are straight. That is, they avoid those situations that require more responsibility, especially to others, with one cop out or another. It’s just a postponement of the inevitable, and can actually be a handicap in new relationships, because the usual dating scene was bypassed in favor of a hangout with the guys and get stoned scene.

I’m assuming an awful lot here, and really don’t know if this applies in your case. But it could.

The solution for you is to come to terms with your own reactions. Why do you let getting high interfere with what is apparently a good relationship? If you feel like you really don’t want to be involved with this person when under the influence, why? Is it because she makes what seems like unreasonable demands upon you? Because what might seem unreasonable while stoned, can seem perfectly reasonable when straight. When you’re stoned, you probably don’t want to do much but hang out. She on the other hand probably has lots of plans for you two. That would be a problem.

The other less likely scenario is that you really don’t want to be in this relationship, for some repressed reason, and getting stoned makes this feeling much stronger. But I doubt this because when you’re straight you’re able to see things more clearly, than when you’re stoned, and if you’re into yoga and meditation, then that should empower you with all the insight you need.

So my advice is, if you’re going to get stoned, make sure it’s a mutual activity, and plan some stoney activity for both of you to enjoy together, like a walk in the woods, or a concert or something you can both enjoy. If she’s not as eager as you to do this, then you might have to decide whether it’s even worth it to get stoned occasionally if it takes this kind of toll on your most important relationship.

-The Old Hippy

Posted by: skip
Views: 71323
Topic:10

Bush, Terrorism and Fear Mongering

i agree that there should be peace but how can there be peace when there is a constant threat of terroism in israel and america. bush has no choice but to go to war. what would people think of him if he didn’t do anything about the terror attacks of 9/11. in this situation there was no choice but do declare war on these terrorists. a massacre of 5000 US citizens deserves nothing else but war. i think people should give bush some credit. u need to understand what type of things he is faced with everyday and imagine yourslef in his shoes. people are too critical… that’s one major problem that the human race faces.

First, Bush has many other options besides going to war. But none so profitable to him, his family and his friends. They come first, before any other Americans or don’t you know that?

Second, the threat of terrorism has been around for a long time. Just cause they scored a big one, doesn’t mean suddenly the game has changed. What has changed is people’s level of fear, thanks to daily paranoid news reports and statements from the fear-mongering fascist government in the US. No one seems to care about the various anthrax attacks, which seem to lead right back to the same US government and are being been covered up, and not investigated as they should by the FBI. So at least in this case the government & non-elect President Bush could be doing something, but obviously aren’t!!!

Third, it wasn’t 5,000 people who died (please update your facts, it was less than 3000). Also they WEREN’T all US citizens, something that seems lost on Americans. A great many of them were foreign citizens. Probably many Islamic people too. But of course the US can only see it’s own pain, and not that of the rest of the world. And therein lies the BIGGEST THREAT to peace in the world.

The Old Hippy

Posted by: skip
Views: 18229
Topic:5

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