true hallucinations.htm - Federal Jack

growth centers. I was discovered by the notorious Roy of Hollywood, whose late-nightradio show made me an underground mini-star, atleast among the insomniacs of Los Angeles. Merely by talking about the events at LaChorrera I had become a minor celebrity.Eventually rumor of my status as a raver and a West Coast underground figure reachedeven into the great glass boxes along Fifth Avenue in Gotham itself. Publishers that I hadimagined would not give me the time of day were suddenly interested in my work. Let ushope that as you read this, my books—this one and others that have preceded it—arespreading these strange ideas and making my life comfortable and others rich.There is a strange paradox surrounding all of this: my ideas are now in the public arenaand an informal plebiscite is being held on them. If they spread, become popular, andfunction as catalysts of social change then the hope that they may have a special destinywill be sustained. If, on the other hand, they have their moment in the sun and then fadefrom public notice, my work and my vision will have been judged to be no more thananother fleeting facet of our surreal and paranoia-infected culture. I have no idea wherethese ideas may lead. Certainly with several books now in print I cannot claim that I wasnot given a fair hearing. It is apparently the public who will decide if this phenomenonhas run its course or if it is only beginning to make itself felt.I mention all of this not to inform my reader of the less-than-interesting details of mypersonal effort to feed a family, but because this career of mine is now the only and bestevidence that something extraordinary, perhaps something of historical importance, mayhave happened at La Chorrera. For the loquacious mushrooms encountered there havespun a myth and issued a prophecy, in quite specific detail, of a planet-saving global shiftof consciousness. They have promised all that has happened in my life over the lasttwenty years, and they have promised much more for the future. If you read onward youbecome a part of this tale. Caveat lector.CHAPTER ONETHE CALL OF THE SECRETIn which our cast of characters, including a mushroom, are introduced, and their peculiarinterests sketched. The Amazon jungle is invoked and the descent of one of its riversundertaken.For THOUSANDS OF YEARS the visions imparted by hallucinogenic mushrooms havebeen sought and revered as a true religious mystery. Much of my thought over the pasttwenty or more years has been caught up in describing and contemplating this mystery.