May 13 Full Moon

So tonight is another full moon. Time to let the old stuff of the previous month go and await and accept what is to come.
Someone last time sent me a message saying "so Zack, what exactly is a 'full moon ceremony.'"
Well tonight, and pretty much the entire day, it has been quite cloudy here in Curitiba so nothing really went on outside. Usually the best place to do this is outside with lots of fresh air, some open field or other grassy space, as few distractions as possible (like this computer), and very few clouds so you can actually see the moon. Usually in NC I head to Wilkesboro for an hour or two to soak it all in, and if I can't do that I usually go somewhere peaceful or serene, such as Rich Park or out towards Salem Lake if possible.
These "ceremonies" usually just involve relaxing for a long period of time, clearing your mind of all the distractions and problems and stress that life brings to us everyday, and trying to get that third eye (pineal gland) working. This helps in places like Wilkesboro, Salem Lake, or examples here in Curitiba such as Bosque do Papa, because there is little noise and it really helps to clear and open the mind.

One thing that this helps do is help the pineal gland produce extra DMT, a hallucinogenic tryptamine similar in structure to seratonin. This naturally occurring endogenous chemical is normally produced in the brain during psychological and neurological states. DMT plays a role in visual dreaming, near-death experiences (and as such, the ability of astral travelling), and other mystical states. Elevated levels of DMT are found in the brain during stages of visual dreaming and during and immediately after near-death experiences.
Here in Brazil there is a tea called Yage, containing chacruna (scientific name Psychotria viridis), a type of coffee vine which contains DMT and ayahuasca (scientific name Banisteriopsis caapi), a jungle vine grown in the rainforests of the Amazon that contains the MAOIs necessary to stop DMT from rapidly metabolising when ingested alone.
Note that I'm not exactly suggesting people go out and make this tea or anything, but if you do, like with anything else you have no idea about, read up on what you're doing and be careful. I'm not gonna be held responsible for any idiots who came across my page and did something stupid.
And before anyone says "oh snap", DMT is classified as a schedule 1 drug in the USA under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a schedule 3 drug in Canada, a stupéfiant in France, and in the UK as a schedule 1 class A drug.
Here in Brazil there are many religious movements which make use of Ayahuasca, usually in an animistic shamanistic context. Shamanic healers in the Northeast of Brazil use this tea (or the DMT containing plants alone, although ingested in a different manner) as an entheogenic medicine and as a healer plant, and many indigenous groups use DMT during religious rites and ceremonies as a path towards possession of spirits, travel outside physical realm, communication with the dead, and entheogenic experiences which cause true hallucinations (perceived extentions of reality).

So now that that's out of the way, the purpose of these "Full Moon Ceremonies" is to do exactly that. Extend your perception of reality, help you visualize what normally cannot be visualized beyond the physical realm, envelope your senses with a feeling of comfortable serenity and all that jive. Sound crazy? Sound insane? Sound illegal? Well it's none of those so shut up before you judge me or write some lame comment on my blog (Fritz).
Anyway, so tonight it was cloud, still is and everything. So mostly I just hung out inside because since about 4PM I have been home alone, even though I did go to the grocery store to buy some stuff. So what do you do when you're inside?
At home I have this thing called a Herne's Head. Not many people have seen it because it's hidden but if you look it up you can see what it looks like. Obviously personal variations are involved but it's the same basic principle. So you pull it out, put your blue rocks here and your red rocks there, light some candles and some incense and get to work. Well I don't have that here so I just used candles and incense. Basically you just kinda get in whatever position is most comfortable (outside the best is just kinda chillin' out and lying down on the ground staring up at the sky) close your eyes and just clear your mind and your head of everything. Let go of all the stress, pressure, buildup and pain that has accumulated over the past month, accept what is and what has been, and enter the next cycle with an even more open mind and heart, readying yourself for whatever comes next.
This is especially helpful for a person like me who stresses myself out and lets pressure buildup over things that largely I have no control over (although the fact that Rove is likely going to prison and has resigned). I would highly recommend this practice to everyone even if you're some Alabama Bible-thumper, a drumming Hare Krishna or atheist commie pinko Canadian.
Okay so there you have it. That's a Full Moon Ceremony. Lots of chillin' out, some extra DMT, a full moon with maybe a nice ice-crystal (not crystal meth you junkies) induced ring around it, some pretty candles and some nice smelling incense.

However, as I said I was stuck inside the house tonight. So I kinda did the whole ritualistic chillaxin', meditation, and "psychadelic meditation" (as I put it last time), then decided to take some pictures. Some of them fit the mind-expanding moon of the evening, others make me look creepy as hell and I have a feeling this whole post will get me arrested when I get back into the USA.
So without further adue or ado or however you spell it:

This is me in my spot, candles lit, incense going and just lettin' it fly. This was all after I had finished the three things mentioned above. I took time at the end to provide everyone with some nice pictures.

Here I am about to sacrifice a goat.

There are two of me here. "Cut it all right in two". Splitting the mind between the physical and spiritual realms.

The wings of the angels.

Feet. Nothing significant here.

Question marks to encourage everyone to question what you hear and see and to always think for yourself.

Again with the weirdness.

About to catch my face on fire.

"Z" for Zack... y0.

"V", for victory, "V", for victory, split that "V", dot that "i", roll that "c-t-o-r-y." Thanks a lot 4th grade.

My face is going crazy in this pic. Movin' at the speed of light.

So that's it. Don't leave any stupid comments, tell me I'm an idiot, or tell me "drugz r bad" because of what I posted above. And also, just so everyone knows, I've already read Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, so don't leave me comments telling me I should do that.