Gaian Alchemy and Telestics
Handover Issues (The Background)
My efforts to “hand over” this early alchemical work comprised in “The Course” went on for many years without success, or reliable successor. Then came a dramatic turn of events in May 2015 in Galicia, Spain. There I attended and led the first experimental group in telestic shamanism—nominally, a “retreat” for Planetary Tantra. My host and collaborator was Yolanda of Galicia, (Meiga), author of the blog “Gaian Alchemy-Permaculture.” At that event, witnessed by the attendees, I placed in her hands one of the two surviving original hard copies of “The Course” (revised), on the prospect that we work together to revise it in the time ahead.
Recall that I created “The Course” well before restoring the Sophianic narrative of the Fallen Goddess Scenario around 2002, as just mentioned. And bear in mind as well that way back in the 1980s, though I occasionally engaged in shamanic adventures with psychoactive plants, I had not yet come to a clear understanding of the method of telestic shamanism, the basic practice of the Mysteries: instruction by the Light. Thus, I undertook to revise and upscale the Great Work without neither the Gnostic narrative nor the telestic method to guide my efforts.
As it comes to you today, Gaian alchemy stands as the sister science of telestics, but the use of psychoactive plants for shamanic experimentation remains problematic. I expect Gaian alchemy to be undertaken by student-teachers in Nemeta and others engaged in Planetary Tantra, and I can neither control nor oversee the manner in which this happens. I make my standards and protocols clear in many talks and writings and will continue to do so in presenting the Courses here. The margins of creative innovation and extrapolation of Gaian alchemy are relatively flexible. There is much to discover, learn, and elaborate, consistent with the groundwork of 1986.
On the other hand, I must emphasize at the that I do not consider anyone qualified to lead the practice of telestic shamanism. Although it may be regarded as the sister science of Gaian alchemy, I hold telestics to a different standard, more rigorous and exclusive. (See more below.)
To return to the events leading to the handover of “The Course” and the creation of Nemeta: As time transpired through, I became increasingly concerned that the task of revision of my original work was perhaps not worth the effort it would take, and might be a superfluous venture. In short, I really did not know where to take that material. Or perhaps, better said, where to leave it. To let it go.
Then, about 18 months after the retreat in Galicia, in November of 2016, I led a closed telestic session with three participants in Andalucia. Around that time I more or less decided to desist, temporarily if not permanently, from doing such sessions. Also at that time, there were discussions among a small handful of students close to me in Spain, concerning how to set up my legacy in a sort of school, open university, foundation, or the like. The idea was vague and not easy to bring to definition. In the course of those discussions, Yolanda proposed a name for the school to be: Nemeta, “the sacred groves.”
Further developments unfolded into 2017 with a geographic move that made it easier for Yolanda and I to meet person to person and consider the reworking of “The Course.” It became increasingly clear to me that the job I had proposed to her was cumbersome and might not be feasible. As it turned out, I abandoned the idea of a full-scale revision. Instead, I will excerpt those passages from the 515-page hard copy (now transcribed into electronic text) which I consider to be worth salvaging. They will appear, updated and annotated, featured in Blocks here in this classroom.
Throughout 2017 I was occupied with decoding the Mandela Effect, leaving me little time to give attention to Nemeta. Yet the project was brewing heartily on a back burner. My small team continued diligently to explore different avenues of incorporation for the school, including the option of a non-profit foundation. Nothing quite fit. Little by little, the initial concept of a foundation for Nemeta dropped away. At a discussion in the summer, Yolanda suggested a structure of “learning paths,” each comprising selected material from the body of my previous work extending across many genres. It was a rough sketch of the set-up of a university curriculum, easily pictured as an array of classrooms. Suddenly here was the graphic picture of how Nemeta could work. I took the idea in hand and rapidly constructed the current arrangement of six great halls, twelve classrooms for the Course, the three vocations, and other features of the Nemeta campus such as the members forum (Treehouse), the Terma and the Terton, the Agora, the Projects for Terma Publishing, and last but not least, the open university for Planetary Tantra.
My acknowledgment goes to Yolanda for those initial cues, as well as to the tight and loyal team who have brought Nemeta to the world.
Integrity of the Work
The Great Work is accomplished in the fall, and it so happens that Nemeta is launched in that season. The development of Nemeta leading to the launch runs to about 18 months, spring 2017 to Fall 2018.
As this project comes to manifestation, the future of telestic shamanism remains in the balance. The question remains, What role does telestic shamanism — that is, experimentation with psychoactive plants — play in the future development of Gaian alchemy?
[Illustration from permaculture-alchemy.net, based on a sketch
I provided in discussion with Yolanda, June 2018]
Those two PT retreats, one in Galicia in May 2015 and the other in Andalucia in November of the same year, went quite well with the Nagual there to provide sobriety and direction. Currently, I don’t offer such events and, as noted above, there is no one I entrust with the role and responsibility of telestic shaman. Some PT students who have met me, and others who have not, opt to undertake trance adventures under the influence of psychoactive mushrooms. I can not and do not endorse this kind of experimentation, but I do not forbid it, either. It is not my style to tell people what they can or cannot do. I can only warn and advise. For her part, Yolanda continues her own practices but I am unaware of her intention to use psychoactive plants, or merely to develop Gaian alchemy in some version of my handover to her, determined by her own skill and standards. I don’t participate in events that she presents.
Obviously, I cannot endorse anyone whose work I do not follow first-hand, as a witness and participant. I certainly do not regard anyone to be my equal or even equivalent in the role of Nagual. I draw a strict boundary on that issue. Elsewhere, regarding the propagation of my work by others, it’s anyone’s guess…. Right now, just as the team and I are pulling Nemeta together for the September launch, I discover a complete site that uses the school name and reproduces a large amount of my writing, verbatim. The site creator acknowledges me in one sentence, and provides a link to metahistory.org and my email address, but as far as I can tell this acknowledgement does not make it clear that almost all of the content on the website, word for word, is copied directly from metahistory.org.
The impression I get, which anyone who comes upon it might also get, is that the site content is based on my work: but that impression is misleading because in reality it blatantly reproduces my work, rather than cites and redevelops it along independent lines, clearly attributable to a second party.
I expect that this will not be the first occasion of a sort of copy-cat co-optation of my legacy. There are copyright and IP issues of a legal nature to be considered here, and I am reflecting on those concerns…. In the specific case of this copy-cat website, nemetamalta.org, I find that my material has been reproduced and represented faithfully and accurately—the least I ask, as you know. But then, of course, it has been represented faithfully: what’s on the site has largely been written by me! I’ve done a great job rendering myself. The concern I have here is twofold. First, that the material is presented as if it comes from the second-party creator, based on or derived from my work; when in reality it is my work. Second, and more concerning, is the question of where the creator is going to take my work. Finally, it must be noted that the individual responsible for this site did not contact me about setting it up, either to get my endorsement or merely to inform me of its existence. Which I find odd, don’t you?
At this point, some aspects of the simulacrum site, established in April 2018, are in development. I wonder if the creator will present workshops on PT, offer instructions with the SC APP, and so forth. I wonder most of all if he will present himself as someone qualified to lead people to encounter the Organic Light. Right now it rather looks like the activities proposed for the future of this website might easily go in that direction.
And so, to conclude, with the launch of NEMETA, I face the likelihood that others will spin-off or directly co-opt my legacy—in various aspects or in totality, who knows—or undertake their own versions of PT, Gaian Alchemy, the Sophianic narrative, et al. These potential spin-offs or imitations would come, in some cases, from people I have never met, and in other cases, from people I have met whom I regard as inept and unqualified to represent me or PT, especially the practice of telestic shamanism. I do not endorse their efforts. If someone comes along whom I do endorse, you can be sure to hear about it on campus at NEMETA.
To the present moment, I have neither equal nor counterpart. I do not say so to assert my superiority but to confirm my privilege—the great good fortune of a “larping autist.” LARP means “live action role-playing.”
I appreciate your attention to these concerns which bear on the entirety of NEMETA and the future of Planetary Tantra, and come to focus especially in Course 1, Gaian Alchemy. If they be not novices of budding genius coming to the fore—I know they exist and I welcome them—then I demand proof of accomplishment of any who would assume my work as their own, presuming to be other than a student-teacher. As you all are in NEMETA, and I count on you to prove it. Additionally,
I call the attention of Band 17 of the Kalika War Party and I rely on those warriors to hold fast in their mission to preserve and safeguard the integrity of the Terma, and, if and when necessary, to expose and expel pretenders, cheats, and deviants.
[Admin note: “Meiga” was eventually exposed, in 2017]