30 November 2022

The 1980s illegal ravers reunited

 


The 90s acid house illegal ravers reunited.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/991228671630750/

They might seem like just any other Facebook groups. But Facebook has come alive with 90s rave revival groups, where the rave generation rapidly bond over a common love.

During the early 1980s, Brits partying in the Balaeraics brought home a very special souvenir. Acid house music hit the nation, along with Ecstacy (and just about anything else they could lay their hands on). The (so-called “designer") drug had been intended for therapeutic use in marital counseling. If you have experience of it, you can see how it works. Users experience an “ecstatic" euphoria, but also a kind of shared empathy and a sense of compassion, allowing them to both speak and (more importantly) listen, without judgement. A state that united users with a universal acceptance.


Events would be a badly kept secret with a phone number to ring for the location, often two, just to throw the police off the scent. 👽. You would all gather in an abandoned warehouse or just a field, then dance until dawn. The DJ managed the room and churned out a mix of the biggest bangers, building sweaty youngsters into a frenzy of whistle blowing, lolly sucking, gurning, loved up kids. EDM (Electric Dance Music) had arrived with a large, powerful sound system of amplifiers and speakers. If you were there, everyone was your soul mate. Everything from water to chewing gum and prolonged hugs were shared.


https://youtu.be/gCWoAEhXaVU
 Roger Cook on TVs “The Cook Report" shocked the nation, when he exposed an event advertised as having “no illegal substances", as having drugs freely available. In truth, he didn’t know the half of it. Not only was Ecstasy bringing together hundreds of ravers from across the nation, in a communion of empathy heightened by the scent of VICKS VAPORUB, 💊but suddenly football violence which had plagued the 80s, fell by 30%. Pubs across the nation were safer too. Thousands of would be drinkers were having the time of their lives, faces aching from their smiles.


Nobody cared what you wore. It would be drenched and hanging off you pretty soon anyway. The trainers though..danceability was key and endurance was the order of the day.🌅. Commonly copious quantities of Ecstasy, LSD and Amphetamine was the secret weapon. Loved up ravers with pupils like saucers threw their hands in the air to catch the laser shows that marked the era. Nobody drank alcohol. A bottle of water that you brought at the start of the night, then refilled from the bathrooms. UV reactive smiley faces were the code.😃. A DJ used whatever tracks he could purloin and blend samples, taken from iconic media of the day into his own kind of magic. The dancefloor was controlled by their fingertips on the mixer, as the tempo rose, so did the euphoria. Every night was the best night of your life. 🕊️. Now the Cheesy Quavers have reunited using technology…this from an era before even CDs and Digital technology. Photographs were taken with a camera and videos, something still new to most of us, occasionally could be created by a monstrous block that had to be carried upon a shoulder. 📹

It really was a once in a lifetime atmosphere. There were hugs and bonding between lads and girls, or any mixture of the two. But there was absolutely no cause for any unease, because everyone was there for the same purpose. ☄️. To dance and have it large!!


Raves frequently continued well into the following day, as everyone defied the daylight, or anything else to stop them. ♥️. Until in 1994 they did. The government created “The Criminal Justice Bill", ironically the ultimate injustice to unity and peace. It would criminalise any gathering and saw helicopters scouring the cities and suburbs alike. But the rave wasn’t so easily curtailed. 👀. Ravers protested by doing what they did best. More than 5,000 people gathered in London to fight for the right to rave.


https://youtu.be/S6ruUooMK9w


So raves moved indoors and were no longer illegal, although the concept remains frowned upon to this day and were, in a sense, legitimised.

There was a kind of parting of the ways as more commercial sounds went upmarket, charging higher entrance fees. The fact that the take at the bar wasn’t going to be sufficient to sustain the venue, was hardly a secret. Underground music frequently occurred in old and derelict nightclubs. Afterall, there’s no denying a thorough mess was proudly made, as hedonism prevailed. 🎧.

The movement had made a huge impact on the political views of those involved. The ethos was free music and love all round. Everyone is welcome. Just be with us in the moment. 🚨. As the indoor scene rolled through the 90s, it spread throughout Europe, across the Atlantic and even down under. It was absolutely normal, expected even, for ravers to take such a cocktail of drugs that they couldn’t see the floor or got lost in inanimate objects, that were now the secret to the meaning of life. If it sounds like madness, that’s because it was. But it was all about Love and a DJ.🍄.


There was a split of sorts at this time, with the smarter clubs hosting House music, Big room floor fillers, happy hardcore and bounce tunes, while the rougher venues accommodated gabba, jungle, techno and drum&bass.🎛️ EDM even spilt over into mainstream popular music with acts like THE SHAMEN, KLF, MASSIVE ATTACK, THE PROGIDY and THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS. The louder the better and don’t spare the bass.

Generation X was born and the dance Revolution had started. 😃.


The media tried their best to spread the perilous danger of Ecstasy, but it just became another inside joke, for the people who simply couldn’t stop smiling. 📰 We kept our stash of lovey doves, Mitsibushis, billy whizz and acid tabs safe, by swallowing the lot. From the front pages of the tabloids to the nine-o-clock news, the rest of Britain must have thought we were barking mad! Nothing was going to stop us. Then I guess people just grew up.

But what age pulled asunder let Facebook bring together, to revel in the residual bond. There are numerous groups where old rave nostalgia and stories of ridiculousness are exchanged. Some cater to specific styles of music, but there’s a common theme…those smiles literally go on for miles!! When we look back fondly on days and nights, remembering that the blurrier the memory, the bigger the rave was. It probably sounds incredibly irresponsible and stupid, but the intention was to get as mashed up as possible. 👟 Upon making a public display of yourself, your rave family would give you a cheer and lots more hugs. It was incredibly safe considering what we were actually doing. You always knew the other 900 odd revellers had your back. We were truly blessed.


Of course, there existed the eternal dilemma of how to get home. You could catch a ride with anyone, but there was always the time spent shivering in the car outside the club, because nobody was capable of operating a car. 🚬 But somehow or other everyone DID get home safely, although when we talk about it, we are deeply ashamed of driving in that condition. We thank the house of God that we didn’t kill anyone. If you ever dropped in at a British motorway service station on a Saturday evening (a good place to link up for hunt the rave), or a Sunday, you may well have bumped into these dishevelled, and over friemdly bunch. We were the most harmless bunch of criminals you’re ever going to come across. Couldn’t get into a fight if we tried. We must have looked quite a fright, but in our minds, we were the beautiful people. We had pure love and pills to welcome anyone who would join us. It was of no concern whatsoever for a single girl to go home with a total bunch of strangers.🤪 Nobody who raved was actually capable of being a stranger or any kind of danger.


These were immediately people you knew you could trust. It’s reminiscent of the gatherings in club toilets, which were naturally unisex…just try tearing us apart!! 🌀

Now we communicate through the comments section. It’s since been said that the neuropathic threat of the particular type of Ecstasy we took back then was drastically underestimated. Sure enough, this post concerning those who fell into heroin, crack cocaine and alcohol addiction in the ensuing years indicates a current 3K participants. Many have found a place within addiction services, which is so very valuable. An addict has zero trust in a counsellor who has read about drugs in a book. There is the language of rave for us to communicate our connection.


But we have each other for support with no fear of judgement. These are our brothers and sisters and we will go to the ends of the Earth together. We will never let one of our own go in need. I guess we are Just one, big happy family. We pray to the God of dance music and are borne of pure love. There is no drunken brawling, spiking of drinks, necessity for females to even begin to feel any threat. Did our happiness scare the public and authorities so very much? 😃.Many of us have paid the ultimate price. Just yesterday, I went to look for a messenger and noticed the long list of names under the header, “deceased". Mental health issues are chronic and enduring. We were just young and having fun. 😢.


R.I.P. John Knowles, Alex Wooldridge, ~Theò de Belgeonne, ~Dan Carter,~ Jay Barstani, ~Deborah-Louise Wood, ~Andrew Barker, ~Jeff Ostle, ~Gideon Dawson,~Fynn Western Davey. ~Tim Branson.😢.
🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭


🗣️Leave a comment. I read every one and will reply if requested to do so.

13 November 2022

Unethical jungle Ayahuasca retreats

 


The Amazonian rainforest consists of an area approx 2.1million square miles, which is home to 90% of the Earth’s biodiversity. It is to this planet, what a heart is to our body. Below the canopy, the earth itself is relatively low in nutrients, with the majority being within the trees themselves. The biggest danger with deforestation like this is in soil erosion, washed away without the sponge like trees to soak up the rain and general humidity. Inevitably, the vital routes of the Amazon (The planet’s Aorta) will change, with some being blocked, redirecting the flow.Unless this delicate ecosystem is protected, it won’t be long before we start to witness droughts, famine and pestilence. Photosynthesis from this huge area of vegetation, is why we have a breathable environment within the Earth’s atmosphere. Approximately 400 tribes have essentially been the guardians of this lifeblood, simply by living in a harmonious co-existence with their environment.

However, increasingly the number of native tribes has been plummeting. With little to no protection from governments and authorities, Capitalism and corruption has resulted in blatant massacres by foreign intruders, pillaging the untainted resources to profit from the greed of the white man. “Out of sight, out of mind”. If a whole family is killed in the forest, does anyone hear them scream? 


Tales of genocide, even where power is as morally corrupt as this… granting Carte Blanche to the culprits, you might imagine would provoke some shameful display of action. Instead,they are continually having to fight and jump through hoops, in order to have a legal right to live on this land. Once again, the mighty dollar and the corporations are given precedence over those, trying to defend their everything (one we might have a vested interest in helping them maintain). As more and more people venture into these remote regions, the perils multiply. Evolution has equipped the inhabitants to thrive within an environment full of deadly wildlife that would terrify most of us. At the same time, they are utterly defenceless against the health issues arising from Western cuisine and from disease that may leave us largely unaffected. The recent pandemic has illustrated this plight, seeing the decimation of entire tribes, one after another. The cost of Capitalism . As consumers, we can try to make ethical options, such as boycotting gold or unethically sourced materials and unethical investors (Although in this matter, the reader would be wise to investigate Greenwashing. Eco-friendliness is often just a veneer. 

It’s long been known that certain chemical compounds found within nature are and have long been used, within ethnic mysticism, to commune with the spirit world. The rainforest is home to 90% of the world’s biodiversity, so having a means of understanding the complexities of this habitat, within their belief system, makes perfect sense. 
One of the most important biggest issues these people are fighting for is land rights. For the permission to dwell in this space, as their forefathers did before them. This is the place where they are born, will live their life and to which their bodies will return, as did their descendents before them. Nourishing the habitat that sustains that collective. In this way, the land upon which they live, provides everything they need in addition to literally being a part of their being, bodily and spiritually. 

It is usually the place of a healer or Curandero to imbue the concoction, having been educated in how to interpret the experiences through a legacy of wisdom, handed down by the elders often in song. Should someone be bitten by a snake,for example, the healer would consume the divine sacrament and enter into a state, where they can safely talk with the spirit of the snake, as well as other spirits, both living and dead. They would then know why this has happened, what needed to be done and how best to help the afflicted. It’s believed to be dangerous to enter this state without the appropriate preparation and education. 

During recent years, legislative changes regarding the medicinal and recreational use of Cannabis in North America and Canada, have led to an adjustment in the general attitude towards the use of psychedelics. (It’s not uncommon for users in these places to be unaware that this too, is a hallucinogen). Formerly abundant with scaremongering propaganda such as the infamous reefer madness . 

Caution should be taken regarding the Cannabis over enthusiast. Yes, it has medicinal benefits, but No! It doesn’t cure cancer. No! It isn’t the best medicine for everyone. Yes! It can cause problems (as can any drug). Operating heavy machinery or driving, especially under the influence is a strain with a high quantity of THC in, is every bit as dangerous a drink driving and would render you equally liable. In truth, Cannabis still requires considerable research and should not be advised for medicinal use unless by a medically qualified practitioner.Tragic deaths have occurred due to delays in seeking medical care, only realising by the time it is too late that the herb won’t save them. 

Could this discovery, that Cannabis is not, in fact, the gateway to demonic debauchery we had been led to believe, possibly mean that what we had been told of other drugs, may also have been fabricated somewhat? It just takes that sprinkle of doubt, in the formerly indoctrinated mind, brought to us by the makers of “Parenting by TV”. Combine it with Capitalism’s ability to commodify an ancient and revered link to the divine. Refer back to one’s history of colonialism “how-to” and voila!!! Social media is awash with middle class privilege, bastardising the very essence of life and everything in it, with festival style facepaint and happy snaps, parading accommodating locals. 

Hundreds of Ayahuasca retreats and Iboga clinics have emerged and the only requirement for admission is the mighty dollar. If you even entertain the claims that this is helping the people survive and bringing them into the modern world with all it’s wonderful accessories….please check your history books. Look at coffee and tea plantations, cocoa beans, fruit like pineapples and coconuts, not to forget those great value Chinese buys. Where poverty exists, sure enough, you’ll soon find those exploiting that very societal ill. It is literally almost NEVER that the people in greatest need receive any benefit. A recent estimate suggested the biggest retreats alone brought in $7million in a year (filling the pockets of foreign business). Even the necessities required to cater for western expectations and the embellished experience, requires capital you will not find tribal people having access to 


Lost is their most sacred gift and the safety afforded by the remote nature of their location. Things no amount of money can buy back. Add to this the indignity of ritual symbolism, daubed across the faces of their new masters, but their lives are imperilled and health at stake. Where so many lives have been lost, a tribe really cannot afford to lose anymore before their time. The truth is that increasingly, the genuine Shaman and healers have literally, run for the hills. In their place, fakes…actors. A purpose made recreation of reality. Either way, anything that these people could possibly gain from catering to the problems of the privileged…pandering to those who have no understanding whatsoever of what they are even doing…the descendents of those who massacred their predecessors…there is nothing the Whit man can give them that they need, besides GOING AWAY! 

D.M.T. (the “God molecule”), that has this profound effect, exists in our brains and within the Earth. Varying amounts exist in most living things, but it’s most commonly made using the bark of the Mimosa Hostilis plant due to a plentiful quota of the compound. Small stores outside of the jungle sell it and it’s quite easy to find “retreats” much closer to home, that don’t entail cultural appropriation, exploitation or endangerment of an entire people. What you will almost certainly not find is any retreat with genuine qualified medical assistance. One of the most common reasons people seek out this treatment, is for help with addiction. Indeed, used correctly, there is nothing else comparable in modern medicine. However, detoxification, especially from Alcohol or benzodiazepines, must be medically supervised as potentially lethal seizures and relatively common. As with any drug, or food substance new to someone, there is always a risk of an allergic response, possibly anaphylaxis. That’s not something you want to happen when deep in the jungle, miles from help. As with all therapeutic use of psychedelics, set and setting are paramount. That means being in a place where you feel safe, relaxed, comfortable, with people you trust and clever use of purpose made environmental accessories. It does not mean that it only works if you demean the cultural belief system of someone else, disrespecting their roots and connection with a location, because you can give them something that can only magnify their ever increasing fight for survival. Can you imagine the outrage were a strange looking person come into a Catholic mass, stride up to the altar and stuff as many wafers in their mouth as possible, wash it down with sacramental wine and then rinse off in the font, stuffing a wad of money in the collection box, before desecrating a few burial sites upon departure?


Ultimately, what these people need most is to survive. Just last year, these aerial shots were shown as evidence of the existence of uncontacted tribes. Their survival depends on remaining isolated and thus, our survival does too. It’s clear that they are fully aware of their surroundings, yet choose to remain uncontacted. They have indicated these methods.

*Leaving crossed spears in the forest.

*Pointing arrows up at passing planes.

*Fleeing when outsiders approach.

*Intentionally avoiding others.


LET’S TRY AND RETURN THE GIFTS WE HAVE RECEIVED TO THOSE THAT WILL PROTECT IT’S POWER. PLEASE CHECK OUT https://www.survivalinternational.org/ FOR INFORMATION ON THE WAYS WE CAN HELP. 


***Please feel free to leave a comment if you wish. All comments will be read and replied to should you ask***




The legacy of Walsall's Workhouse

    The legacy of Walsall's Workhouse . Walsall Manor Hospital now stands on the site. Most of us living in and around the Walsall area...