In upstate New York, a DMT-inspired psychedelic temple rises | Hacker News Reader

In upstate New York, a DMT-inspired psychedelic temple rises

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This will be Alex and Allyson's legacy after a long life creating psychedelic inspired art. This will be a great place to showcase Alex's iconic and masterful visual art. A temple is the best way to raise funds (which they solicit) to build the location and preserve his art. I plan on visiting after more of his art is moved to the location.

I'm concerned about this forming into a cult. There are definite religion vibes coming from couple when they speak live. Some examples of this is 'secret writing' being described as 'non-literal representations of the sacred'[0], and their large gatherings are at astronomical events.

[0] http://psychedelicsandlanguage.com/allyson-grey-secret-writi...

It's definitely cultish in some ways but I would say the main difference is I've yet to see Alex or Allyson act as cult like leaders. There is lots of mysticism, psychedelic religion, etc... swimming around them however.

I attended one of their monthly Full Moon Gatherings at their Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in Wappingers Falls earlier this year. Driving up to the CoSM property, my wife and I discussed what we were about to see, and I remarked that the worst case scenario was that we were walking into an emerging new age cult.

It was fabulous. While Alex and Allyson were clearly the head honchos, what they’re trying to do with their success is noble and pure. The first hour was a talk about what they were working on artistically and with regards to this new Temple venture, but also discussed their lives, their career, and how they hope to help inspire the next wave of visionary artists.

After a few musical acts, it turned into a party with fire dancers outside, Middle-eastern Oud music in another room, communal drawing and painting lessons, Tarot readings, and Alex and Allyson spending time talking to everyone who approached them.

They’re building something special up there. With the most cynical lens possible, it might seem a little cult-y. But it’s clear that’s not their goal. Their goal seems to be to preserve visionary art, inspire the next wave of artists, and erect a monument to psychedelic knowledge and discovery.

They’re unique and strange people. They’re also the most successful and highest profile psychedlic artists there are, and with great success comes great responsibility. This seems to be their motivation more than anything.

I highly recommend visiting CoSM for a Full Moon Gathering: https://www.cosm.org/events/full-moon-gatherings/

They’ve been doing it every month for more than a decade. It’ll be an experience you won’t forget.

EDIT: They’re also both extremely active on Instagram, if you’d like to see what they’re up to in real time. They bare it all.

yeah to clarify by "cultish in some ways" I mean they have inspired an extremely strong fanbase who have created almost a subculture within a subculture to a certain extent. I don't think they are actively trying to start a cult.

They are definitely unique and strange and really nice and really talented. I remember one halloween at a psytrance party at their chelsea gallery (chapel of sacred mirrors, which I wish that was up at the wappinger temple already) allyson sat with my friend having an intense psychedelic experience through much of the night while she painted.

I've been to CoSM during the day but not for a full moon (I'm not really local). If things line up I'll probably go.

So, um, would that be a likely place to score some psychedelics?

DMT is some serious shit. People who take it report feeling that they've been in contact with other intelligent entities: aliens, spirits, gods.

https://www.erowid.org/chemicals/dmt/dmt.shtml

If I recall, the U.S. government has reached out to people who claim to have interacted with other beings while tripping on DMT for more information. I read this a few months ago, maybe here on HN, can't remember. The stories by people are all very similar, warranting further investigation. Weird stuff.

I wonder if this temple will be renting out its rooms for DMT trip events.

> The stories by people are all very similar, warranting further investigation. Weird stuff.

The hallucinogenic similarities may be due to a similar chemical reaction to the drug between human brains -- not necessarily a higher entity.

It really is an interesting drug though, and I would agree that it deserves further investigation.

> The hallucinogenic similarities may be due to a similar chemical reaction to the drug between human brains

This is literally going to be true whether or not a higher power is involved. Our brains are the chemicals either way.

Yes, we're all humans. And so have very similar brain organization.

Based on personal experience, I suspect that the "other intelligent entities" are in fact something like Hofstadter's strangely looped hierarchical levels. Psychedelics seem to break down firewalls between levels.

One main class comprises tryptamines (e.g., DMT and psilocybin) and other serotonergics (e.g., LSD). They seem to mess with mainly sensory and meta-sensory (or self-sensory) stuff as serotonin agonists. Another main class is phenethylamines aka amphetamines (e.g., Ecstasy and other MDMAs). They alter mainly body-related states, such as alertness, emotions and pleasure. Mainly by stimulating release of serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline.

Edit: deleted a stranded stub

Yeah when a pattern matching machine for intelligent entities starts free-running... the output is pictures of intelligent entities

Alex Grey has an interesting biographical Ted Talk that delves into his development as an artist, his encounter with psychedelics and their influence on his work, and his vision for this temple.

https://youtu.be/0_YJToyOp_4

The documentary on Alex Grey and CoSM is pretty good also. Even if you're not interested in DMT/LSD/MDMA, it's interesting just to get insight into their approach on making art.

CoSM itself is a lot of fun also. If you get a chance to get the tour from Alex and Allison I'd highly recommend it. They're both super geeky and highly entertaining.

emphasizing the DMT part is click-baity.. These people are mature and well-liked. The art is fantastic!

Well, the art is quite clearly psychedelic. And the themes go back thousands of years.

Why can mature people not do DMT? I'm confused.

This place is really neat even though it's still unfinished. I miss the gallery they had in Chelsea with really awesome parties.

They have a monthly Full Moon Gathering every month at their place up in Wappinger’s Falls upstate. Highly recommended.

https://www.cosm.org/events/full-moon-gatherings/

Some religion won't stop before making you a Tool.

Other, well, might just make your experience Vicarious.

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