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The Savior Syndrome
We live in a prevailing attitude of doom, whether from war, pollution or Natural calamity, and the general feeling is that the "day of Judgement" is near. This atmosphere has fostered "saviors" by the score. You hear about the "crazy" ones who lead their followers out into the desert. It makes little difference whether the wilderness is sought as a pick up point for flying
saucers or to await the "second coming", the phenomenon is essentially the same--rescue from this physical world by some superior being. These folks are acting out behavior that has been going on for as long as anyone cares to remember.
One of the claims of religion in general is that "god" can save mortals from the cycles of death and destruction that are a part of the physical life on this planet. Salvation from this material world is guaranteed to the believers in the "kingdom of heaven". Eternal life, the freedom from death, can be yours, so they say.
The Savior Syndrome is the zealous pursuit of religious conversion. We all have a little bit of it in us. We all want to share our knowledge and success with others. For the most part the tendency has positive results. In some people the use of these psilocybians tends to amplify the Savior Syndrome to fanatical levels. Some of us just get a little "preachy". Some of us gather followers and some become the gathered. In its extreme manifestation the Savior Syndrome is the fanatical belief that people can be saved from evil by having their souls "liberated", like the Zealots at Masada.
Dear Old Dad
The decay of the complete father figure in our society has produced a number of people with a strong sub-conscious longing for a proper "dad". They are easy prey for the preachers and charlatans who project the right image. The skillful "father" may collect as many "children" as he wishes if he is willing to play out the role. The priesthood has understood this process all along.
Behavior modification is tricky business; there are too many pitfalls to make an easy art to practice. It is most popular with the clergy, outlaws, Madison Avenue and the "Them", that run things at the highest levels.
I have met several men, some would call them "pimps", who gather and maintain "families" of young girls using these techniques. One fellow explained the procedure he used in detail, right down to how to stand and move, and of course, what to say. The men who know their business have bright, cheerful, happy and reasonably well adjusted girls, especially considering the condition that usually characterizes their arrival. "They've got to be down and out," one guy told me. He didn't like new run-a-ways because they were "...full of hope." He preferred women who had failed a few times and lost that hope. "The streets are full of derelicts who could make great women if someone would just take some time with them."
When a person is down and out, with no place left to turn, and has given up hope, a skilled practitioner can mold a new human being within a few hours, from how they tie their shoelaces to the way that they feel about themselves. Born again.
Our general fear of the future makes many of us easy targets for the smooth talkers that promise to save us from the unknown. The decay of the "father figure" in our families has made us all susceptible to any "surrogate" father that can project the right image. Even though our politicians and priests have lost their credibility, they hang onto their power by using the symbols of kings and fatherhood to keep the respect of the people. We are programed to follow the lead of the "supreme male" of our clan, tribe or country.
Behavior Modification
This system of reprogramming has been used by such notables as Charlie Manson, The Symbionese Liberation Army, the Rev. James Jones and a bunch of other religious fanatics. Initiation rituals, religious revelations and management wilderness seminars are the same procedure in action. In Nature, we find that the hallucinogenic plants use this same series of steps to recruit symbiots.
First, these plants use chemical agents to alter the environment, seeming to take the user to another reality. These same agents have introduced paranoia and stress. The drug immobilizes the person preventing the performance of normal routines. This is the point where the person is the most susceptible to accepting new programs and the drug plant has the total attention of the user. It is my contention that the plant passes real information to the person at this point. This information becomes the religious conviction of the subject.
The only people who doubt that these "visions" are real are the people who haven't had one. To the experts in these matters, the shamans, there is no other reason to take a hallucinogen than to gain information from god. It is only in our Western culture where such a thing would be done "just for fun". For the shaman, such matters are far too serious and dangerous to play with. Under the branches of the Tree of Life, the shaman found the power to attack the problems of his people. The accomplishments of this early priesthood began to grow into a civilization, naturally filled with the symbols of their god. Those symbols are still with us today. This original wizard/doctor/scientist/priest was no charlatan; his most important tool was the sacred fungus. With its hyper phase he could dazzle his people with feats of strength and endurance. His psychic powers would give him great advantage over his neighbors as well as impress them with his knowledge. And that was what gave him the most advantage and power; his knowledge. From his sessions in the mountains, visiting with his god, he brought back the information necessary to manipulate matter and energy. This ancient "witch doctor" wasn't interested in getting "high", he used the power of his god to build temples, cities and civilizations, and at the same time, the machines of war to bring them down.
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