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

[lev99]

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...

[jtmcmc]

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.

[ForHackernews]

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

[xkcd-sucks]

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

[mirimir]

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

[hellofunk]

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.

[tranchms]

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

[Alex3917]

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.

[mistrial9]

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

[mirimir]

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

[acct1771]

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

[jtmcmc]

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

[codq]

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/

[mar77i]

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

Other, well, might just make your experience Vicarious.