Info from Twig Harper & Co in Baltimore about the extremely worthy fundraiser they are conducting:
Our goal is to give people a safe space and the tools to discover, explore and develop a sense of the subtle inner worlds. In the hectic commodity-driven world we live in this is a rare and unique possibility. There are no other places like this in the area and we believe we can provide a valuable service to the many people.
We are in the process of purchasing a Samadhi flotation tank and now we need to build it a home. Our plan is to renovate the first floor, install the tank, move the cedar sauna downstairs, build a new meeting area and shelves for the Esoteric Library, and create a safe session room for continuing research with Salvia Divinorum. The entirety of this fundraiser will go toward purchasing building materials for this project.
When T-Hill started almost 12 years ago we mostly focused on building a community around music, art and performance and created a space which included a performance venue, music studio, artist residencies, and more. We have done all of this out of pocket from our own love and passion and operated without grants or loans. Learn more about the history of T Hill here: http://heresee.com/tarantulalink.htm
As the years have gone by our focus has changed as we have become more deeply interested in exploring consciousness and connecting with alternate realms… We rarely host performance events anymore and have decided to change the space to reflect our own interests as well as foster exploration in Baltimore and surrounding communities. A flotation tank offers the user a place free from all sensory input where the internal domain can be more fully explored. The Samadhi Flotation Tank is the first commercial company which began building tanks based on the research of John C. Lilly, and the tanks were named and co-designed by him. There are very few float centers in the area, with the nearest one over two hours away. To learn more about floating check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isolation_tank or http://www.samadhitank.com/
Due to a lucky find of cedar wood at the Loading Dock we have had a sauna for many years (though it has been inoperable for the last two) and have had many community sweats. We plan on moving the sauna near the tank and making it smaller and heating it with an electric heater. This will make it easier and safer and open up the ability for more frequent use.
We have had the T. Hill Esoteric Library free and open to the public for over four years. Here you can browse and borrow a specialized collection of books focused on many subjects including entheogens, spirituality, ancient civilizations, herbs, occult studies and much more. During Hurricane Sandy our entire west wall was leaking water and we had to remove all of the books from the shelves to save them. In the new plan the books will be safe on the east wall and also in a much cozier space for perusing and reading. Visit the library website here: http://heresee.com/libraryindex.htm
The new plan also includes space for working with Salvia Divinorum. There is a space to grow plants as well as a room dedicated to administrating chewed salvia sessions. Most of the research on salvia has focused on the vaporization of one extracted compound ‘Salvinorin A’ which is intensly active for short amount of time making the experience difficult to navigate and integrate. Chewing salvia leaf leads to a much less intense experience spread out over a longer time. We initially will be focused on mapping out the effects of the chewed method with a small group of people. From there we will see what areas the experience can be applied to for transformation. The current research into entheogens has been mostly limited to government regulated studies, many of them taking place at nearby Johns Hopkins University. There is also a large community of underground self experimenters who mostly work with illegal compounds. At this time Salvia Divinorum is completely legal in Maryland and it offers a unique opportunity for legal and unregulated exploration with a plant teacher. With our new space we will be able to provide a safe context of experimental work that falls somewhere in between the established communities mentioned above. We hope to start a new relationship between these two communities while furthering the research of both.
Arthur Magazine 