Conference: Metageum '07 - Exploring the Megalithic Mind, Malta, 3-11 Nov 2007 Malta

Submitted by PeterBLloyd on Friday, 26 October 2007 Page Views: 3740

Country: Malta International interdisciplinary conference on different ways of approaching the consciousness of the prehistoric people who built the megalithic temples.

General topics will cover archaeological evidence, models based on entheogen use, altered states of consciousness, dream incubation, shamanism, and acoustics of Megalithic chambers.

Some particular themes: the nature of altered states of consciousness; the possible role of psychotropic plants in early religion and shamanism; whether psychotropic plants are genuinely entheogenic (ie veridical of some spiritual reality) or merely entoptic (artefacts of the brain and mind); the induction of visions in the sensory deprivation conditions of underground chambers; the induction of altered states of consciousness through acoustics; the perception of unusual acoustic conditions in Megalithic chambers; the relationship of entoptic and entheogenic visions to art production; mental models of astronomy.

Invited speakers who will be attending include Dr Reuben Grima (senior curator at the Hypogeum), Dr Benny Shanon (on entheogens) and Paul Devereux (on megalithic acoustics); performers include Jennifer Berezan, who recorded an album of chants in the 6000-year-old underground temple of the Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni, Malta.

There will also be visits to some of Malta's 25 Megalithic temples, which antedate Stonehenge and the Pyramids of Egypt.

More details at: www.metageum.org.

Contributor Bio for PeterBLloyd: Based in Malta, contributing since 2007. Favourite site: Hypogeum, Malta. Occupation: Writer.

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