Saturday, November 20, 2010

appropriate professions in the scientific field for Goa trance headz like me part 1

That's a mouthful ya



(of course this is not Goa, but it's scientific enough so yeah)

So yeah. You love Goa trance even before the emergence of the first full moon festival, and your knowledge regarding this particular style of trance would shame Goa Gil himself. You are the Goa version of a quaintrelle, so it's only natural that you take up a job related to Goa trance, innit? Problem is, you are the heir to a legacy of Einsteins, and you are so not going to end up being an underground DJ/producer, spinning and making records that people have stopped listening to since the 2000's (okay, there are people who still listen to Goa trance, but by the turn of the century people have become too preoccupied with psy already, so who cares about Goa anymore?). So what are you going to do then? Study about Goa related stuffs, of course! Here are some professions which you might want to consider.

Mycologist
Let's face it, us Goa headz love our mushrooms. Especially those under the genus psilocybe. We eat them, process them, even make tea out of them. To us, mushrooms are the most sacred God's creation (after Salvia divinorum perhaps), and therefore should be valued and cherished with all our heart. What better way to value the wonders of mushrooms than by studying about them deeply?

Pharmacognosist
Okay, I know I can just say pharmacologist, but that's not accurate enough yaww. Pharmacognosist is, well, an expert in pharmacognosy, which is basically the study of natural remedies, or the study of how mundane plants can become useful medicines and cure any kinds of maladies. Since we Goa headz are so hippie we don't believe in carcinogen-laden modern medicines, being a pharmacognosist is crucial for the Goa headz population to ensure that we can stay healthy without polluting ourselves with man-made poisons (in this context, please conveniently ignore LSD).

Oneirologist
Please do count the number of Goa trance/ psybient songs having references on dreams, be it lucid or vivid or whatever. Too many to count, right? Dream is, after all, an integral element of the Goa biosphere, since the nature of dreams itself is highly mystical. I mean, where else can you find yourself flying without wings, confidently naked while surfing across what seemed to be a highly altered version of your childhood hometown accompanied by various sorts of distorted beings? Salviatrip, perhaps, but that doesn't count. A career as an expert in the scientific study of dreams helps you to uncover the mysteries behind what happens when one slips into an REM state. And nothing is more Goa than uncovering the mysteries behind that one. You can also study about the very mystical lucid dreaming, and astral projection for that matter. Oh, speaking of astral projection...

Astral Projectionologist/ OOBEologist
Okay, I made this one up. But one can always start.

Cosmologist
You see, the study of the Universe has been fascinating us Goa headz from the start. You'll find these cosmic elements in abundance in Goa trance, from the samples taken from films like 2001 A Space Odyssey, Star Trek, Star Wars and Dune, to the 'deep space noises' drones and synths (e.g. Zero by Astral Projection) and the cosmic-sounding outfit names and song titles (e.g. Space Tribe and Dancing Galaxy respectively). Maybe it has got to do with the whole Hindu mythology of which Goa headz are very fond of (it is, after all, Goa trance). You ask me why cosmology? Well, you can always take astrophysics or astronomy, or if you are very inclined, exoplanetology, but none of them is as mystical as cosmology, and you can never be Goa enough unless you are immersed in something highly mystical innit?

Psychopharmacologist
Because Rick Strassman is one. Studying about DMT and other psychoactive substances is so much fun, really. By being a psychopharmacologist, you can deepen your understandings on how those drugs work on your body to distort your conscious perceptions. Uh, no really. You actually focus more on what happens when one takes them psychoactive drugs, taking note on any changes in behaviour, mood, thinking, those stuffs (Wiki 2010). In short, you observe people babbling about "meeting highly intelligent creatures, telling me all the secrets of the world, seeing the past, present and the future all blended into one, feeling an overwhelming sense of love, peace, knowledge and tranquility...". Now that must be fun.
Plus point, you can always get a free dose of DMT (or two) any given time, "for the benefits of humanity".

So there you go. Plenty of options already. Who says you have to give up your future to live a very Goa life? And who says you have to give up your passion to have a secure future? You can indeed get the best of both worlds!

Happy studying and Boom!
Alice

No comments: