posted January 25, 2005 04:32 PM         

Drugs, and their use towards mind expansion (or fun) were an intrinsic part of the culture that spawned the word hippie.
Tune in, turn on, drop out and all that blather.

However, as TigerLily pointed out, the modern concept of the grown-up hippie is much different.

posted January 26, 2005 01:22 AM         

authentic hippies were interested in mind expansion...hence their interest in alternative religions and spirituality, meditation, yoga and related pursuits. they strived for a certain conscientousness of being, of doing things differently than the main stream and cultural commercialist propaganda dictated.

tuning in, turning on and dropping out meant pursuing a very individualist lifestyle....tuning into a higher reality and dropping out of a benumbed commercialist society. searching for a deeper meaning in an alternative way of living.

the drug scene was made popular by the media and the enterprises that commercialized hippiedom. of course some people used drugs in the pursuit of mind expansion, and this was emphasized by the commercialization that lead people to connect hippies to recreational drug use; it became popular with people who were nowhere close to being hippies for authentic reasons, but who wanted to join a commercial trend, that let them think they were being rebellious. commercial enterprise made lots of money in this arena -- the clothes, the music and the drugs. it was in the best interest of the commercial mainstream to appropriate this vision of spiritual freedom, downgrade it and render it less threatening by making it a fashion and drug culture.

posted January 26, 2005 09:52 AM         

You make some good points. However, I stand by the statement that drugs were an intrinsic part of hippie culture. Even if you trace their origins back to the Beatniks, who were of course interested in music and poetry and counter-culture, you still find drugs as part of the expansion of the mind. I'm not implying hippies were only hippies for the drugs, but I still believe you cannot separate being a hippie from the drug culture. Just as drugs have always been a part of the music industry, back through the history of blues and jazz...they are all so intertwined.

As for mind expansion...Hippies really became hippies around the time of the Vietnam War, protesting the war itself, prejudice, women's rights, racism, etc. And I do believe they made a difference in raising awareness and affecting changes. Unfortunately, it sometimes took a lot of violence to fight violence.

But was Woodstock not the pinnacle of the hippie movement? Three days of peace and love...and a whole lot of drugs. Ask any hippie or ex-hippie and I think s/he will agree.

The media doesn't always get it completely wrong. Were you alive in the 60's during the hippie movement, and early 70's, when the 'hippie movement' faded out?

The most popular drug, besides LSD, was probably just pot, which I don't even consider much of a drug. After all, it's just a little green plant.

Sure, some people were into it just for the drugs. Some probably didn't do drugs at all. Just as some were protestors and some weren't. Not all hippies were interested in TM, yoga, etc., though those were all part of the culture, too. The culture was bred more from the anger over and desire for change in the American status quo (i.e., women's rights, racism, and the war).

Take a look around the web at all the "My Hippie Page" type websites, where people remember what it was like to be a hippie. They're decorated with pictures of the Beatles, the Doors, Hendrix, etc. Those are people remembering the parties.

posted January 26, 2005 12:12 PM         

i'm talking about authentic hippies. those who were sidelined because their ideals were considered very dangerous to mainstream corporate culture. yes, the media reflected what commercialism created.

i've studied academically with some very 'hippie' conscious devoted academic people who were seriously dismayed with what their efforts turned into. they were not pleased that everything they advocated turned into a promotion of a drug and pleasure lifestyle. and they certainly discouraged the use of drugs and the hedonistic cutlure we now associate with 'hippies'.

this lifestyle incorporated elements of authentic hippie thought and combined it with the more commercialized version of hippiedom. of which woodstock was a culmination...the culture of sex drugs and rock and roll.

i'm not disputing this commercialized version of hippies, which still beckons followers to this day and is rife with those who remember with nostalgia the party atmosphere.

but it's not what they were originally about. beatnicks were primarily urban intellectuals who stimulated the idea of an alternative lifestyle, but not necessarily the mind expanding awareness that led to existence on a higher plane of consciousness. they were artists and writers, but hippies took their ideas of separating from the mainstream and expanded them into living more naturally and with a closer connection to the earth. away from the urban beat.

the commercialized version of the hippie-drug-user-pleasure-seeker hedonist is what most people today consider the reality.

but it isn't. and i'm searching for elements of that authentic hippie consciousness-raising, mind-expanding-spiritual-conscientious-living trip that the original, authentic hippies truly were about. yes, i've known and studied with many of them. and yes, i was alive in the 60's and 70's.

posted January 26, 2005 12:24 PM         

you've helped me to clarify my thoughts and find the very information i'm seeking in considering your critique of much of what i write about. even comparing my new name, Saffron, numerous times, to that of your dog.

i wonder what sort of karmic connections inspired this. of course, your ideas of karma are different than mine, as you've stated, but, i believe it's prominent nonetheless.

happy karma and love and light to you, dear one.

posted January 26, 2005 01:22 PM         

As you wish.

And a fine karma to you, too. And your child. And your pets. Love and light.