I have recently finished reading this book. I was first exposed to the book at the 06 burningman, I flipped through it while visiting my buddies tent and waiting for him to sort his shit out while under the influence of a daquiri or smoothie, truly a funny site. The few pages I read where mostly Orocs discussing the need to choose your tribe and how important having one is. I am a natural born skeptic of any proclamation, and while on the one hand that trait is necessary it sometimes causes me to file away something that isn't a proclamation but simply direction. However, when I read snippets from this first edition, I thought, fuck yea this is something I agree with, but you can't start a tribe of one. I knew I wanted to read more but it wasn't my book and so I left it at that.

However, this year I was really psyched to hear that Oroc was to be bringing together a new camp setup and that we were going to be camping close by. It kind of upped the ante a bit, or solidified a few notions that I had about creating and bringing an art car. For me, from the beginning, it was always about those on the bus as much as it is about the bus. There could be a whole discussion about this, later.

So I went to burningman again this year, saw the theory of relativity in action the night of the eclipse. Danced with my wife a bunch. Tasted the smoothies. Met the members of my tribe. Navigated the bus. And watched the temple burn. It was a solid experience.
I also came back with my own copy of Tryptamine Palace, after listening to Oroc give a talk about his experiences and perspective. I heard a lot of things that I had suspected about his experiences and of my own. It all started to take a personal turn for me. Now don’t misunderstand me, it isn’t all about me. It is all about the coincidences that bring us together, it is personal. Orocs library is very similar to mine and is probably very similar to yours. Even though we all come from vastly different places and lives, something has gravity, and is drawing us together. At the very least the music is pulling at us.
Someone is swinging a magnet around that creates harmony within the cosmic fugue. I am digressing into hippy talk, maybe.
To me, Oroc I benefit from your experiences. And the Tryptamine Palace has reminded me to pay attention. I am often numbed into a stupor by the realities that exist to incarcerate us in the material world. After all, we need oil to put in our cars to drive to work to just exist, or to upgrade our lives. Or I can shed that brand of social conditioning and join the tribe and bring my experience and resources to the table.
I do want to acknowledge, the fact that the way that Oroc presents his experience and alchemy of ideas, is refreshing in the fact that it is not steeped in ego. He doesn’t deny the amazement or lay claim to the unattainable. Right away, I was convinced your passion is sincere. But this is just the natural born skeptic speaking. And I have long known that the value in our experiences, esspecially of the spiritual variety, is often lost in translation. Words can be so deflating. But I feel like I laughed from really deep down when I read your account of yelling out, “It exists!”
At the end of the book, all I could do was close it and think to myself, “No shit? No shit. No shit!”