SEEK - Society for Esoteric and Entheogenic Knowledge

Matthew 7:7 - “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you,” expresses one of the most universal principles in the history of spirituality: reality reveals itself in proportion to sincere inquiry.

In the Mysteries of Eleusis, candidates sought hidden wisdom through initiation. In the Delphic tradition, seekers pursued the meaning of 'Know Thyself.' The Upanishadic sages questioned the nature of the Self behind appearances. Buddhist practitioners investigated the causes of suffering and awakening. Sufi mystics searched for the Beloved concealed within the heart. Kabbalists ascended the Tree of Life through contemplation of divine mysteries. Alchemists sought the Philosopher’s Stone as both a symbol of perfected matter and transformed consciousness. Across cultures, the act of asking, seeking, and knocking represents the movement of the soul toward deeper knowledge.

Esoterically, the passage suggests that wisdom is not arbitrarily granted but unfolds through disciplined participation in the search itself. The seeker who asks develops receptivity, the seeker who searches cultivates understanding, and the seeker who knocks demonstrates perseverance before the gates of the unknown.

From the Egyptian initiate approaching the temple, to the Gnostic pursuing gnosis, to the yogi seeking liberation, to the shaman entering visionary states in pursuit of healing and revelation, the pattern remains remarkably consistent. The door symbolizes a threshold between ordinary perception and expanded awareness.

The promise of the text is not merely that answers exist, but that the universe itself responds to genuine aspiration. Every authentic spiritual tradition preserves some version of this perennial teaching: those who earnestly seek truth become transformed by the very act of seeking.

- The Society for Esoteric and Entheogenic Knowledge (S.E.E.K.)

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“Alan Watts is one of the great reporters of our times. He has an intuitive sensitivity for news, for the crucial issues and events of the century. And he has along with this the verbal equipment of a poetic philosopher to teach and inform. Here he has given us perhaps the best statement on the subject of space-age mysticism, more daring than the two classic works of Aldous Huxley because Watts follows Mr. Huxley's lead and pushes beyond.

The history of ideas reminds us that new concepts and new visions have always been non-understood. We cannot understand that for which we have no words. But Alan Watts is playing the book game, the word game, and the reader is his contracted partner. But listen. Be prepared. There are scores of great lines in this book. Dozens of great ideas. Too many. Too compressed. They glide by too quickly. Watch for them, If you catch even a few of these ideas, you will find yourself asking the questions which we ask ourselves as we look over our research data: Where do we go from here? What is the application of these new wonder medicines?

The answer will come from two directions. We must provide more and more people with these experiences and have them tell us, as Alan Watts does here, what they experienced. (There will hardly be a lack of volunteers for this ecstatic voyage. Ninety-one percent of our subjects are eager to repeat and to share the experience with their family and friends). We must also encourage systematic objective research by scientists who have taken the drug themselves and have come to know the difference between inner and outer, between consciousness and behavior. Such research should explore the application of these experiences to the problems of modem living—in education, religion, creative industry, creative arts.

There are many who believe that we stand at an important turning point in man's power to control and expand his awareness. Our research provides tentative grounds for such optimism. ‘The Joyous Cosmology’ is solid testimony for the same happy expectations.”

— Source: Timothy Leary, Ph.D. and Richard Alpert, Ph.D. (Harvard University, January, 1962, Foreword, ‘The Joyous Cosmology’)

“The philosophers of Greece and Egypt divided the life of the sun during the year into four parts; therefore they symbolized the Solar Man by four different figures. When He was born in the winter solstice, the Sun God was symbolized as a dependent infant who in some mysterious manner had managed to escape the Powers of Darkness seeking to destroy Him while He was still in the cradle of winter. The sun, being weak at this season of the year, had no golden rays (or locks of hair), but the survival of the light through the darkness of winter was symbolized by one tiny hair which alone adorned the head of the Celestial Child. (As the birth of the sun took place in Capricorn, it was often represented as being suckled by a goat.)

At the vernal equinox, the sun had grown to be a beautiful youth. His golden hair hung in ringlets on his shoulders and his light, as Schiller said, extended to all parts of infinity. At the summer solstice, the sun became a strong man, heavily bearded, who, in the prime of maturity, symbolized the fact that Nature at this period of the year is strongest and most fecund. At the autumnal equinox, the sun was pictured as an aged man, shuffling along with bended back and whitened locks into the oblivion of winter darkness. Thus, twelve months were assigned to the sun as the length of its life. During this period it circled the twelve signs of the zodiac in a magnificent triumphal march.

When fall came, it entered, like Samson, into the house of Delilah (Virgo), where its rays were cut off and it lost its strength. In Masonry, the cruel winter months are symbolized by three murderers who sought to destroy the God of Light and Truth. The coming of the sun was hailed with joy; the time of its departure was viewed as a period to be set aside for sorrow and unhappiness. This glorious, radiant orb of day, the true light ‘which lighteth every man who cometh into the world,’ the supreme benefactor, who raised all things from the dead, who fed the hungry multitudes, who stilled the tempest, who after dying rose again and restored all things to life - this Supreme Spirit of humanitarianism and philanthropy is known to Christendom as Christ, the Redeemer of worlds, the Only Begotten of The Father, the Word made Flesh, and the Hope of Glory.”

— Source: Manly P. Hall (‘The Sun: A Universal Deity’, The Secret Teachings of All Ages, 1928)

“Autumn Skye is a Canadian visual artist whose work reflects a deep reverence for nature, humanity, and the unseen dimensions that connect all of life. Born and raised amid the wild landscapes of Canada, and shaped by extensive international travel, she draws inspiration from the beauty, diversity, and resilience of life on Earth.

A self-taught painter, Autumn Skye approaches her practice as a meditative dialogue between observation and intuition. Her style blends refined realism with symbolic and archetypal imagery, exploring themes of consciousness, transformation, and spiritual insight. Through luminous color and intricate detail, her work invites reflection on the interconnectedness of all existence, our relationship with ourselves, each other, and the natural world of which we are intertwined.

Exhibiting and teaching internationally, Autumn Skye continues to cultivate her practice in the temperate rainforest of British Columbia. Dedicated to fostering creative empowerment and collective inspiration, she regards her art as both offering and invocation, an expression of gratitude for the beauty and intelligence of the living world.”

‘Autumn Skye’s visionary artwork reveals hidden spiritual forces and embodies the noble beauty of transformative inspiration. The clarity of line and form in her work is drawn from the depths of a mystic heart that sees the potential of humanity in a sacred world.’
- Alex Grey, Visionary Artist, CoSM

— Source: Autumn Skye (‘About’, AutumnSkyeArt[dot]com)

“Home to 40 percent of the world's wild edible fungi, Yunnan, China has always been remarkable for mushroom lovers. But in the last decade or so, the summer rains have brought more than just mushrooms; they’ve been accompanied by an explosion of news articles that read like something out of children's fairy tales: after consuming a popular wild mushroom known locally as ‘Jian shou qing,’ locals frequently report having unbelievably bizarre experiences, most notable characterized by seeing ‘xiao ren ren,’ or little people.

A professor in Yunnan recounted how one evening during dinner, he began seeing swirling shapes and colors after eating stir-fried mushrooms. Since the psychoactive effects are familiar to most locals, he began looking for xiao ren ren but was disappointed to find none — until he lifted the tablecloth and peeked underneath, seeing ‘hundreds of xiao ren ren, marching like soldiers.’ Even more curious, he said, ‘when I lifted the tablecloth higher, the heads came off and stuck to the bottom of the cloth and the bodies kept marching in place… I did this many times, at two-minute intervals, and each time they were there, marching and grinning… I measured them, too… they were 2 cm high.’

According to records at Yunnan Hospital, 96 percent of patients affected by this mushroom report seeing an abundance of ‘little people’ or ‘elves,’ often dancing, jumping, or marching around their real-world environment.

As recently as 2014, the taxonomic identity of the psychoactive Jian shou qing mushroom remained unknown. It wasn’t until mycologists in Yunnan purchased and sequenced the mushrooms being sold in an open-air street market that the species was officially described and recognized as being new to science. Its formal Latin name is ‘Lanmaoa asiatica’, and, interestingly, it’s more closely related to the common porcini (Utah’s official state mushroom) than to any other currently known hallucinogenic mushroom species.”

— Source: Colin Domnauer (‘Experts Explore New mushroom Which Causes Fairytale-Like Hallucinations’, Natural History Museum of Utah, November 12th, 2025)