About 10 years ago I came accross an old book.. OK I'll be honest I actually borrowed it and never gave it back. Anywayz it was entitled 'Herbal Aphrodisiacs' which was published by 'Stone Kingdom Syndicate out of San Francisco in 1970. Those of you whom have been into classic psychedelic and underground books the name should come to mind as this book was part of the Mary Jane Superweed series which are classics. You can still obtain copies of these books from 'Books By Phone' just browse around the net and look for 'psychedelic underground library'. In any case in this old book there was a statement entitled 'Stone Kingdom's Statement To The People'. This can't be found in any of the reprints that I know of but I am going to let you check it out below because it really is a beautiful statement of the visions that were realized and thought possible from the counterculture of the late 1960's. It's sort of a sad but true window into the past because as we know at least in my opinion the 1960's produced some of the biggest hypocrites and sellouts in the history of american bohemian culture. I'm sure that will get the goat of a few people and I'm sure they will defend their position and tell me how groovey the 60's were and how much your generation did to change things and how all the Gen-X'rs as we're call just sat around on our ass and did nothing. I agree very much that without the 60's we would still have many more things to overcome however try explaining to the current generation how in the process of creating all these 'groovey things' you were also able to create the biggest clusterfuck in american freedom known as the drug war so while your bitching at me you can explain that as well! Nevertheless it's a great read so enjoy!

Stone Kingdom's Statement To The People

Up until now we have mostly produced books and other products relating to the psychedelic subculture; books on growing better grass, extracting and manufacturing psychedelics, and finding herbs which get you high. This has been a joyful and significant task we feel, and we do intend to bring you many more informative and useful books on the subject. Stone Kingdom's work, however is not confined to the study of getting stoned. That is only a beginning. The psychedelic era blew our minds, turned our heads around and opened our eyes to a new demension of living. A door has been opened for us leading to a new world which we can create; one liberated from the narrow views, petty values and destructive behaviour from which we are now evolving. Before us now lies a road to redemption from the insanities and tortures which man has inflicted upon himself and his brothers. We have suffered so long that many of us out of habit still insist that the world must always be as it has been. Yet reason and instinct tell us that we must create a change now, or else we may perish. We are at the threshhold of - not a dream, but a great and wonderful reality. We have potentially mastered our environment with knowledge and technology. We must now master ourselves so that we may use our new tools for the betterment of life - not for its destruction. We have gone too far to back from this responsibility. Nor should we want to, for it is a responsibility which will not burden us, but free us. All of us cannot understand these changes at once. Some will learn sooner; others later. But those who were sooner blessed with this awareness are also blessed with the task of helping the rest to understand. For five glorious and exciting years we turned on many of our brothers and sisters to marijuana and the psychedelic drugs. But this was not an end. It was only a beginning; a means of awakening those who were ready. Acid, grass and other chemicals of awareness gave many of us a glimpse of new possibilities, but these substances cannot by themselves create a new earth and a new mankind. This we must make real ourselves. What of the millions of so called "straight people" who cannot be induced to turn on chemically? Are they to be left behind? Must they be denied their birthright of awareness simply because they refuse to smoke a joint or swallow a purple tablet? The answer, of course, is a most emphatic NO. They too are our brothers and sisters. They too are crew members of the Spaceship Earth. The new world, the new universe is also theirs, but they have yet to recognize it. We must teach ourselves and each other to walk the new road. Help them to help us. We need each other. Stone Kingdom wants to help you help us all. We cannot forever wander in a psychedelic wonderland. Nor can we horde our knowledge and awareness. New discoveries are being made concerning nutrition and health and their infulence on life, love and happiness. We have made giant steps towards the conquest of mental and physical disorders which have plagued us for ages. We are now on the verge of controlling that inevitable killer, old age. Needless to say, powerful organizations are doing their best (or worst) to deny us knowledge of these things. Still clinging to the outdated illusion that life can belong to only the few on top and that money is the key to power and survival, these 'dictorcrats' linger in their-own secure and private hell where they refuse to accept the obvious fact that life with all it's knowledge and possibilities belongs equally to every one of us. Many of our books in the near future will disclose new discoveries for the betterment of life on earth; ways to vastly improve our environment both internal and external. Health at the moment is our primary concern: Health of our minds and bodies; health of our plants and society. These things are essential if we are to build a solid foundation for the world of love to which we aspire. Stone Kingdom is, among other things, an information pool. We gather information and spread it among our brothers and sisters. We are not a get rich organzation, but we do require money as a tool to do our work. We do not seek donations. We offer you something of value in our books. Your dollar for each book is your expression of interest in our purpose - your honest vote in favor of the validity of our work. Most of these books which we have written up to this time were ones you could not easily share with your "straight" friends. They would only have been met with rejection. The new books, however, should interest everyone. We hope that you will use them to turn on as many people as possible. If our work and our purpose interests you send us your name and address. We will in turn keep you always informed about the new books which we produce. Peace, love and wisdom to the people, Stone Kingdom

(Reprinted without permission copyright 1970 Stone Kingdom Syndicate San Francisco)

(If anyone has any information on Stone Kingdom especially the 'non drug' books talked about above please drop me an email at info@sdelic.org)