Legally, i am portuguese but i am neither a patriot nor a nationalist. I live and love in portugal since i was born. Since adulthood, i have always voted (with few exceptions), however, i have never found a party with which i identify and, as such, i have come to accept this as a normal aspect of the democratic process.

The meteoric rise of the portuguese far-right on the political scene, is an embarassing moment of portuguese history. A sad reminder that algorithmic manipulation of populations are not an accident. Yet, when looking closely, these movements that are infecting the modern world, are incredibly childish and imature, with little to none to add to modern societies. 

This website is just a statement of my embarassement to be portuguese by watching the rise of these fauxists (they thrive on fake). "Chega" is the name of our far-right fauxist party. In portuguese, the same word can mean "enough" and so, the url means: enough of chega.

On certain ocasions, certain songs will trigger in me, intense goosebumps. For a few minutes my skin comes alive and independent, as if, an extra sensitive layer was added, swirling across my body and warming up my spirit, in tiny electrifying waves. While this also happens at certain movie moments, the audio experience has always been stronger and deeper. This experience has always fascinated me tremendously. In fact, i think that, having experienced this at an early age, was one of the reasons i have always felt intrigued and inspired by music.

Piloerection is the, rather uninspired, scientific name for describing this phenomenon. In different degrees and with varying triggers, this is a natural behavior of many mammals. It is easy to understand when we get cold but it is not so easy to understand, why would this happen in moments of intense emotion. Is it a form of ancient body language, where naked humans could be observed having these experiences? Their body hair would stand up and anyone in close proximity could detect it?

For me, it's mostly music. There are certain tracks, i know, will hit me like a slow rolling and all engulfing wind. But is not the whole track, it is a certain moment of the track, a certain narrative of notes and sounds that, when played, will trigger all these intense undercurrents and tidal motions. However, from personal experiences and tests, having the track play in loop, does not always, guarantee the same result. Managing expectations seems to be a crucial factor, for, the more you are wanting or waiting for it to happen, the less it does. And so, it is only by not-wanting, not-expecting, that the experience can actually and naturally manifest... which, is easier said than done, to me at least.

This mistery of an intense physical emotion manifest through the mysterious language of music has lead me to search for explanations. I have never found much, however, many years ago, a curious email i sent to Rick Strassman, author of DMT - The Spirit Molecule, with some enquiries on the subject, changed my life forever. You see, along with my questions about goosebumps, i presented my services as a freelance graphic designer. I was a recent newcomer to the psychedelic field and i was interested in learning more. Work seemed a logical approach. While, mr. Strassman himself was not in need, coincidently, he introduced me to Mitch Schultz that was, at the time, directing the documentary The Spirit Molecule inspired by mr. Strassman book. From there a long friendship with Mitch grew and many projects spawned. Along the road, i was introduced and worked with Dennis McKenna (a personal inspiration) and Annette B. which, eventually, introduced me to Namae Ntumae, with whom i have been working with, for the past few years. All these people have manifested as blessings in my life and i am deeply honored, that i am fortunate to have met them. But, to think this all emerged from a single email about goosebumps is somewhat puzzling and endearing. At the time, presenting my services was just a side quest, a footnote. Never would i expect that it would turn out to be a much larger and more fascinating quest.

In the end, mr. Strassman did not add much to the goosebump codex. We are aware of several causes like temperature change which seem obvious, or sex, or fear, or food, but why a sequence of sounds trigger a, somewhat, light altered state of consciousness reverberating through the skin and the soul, remains a mystery.

 

 

Many years ago, i came across a delightful quote: "If triangles had a god, it would have three sides". It sort of encapsulates the whole point of this probe. 

To put it bluntly, if god exists or not, is a matter of belief. You either believe it or not. It is certainly not a matter of right or wrong, it is simply a choice. Cross the globe in any direction and you are bound to find many different gods, no matter how universal they claim to be. Many reasons and explanations can be found to demonstrate why someone chooses to believe or have faith in god, but the fundamental premise is the need to believe in order to recognise god. On the other hand, many will argue that god is independent of belief and that, either way, god is always there, or everywhere, which feels more as an excuse than a credible observation.

The history of humanity is rich in the rise and fall of eternal gods. From extinct tribes, to ancient long gone civilizations, apparently, human cultures always seems to have found ways to drag gods along. These divine entity or entities that bring meaning to all darkness and light of existence. Of course, the concept of god alone is in itself slippery and volatile. In some cultures it may be a deity or local spirit, in others can be a single all enveloping conscious entity, while in others it can be, simply, a carved totem. Traversing the globe, god takes many shapes, forms and functions. Yet, no matter what god we are describing, it lays beyond the normal spectrum of material reality and it is, usually, only accessible through altered states of consciousness that can go from light praying to wild visionary states. In fact, it is in these most extreme states that most revelations occur. From the depths of the mind, god's will, is manifested in messages transmitted for the betterment of it's worshipper, admirer or it's people. 

Further from denying the value of revelations or visions, the existence of a trans-dimensional consciousness entity or entities, or even other planes of being, what we may question, is the attribution of a divine sacredness to these events or experiences. What if, these transcendental states and contacts, while rich in information, are completely deprived of any sort of supreme being or supreme consciousness? in other words, what if this or these dimensions and entities are just a natural manifestation of the misterious world we live in?

To this day, this elusive place has been both inspiring and, again, slippery. Tales of revelations, life-changing moments or extraordinary healing abound. From fasting, pilgrimage and singing to self-deprivation, meditation or cerimonial transcendence many have been the ways to cross the gates of normal reality and acquire some sort of gift, blessing, objective answer or puzzling puzzle. No matter how you look at it, there is something out there, beyond reason and objective reality. By living, we eventually cross from one side to another. We may dismiss it from objective reality, as a sort of an escape hatch of the self to deal with the challenges of daily life, but, all of us will face a dream, an event, an experience where reason will absolutely fail to deliver a satisfying framework. Life is just weird.

In the end, i choose not to believe, because i feel that it leaves me with more options to explore on the nature of the world. I may be wrong but, so far, i have felt no reason to approach this subject any other way.