In the Museo de Oro in Bogota, there are an unimaginable number of ancient pieces of hand-crafted goldwork.  The history is very interesting, including videos reproducing techniques for casting gold. 

Apparently they used beeswax to design the piece, encapsulated it in soft clay which hardened in the fire (also melting out the wax) and then poured in the molten gold.

We wandered around the museum looking at all the pieces and talking about value and perception and antiquity.

On the third floor, the arrangement is slightly more pointed (and less linear!) talking about the indios cosmology and worldview.  I was pleased to discover that they believed the universe consisted of multiple layers coexisting and interacting.  

This led us into conversation about how our current (western) ideas are really rather backwards.  Though we are technologically advanced, our worldview is quite infantile in that we believe everything we see is everything there is.  In fact there are infinite dimensions, and we merely perceive three (though some people think they understand time to be the fourth).

This naturally led to discussions about psychedelics and trances and other transcendental mental processes--the museum also had a couple interesting displays of yopo and yage and coca.  

Such mind-bending chemicals enable people to dip deep into our imaginations to see a bit beyond the mundane (even gravel is intensely beautiful with some psilocybic nudging), but the Establishment has always been fearful of such substances (hence Nixon and his drug czars rabidly pursuing LSD and other such substances that actually make people think differently about the world, but more or less ignoring the dangerous drugs that destroy people) because of the threat they pose to people's subservient and sheepish worldview.

Anyway, we wandered around the museum and into a circular room with a low ceiling.  Suddenly the lights went out and the automatic doors slithered shut.

Encased in total darkness, we were a bit nervous, but a shamanistic chant emanated from hidden speakers, and a dim glow illuminated (and silhouetted) innumerable gold pieces from behind.  

The lights cycled and moved, almost in a slow strobe.   Some of the pieces looked like a flock of birds.  Others were large discs.  Some were arranged in spiral (a la the indigenous view of time).  

I quickly lost my awareness of space, entranced as I was by the moving light and low rhythmic murmuring.

When the lights came on again, I felt somewhat dazed, though very calm and content.

I must, I once again resolved, develop some meditation/trance skills.