Mareesa Stertz is a filmmaker, storyteller, artist, and community organiser dedicated to fostering collective healing and transformation. 

As a co-steward of the Global Psychedelic Society and co-founder of Lucid News, Mareesa has been building platforms that destigmatise, educate, and build community around psychedelics. 

Her film work includes producing and hosting the documentary series The Healing Powers (of Psychedelics and Other Mindful Practices) and Damanhur, both streaming on Gaia TV and Amazon.

She has shared her experiences on international stages and through teaching, workshops, and retreats, and is developing a large-scale immersive art project for Burning Man 2025.

This conversation covered:

• the journey that led to her first documentary in Peru
• the prevalence of burn out, repression of emotion and storytelling in Western culture
• truth vs fact
• the information contained within stories
• Onaya’s work and the difficulties of translating from Indigenous paradigms 
• the hero’s journey, and why it shows up again and again in our stories
• Jung’s concept of individuation
• the challenge of compassionately reframing trauma and hardship

and other topics.

*** We are now recruiting for the next cohort of our 6-month accredited Psychedelic Mentorship Training programme, beginning in April. For more information and to find out how to enroll, visit Onaya's website and use the code 'INTHROUGH10' for a special 10% discount. ***