Entheogen

This is Entheogen. Elevate the Conversation.

Today is November 5, 2017, and we are discussing Stealing Fire, a book by Steven Kotler & Jamie Wheal.

Find the notes and links for this and other episodes at EntheogenShow.com. Support us on Patreon with a small monthly contribution to help keep the show going. Follow us @EntheogenShow on Twitter and like EntheogenShow on FaceBook. Thanks for listening.

In more contemporary terms, the Eleusinian Mysteries were an elaborate nine-day ritual designed to strip away standard frames of reference, profoundly alter consciousness, and unlock a heightened level of insight. Specifically, the mysteries combined a number of state-changing techniques—fasting, singing, dancing, drumming, costumes, dramatic storytelling, physical exhaustion, and kykeon (the substance Alcibiades stole for his party)—to induce a cathartic experience of death, rebirth, and “divine inspiration.”

Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann and Harvard-trained classicist Carl Ruck argued that the barley in kykeon might have been tainted with an ergot fungus. This same fungus generates lysergic acid (LSA), a precursor to the LSD that Hofmann famously synthesized in his Sandoz pharmaceutical lab. — Excerpt from Stealing Fire

Chapter 1: What Is This Fire?
Chapter 2: Why It Matters
Chapter 3: Why We Missed It

“The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing.” —David Foster Wallace

Entheogen’s take on the book: “We like it.”

Debate on how to pronounce the word ecstasis

Why does “fire” need to be stolen? Why does access to altered states need to be banned?

How the Navy SEALs train for dynamic subordination, another kind of altered state

Partying with Eric Schmidt at Burning Man

Finding “flow” and why it matters

Signature characteristics of ecstasis: selflessness, timelessness, effortlessness, richness (STER)

An examining of the word “pale”

The “state sanctioned triad” of mind altering substances: caffeine, nicotine, alcohol -- what makes these special? What ends does accepting these particular substances serve?

The institutions that create / endorse stigma: the church and the state

Are humans already cyborgs? What is truly “unnatural” anyway? If humans are beings of nature, is anything that humans create also natural?

How altered states are directly related to evolution of humans as well as certain plants and other animals (like French Bulldogs)

The current and historical balance of individualism vs. collectivism, and its impact on the proliferation and acceptance of certain types of altered states

This is Entheogen. Elevate the Conversation.

Please support Entheogen by making a donation on Patreon. Become a Patron for as little as $1. Pledge just $3 or more, and get early access to new episodes, plus exclusive Patron-only features. Head over to EntheogenShow.com and click on Support.

Find the notes and links for this and other episodes at EntheogenShow.com. Sign up to receive an email when we release a new episode. Follow us @EntheogenShow on Twitter and like EntheogenShow on FaceBook. Thanks for listening.

It’s April 2, 2017, and we are talking with Dr. Rosalind Watts, Clinical Psychologist at Imperial College London, working alongside Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris.

Joe’s story of psilocybin on his first “date” with his now-wife, and psilocybin’s role in their engagement

The Couples Using Magic Mushrooms as Relationship Therapy

Kevin’s regular practice of taking psychedelic medicine with his wife

How Ros came to study psychedelic therapy after initially becoming disillusioned with the limits of talk therapy for the treatment of anxiety and depression; her initial skepticism about psychedelics based on their negative legacy

The importance of the patient-therapist relationship

Some guidelines from one of the father figures of psychedelic therapy, Bill Richards: “We prepare people to welcome whatever they may encounter – no picking and choosing. Sometimes you have to go through the dark night to get to the top of the mountain and the sunrise. If the inner dragon or monster appears, look him in the eye – go straight towards him. If you look the monster in the eye and go towards it, ask it what it wants – there’s always resolution, transformation, and new knowledge. When you run from it, you get into panic and paranoia, like a typical nightmare – and then you say, ‘I’ve had a bad trip.’”

Although psychedelics including psilocybin tend to be considered non-addictive, there are examples of people using them habitually

Ros mentions some examples of people in the psilocybin study for depression giving up addictions and habitual behavior

To help fund this important research, visit the Psychedelic Research Group at Imperial College London

We're excited to be back after our summer hiatus!

Over the coming months, we'll post our in-depth review of Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, a National Bestseller by Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal.

This is Entheogen. Elevate the Conversation.

Please support Entheogen by making a donation on Patreon. Become a Patron for as little as $1. Pledge just $3 or more, and get early access to new episodes, plus exclusive Patron-only features. Head over to EntheogenShow.com and click on Support.

Find the notes and links for this and other episodes at EntheogenShow.com. Sign up to receive an email when we release a new episode. Follow us @EntheogenShow on Twitter and like EntheogenShow on FaceBook. Thanks for listening.

It’s March 5, 2017, and we are discussing the famous LSD-assisted Dock Ellis No-Hitter.

• Check out the Video: Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No by James Blagden and No Mas, posted by Victory Journal
• See also: The Electric Dock Ellis Acid Test: An Attempt To Recreate His Drug-Addled No-Hitter, On Xbox
• AV Club article
• Snopes: “he worked with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to rehabilitate black prisoners, helped start the Black Athletes Foundation for Sickle Cell Research, and served as the coordinator of an anti-drug program in Los Angeles before passing away from liver disease in 2008.”
• Dock Ellis on Wikipedia

• “I’m high as a Georgia Pine”

• Dexamyl - 90% of the league was using

• Benzedrine - also heavily consumed by pros

  • Lady in San Diego with the gold pouches

• “They knew I was high but they didn’t know what I was high on.”

• Dealing with the fear, the fear of losing, the fear of winning

This is Entheogen. Elevate the Conversation.

It’s March 12, 2017, and we are discussing psychedelic healing with Dr. Neal Goldsmith.

• Neal’s book Psychedelic Healing: The Promise of Entheogens for Psychotherapy and Spiritual Development provides copious discussion points for our conversation today.

• Neal's therapy practice, and how his use of psychedelics has informed his practice of psychotherapy

• Imago therapy

• LSD is a tool: Charles Manson becomes more Charles Manson; Richard Alpert becomes Ram Dass.

• The substitution of the eucharist as a proxy for the original psychoactive sacrament. Can we please go back to the active version? What are the consequences of inactive substitutes in religious ceremonies? How have alternative spiritual practices sprung up in the absence of sanctioned Entheogenic rituals?

• George Carlin’s Modern Man.

• Are we in the midst of McKenna’s Archaic Revival? Is this another way to internalize the unfolding ecological apocalypse?

“If we’re going to be post-post-modern, if we’re going to be integral, we can’t have a fight between tribalism and modernity. We can’t have a fight between spirituality and the material world.”

• Meditation, mindfulness, yoga, breathing…

• Deep breathing to expel carbon dioxide in addition to inhaling oxygen.

• McKenna’s conjecture that it’s possible to get to the same state of consciousness that psychedelics provide access to, using meditation or chanting or drumming, but who has time for that?

• What do you recommend to listeners who might be interested in some form of psychedelic therapy, present company included?

• The dichotomy of tribalism vs. modernism: our human ancestors living naturally but for shorter time, vs. modern humans living longer but disconnected from nature. Spiraling up vs. retreating to tribalism.

• Spirituality vs. science. The concept of rational mysticism. Einstein quote via Rick Doblin: “There's no real conflict between science & religion; there's a conflict between bad science & bad religion.”

Please support Entheogen by making a donation on Patreon. Become a Patron for as little as $1. Pledge just $3 or more, and get early access to new episodes, plus exclusive Patron-only features. Head over to EntheogenShow.com and click on Support.

Find the notes and links for this and other episodes at EntheogenShow.com. Sign up to receive an email when we release a new episode. Follow us @EntheogenShow on Twitter and like EntheogenShow on FaceBook. Thanks for listening.

This is Entheogen. Elevate the Conversation.

Please support Entheogen by making a donation on Patreon. Become a Patron for as little as $1. Pledge just $3 or more, and get early access to new episodes, plus exclusive Patron-only features. Head over to EntheogenShow.com and click on Support.

Find the notes and links for this and other episodes at EntheogenShow.com. Sign up to receive an email when we release a new episode. Follow us @EntheogenShow on Twitter and like EntheogenShow on FaceBook. Thanks for listening.

It’s February 26, 2017, and we are reflecting on our conversation with Alex Grey, Allyson Grey, and Rick Doblin at Burning Man 2016.

• Finding people at Burning Man

• ReFOAMation Village

• Getting foamed

• Meeting our humble heroes

• Psychedelics as pretense-obliterating substances

• Effects of MDA vs. MDMA

• De-scheduling vs. rescheduling cannabis

• MAPS-hosted Global Psychedelic Dinners raising funds for MDMA research

• Psychedelic medicine trials beginning to reach a broader audience

P.S. Neal Goldsmith interview coming up next! Sign up to be notified.

This is Entheogen. Elevate the Conversation.

Please support Entheogen by making a donation on Patreon. Become a Patron for as little as $1. Pledge just $3 or more, and get early access to new episodes, plus exclusive Patron-only features. Head over to EntheogenShow.com and click on Support.

Find the notes and links for this and other episodes at EntheogenShow.com. Sign up to receive an email when we release a new episode. Follow us @EntheogenShow on Twitter and like EntheogenShow on FaceBook. Thanks for listening.

It’s February 26, 2017, and we are checking in with Kirk Rutter, who joined us for Episode 025: Psychedelic Medicine Trials with Participant Kirk Rutter.

• Kirk’s Organizational Upgrade
• Ganesh Chant/Mantra (108 times)
• Barack Obama’s “Fired up, ready to go”
• The zoo
• Ecological mindset
• Vegetarianism
• Hanlon's razor
• Burning Man changed Brad’s life

This is Entheogen. Talk about tools for generating the divine within.

Today is July 20, 2016, and we are reflecting on our interview with Dr. Julie Holland from last season.

Find the notes and links for this and other episodes at EntheogenShow.com. Sign up to receive an email when we release a new episode. Follow us @EntheogenShow on Twitter and like EntheogenShow on FaceBook. Thanks for listening.

Your pledges make the show possible! We're trying to cover expenses by asking our fans to pledge at Patreon.com/Entheogen. We really appreciate your support!

• Julie’s story of being a college girl reaching out to Rick Doblin

• Julie’s story of having taken MDMA with Rick Doblin on the last day it was legal: June 30, 1985. Listen to our interview with Rick Doblin from Burning Man for his recollection of the story!

• George Carlin’s concept of “More Than Happy” as a “dangerous mental condition.” See also

• The culture of pathologizing things like restless leg syndrome and excessive daytime sleepiness

• The consumerization of medicine in the United States

• Cannabis edibles: who eats one third of a cookie?

• Julie’s recommendation to wait two hours after consuming a cannabis edible before considering re-dosing

• When consuming cannabis orally, THC is metabolized into 11-OH-THC

• How cannabis can be part of an anti-inflammatory diet

• Moody Bitches: The Truth About the Drugs You're Taking, The Sleep You're Missing, The Sex You're Not Having, and What's Really Making You Crazy

• Recreation is therapeutic

• Weekends at Bellevue: Nine Years on the Night Shift at the Psych ER

• The Pot Book: A Complete Guide to Cannabis

• Ecstasy : The Complete Guide : A Comprehensive Look at the Risks and Benefits of MDMA

• Follow @BellevueDoc on Twitter

• Thanks again, Julie!

This is Entheogen. Talk about tools for generating the divine within.

Today is December 4, 2016, and we are talking with Alisdair from BlueLight.org.

Find the notes and links for this and other episodes at EntheogenShow.com. Sign up to receive an email when we release a new episode. Follow us @EntheogenShow on Twitter and like EntheogenShow on FaceBook. Thanks for listening.

Your pledges make the show possible! We're trying to cover expenses by asking our fans to pledge at Patreon.com/Entheogen. We really appreciate your support!

• BlueLight.org was founded in 1997, and Alisdair has been a member since 2002.
• What is BlueLight.org?
• Why “bluelight”? Is there significance to that?
• How did you get introduced to BlueLight?
• Legal considerations?
• Relationship with MAPS
• Donate to BlueLight

This is Entheogen. Talk about tools for generating the divine within.

Today is December 18, 2016, and we are discussing the recent publication of studies from NYU and Johns Hopkins showing that psilocybin can reduce anxiety and depression in cancer patients, and we’re pleased to be joined by Dr. Sarah Mennenga from the NYU Experimental Therapeutics Laboratory.

Find the notes and links for this and other episodes at EntheogenShow.com. Sign up to receive an email when we release a new episode. Follow us @EntheogenShow on Twitter and like EntheogenShow on FaceBook. Thanks for listening.

Your pledges make the show possible! We're trying to cover expenses by asking our fans to pledge at Patreon.com/Entheogen. We really appreciate your support!

• We are grateful to be joined by Dr. Sarah Mennenga, Doctor of Neuroscience, NYU Experimental Therapeutics Laboratory

• NYU and Johns Hopkins just released studies showing that psilocybin can reduce anxiety and depression in cancer patients

• 80 percent of participants showed significant reduction of anxiety and depression

• “One theory is that psilocybin interrupts the circuitry of self-absorbed thinking that is so pronounced in depressed people, making way for a mystical experience of selfless unity” i.e. interrupting or disrupting the Default Mode Network?

• What is the neurological basis for the geometric shapes and auditory effects that characterize the psilocybin experience. What part does suggestibility play in the experience?

• The “intensity of the mystical experience described by patients correlated with the degree to which their depression and anxiety decreased” – Why is that? What is it about the nature of the psychedelic or mystical experience that does this?

  • Octavian Mihai “saw black smoke rising from my body”

  • Kevin, a participant in the Johns Hopkins study saw “spirals of iridescent spheres that folded in on themselves”. “But you have to approach the session with the right intentions of why you’re doing it. Because you’re going to meet yourself.”

• Study protocols, and the unique considerations for psychedelic session

  • “seven-hour music playlists.[...] N.Y.U. leaned toward New Age and world music — Brian Eno; sitars; didgeridoos. Johns Hopkins favored Western classical.”

  • Chalice

  • Buddha statue

• Collaboration among the few institutions doing psychedelic research
• Criticism from the academic/scientific community?

• Political concerns; safety concerns around legalization

• Stigma in the academic community?

• fMRI scanning during a psychedelic experience?

• NYU seeking participants in two upcoming studies:

• Psilocybin for alcoholism and addiction

• Psilocybin for clergy/mysticism; see also Griffiths’ 2006 study at Johns Hopkins

• Contact NYUCancerAnxiety.org for more information

• Enroll in Clinicaltrials.gov

• NYU seeking $10 million funding for center to study psychedelics

• Contact NYUCancerAnxiety.org for more information

• Email [email protected] to donate

• Give to Heffter, helping fund the NYU studies

• Tim Ferriss raising money for psilocybin research

• NY Times: A Dose of a Hallucinogen From a ‘Magic Mushroom,’ and Then Lasting Peace

• Big Think: One Dose of "Psilocybin" from Magic Mushrooms Relieves Depression in 80% of Cancer Patients

• AlterNet: 'Magic Mushroom' Drug Eases Cancer Patient Anxiety