Today on Life is a Festival I am honored to share the delightful and mesmerizing voice of one of Europe’s most renowned storytellers. Jan Blake has been tellings stories around the world for 35 years and has recently been going through a transformational process herself!

Our conversation unfolds through six stories, beginning with “Abiyoyo,” Jan’s favorite tale as a child and ending with “The Keys to the Devil’s Kitchen” for her ancestors. Along the way we talk about why folk tales are transformational, we touch on mythopoetic masculinity, and we explore whether it is possible to become lost in a story.

Jan specializes in stories from Africa, the Caribbean and Arabia, and she has been performing myths and folktales for 35 years. In addition to performing in every major storytelling festival worldwide, Jan has been the Storyteller-in-Residence for the Hay Literary Festival, the curator for Shakespeare’s Stories at the World Shakespeare Festival, and the recipient of the British Award for Storytelling Excellence.

Jan is also performing in the upcoming Gathering of Stories event organized by my friend and the host of the Mythic Masculine Podcast, Ian McKenzie. It’s is a two day live streamed festival that brings together storytellers, musicians, and poets from around the world to provide new insight and perspectives for tending the soul of the masculine. You can register for that at https://bit.ly/g-stories.

Also if you have yet to fill out the short Life is a Festival audience survey you can do so here: https://bit.ly/festival-survey

Links

Jan Blake: https://www.janblakestories.co.uk/

Jan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janblakestoryteller

Gathering of Stories: https://bit.ly/g-stories

The Fisherman: A Tale of Passion, Loss, and Hope | Jan Blake | TEDxManchester: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAV6eXaS6dk

Stories

1. Abiyoyo

2. Nyar Opoku

3. Who Suffered the Most?

4. The Fisherman: A Tale of Passion, Loss, and Hope

5. The Odyssey

6. Keys to The Devil’s Kitchen

The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk, is a seminal work in the field of trauma studies. I had the privilege of interviewing Bessel last year for The Psychedelic Therapy Podcast, which I host for Maya, a software platform that supports psychedelic practitioners. To start 2021 on a hopeful note, I wanted to share that episode with you.

On the show we discuss Bessel’s work with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies and their clinical trials for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Bessel explains how early attachment wounds can actually be more difficult to treat than acute trauma but that psychedelics can help reimprint the feeling of being a lovable child. We also talk about why we get can addicted to our own trauma and we review other psychedelic compounds.

Bessel is an author, researcher, and sought after public speaker. In addition to founding Boston’s Trauma Center and his popular books, Bessel is also the Principle Investigator for MAPS’ MDMA trials at its East Coast hub in Boston.

If you have 5 minutes to support the show, I would be so grateful if you could fill out a short survey. It will be invaluable for the next chapter of Life is a Festival!

LINKS

Life is a Festival Podcast survey: https://bit.ly/festival-survey

The Psychedelic Therapy Podcast: https://www.mayahealth.com/podcast

Bessel van der Kolk: https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/

The Body Keeps the Score: https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0143127748

The Faces of Phase 3: Principal Investigators in MAPS’ Clinical Trials of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD: https://maps.org/news/bulletin/articles/427-bulletin-winter-2017/6957-the-faces-of-phase-3-principal-investigators-in-maps%E2%80%99-clinical-trials-of-mdma-assisted-psychotherapy-for-ptsd

TIMESTAMPS

:07 - Bessel’s first experience with psychedelics

:12 - The iconic American image of the veteran with PTSD

:16 - Why psychedelics and trauma.

:21 - How psychedelic practitioners can work with trauma

:29 - Psychedelics and ancestral trauma

:34 - How we get addicted to our trauma

:38 - Attachment wounds vs acute trauma

:46 - MDMA therapy and psychodrama therapy

:58 - Ketamine as a trickster molecule

1:10 - Bessel speaks directly to psychedelic therapists

Today’s podcast is all about the healing power of steam and was recorded early last year before the pandemic. I’ve decided to release it now during this difficult winter to help us remember the power of ceremony and communal healing and because I have myself been recently working with other traditional sweat ceremonies. My guests are none other than Sasha Baibarin and Boris Ryabov founders of the Steamology Institute and the Art of Steam camp at Burning Man.

On the show we talk about ceremony and ceremonial intention. We discuss the history of steam as a pre-semantic tradition, and the mythology of Russian banyas including the mischievous bath house spirit, the Bannik. We talk about the medical benefits of steam bathing, including for mental health and trauma. Our conversation concludes with a discussion of communal healing which will be so important when we finally emerge from this pandemic.

Both originally from Moscow, Sasha and Boris are powerful and dedicated steam masters. They are the founders of the Steamology Institute and the Art of Steam camp at Burning Man where they bring a traditional Russian banya all the way to Black Rock City.

LINKS

Steamology Institute: http://steamology.org/

Steamology Institute on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steamologyinstitute/

Contact Steamology Institute: [email protected]

The Art of Steam camp at Burning Man: https://www.facebook.com/artofsteamcamp/

TIMESTAMPS
:13 - How Sasha and Boris envision an ideal world

:16 - Ceremony is an invitation to another world

:20 - Ceremonial intention is not desire

:25 - How the Banya entered Sasha and Boris’ life

:37 - The history of steam in pre-semantic traditions

:43 - Russian mythology the banya as a portal and the mischievous Bannik spirit

:51 - The inspiration and lineage of their practice

:57 - The medical benefits of steam

1:09 - Communal trauma healing in the steam

1:20 - Launching a culture through Burning Man

We all need a little silliness in our lives right now so today on the show I have the king of “lowbrow visionary art” to give us his own version of making lemons into lemonade.

Brad Rhadwood has spent years crafting strange beings from plywood and building a following in the festival world. Today he shares his personal life philosophy: You must always derp the flail, but you must never flail the derp. Like many ridiculous dance floor philosophies, there is method to his madness.

On the show we discuss pareidolia, our ability to see faces in inanimate objects. We talk about the derpiness of Canadian festival culture. We chat cat butts, mushrooms, and turd eyes. Finally, Brad introduces me to the wonderful world of collectable limited edition pins.

Brad has been making derpy art since 2005 and has built a significant following in the festival world and beyond. He is part of the Wood Vibe Tribe and has been live painting in the psychedelic war zone that is a festival for a decade. If you’d like to catch up with Brad and snag some of his sought after pins, join the THE RHADWOOD FOREST /// Derp Tribe on Facebook.

Can the a strategic infusion of derp save us from the flailing scourge of self-seriousness? Asking for a friend.

Links

THE RHADWOOD FOREST /// Derp Tribe: https://www.facebook.com/groups/240386673783316

Brad Rhadwood on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradrhadwood/?hl=en

Brad Rhadwood on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BradRhadwood/

Wood Vibe Tribe: https://woodvibes.ca/

Timestamps

:06 - Derping the flail

:13 - Western Canada is the Mecca for derpiness in festival culture.

:17 - Brad’s rules for finding pareidolia (faces) in wood.

:23 - Why does Brad always see cats, cacti, and mushrooms?

:30 - Brad shares a noteworthy flail

:35 - Cat butts, turd eyes, and anal gazing

:42 - The wonderful world of collectable limited edition pins

:55 - Can the derp save us from our own self-seriousness?

Two weeks ago, with heartache swirling in my soul, I sought refuge at the Guru Ram Das Ashram in Portugal. After days of chanting mantras, performing seva (selfless service), and doing kundalini yoga, I was granted an audience with the founder of the ashram, acclaimed spiritual teacher Shiv Charan Singh and took the opportunity to create this podcast for you.

On the show we talk about how an ashram is both a holding container for spiritual crisis and a pressure cooker for transformation. We discuss Shiv’s life and why he chose the spiritual vehicles of Sikhism and kundalini yoga. We talk about how loving yourself means remembering that you are already loved and finally how to see the whole world as an ashram, and whether life really is a festival.

Shiv is the founder of the Guru Ram Das Ashram and the Karam Kriya School in Quinta do Rajo, Portugal. He has written a number of books and developed an applied science of numerology called Karam Kriya. Shiv studied with Yogui Bhajan, the founder of Sikh Dharma in the West and serves on the advisory body of the Kundalini Research Institute.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but it turns out that life isn’t only a festival… it can also be an ashram.

Links

Shiv Charan Singh: https://www.karamkriya.com/scs/biography/

Karam Kriya International School of Kundalini Yoga & Applied Numerology: https://www.karamkriya.com/

Ashram Ram Dass Guru: https://ramdassguru.pt/en/kundalini-yoga-ashram-in-portugal/

Timestamps:

:07 - Why call it a spiritual crisis?

:16 - The power of solitude and how we call in crisis

:26 - My experience at the Ram Das Guru Ashram

:32 - Social media and commercialization as Maya, the view of illusion.

:38 - Why did Shiv choose Sikhism and kundalini yoga as spiritual vehicles?

:50 - Moving from loving yourself to knowing that your nature is that you are loved.

:59 - Wanting to run away from the spiritual pressure cooker of an ashram

1:09 - How to build a little ashram in your soul

1:13 - Shiv challenges the premise behind “Life is a Festival”

Can we heal the wounds of love and share lives of both dedication and erotic adventure? Today’s guest, Sabine Lichtenfels, cofounder of Tamera, has dedicated her life to this question.

Tamera is a world famous community and peace research center in Southern Portugal which hosts the Global Love School, a program that radically reimagines romance and relationships. Though often referred to as polyamorous, when the people of Tamera speak of Free Love, what they mean is love free from fear.

On the show Sabine and I discuss the wounds of love and how patriarchal power structures and the fear of loss lead to a battle between the sexes. We explore the different aspects of the Love School, including “Forum” a social technology for honesty in relationships and the Love Temple, where trauma can be released through art and ritual. Finally we talk about how a dedication to healing Eros became a pilgrimage for peace.

Sabine is an author, a speaker, and a peace activist. She is the co-founder of Tamera along with her life partner Dr. Dieter Duhm where she leads the Love School and the department for spiritual ecology, Terra Deva. In 2005 she initiated the first of many “Grace Pilgrimages,” where she guides people from different backgrounds into an experience of radical reconciliation.

This is an emergency call to end the War on Love and find a life of adventure and play in the process.

Links

Sabine Lichtenfels: https://www.tamera.org/sabine-lichtenfels/

Tamera: https://www.tamera.org/

Global Love School: https://www.tamera.org/global-love-school/

Life is a Festival #27: Can Free Love Save the World?: https://www.eamonarmstrong.com/lifeisafestival/love-school

TIMESTAMPS

:07 - When Sabine first realized that it was possible

:17 - How does the Love School heal the wounds of love in our society?

:23 - How can love be healed outside of spaces like Tamera?

:29 - Learning to love yourself through community

:34 - Addiction to pornography and attachment to very beautiful women

:44 - The Love Temple and ritualizing the expression of love wounds through art and silliness

:56 - How research into the erotic became a pilgrimage of peace

I have wanted to have Camille Barton on this show ever since they blew my mind at the Psychedelic Seminars’ presentation of “History of the Drug War, Colonization, & Racism.” And, perhaps as expected, they absolutely knocked it out of the park on today’s episode.

On the show, we cover a wide range of topics threaded through with the theme of understanding colonization's impact on our world, our culture, and our bodies. We start with Camille’s childhood activism and spirituality before going deep on how the legacy of colonization impacts the modern Psychedelic Renaissance. We then discuss how this global trauma exists in the bodies of all people, and find an intersection between political theory and somatic healing. We close out our conversation with an exploration of gender identity and grief work.

Camille is an artist, DJ, dancer, writer, speaker, and somatic educator who focuses their myriad talents on the intersection of drug policy, spirituality, and healing justice. They are the director of the Collective Liberation Project and creator of an approach to diversity and decolonization through trauma informed movement. They are currently creating a tool kit of grief practices with the Global Environments Network and have just release a somatic movement video called "The Grief Portal" allowing you to rebuild from “the compost of grief.” They also advise the EDGE Funders Alliance and MAPS to promote equal access to psychedelic medicine for people of color.

Camille has created a dynamic space at the intersection of all their disparate interests and the world is far better for it.

LINKS

Camille Barton: https://www.camillebarton.co.uk/

Collective Liberation Project: https://www.thecollectiveliberationproject.com/

Global Environments Network: https://www.globalenvironments.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afrooankali/?hl=en

The Grief Portal: The Grief Portal by Camille Barton: https://vimeo.com/471381269

History of the Drug War, Colonization, & Racism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBf90gFz0PA

Bodies for Change short film: https://vimeo.com/391469244

RESOURCES

Lumos Transforms: https://lumostransforms.com/

“Full Body Presence: Learning to Listen to Your Body's Wisdom” by Suzanne Scurlock-Durana

“Toward Psychologies of Liberation (Critical Theory and Practice in Psychology and the Human Sciences)” by M. Watkins & H. Shulman

“The Leap” Naomi Klein’s new platform: https://theleap.org/

Dancing Wisdom: Embodied Knowledge in Haitian Vodou, Cuban Yoruba, and Bahian Candombléby Yvonne Daniel

Discourse on Colonialism by Aimé Césaire

Selfish Activist Platform by Tada Hozumi: https://selfishactivist.com/

“Dispelling Wetiko: Breaking the Curse of Evil” by Paul Levy

“Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble” by Stephen Jenkinson

“The Healing Wisdom of Africa: Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, and Community” by Malidoma Patrice Some

“The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise” by Martín Prechtel

“From painkiller to empathy killer: acetaminophen (paracetamol) reduces empathy for pain” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5015806/

TIMESTAMPS

:14 - A childhood of activism and spiritual contemplation

:20 - Why Camille no longer identifies as an activist

:25 - How the history of colonization and the drug war impact the Psychedelic Renaissance

:33 - Liberation psychology and why psychedelic healing can’t be individually based — even with equal access.

:46 - Camille’s first experiences with healing movement through raving and clowning

:57 - Why white people can’t dance? Because they are traumatized

1:07 - The intersection of political theory and somatic healing

1:12 - Camille’s gender journey

1:19 - The importance of grief work

1:31 - Why Camille is feeling optimistic right now

Every few months I like to offer an update on my personal journey by sharing an interview I did with another podcaster. This week’s episode is a repod from Eric White’s show theEWpodcast.

Although Eric’s intention was initially to talk about festivals, we move quickly into a conversation about mental health. We discuss techniques for meeting depression and anxiety as teachers. We talk trauma work from psychedelics to shaking to something called “brainspotting.” At the end of the conversation we experienced a moment of disconnection and the opportunity to not run away.

I definitely recommend checking out other episodes of Eric’s podcast. I’ve offered some mentorship since he launched and I’m really proud of what he’s created. Thanks for having me on your show Eric!

LINKS

theEWpodcast: http://theewpodcast.com/

theEWpodcast 029: Eamon Armstrong and “Leaning Into Uncomfortable Growth”: http://theewpodcast.com/podcast-029-eamon-armstrong-and-leaning-into-uncomfortable-growth/

Eric White on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericwhte

Eric White on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eric.whte/

TIMESTAMPS

:08- Podcasting tips

:15 - Festivals of the future

:20 - Abundance vs scarcity mentality

:22 - Mental Health

:34 - Attachment wounds and solo camping

:42 - Seeing depression as a teacher

:52 - My mental health breakdown at a therapeutic boarding school

1:00 - How Burning Man culture has served my mental health

1:15 - After an abrupt moment, we learn how not to run away

1:26 - Playing in complete openness to create the dynamic self that has yet to be

With a world on fire and a pandemic raging, it sure makes sense to want to escape into the utopian vision of an intentional community. But is that in integrity with the beautiful world we want to create? And would it even work?

Today on the show I’m talking to activist Ashoka Finley about the power and privilege inherent in creating land-based communities. We discuss the enormous grief of the climate crisis and how we might meet the world’s challenges with pleasure activism. We talk about indigeneity and whiteness, and the myth of the perfectible self. We look at conflict within communities through the lens of spiral dynamics and finally, how those of us with the privilege to escape crumbling urban enclaves might do so in right relationship.

Ashoka is an emergent strategist and complex systems thinker. He is the former Chief Anarchy Officer at ConsenSys, a leading Ethereum software company and the current Founder & CEO of Tolo, a membership-based content platform that uses a portion of funds to build effective social change strategies.

We need to compost the old world, not simply run away from it. Ashoka is here to teach us how to build the infrastructure of care for the new world that we know is possible.

LINKS

Tolo.earth: https://tolo.earth/

Adrienne Maree Brown: http://adriennemareebrown.net/

Audre Lorde: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/audre-lorde

Robin Wall Kimmerer: https://www.esf.edu/faculty/kimmerer/

“Reinventing Organizations” Frederic-Laloux: https://www.amazon.com/Reinventing-Organizations-Frederic-Laloux/dp/2960133501

“The Advantage” Patrick Lencioni: https://www.amazon.com/Lencioni-Patrick-M-s-Advantage-Organizational/dp/B008EAWBXC/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

“Governing the Commons” Elinor Ostrom: https://www.amazon.com/Governing-Commons-Evolution-Institutions-Collective/dp/0521405998

“Thinking in Systems” Donella H. Meadows: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Systems-Donella-H-Meadows/dp/1603580557

“Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature” Janine M Benyus: https://www.amazon.com/Biomimicry-Innovation-Inspired-Janine-Benyus/dp/0060533226

TIMESTAMPS

:07 - Ashoka’s beginnings learning about how unaccountable power has so much influence on the world.

:19 - The enormous grief of the climate crisis

:25 - Pleasure Activism, Indigeneity, and Whiteness

:36 - Ashoka’s lineage as a Black American

:45 - Dealing with trauma, and the myth of the perfectible self

:50 - Conflict in communities and spiral dynamics

1:02 - Should people pursue intentional communities?

1:04 - Privilege and the desire to escape San Francisco

1:10 - Pursuing Intentional Community in right relation

The world seems just a bit crazier every single day right now. Luckily on this week’s show we have the guiding light of a brilliant thinker I’ve admired for years, Jordan Hall (formerly Jordan Greenhall). I first discovered Jordan after reading his Situational Assessment in 2017 and his essay On Sovereignty which was pivotal in my the maturation of my worldview.

On the show we begin with my own challenge in transcending myopic preoccupation with personal growth for its own sake and how trying to live an epic story can interfere with our personal sovereignty. The interview is then interrupted and we are able to explore regaining our sovereignty in real time. We talk about epistemological humility as a way of navigating sense-making amidst strange phenomena like QAnan. We touch on Jordan’s ideas of the Blue Church and the Red Religion. Finally we look at the upcoming US election and how we might marshal and deploy our resources in an increasingly mad world.

Jordan has been involved in many esteemed organizations including Harvard Law School, the Aspen Institute, and the Santa Fe Institute where he served on the Board of Trustees for five years. He co-founded DivX, Game B, and Neurohacker Collective with Daniel Schmachtenberger. I would highly recommend his essays on medium and his public talks.

This is a heady conversation and so to better locate you my dear listeners, I begin by reading a section of his essay on Sovereignty that impacted me so much.

LINKS

Jordan Hall on Medium: https://medium.com/@jordangreenhall

Jordan Hall’s Public Talks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMzT-mdCqoyEv_-YZVtE7MQ

On Sovereignty: https://medium.com/deep-code/on-jordan-peterson-and-the-future-51402a370d79

Neruohacker Collective: https://www.neurohacker.com/

TIMESTAMPS

:15 - Earlier life spiritual work as forming a more smoothly polished ego

:28 - The problem with epicness and liberation from the story of your life

:32 - The interview is interrupted which allows Jordan to make his point more perfectly

:45 - Epistemological humility: Q Anon and the trouble with sense making

1:01 - The Blue Church and the Red Religion

1:13 - How do we look at the problem of the upcoming election

1:19 - Is it worth having a podcast conversion while the world is burning?