Mormons on Mushrooms

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We are so thrilled to be joined by model, traveler, reiki practitioner, and all around bad ass, Janessa Gornichec.

Janessa was raised Mormon and has been modeling since the age of 12. We discuss her exit from the church and how plant medicine has been instrumental to finding healing from the shamed-based approach of her religious upbringing.

After spending several years in Florida and overseas, Janessa currently resides in Utah, trying to spread the word on using plant medicine for breakthroughs and general health. 

You can follow her:
Instagram: @janessa_gornichec
YouTube/FB: Janessa Gornichec
Website: www.janessasjournal.com

Janessa’s story is powerful, vulnerable, emotional, and so relatable! Can’t wait for you to listen

Links:

Pussy: A Reclamation by Regina Thomashauer - https://mamagenas.com/books/

Cassandra Speaks by Elizabeth Lesser - https://www.elizabethlesser.org/cassandraspeaks

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We're slowing things down with a Mike, Doug, Shelise episode! Mike talks about his recent plant medicine assisted therapy session and Shelise and Doug recount their latest mushroom journeys.

We discuss:

• Shelise does weed for the first time!
• Embracing the roller coaster
• Nature's timeline for growth; expand and contract
• Learning to trust
• "Intentional breath is the difference between surviving and thriving"
• Supporting ourselves; filling our own cups before filling others'
• The Body Keeps the Score
• And much more

Art: “Kiss of the Soul” by Alex Grey alexgrey.com

Jake's back! This time to discuss cosmology, synchronicities, and living in reciprocity with the Earth. We hit on so much, including:

• The Universe as God dancing itself
• Synchronicities vs. confirmation bias
• Objective vs. constructed reality
• Shifts in states of consciousness (symphony of selves)
• Mazatec Cosmology
• Respectful appropriation vs. misappropriation, ways in which we perpetuate colonization
• Living in reciprocity with ourselves, with others, and with the Earth
• "The Earth wants to reclaim us"

Jake is a magical druid and shares so much wisdom. 

Enjoy!


About Jake:

Jake is a holistic counselor focused on helping people heal and grow by accessing expanded states of consciousness. Through mindfulness, body awareness, embodied movement, bodywork, sound, and ritual, Jake helps clients identify old patterns and core beliefs, make contact with trauma material, and connect to their bodies and emotions.

Website:  https://www.jakewheadon.com/
Instagram: @jakewheadon

Artwork by Android Jones  https://androidjones.com/

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We're back with Wendy and Tom to discuss even more magic. We dive into their "candy flipping" experience, the power of ritual, memorializing our breaks, ennegrams, and so much more!

Their story is so powerful and can't wait for you to hear more of it!


About Wendy and Tom:

Wendy and Tom Montgomery are the parents of five children, four of which identify as LGBTQ+. They were lifelong Mormons with deep pioneer roots, but left the church in 2018, after a lengthy and tumultuous effort to make the LDS Church more loving and accepting for queer Saints and their families. The story of the Montgomerys and how they navigated this minefield while staying active in the Mormon faith was documented in the Family Acceptance Project’s 2012 award-winning short film, "Families are Forever." 

Wendy and Tom have been vocal advocates for inclusion and equality for the LGBTQ+ community (especially with an LDS background) for almost 10 years. Their family was the recipients of several awards for their life-saving work, including the “Voice Ally” Award from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, the “Let Love Define Family” Award from Raise A Child, and the “Tree of Life” award from Affirmation. Interviews and news stories about Wendy, her advocacy, and their family can be found on The Associated Press, Huffington Post, NPR, The Advocate, ABCnews.com, Religion Dispatches, Salt Lake Tribune, and Deseret News. 

Wendy is the co-founder of Mama Dragons and has sat on the Board of Directors for both Mama Dragons and Affirmation (the country’s largest Mormon LGBTQ+ organization).  She is trained and certified in suicide prevention & awareness through both QPR and the Trevor Project; and facilitates workshops on this important issue around the country. She has worked closely with organizations such as the Family Acceptance Project, The Trevor Project, Affirmation, Mama Dragons, HRC’s Equality in Religion, ACLU Arizona, ONE Community, GMCLA, PFLAG National, Peculiar, etc. Tom runs a marketing company he founded in 2000 and is a thoughtful and talented writer on LGBTQ+ Mormon issues, whose work can be found at nomorestrangers.org. Their family lives in Chandler, AZ. 

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We are so excited joined by Wendy and Tom Montgomery as we discuss their LGBTQ+ advocacy, leaving the Mormon faith and finding healing through plant medicine. We hit on so many topics:

• Our Inner Mama Dragons
• Finding the Divine Feminine within us
• How Mormon doctrine "backs the assholes
• Lack of hope / future for gay mormons
• Using MDMA as a tool heal relationships and shame
• Healing from sexual shame
• Their first mushroom experience

Holy smokes!! So much magic we had to break it into two parts! Can't wait for you to listen.

About Wendy and Tom:

Wendy and Tom Montgomery are the parents of five children, four of which identify as LGBTQ+. They were lifelong Mormons with deep pioneer roots, but left the church in 2018, after a lengthy and tumultuous effort to make the LDS Church more loving and accepting for queer Saints and their families. The story of the Montgomerys and how they navigated this minefield while staying active in the Mormon faith was documented in the Family Acceptance Project’s 2012 award-winning short film, "Families are Forever." 

Wendy and Tom have been vocal advocates for inclusion and equality for the LGBTQ+ community (especially with an LDS background) for almost 10 years. Their family was the recipients of several awards for their life-saving work, including the “Voice Ally” Award from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, the “Let Love Define Family” Award from Raise A Child, and the “Tree of Life” award from Affirmation. Interviews and news stories about Wendy, her advocacy, and their family can be found on The Associated Press, Huffington Post, NPR, The Advocate, ABCnews.com, Religion Dispatches, Salt Lake Tribune, and Deseret News. 

Wendy is the co-founder of Mama Dragons and has sat on the Board of Directors for both Mama Dragons and Affirmation (the country’s largest Mormon LGBTQ+ organization).  She is trained and certified in suicide prevention & awareness through both QPR and the Trevor Project; and facilitates workshops on this important issue around the country. She has worked closely with organizations such as the Family Acceptance Project, The Trevor Project, Affirmation, Mama Dragons, HRC’s Equality in Religion, ACLU Arizona, ONE Community, GMCLA, PFLAG National, Peculiar, etc. Tom runs a marketing company he founded in 2000 and is a thoughtful and talented writer on LGBTQ+ Mormon issues, whose work can be found at nomorestrangers.org. Their family lives in Chandler, AZ. 

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We are joined by Sialo Sohn, to discuss discovering our sexuality, sensual empowerment, and self-love after leaving orthodox religion. Along the way, we discuss:

• Finding your Inner Authority
• Body Awareness
• Pleasure is sacred and an internal compass
• “Could it really be this good?”
• Nervous system regulation
• Our desire to be loved
• Healing through plant medicine
• Being your weird ass self
• And so much more…

Sialo is a force of nature! She’s magnetic, wise, magical and she vulnerably but powerfully shares her story of healing from orthodox religion and sexual shame. Her story will resonate with so many. Can’t wait for you to listen!

About Sialo:

𝓢𝓲𝓪𝓵𝓸 found her calling a decade ago in Somatic and Energetic healing. The last 7 years held specific devotion to the Sacred practices of 𝓢𝔁𝓾𝓪𝓵 𝓐𝓵𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓶𝔂 and 𝓣𝓮𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓐𝓻𝓽𝓼.

A wombmxn embodying the lifestyle devotion to 𝓓𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓮 𝓝𝓪𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮, Sialo identifies as Clairvoyant, Ethical Non-Monogamous, a lover of nudity and Nature, Vocal Alchemist, Tantrika, Star Language Channeller, Space Holder, Spiritual Entrepreneur, Sky Goddess, and Fairy.

Her offerings now include creating content to support the awakening of 𝓢𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓾𝓪𝓵 𝓔𝓶𝓹𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽 and 𝓢𝓮𝓵𝓯-𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮 through Elemental Medicine, Guided Erotic Exploration, Body Awareness, Healing Pleasure Cultivation, Re-wilding, and Self-Love.

It is her greatest passion to build safe environments to explore and recondition our relationship with 𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓜𝓮𝓭𝓲𝓬𝓲𝓷𝓮. Love, Liberty, and Connection are the roots of her lifestyle.

Instagram: @lovewithsialo

Website: www.lovewithsialo.com

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We are thrilled to be joined by Dr. Carolyn Elliott to discuss her bestselling book, Existential Kink! We cram so much into a short 50 minutes, including:

• The Book of Mormon Musical
• Favorite Plant Medicine
• Healing the Collective Unconscious
• Unified Physics
• "Jesus is my favorite magician"
• Hot Pink Journals are in!
• and much more

Carolyn is magical! Enjoy.


More about Carolyn:

Dr. Carolyn Elliott is the author of Existential Kink: A handbook of life-altering magic, and cult-favorite creativity book, Awaken Your Genius. She runs a 7-figure online business specializing in helping people achieve dramatic positive change in their lives through shadow integration practices and applied occult philosophy.

Carolyn is known for her uncanny and uncomfortable ability to trick really smart, high-achieving magical people into doing the things that they actually want to do. She’s the teacher of life-altering online courses, including WEALTH: the alchemical community where leaders come into their full power.

Website
Facebook
Instagram: @carolynelliott_

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We are joined by Benjamin Bombard, Producer, RadioWest to discuss his recent investigative piece on Ex-Mormons and Psychedelics, featured on RadioWest in late February.

In true MoM fashion, we also dive into tangents, such as:

• Ernest Hemingway
• Not being a Fraud-Failure, “Imposter syndrome”
• Growing up in Utah as a non-Mormon
• "Be kind to each other"
• And more

We could have talked to Benjamin for hours. Can't wait for you to listen.

About Benjamin:

When Benjamin Bombard isn't producing RadioWest, or reading or writing or hunting, you can usually find him somewhere in his native Utah, walking around with his wife and son, looking at things and saying, "Whoa."

Benjaminbombard.com

Referenced:

Bill Richards - Sacred Knowlede

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We are rejoined by our Producer Extraordinaire, Peter, to discuss the basic questions people might have going into a psychedelic experience, including what we wish we would have known before our first trip.

Along the way, we discuss:

• Holding space  
• The power of the present moment "zoom into now"
• Humans as third place in the food chain
• Riding the roller coaster 
• And much more....

 Can't wait for you to listen!


More about Peter:

After years of struggle with mental health symptoms, Peter was ready to try something different and attended his first psychedelic meetup in 2017. Following his transformative experiences with plant medicine, Peter became involved in the local Calgary psychedelic community helping to facilitate events.

While the deep, inner work was progressing, Peter was inundated with the stresses of everyday life - including COVID-19 in 2020. Eventually, it was his wife who helped him take a leave from work to process and release past trauma.

Peter feels called to work with those seeking to learn from plant medicine - to assist in relieving unnecessary suffering from those with similar experiences to his own. He empowers people to see themselves in new ways and their problems from new perspectives, allowing them to release years of pain, and heal themselves.

Peter is the founder of Waves Peer Coaching. For more info:

Waves Peer Coaching
Instagram: @wavespeercoaching


Artist unknown. Please contact for credit.

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We are joined by the magical Kole Whitty, fellow exmormon and co-founder of The Psychedelic Space.

We fit so much into 80 minutes, including:

• Healing from childhood abuse and religious shame
• Her time as Miss Teen Utah advocating for D.A.R.E.
• Finding our own internal self worth
• Defining success
• "Power Plants" 
• And so much more....

We can't express in words how just how magical this conversation was. Can't wait for you to listen....



About Kole

Kole is the co-founder of The Psychedelic Space Program, offering facilitator training for spaceholders, mental health practitioners, ketamine clinicians and transformational coaches. Along with her husband, Tah, she hosts two podcasts: The Mentor and The Mirror and The Psychedelic Space. She is active on Clubhouse under the username @psychedelic.

For more info on her current offerings, text “KOLE” to 22999

Website
Instagram


Mormons on Mushrooms Intro mixed by Desert Locust  https://m.soundcloud.com/desertlocustmusic