Psychedelic Salon

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com

Guest speaker: Casey Hardison and Patreon Saloners

PROGRAM NOTES:

Today's podcast features a recording from a recent Live Salon. As usual, the conversation was free-form and didn't follow any script. One of the people who dropped by for the conversation was Casey Hardison, and his story captivated us.

Links from this salon:

An Amateur Qualitative Study of 48 2C-T-7 Subjective Bioassays

2C-T-7

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com

Guest speaker: Charles Grob

PROGRAM NOTES:

Charlie Grob and Lorenzo (circa: 2012)

Today we feature a talk that Dr. Charles Grob gave at the 1994 Transpersonal Association Conference in Killarny, Ireland. The focus of this talk concerns Dr. Grob's work with ayahuasca users in Brazil.

As far as I know, this was the first government approved human study of the physiological effects of ayahuasca on humans. This study compared 15 long-term ayahuasca drinkers with healthy individuals and found that UDV members had lower levels of anxiety and many had overcome alcohol abuse.

Another study by Grob and Dartiu Xavier Silveira compared 40 adolescent ayahuasca drinkers with non-drinkers. The research showed positive outcomes, such as reduced alcohol consumption among UDV teenagers and improved mood, self-acceptance, and interpersonal relationships in participants. These studies contributed to understanding the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca

ARCHIVE of Dr. Charles Grob on the Psychedelic Salon

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com

Guest speakers: Elizabeth Gips and D.M. Turner

PROGRAM NOTES:

Today's podcast features what may be the only recorded interview of the legendary D.M. Turner. It was conducted by Elizabeth Gips.

FROM EROWID.ORG

Elizabeth Gips, was the beloved "psychedelic grandmother" and host of the radio show Changes where she interviewed hundreds of visionaries over a 30-year span.

D.M. Turner (born Joseph Vivian; 5 October 1962 – 31 December 1996) was an author, psychedelic researcher, and psychonaut who wrote two books on psychoactive drugs and entheogens. His first book, The Essential Psychedelic Guide, showcased his views on the subjective effects of various psychoactive and hallucinogenic substances. His second book, Salvinorin, addressed the effects of Salvia divinorum. Turner died after injecting an unknown quantity of ketamine while in a bathtub, drowning while presumably incapacitated by the effects of the drug.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com

Guest speakers: Ram Das and Dr. Kenneth Ring

PROGRAM NOTES:

Ram Das and a young Lorenzo

Today's podcast features two speakers, Ram Das and Dr. Kenneth Ring. Their topic is death! Unless you have come up with a plan to avoid dying, you may find some interesting observations from these talks.

Dr. Ring, one of the world's leading experts on the Near Death Experience (NDEs), describes NDEs as being along the same lines as are stories about high-dose psychedelic experiences.

Ram Das talks about why people avoid thinking about death and suggests ways to overcome this mental block. He also describes what I consider to be the worst possible setting for an acid trip.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com

Guest speaker: James Fadiman

PROGRAM NOTES:

James FadimanPhoto source: psychedelicpress.co.uk

Today we get to listen to a long-forgotten talk by one of our most important elders, James Fadiman. This is a talk that he gave at the Transpersonal Vision Convention in 1988 and in it Jim provides us with another way to think about our higher selves. He points out that the self is a collection of personalities. It is not unified and cannot be unified.

“Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, 'This is the real me,' and when you have found that attitude, follow it.”― William James, The Principles of Psychology

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com

Guest speaker: Jack Kornfield

PROGRAM NOTES:

Jack Kornfield

Mickey Hart

Today's podcast features Jack Kornfield speaking at the 1988 International Transpersonal Conference in Santa Rosa, California.

Kornfield is an American writer, teacher, and psychologist who is known for his work in making Buddhism more accessible for Westerners. He trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, India, and Burma, and has been teaching meditation internationally since 1974.

He has also spoken about psychedelics in the context of spiritual practice. His views on the intersection of Buddhism and psychedelics highlights the importance of intention, caution, and ethical boundaries when considering their use.

Kornfield also recommends getting trained in mindfulness, compassion and equanimity before using psychedelics. As he says, they are not for beginners.

Are Psychedelics Useful in the Practice of Buddhism? by Myron StolaroffJOURNAL OF HUMANISTICC PSYCHOLOGY

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com

Guest speaker: Ralph Metzner

PROGRAM NOTES:

RALPH METZNERImage source: Wikipedia

Today we're going to dip back in time to 1988 and the recording of a talk by Ralph Metzner at the Transpersonal Vision Conference. Ralph has been mentioned by several or our past speakers, but this is my first podcast in which Ralph is the main speaker.

Ralph was a German-born American psychologist, writer and researcher, who worked with Leary and Ram Das at Harvard. Sadly, Ralph died in 2019. In addition to being a psychotherapist, he was also Professor Emeritus of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com

Guest speaker: Terence McKenna

PROGRAM NOTES:

Esalen Institute near Big Sur, California

Although he first appeared at Esalen in the early 1970s, this may be the earliest recording of a Terence McKenna workshop there. It is from June of 1984.

I think this is Terence's best and most clearly detailed description of the psychedelic experience. And that is why I'm repodcasting it now, rather than refer you to a podcast that I first published in April of 2014.Among other little gem in this talk where Terence said that of all the people he'd given DMT to over many years, only FOUR of them reported an experience like the ones he described. And then, he admitted that, and I quote: "every single one of them had been primed by me."

Podcast 396 – “A Freely Evolving Topology of Light & Sound”

(This is the first podcast of this talk.(The title on the cassette is Mind, Molecules and Magic)

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com

Guest speakers: Terence McKenna, Dennis McKenna, Eduardo Luna, Kat Harrison

PROGRAM NOTES:

This is a recording of a workshop session at the Esalen Institute from August of 1985 featuring a conversation between three of the early pioneers of the psychedelic resurgence. The recording begins with Terence postulating the importance of pyschedelics in the early mental development of humans.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com

Guest speaker: Terence McKenna

PROGRAM NOTES:

Today's program features a recording of a morning workshop that Terence McKenna let at the Esalen Institute in August of 1985. As you will hear, it takes place just before their noon lunch break, and there is no lecture per se. Instead it turns into a salon-like atmosphere with no particular topic, other than the then-current concerns about the millinium and the year 2012.