Psychedelics, Mysticism, Aliens, and the Dao (Pierce Salguero and Dominic Steavu)

Dr Pierce Salguero sits down with Dominic Steavu, a historian of Chinese religion and healing from UC Santa Barbara. We discuss the central role of the body in medieval Daoist practices, and talk about the Daoist use of psychedelics to facilitate mystical experiences. Along the way, we touch on talismanic tattoos, internal alchemy, and embodied nonduality. Plus, Dominic reveals what he thinks about aliens and the Wu-Tang Clan.

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Resources related to this episode:

Christine Mollier, Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face (2009)

Pierce’s blog “In defense of a little romanticism… or, how Mr Miyagi inspired me to become a professor”

Pierce Salguero, Buddhish: A Guide to the 20 Most Important Buddhist Ideas for the Curious and Skeptical (2022)

Dominic Steavu, The Writ of the Three Sovereigns: From Local Lore to Institutional Daoism (2020)

Dominic Steavu, Transforming the Void: Embryological Discourse and Reproductive Imagery in East Asian Religions (2015)

Dominic’s Academia.edu page



Dr. Pierce Salguero is a transdisciplinary scholar of health humanities who is fascinated by historical and contemporary intersections between Buddhism, medicine, and crosscultural exchange. He has a Ph.D. in History of Medicine from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (2010), and teaches Asian history, medicine, and religion at Penn State University’s Abington College, located near Philadelphia. www.piercesalguero.com.

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