With this week's episode, we get more of the backstory of Norbu as a Priest of the Mystic Toad and learn more about what's going on with Shuntsu and his motivations. The full audiobook of The Solandarian Game is available at Audible, and the PDF version of the AI-illustrated version of the novel is at my shop at my Patreon page. Enjoy this next installment!

And here's a quote from Chapter 9: “All of reality is one being playing an endless game with itself. Never forget your true identity as the One, and then everything will be clear. When we forget, we think we are the characters that we play, but this is only a partial truth and masking of true reality. You and I, Norbu, are in truth one being, united with all else that exists. There is only one. If you can let this truth be the core of your being and your experience, then you will always live in truth, and only by living in truth can we ever hope to truly help others find themselves. All else is a game of confusion. Learn to play the real game, and there you will always find peace in your heart.” 

Inspired by his recent post about receiving religious freedom tax exempt status, I invited Ian Wallin of Ashland's Psilo Sangha for an interview to share his story of the process of setting up a religious ministry for psilocybin sacraments. We met at Ian's downtown Ashland office where he shared his emotionally raw and surprising story of attempting to work through two different psilocybin assisted services facilitator training programs for the state of Oregon, which did not go well, to put it bluntly. In this lengthy and very personal interview, Ian gives us an intimate inside look at some of the problems in the state-run program, and how it inspired him to take his mission into his own hands and make Psilo Sangha official.

And here's an additional statement from Ian: "I'd like to start by saying thanks again, Martin, for giving me the opportunity to share my experience in creating Psilo Sangha and giving me the opportunity to introduce our church to the community. I want to give a big shout out to our amazing team and board of directors, Jaron Riddle, Anna keppen, Dani Thomas, Urith Davis, and Caleb Upperton, along with all of our beautiful supporters. We're an eclectic group from different backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and gender identities, and I'm just extremely thrilled we've found each other and united in support of this spiritual work and practice. I also want to bow and thank my mom, Jaymie Lujan, for being so supportive of me as I've tripped and stumbled and crawled and dusted myself off along this path. We've often had a difficult relationship but this medicine has been very healing for both of us. Our board is going to visit her where she lives in Oaxaca next year, and she's going to connect us with a traditional curandera, in support of our efforts to better honor and understand the indigenous roots of these practices. I know we're all really excited to deepen our relationship with this medicine and hopefully build a bridge with that community in Oaxaca."

My guest this week is author Paul Karasik who's here to discuss his newly released book, Getting High on Leadership. In addition to being an author, Paul is from the old school psychedelic world who has found new life in the modern psychedelic movement and is the founder of the Psychedelic Institute of Los Angeles and is the organizer of the Psychedelic Awakening event in LA, which got started in 2023 and will be returning for 2024. In this interview we discuss his early experiences with psychedelics, his renewed interest in the "psychedelic renaissance," and of course, his new book.

This week I'm joined by author, Astraeus Amori, to discuss his new book, Psychedelic Sacred Sexuality. We discuss the role of various psychedelics in sexual experiences and how to work with your consenting partner. You can find out more about him and his book at his website.

My guest this week is Pablo Lopez, a psychotherapist in Spain, who is interested in how the nonduality and energetics of the 5-MeO-DMT experience relate to human development, egoic blocks, sexuality, and more. We have a wide-ranging conversation on these and other topics in this interview. Due to its length, the last 3rd of the conversation has been posted to my Patreon page exclusively for my Patrons.

Also, as a special treat this week, we've got the track "Love is the Law" from musician Coren Smith who has just released his newest album, "Divine Will". The album is out now on all digital music platforms and you can find it at Spotifiy here 

A few weeks ago, The Church of the Sacred Synthesis released information to the public that their year-long research into the chemistry of their sacrament, the novel compound of Psilomethoxin (4-HO-5-MeO-DMT), had yielded promising results. To help us understand what they've done and what they've found, I've invited their science officer, Adam McKay, and Ian Benouis to join me in a 3-way conversation about the research, the results, and where they're going from here. Just a reminder to my listening audience: I am not a chemist! Adam presents as a careful researcher and his findings seem interesting and compelling to me, but again, I'm not a chemist. Listen in and hear what he has to say . . .