In the words of Terence McKenna, since the rise of western monotheism the human experience has been marginalized. We have been told that we were unimportant in the cosmic drama when one considers the power of creation of the one God. But we now know as the global temperatures rise and glaciers melt from the burning of fossil fuels and the feedback mechanisms associated with the greenhouse effect: the impact of human culture on the Earth is massive. So how do we reverse the course of destruction created out of the human imagination? Some have postulated plant medicines learned from Indigenous societies of the Americas have a way to reintegrate humans into the processes of the Earth to heal the sickness and warming all around.

In this show from 2024, we explore human symbiotic relationships with plants and chemicals in the sacred peyote medicine used by the Native American Church in the US and in societies in the mountains of Mexico. We look at the work of several ethnobotanists who also studied the plants and the rites associated with ayahuasca or yage in South America. Richard Evans Schultes and Terence McKenna researched the ancient human relationship with chemicals that would open the doorway to the divine, and perhaps a solution for saving our troubled world. This show aims to explore the powerful potential to replace abuse of illegal drugs with a shamanic understanding, insistence on community, reverence for nature, and increased self-awareness that can re-orient people to heal the fractured relationships with our communities and ecosystems.

Resources/Articles:

Sacred Peyote Short documentary

Creed Spencer Film

with Bryce Jarrett

Appearing: Lisa Aldred PhD

Hartford Stops Crow

Dennis Holds - Crow

Alexandra Witkin-New Holy PhD Montana State Univ

Link: https://youtu.be/9rYdgHx8yrw?si=HWYDh8USmEEezLvC

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Fred Wahpepah - About the Peyote Ceremony from 7 Circles Foundation

https://youtu.be/7qa6N7anaV8?si=bNKuyXo_aTUT1IOp

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Benedict Allen

Peyote the last of the medicine men - Huichol People of Mexico

https://www.benedictallen.com/

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Native Lens: Healing Through Peyote -- Rocky Mountain PBS

Amber Lahabe Dine/Navajo

Video: https://youtu.be/Q7gR5oXARII?si=XxHb1OrkdAS5vTOu

Icaros: https://youtu.be/hS21jI7p3hQ?si=QzRvHyvk2jhDRJTi

Father of Modern Ethnobotany, Richard Evans Schultes Interview from 1990

https://youtu.be/1lxtn7zbQfw?si=Z_5UXi0IOG-ml8Xg

Terence McKenna Culture is Your Operating System

https://youtu.be/9c8an2XZ3MU?si=kEfa47NLkh8-mZND

Terence McKenna - Eros and the Eschaton

https://wilderutopia.com/performance/literary/terence-mckenna-on-shamanic-schizophrenia-and-cultural-healing/

Jack Eidt is an urban planner, environmental journalist, and climate organizer, as well as award-winning fiction writer. He is Co-Founder of SoCal 350 Climate Action and Executive Producer of EcoJustice Radio. He is also Founder and Publisher of WilderUtopia [https://wilderutopia.com], a website dedicated to the question of Earth sustainability, finding society-level solutions to environmental, community, economic, transportation and energy needs.

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/

Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/

Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio

PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url

Executive Producer and Host: Jack Eidt

Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats

Episode 225

Photo credit: Mikhail Nilov on Pexels