Robert Forte has traveled the psychedelic path over the past 45 years, an adventure in consciousness that has taken him to very far and deeply personal realms. He has been a student, a researcher, a producer and a distributor of forbidden drugs, taught at university and graduate level. Robert has done field work in South America and had close personal relationships with many of the most significant instigators of the various psychedelic movements of our time. He considers that it is time we cultivate discernment of these several movements and to move the beneficent properties and effects of these drugs to the fore, while we separate ourselves from those who exploit them for deceptive or nefarious agendas. 

Episode Highlights

• Exploring the modern psychedelic movement's origins
• Robert Forte's journey into the psychedelic realm
• The Psychedelic Renaissance and its implications
• Robert's early experiences with psychedelics
• The role of psychedelics in ancient civilizations
• The dark side of psychedelics
• The true story of Timothy Leary
• Controversies surrounding MDMA
• The future of psychedelics
• Psychedelics and consciousness expansion
• Legalization and sovereign rights
• The industrial complex and psychedelics
• The possible influence of psychedelics on political figures such as JFK
• The impact of psychedelics on political activism
• The weaponization of the term 'Conspiracy Theory'
• The future of psychedelics and the Anti-War Movement

Robert Forte’s Links 

• Website: www.alteredstatesofamerica.net
• Facebook: Robert Forte

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Book: Timothy Leary: Outside Looking In: Appreciations, Castigations, and Reminiscences by Ram Dass, Andrew Weil, Allen Ginsberg, Winona Ryder, William ... Huston Smith, Hunter S. Thompson, and Others by Robert Forte
• Book: The Joyous Cosmology: Adventures in the Chemistry of Consciousness by Alan Watts
• Book: How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan
• Book: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• Book: The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell by Aldous Huxley
• Book: The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia by Alfred W. McCoy
• Book: Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion by Gary Webb
• Book: The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name by Brian C. Muraresku
• Book: The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries by R. Gordon Wasson
• Book: Mary's Mosaic: The CIA Conspiracy to Murder John F. Kennedy, Mary Pinchot Meyer, and Their Vision for World Peace by Peter Janney
• Book: Flashacks: An Autobiography by Timothy Leary
• Photo Essay: Seeking the Magic Mushroom by R. Gordon Wasson
• Speech: President John F. Kennedy’s Commencement Address at American University
• Video documentary: Giving LSD to Soldiers

Dr. Dölen earned her M.D., Ph.D. at Brown University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and completed postdoctoral training in the Department of Psychiatry at Stanford University. Dr. Dölen is currently an Associate professor of Neuroscience and Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine. Her laboratory has discovered a novel mechanism that could account for the broad range of therapeutic applications for which psychedelics are currently being tested. Specifically, the Dolen lab has discovered critical periods can be reopened with the psychedelic drugs like MDMA (Nardou, et al Nature, 2019), LSD, psilocybin, ketamine, and ibogaine (Nardou et al, Nature 2023). Importantly, understanding psychedelics through this framework dramatically expands the scope of disorders that might benefit from adjunct therapy with psychedelics, an approach she has dubbed the PHATHOM project (Psychedelic Healing: Adjunct Therapy Harnessing Opened Malleability).

Stefanie Cohen’s healing path began in an effort to heal herself from a decades-long struggle with anxiety and depression. After years of being on and off various psychotropic medications, she finally gave up and began seeking help from the natural world. In 2015, Stefanie started working with herbal allies in a ceremonial context and experienced the deep healing and vast intelligence the natural world offers.

Eventually, Stefanie returned to a state of peace and began a deep exploration into her own psyche and the true nature of consciousness. She then started working with meditation and contemplation, exploring the teachings of mystics and wisdom traditions. At the same time, studying and experiencing personally various therapeutic modalities such as Hakomi and Internal Family Systems, in which she holds a Level 1 certification. Stefanie also looked to indigenous teachings: apprenticing to soul work through Vision Quests and land-based practices, learning shamanism with Rose Khalsa and sitting in deep meditation with the moon and the mountain. She holds a certificate from the Synthesis Institute’s Psychedelic Practitioner Training, which offers a new paradigm for mental health care, and has completed the Rainbow Bridges School for Evolutionary Guides.

Stefanie brings humility and humor, honesty and compassion, skill and curiosity to her work with clients as she considers it a great honor to be able to work with them in that way.

Episode Highlights

• Discussing Dr. Gul's octopus study
• Understanding social behaviors in octopuses
• Effects of MDMA on octopuses
• Implications of the octopus experiment
• Exploring the concept of consciousness
• Understanding “critical periods” of learning
• Psychedelics as a potential master key for opening critical periods
• Understanding the effects of MDMA in different contexts
• Exploring the potential of psychedelics in enhancing specific skills
• The future of psychedelics in treating neuropsychiatric diseases
• Challenging the biochemical imbalance model of disease
• The evolutionary significance of critical periods
• The durations of different psychedelic medicines and their impact on critical periods
• The future of psychedelics in personal optimization and biohacking
• Controversy surrounding the use of psychedelics in autism treatment

Dr. Gul Dölen

• Website: www.dolenlab.org

Stefanie Cohen

• Website: www.harveymountainhealing.com

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Documentary: My Octopus Teacher (2020), directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed
• Book: Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman

Scott Berman is the founder of Sky Cave Retreats - the first darkness retreat center in the US. Throughout the last decade, he has spent over two years in self-guided solo retreats in remote wilderness. He did his first darkness retreat in 2012 and has spent over 70 days in multiple solo darkness retreats along with a couple with his wife Jill.

Over the last few years, he has supported hundreds of people in their dark retreats and has been pioneering the darkness therapy movement at his center in Southern Oregon.

Episode Highlights

• Exploring the concept of darkness retreats
• Scott's personal journey “into the dark”
• The impact of solitude and darkness on self-exploration
• Challenges and realizations from darkness retreats
• The role of openness and surrender in darkness retreats
• The difference between wilderness solitude and darkness retreats
• The role of safety and vulnerability in darkness retreats
• The structure and experience of a darkness retreat
• Various motivations and benefits of undertaking a darkness retreat
• The experience of timelessness and non-duality in darkness
• Understanding the science behind darkness retreats
• Preparing for a dark retreat
• The role of spirituality in darkness retreats
• Psychedelics in relation with darkness retreats

Scott Berman’s Links 

• Website: www.skycaveretreats.com
• Instagram: @skycaveretreats
• Facebook: Sky Cave Retreats

SNOW RAVEN - SUOR was born in one of the most remote and cold inhabited places in the world - the Republic of Sakha - Yakutia (arctic Siberia). She was three years old when she started to learn the language of birds and animals. Her voice takes its breath from traditional Sakha culture and is truly an instrument. She is the OG of “arctic beatbox” - the reindeer breath and the founder of OLOX ecosystem: Of Many Believes Common Truth.

SNOW RAVEN, participant of America’s Got Talent 2020, headlined Lightning in the Bottle, Lost Lands, The Elements, Lucidity Festival, OmRising, Beloved, Sundance Film Festival and played multiple shows at Burning Man. SNOW RAVEN also took part in Bioneers ECOconference, the international forum Arctic Circle-2015 in Iceland, in the French-American Arctic expedition Pax Arctica (DeLong Islands) sponsored by the Prince Monaco Foundation and in the International Beatbox Championship as a special guest. In 2023 she spoke at TEDx Vermont, Yale University.

Episode Highlights

• Snow Raven's cultural background and musical journey
• Exploring shamanism and Sakha culture
• Adjusting to a new life in the United States
• The power of sound and trance
• Snow Raven's childhood and connection to nature
• Her travels and musical mission
• The impact of modern life on sensory perception
• Shamanic journeying and the role of shamans
• Snow Raven's personal shamanic experience
• The healing power of sound and music
• Snow Raven's vision for the future
• The role of psychedelics in shamanic practice
• A musical performance on the mouth harp 

Snow Raven - SUOR’s Links 

• Website: www.olox.life
• Instagram: @snowravenofficial
• Snow Raven’s Album - Home:
  • Spotify
  • Apple Music

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Organization: Thank You Life: A Psychedelic Therapy Nonprofit

Tricia Eastman is an initiated medicine woman and the founder of the nonprofit organization, Ancestral Heart. At her core, she serves as a bridge for the preservation and reciprocity of ancestral wisdom traditions and biocultural heritage. Drawing influence from her mestiza ancestral lineage, and with nearly a decade of experience as an initiate of the Bwiti tradition from equatorial Africa, Eastman has curated transformative retreats worldwide in legal jurisdictions with plant medicines supporting many in inner transformation, as well as facilitated the psychospiritual program with Ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT at Crossroads Treatment Center in México. Among those she has supported in transformative experiences are celebrities, political dignitaries, and Special Forces veterans. Readers can look forward to her upcoming book, Seeding Consciousness: Plant Medicine, Ancestral Wisdom, and the Path to Transcendence, set to be published by Inner Traditions in 2024. As the Hu Azores Wellness Retreat Center gears up for its 2025 launch, Eastman continues to serve in the global psychedelic movement, rooted in sacred paths to empowerment and creativity.

Episode Highlights

• Tricia’s personal journey and challenges
• Her discovery of psychedelic medicine
• Transformations moving into service to others
• The spiritual and architectural approach to building a healing retreat center
• Capitalism and its impact on personal growth
• Challenges in implementing innovative ideas
• Designing private bungalows in a UNESCO protected sanctuary
• The concept of houses of thought
• Introduction to Tricia’s book 'Seeding Consciousness'
• The inspiration and process of writing a book
• The importance of initiatory rights in the psychedelic space
• The role of discipline in personal growth
• The impact of neurodivergence on productivity
• The role of psychedelics in healing
• The importance of compassion in holding space for others
• The future of psychedelics and the importance of reciprocity
• The potential future shifts for humanity
• A closing prayer for harmony and healing

Tricia Eastman’s Links 

• Website: www.ancestralheart.com
• Instagram: @psychedelicjourneys

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Book: The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
• Book: If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff
• Psychedelic Program for Veterans: The Mission Within

Victoria Wueschner serves as president and co-founder of F.I.V.E (5-MeO-DMT Information and Vital Education), which aims to promote harm reduction within the psychedelic community. Her mission at F.I.V.E is to provide the world with a centralized hub for all resources and education on 5-MeO-DMT, in hopes of bringing awareness to the ethics, integrity, and safety of 5-MeO-DMT. She has developed a 1 year long 5-MeO-DMT training program including over 35+ guest teachers and speakers where she trains facilitators. Her dedication to her craft earned her a position with the international psychedelic wellness company Kaivalya Kollectiv, where she currently works as both the head of education and a retreat leader at Tandava Retreats in Tepoztlán, México.

Dr. Holly Richmond is a Somatic Psychotherapist, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT) and Certified Sex Therapist (CST) with an expertise in the recovery of sexual health after sexual trauma. In addition to sex therapy, sexual wellness coaching and co-facilitating international sexual health retreats,  Dr. Holly sits on the Clinical Board of Directors for Dame Products. Additionally, she is the Associate Director of Modern Sex Therapy Institutes where she is also a faculty member and clinical supervisor. Her book and online course, Reclaiming Pleasure are innovative platforms to expand her reach as a sexual trauma expert. Most recently, she has partnered with a law firm specializing in large civil cases for survivors of sexual trauma, where she works as an expert witness and consultant. Dr. Holly is regularly quoted in publications and media outlets including The New York Times, CNN, Shape, NBC, Wired, Oprah, Men’s Health, and Women’s Health. She is a sought-after consultant in the sextech industry, and is seen as a pioneer in the exploration of the intersection of sex and technology.

Episode Highlights

• The healing power of 5-MeO-DMT 
• The role of psychotherapy in treating sexual trauma
• The journey of a sexual trauma survivor
• The role of 5-MeO-DMT in healing sexual trauma
• Deanne’s experience as a survivor and the impact of 5-MeO-DMT on her healing
• Integration: life as a survivor post 5-MeO-DMT 
• The future of healing retreats for sexual trauma survivors
• The power of community in healing sexual trauma
• The role of other healing modalities in the retreat
• The potential for future retreats and healing opportunities at Tandava

Victoria Wueschner’s Links 

• Website: www.five-meo.education
• Instagram: @sacredsurrendermedicine
• Facebook: Victoria Wueschner

Dr. Holly Richmond’s Links 

• Website: www.drhollyrichmond.com
• Instagram: @drhollyrichmond
• X: @drhollyrichmond
• Online free course: Reclaiming Pleasure

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Book: Reclaiming Pleasure: A Sex Positive Guide for Moving Past Sexual Trauma and Living a Passionate Life by Dr. Holly Richmond
• Educational Video: Fight Child Abuse - Protect Yourself Rules: Safe Touch / Unsafe Touch

Jen Whaley is a physician assistant, a certified psychedelic-assisted therapist, a yoga instructor, a breathwork facilitator, a full-spectrum doula, and a psychospiritual life coach. Whatever the modality, she specializes in helping you cultivate the mindset and environment that will best support your healing potential, all while guiding you deeper and deeper within, where she believes we will each find the answers to our questions, the solutions to our problems, and the wellness, wholeness, and peace that we seek.

After graduating in 2011 from the University of Detroit Mercy with a bachelor's of science in biology and a master's of science in physician assistant studies, Jen worked as a PA in both emergency medicine and women's health. In 2017, her own personal journey led her towards a more alternative path of health and wellness. In this process, she attended her first yoga teacher training, and discovered the healing potential of plant medicine, breathwork, and A Course in Miracles, all which she now integrates into her offerings. 

In 2019 she returned to school at The California Institute of Integral Studies and received a post-graduate Certificate of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy and Research. She then went on to train in Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy in 2020, as well as to certify as a Birth & Postpartum Doula in 2021, before becoming a mother herself in 2022. Recently, she studied the Physics of Emotioning and certified in Core Issue Completion Coaching with Dr. Michael Lukens, before joining him and a team of extraordinary providers to cocreate Lucidelix, providing clients a unique and holistic, Ketamine-Assisted approach to healing and wellness.

Episode Highlights

• Jen Whaley ’s shift beyond her Western medical training into more alternative health practices
• How ayahuasca helped Jen recognize and overcome codependency in her relationship
• Surrender and perspective shifts as transformative aspects of psychedelic medicine work
• Jen’s psychedelic therapy training at the California Institute of Integral Studies and the support she now offers others in their work with psychedelic medicines
• Following one’s intuition when choosing what psychedelics to work with
• Integration after psychedelic experiences as critical for fully embodying insights and healing received in psychedelic journeys
• How MDMA can down-regulate the amygdala and allow individuals with PTSD to revisit traumatic experiences without triggering the fight or flight response
• How MDMA helps establish trust in therapy for individuals with trauma histories
• The central role self-love, self-care and play in the healing process
• Motherhood as a potent teacher and its own psychedelic journey
• Embracing all emotions and fostering emotional intelligence in children 
• How Jen incorporates ketamine therapy and emotional completions into her practice
• Ketamine as a therapeutic tool for emotional healing and growth

Jen Whaley’s Links 

• Website: www.jwhaleywellness.com
• Instagram: @jwhaleywellness
• Facebook: Jen Whaley
• Other current projects: www.lucidelix.com

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Book: A Course in Miracles by Foundation For Inner Peace
• Book: A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles" by Marianne Williamson
• Book: How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michaela Pollan
• CIIS’ Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research
• Psychedelic Expert and Pioneer: Dr. William Richards 

Zeus Tipado is a Neuropsychopharmacology PhD candidate at Maastricht University focusing on researching the brain while under DMT inside virtual/extended reality. He’s using fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) to give humanity its first glimpse on brain energy distribution and perceptual alterations in the visual cortex during this unique psychedelic process.

Stefanie Cohen’s healing path began in an effort to heal herself from a decades-long struggle with anxiety and depression. After years of being on and off various psychotropic medications, she finally gave up and began seeking help from the natural world. In 2015, Stefanie started working with herbal allies in a ceremonial context and experienced the deep healing and vast intelligence the natural world offers.

Eventually, Stefanie returned to a state of peace and began a deep exploration into her own psyche and the true nature of consciousness. She then started working with meditation and contemplation, exploring the teachings of mystics and wisdom traditions. At the same time, studying and experiencing personally various therapeutic modalities such as Hakomi and Internal Family Systems, in which she holds a Level 1 certification. Stefanie also looked to indigenous teachings: apprenticing to soul work through Vision Quests and land-based practices, learning shamanism with Rose Khalsa and sitting in deep meditation with the moon and the mountain. She holds a certificate from the Synthesis Institute’s Psychedelic Practitioner Training, which offers a new paradigm for mental health care, and has completed the Rainbow Bridges School for Evolutionary Guides.

Stefanie brings humility and humor, honesty and compassion, skill and curiosity to her work with clients as she considers it a great honor to be able to work with them in that way.

Episode Highlights

• Exploring neuropsychopharmacology with Zeus
• Understanding the effects of DMT on the brain
• The impact of psychedelics on perception
• Exploring different psychedelic substances and their effects
• The mystery of different trips generated from activity of the same receptor
• The role of the visual cortex in psychedelic experiences
• The connection between psychedelics and consciousness
• Exploring the mysteries of reality through science
• The role of electromagnetism in our perception of reality
• The potential of virtual reality in psychedelic research

Zeus Tipado

• Website: www.linktr.ee/tipado

Stefanie Cohen

• Website: www.harveymountainhealing.com

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Book: The Ra Material: An Ancient Astronaut Speaks (Law of One) by Rueckert & McCarty
• Interview: Lex Fridman Podcast - Mark Zuckerberg: First Interview in the Metaverse
• Scientist: Thomas F. Varley

Jen Bruce is a Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Practitioner, Psychedelic Integration specialist, Kundalini yoga teacher, life coach and a founding member of Decriminalize Nature Arcata CA. She specializes in holistic treatment for addiction, trauma and mental health recovery. Jen is a mother of one daughter and has been dedicated to her own recovery path for the past 13 years.

Episode Highlights

• The connection between addiction and trauma and the importance of addressing both the physical and emotional aspects of recovery
• How ibogaine can provide a reset and alleviate suffering, but should not be viewed as a permanent solution in and of itself
• How combining modalities like 12-step programs, ibogaine, nutrition, and lifestyle changes can lead to higher success rates in addiction recovery
• Challenges and concerns within the unregulated Ibogaine industry
• Balancing personal recovery with motherhood and the importance of self-care and boundaries
• Commitment, willingness to do the work, and a supportive community as key for individuals coming out of treatment
• Finding a higher power or connection to something greater than oneself

Jen Bruce’s Links 

• Website: www.humanscanheal.com
• Facebook: Jen Bruce
• Jen’s interview for Normalize Psychedelics' Psychedelic Healing Stories:
  • Healing from Alcohol Addiction with the 12 Steps and Ibogaine
  • What is Ibogaine?
  • Recovery Culture: Stop being frightened of possibility

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Jen Bruce’s Three-Month Coaching Program: The Recovery Reset

Dr. Joanna Kujawa is the author of The Other Goddess: Mary Magdalene and the Goddesses of Eros and Secret Knowledge, scholar, and spiritual detective. She received her BA and MA from the Pontifical Institute for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada, and her PhD from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. As an active academic for over 20 years, she uses her scholarly training to investigate topics other academics often pass over, such as: Can spirituality and sexuality be experienced as one? Who was the real Mary Magdalene? Is there a lineage of Goddesses now resurfacing in our collective experience of spirituality?

Apart from her writings for academic publications on spiritual travel, Joanna has also had her short stories and essays published through various media and in many prestigious anthologies, including Best Australian Stories, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, She Rises. She is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Goddess Studies and co-edited an academic volume on Spiritual Tourism.

Episode Highlights

• Reclaiming and embodying feminine energy
• Dr. Joanna’s personal experiences with awakening and initiation, including encounters with Kundalini energy
• The need to de-dogmatize ourselves and choose our own spiritual path
• The power of connecting with different aspects of feminine energy through goddess archetypes
• The balance of masculine and feminine energies as crucial for a more harmonious world
• Embodying the feminine to positively transform ourselves and the world around us
• Mary Magdalene’s relationship with Jesus and challenging the traditional portrayal of her as a prostitute
• How consciousness and non-duality play significant roles in understanding and working with energy
• A redefinition of sin as a consequence of actions based on lower levels of consciousness
• The four levels of consciousness outlined in The Gospel of Mary Magdalene
• How connecting with the archetypes of goddesses can enable us to tap into our vast potential
• Sexuality, spirituality and sexual alchemy

Dr. Joanna Kujawa’s Links 

• Website: www.joannakujawa.com
• Instagram: @drjoannakujawa.theothergoddess
• Facebook: Dr. Joanna Kujawa

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Dr. Joanna Kujawa’s Talks and Workshops
• Book: The Other Goddess: Mary Magdalene and the Goddesses of Eros and Secret Knowledge by Dr. Joanna Kujawa
• Book: Jerusalem Diary: Searching For The Tomb And House Of Jesus by Dr. Joanna Kujawa
• Book: Light on Tantra in Kashmir Shaivism: Chapter One of Abhinavagupta's Tantraloka by Swami Lakshmanjoo and John Hughes
• Book: First Templar Nation: How Eleven Knights Created a New Country and a Refuge for the Grail by Freddy Silva
• Book: Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World by Bill Plotkin
• Gnostic Scriptures and Fragments: The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene
• Scientist and Educator: Gregg Braden