A rich stroll through a wide realm of topics relating to grief with the brilliant Camille Sapara Barton. Topics include the dynamic balance of connection to spirit and to the material aspects of life; parents and their grown children, learning to enjoy one another; cultivating an intentional grief practice (ideally in community) and Cami’s new book - Tending Grief.

Picking up a thread for the conversation with Ayize Jama-Everett earlier this year, we talk about evil, and how this might relate to grief. Cami shares some of the cosmology and cultural elements of the Dagara tribe that inspired them as they wrote the book. They also share about the grief of uncertainty, and the mass loss of the Covid pandemic, and grieving things that have not yet come to an end, such as ongoing systemic oppression.

We discuss joy and cultivating space for play, as part of grief tending. Cami imparts their experience with this work - that feeling one emotion opens them up to a greater depth of engagement with life and its full spectrum of feelings and experiences. We also hear sound guidance around finding spaces that can safely hold us in our grief.

Links: https://camillesaparabarton.com/

https://camillesaparabarton.com/tending-grief-book/

In this episode, Alex Carelli of ThetaSoma comes back on the podcast to talk about her recent experience through the portal of transformation through death, grief and ceremony. How can we support ourselves and one another when dealing with loss and profound change? What does it mean to become the anchor?

Bio: Alexandra is an artist, writer, speaker & teacher. She is a current doctoral student of Transpersonal Psychology at Sofia University with a research concentration in dream studies, shamanism and eco-psychology.

Along her journey, she has studied with masters of the metaphysical healing arts in yoga, Ayurveda, tarot, astrology, divination, and sacred ritual practice woven with an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy. Alexandra's work and words act as a transpersonal bridge between the cosmos, nature and the human world to spark inspiration, introspection, and collective healing.

@‌alexandra.carelli @‌thetasoma

alexandracarelli.substack.com

www.thetasoma.com

A long time friend joins The Psychedologist for a conversation about the gnosis of spirituality, or direct experience of and participation with the divine.

Alex, co-creator of ThetaSoma, comes on the show to discuss fitting big spiritual experiences into the matrix of contemporary culture. She elucidates the subcultural story that the world is not spiritual. We discuss evidence that many of us have lost gnosis and the ability to embody spirituality - Alex explains this as being because of religion, and even the written word. Alex goes on to express how psychedelics give us a gnosis of spirituality.

How can we move from fighting, to connecting; how can we work from a place of curiosity and desire to understand, rather than a need to be right and enforce our view on others? We uplift the value in developing our ability to question whatever we've been taught. Alex says, "we're living in a time where we desperately need new prophecies. We need to be conscious of whose words we are speaking." The conversation closes with a nod to the relationship between spiritual and ecological restoration, and plans to record a part 2.

Bio: Alexandra is an artist, writer, speaker & teacher. She is a current doctoral student of Transpersonal Psychology at Sofia University with a research concentration in dream studies, shamanism and eco-psychology.

Along her journey, she has studied with masters of the metaphysical healing arts in yoga, Ayurveda, tarot, astrology, divination, and sacred ritual practice woven with an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy. Alexandra's work and words act as a transpersonal bridge between the cosmos, nature and the human world to spark inspiration, introspection, and collective healing.

Links:

@‌thetasoma

www.thetasoma.com

A fascinating and dynamic episode with one of my favorite humans in the universe, Britta Love. We discuss.. giving ourselves the space to feel heartbreak and grief; living in sanist culture; surrogate partner therapy; how the Wheel of Consent can support psychedelic communities with some of the common struggles we’re seeing in the movement, and an upcoming retreat for psychedelic practitioners to learn and practice the Wheel of Consent.

Britta Love (they/she) weaves between the worlds of conscious sexuality and psychedelic ritual, with a through line of social justice and embodied consent. They became an advocate for sex worker’s rights as an undergraduate at the London School of Economics and Social Sciences in 2007 and have been a writer and activist pushing for the decriminalization of drugs and sex work ever since. Britta is a certified somatic sex educator through the Institute for the Study of Somatic Sex Education, has trained with Betty Martin’s School of Consent and is a certified circle keeper with the Planning Change Restorative Justice Certification Program under the tutelage of Kay Pranis. Britta is currently completing a research-based memoir about healing and awakening through altered states induced by sex and psychedelics, based on her Consciousness Studies thesis at Goddard College. They are also in the process of launching the Sex Strike // Strike for Pleasure in response to the US abortion bans. Their embodied experience as a queer, neurodivergent, sex working femme navigating complex trauma and chronic illness are integral to their work.

Links:

www.brittaloved.com and @‌brittaloved

The event has been postponed, tentatively til 2025!

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/helenadefelice/1249260

Sapha from Sacred Rebels Recovery returns to the show to talk about his learnings from another year working on the land and serving people who are on a pathway to recovery from addiction. We discuss nuances of plant medicine work, specifically various difficulties and complexities that emerge when western/colonized culture, systems and values meet the ways of Shipibo/Indigenous culture. Sapha shares his reflections on the dance of deconstructing ego without unconsciously reinforcing it, working with power, and other shadow sides and limitations of an apprenticeship model.

Bio: Sapha is a practicing curandero, apprentice of Maestro Ricardo Amaringo at Nihue Rao Centro Espiritual, and founder of a permaculture project. With over 6 years of experience in ayahuasca-assisted therapy for substance use recovery and 2 years of dietas in the Shipibo Tradition including a year long dieta, Sapha offers guidance and support to individuals seeking to overcome problematic substance use. After overcoming a 16-year battle with problem substance use, Sapha shifted his focus to social work, psychedelic therapy, drug user advocacy, fitness and holistic recovery. He has been abstinent from alcohol, cocaine and opiates for 9 years.

Sapha provides various services including preparation for ayahuasca ceremonies, inpatient rehabilitative treatment programs, recovery mentorship, and personalized long term recovery support. He is currently leading the Sacred Rebels Recovery Program which has been operating for 2 years in the Peruvian Amazon. Sapha is working to expand the project by bringing it to North America in the next 12-24 months.

Links: www.sacredrebelsrecovery.com

A heartfelt and dynamic conversation with the brilliant Carolyn Sanita Taylor-Harris. In this episode, we discuss the journey of changing one's environment to re-ground and reconnect, while practicing nonattachment to thoughts, patterns, words, and stories that aren't ours - allowing for our own Metamorphosis. We offer gratitude for the cycles, embracing and embodying the beauty of the shifts, adjustments, pivots along the way. Carolyn shares about being OK with the mind (and, "thinking!"). We talk about meditation, the bypassing that sometimes happens in spiritual traditions, and the value of being proud of ourselves and celebrating our progress. Carolyn gives a shoutout to Grandmother wisdom, and to offering a space of softness, grace and compassion to Black and Brown women. The conversation winds down with a discussion of spiritually working with the energy of money, rebuilding trust that we are held and supported, and last (but not least) - the healing power of hugs.

Bio: Carolyn Sanita Taylor-Harris is a cultivator of safer containers and advocate for unapologetically speaking your truth and making space to sit within the discomfort to allow for expansion. She believes in the transformative power of story telling and has witnessed paradigm shifts occur with the telling of an inspirational, authentic story. She’s a proud southern, Black woman who offers her educational and personal experiences to those who need and desire within integrative health and wellness.

Links:

sanitasoulwellness.com

@‌sanitasoulwellness

@‌Blackadelics

A sit down with Anthony West of ThetaSoma, a trauma-informed, intuitive, healing technique that integrates tools from yoga, dreamwork and ancestral healing.

Anthony is an artist, creator and founder of ThetaSoma™. He is passionate about supporting others to heal their ancestral lineage, activate purpose, and expand their creative potential as human beings. Anthony reconnects you to your ancestors and magic through ritual tattoo; creates temple-inspired installations for festivals and events; co-leads the ThetaSoma™ Guide Training; and offers 1:1 mentorship and creativity coaching.

Links:

IG: @‌asiriorsarts @‌thetasoma

www.thetasoma.com

The Magnificent Mother, Midwife, Doula and Spiritual Intuitive returns to The Psychedologist!

Sit back and enjoy a rich conversation about transitioning through life, being OK with where you are, living by example and trusting in what feels good to lead you to where you need to go.

The luminous Sovereign Xavier lights up the room! In this episode we talk about mending, the birth of Blackadelics in Colorado, collective and decentralized movements, deepening commitment to community, sharing resources, and queerness giving hope for the world.

Sovereign serves as a catalyst for systemic change, leading as Founder and Co-Creator of ALKEMI Consulting and Development, a niche consulting firm that specializes in transmuting individuals, communities, and organizations through the process of alchemy. Collaborating with individuals, organizations, and movements, Sovereign facilitates the transmutation of cultural, interpersonal, and ecological design. Their work is grounded in core values of self-care, community care, and collective liberation, striving to create inclusive ecosystems where every voice is heard and valued. Sovereign believes in shared responsibility for creating positive change and emphasizes the importance of mutual support and care in pursuit of collective liberation.

Links:

IG: Sovereign_Xavier

Email: [email protected]

The course Leia mentioned taking, Roots Deeper than Whiteness, was organized by White Awake https://whiteawake.org/

The second ​episode of a two ​part series, with Justice Rivera and Paula Graciela Kahn of Body Autonomy: Decolonizing Sex Work and Drug Use!

In this conversation, Justice, who compiled the essays and stories that make up the book, and contributor Paula Graciela Kahn, go deep into topics such as substance use, colonization, bodily sovereignty, rites of passage, sex worker centered harm reduction, collectivity, and the importance of education to help shift paradigms.

Body Autonomy is coming out May 14, 2024 - you can preorder it from Synergetic Press here:

https://synergeticpress.com/catalog/body-autonomy-decolonizing-sex-work-drug-use/

Justice Rivera (she/they; ella/elle) is a writer, social justice consultant, harm reductionist, and pleasure activist based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Justice’s professional and artistic work is grounded in principles of harm reduction, anti-oppression, and healing justice. Her expressions seek to deconstruct carceral and punishment-driven paradigms to race, gender, and bodily autonomy. Justice has worked to provide direct services, organizing leadership, and capacity building support to people in the sex trade, survivors of trafficking, and people who use drugs in Denver, Washington DC, Seattle, and nationally. She is now a Partner with Reframe Health and Justice Consulting. She is collectrix and co-author of Body Autonomy: Decolonizing Sex Work and Drug Use. When she isn’t working, Justice loves to travel, cook, volunteer, and play with her cat, friends, and family.

Paula Graciela Kahn (she/they) is a first-generation Mayan-Iberian-Ashkenazi Jewish community-based researcher, policy advocate, movement strategist, edu-tainer, facilitator, herbalist and healing arts practitioner. Paula's research investigates the roles of
psychoactive substances in pluri-cultural contexts for processes of historical memory, accountability, reparations,
reconciliation, transitional and transformative justice, demilitarization, disarmament and reintegration.

Links:

Pre-order Bodily Autonomy

Justice’s website
IG @‌justicerivera_writes
twitter @‌justice_writes

Paula’s website
IG @‌plurproductions