N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), dubbed the ‘spirit molecule,’ is an extremely potent short acting psychedelic substance found endogenously in the human organism and occurring widely (possibly ubiquitously in many kingdoms) in nature, and has been theorised to account for numerous spontaneous exceptional experiences such as those occurring near or at death. The traditional indigenous use of DMT ...

I have worked for worldwide rainforests since 1979. Although many of our efforts succeeded, for every forest saved, 100 have disappeared. Clearly, you can’t save the planet one forest at a time: one green Earth or a bowl of dust.  Without a profound change of consciousness, we can kiss the forests goodbye, the ones we’ve ...

Evolving from my 2015 Honours thesis examining the overlaps, intersections, and parallels between the philosophy of Deep Ecology and the Ayahuasca experience, this presentation explores the concept of ‘The ecological Self’ as a key aspect of entheogenic awakening. The ecological Self is a concept developed by Deep Ecologists such as Freya Mathews, Arne Naess, John ...

Friday, 31st January 2020, was a momentous day in the history of psychedelic research in Australia, as the clinical team of St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne’s landmark trial of psilocybin-assisted therapy for anxiety and depression associated with terminal illness treated their first participant in their first drug-therapy session. That day marked just over two years after ...

The “living room” has long been considered the optimal spatial configuration to contain therapeutic psychedelic experiences. Recognised for its ability to elicit feelings of comfort and safety and positioned in diametric opposition to notions of the clinical, it is now possible to find these uncanny relics of domesticity nested within the envelope of psychedelic research ...

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive tea containing DMT and several harmala alkaloids, which have been used ceremonially for centuries by Indigenous Amazonian groups. Recent decades have seen the brew gaining popularity internationally for its renowned therapeutic and spiritual effects. This has been evident in large numbers of people travelling to South America to partake in ayahuasca ...

David Holmgren draws on a lifelong passion for ethnobotanical knowledge and practise to tell stories that celebrate abundance and diversity, pushing the boundaries of social and, at times, legal norms. These true stories cut paths through the psychosocial wilderness towards a relocalised ethnobotany of the everyday to sustain us in the shadow of failing techno ...

  We are going to explore psychotropic herbalism, organic biological organisms used as a medicine that have an affinity for the mind. In particular, herbs that have an affinity for the parts of the mind that govern our interpretation of information from the external world and in response, adapt our inner world. Medicines that regulate ...

The principles for psychedelic support (otherwise known as ‘trip sitting’) that are promoted by international groups like MAPS Zendo Project and Kosmicare Association, as well as PRISM. Psychedelic support in music event settings is different from psychedelic assisted psychotherapy (PAP) in many ways. For example, with PAP a sitter is with a person when they ...

  Prior to MDMA being banned internationally in 1987, it was showing promise as a pharmacological adjunct to psychotherapy. In the past decade, there has been significant global growth in clinical trials of MDMA that have shown MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can be effective in treating treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol use disorder, and social anxiety ...