Fresh back from EGA (Entheogenesis Australis) which is the 2017 outdoor psychedelic symposium conference in Eildon, northern Victoria. Blown away and humbled.
I was fortunate enough to be accepted for a talk at this conference, which has been a dream of mine with 2014. I promised myself back then that I would be presenting at this 2017 conference, and with great support form the universe, this dream came to fruition. Yay! My talk took on a new meaning when afterwards we discovered that 2 friends due to be down at the conference, were no longer with us, and had died this very weekend form drug related overdoses. Both of these beautiful men had been struggling in the midst of addiction and been in recent contact with me to organise to work with Iboga in Bali, in an effort to face some of their pains. Not this life. A sharp reminder of why I do this work. Here's a synopsis of the presentation I was a part of, reflecting on Iboga as an sustainable addiction recovery tool:
I was also invited onto a panel discussion around the topic of 'Shamanism in the Modern World’ covering such controversial themes as cultural misappropriation, plant piracy, rituals, dogma and the like. What an honour to share the stage with Joe Tafur, Rak Razam, James Oroc and Steve McDonald, founder of PRISM!
Here's a synopsis of the panel discussion:
Highlights for me include:
- Kat Harrison's talk on reflections of her time with the Mazatec people of Oaxaca in Southern Mexico including personal accounts of her experiences with Psilocybe mushroom species, and by the unique mint species, Salvia divinorum, as well as many other plant medicine spirits. She is my biggest inspiration; an amazing woman, EthnoBotanist, plant custodian & protector. Her feminine awareness of the pant-person relationship is profound.
Check out her work at Botanical Dimensions:
- Rick Doblin's update on the status of MDMA for PTSD psychotherapy going through Phase 3 trials in the USA as you read. He painted out the roadmap we're going down with a time frame (not very long away!) and the success stories for war veterans and people with severe trauma. The results are beyond amazing. One of the most successful treatment for PTSD around and proving to be safe, non-addictive, and actually effective.
- Rowan's Communacacian Acacia cultivation workshop: fresh, engaging and hands on, teaching us all about the ancient Acacia and its plant medicine wisdom and lessons from the Australian land.
- Catch ups with Julian Palmer hearing of all his latest and craziest adventures, as all my Ethno-enthusiastic friends whom are spread out across the country, and planet. What a strong advocate for plant medicine.