"Each time a medicine man dies, it's as though a library burned down."
Psychedelic Plants, Culture, and Conservation
Psychedelics for emotion regulation and scientific breakthroughs.
Psilocybin’s effects on the brain that help cure depression.
The need to preserve shamanic wisdom.
How the international ban on psychedelics has destroyed research and cultures.
Last week, I had the pleasure of hearing talks on these electrifying topics while (virtually) volunteering for the Ethnopharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs (ESPD55) conference, curated by the inimitable Dennis McKenna – ethnopharmacologist, founder of the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy, and brother of the late great Terence McKenna.
The original ESPD was held in 1967 in San Francisco, California. It was a “landmark gathering of international, interdisciplinary specialists — from ethnobotanists to neuroscientists — to share their findings on the use of psychoactive plants in indigenous societies.” The intention was to hold the conference every ten years, but drug policy got in the way of those original plans. (Ugh, Nixon)
Last week, on the 55th anniversary of the first conference, the McKenna Academy was able to bring together visionaries to discuss developments in the field of ethnopharmacology.
I won’t be able to summarize all 25 talks, but I will highlight some of my favorite takeaways and talks in this week’s newsletter. I highly recommend this multidisciplinary conference, which invites us to reassess how we use structures like science, spirituality and governments to mediate our connection with the natural world, especially in these critical times.
“Psychedelics can drive creative breakthroughs in science and maybe even flashes of genius.” — Dr. Bruce Damer
In one of the most interesting talks I have ever seen, astrobiologist Bruce Damer discussed how scientists and engineers play hide and seek with genius. For the first time, he courageously revealed his personal use of psychedelics for scientific breakthroughs. What exactly does that mean? If you’re working on a scientific problem, you’d prepare your mind by setting the intention, surrendering, and then using your powers of intuition and imagination to free associate solutions while on a psychedelic trip. (I will write about this and other altered states of consciousness solution-garnering methods that scientists use in a forthcoming newsletter!) The talk weaves together not only the insights he gained, but also the details of the numinous, synchronistic, logically improbable-yet-true path he followed during (and after) the trip to reach the breakthroughs. He also made a point of emphasizing that, “first comes the healing, then the revealing,” alluding to the required emotional catharsis one rips through to receive insights. He believes that this type of preparation and session can produce value for humanity, and that perhaps we can move into “a psychedelic culture in which the medicines of healing can also serve as the elixirs of discovery.”
“We need to have a paradigm shift in our consciousness.” — Paul Stamets
Mycologist Paul Stamets (you may remember him from the Netflix film Fantastic Fungi) presented the findings of a recent paper demonstrating that self-selected microdosers (i.e. individuals who take psychedelic substances at sub-sensory levels) reported lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress (1). Stamets also presented new data showing that a microdose “stacking” combination of Lion’s Mane mycelium + psilocin + niacin improved performance on a motor test (an objective test not subject to expectancy effects) and improved neurogenesis and neuroplasticity in cell cultures. He described how he came to logically deduce this combination of compounds, pointing out that the “experts” of major clinical trials had missed this, instead using niacin as a control for psilocin. In closing, he stated, “we are facing an extinction event” – losing biodiversity, polluting the environment, spreading disease, and inciting war – but psilocybin can help us reinvent the human species. He made the case for psilocybin, arguing that it reduces violence (in prisons, psilocybin has been associated with reduction in crime), helps us overcome addiction (is associated with lower odds of opium use disorder), and makes us respect indigenous wisdom, as well as medical science. We should use the mushrooms to elevate our intelligence with the purpose of creating innovations capable of overcoming the impending calamity. Homo ascendus awaits.
“Each time a medicine man dies, it is as if a library burned down.” — Dr. Mark Plotkin
Ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin (who, btw, hosts a podcast, Plants of the Gods: Hallucinogens, Healing, Conservation, and Culture, that I love so much, I listened to it twice) discussed ayahuasca, shamanism, and his work with the Amazon Conservation Team. Calling ayahuasca and mushrooms “hallucinogens” doesn’t do them justice, he argued, preferring the word “ideagen” that captures how we take these plants to enhance creativity. In an effort to save shamanic knowledge and landscapes, he and the Amazon Conservation Team buy the titles of lands in the Sibundoy Valley of the Colombian Amazon and than hand them over to the indigenous peoples so they can protect their lands, plants, and cultures. “The focus has to be the indigenous peoples because they’re the most endangered, more endangered than the rain forest itself.”
The talk of neuroscientist David Nutt, particularly the graph he showed of the substantial drop in the number of psychedelic research publications, following the ’61 and ’71 United Nations’ narcotic and psychotropic conventions, which banned these substances internationally, beautifully illustrates the long-term consequences of thoughtless policy decisions. He called it, “The worst censorship of ANY research in the history of the modern world.”
Michelle St. Pierre, a clinical psychologist, said, “We urge folks to stop avoiding suffering,” and ponders, “could it be that the psychedelic is like an in vivo experiential suffering experience… could that be a learning trial for a client?” (I think yes).
“Pessimism is an indulgence. Despair an insult to the imagination.” — Dr. Wade Davis
The talks of anthropologist Wade Davis (both of them), are must watches. Many of the conference’s talks voiced concern about the world’s grave circumstances, but Davis’ talk lifted me into a cloud of poetic optimism. The current resurgence of research, practice and passion for sacred plants is profoundly hopeful and long overdue. He also dropped my new favorite quote, “No politician should go for office if they can’t recite the formula for photosynthesis.”
These are just a few snippets from the conference’s tremendous wisdom. Do yourself a favor and watch the rest. (access to the recordings can be found here with a $10 minimum donation)
Some of my personal takeaways:
International policies have widespread and long-term effects on research funding, medicine, cultures, and modes of living. These have been driven by arbitrary political motives in the past, and we (all) are paying the price now. The series of talks on the coca leaf, in particular, clearly lay out how, as Wade Davis put it, “The war on drugs has been a grotesque failure and robbed us of one of the most beneficial plants.”
He also eloquently touched on how the Western worldview, beginning with Descartes’ declaration that mind and matter are all that exist, has left us without a personal and respectful relationship with Nature. “We believe our extractive model is the norm,” he says, “but it’s not. It’s the anomaly.”
Humankind is in a dire existential situation, but the solution is not to pillage and plunder other cultures (as has been done in the past) to heal our psychospiritual traumas and spur our creativity. These plants are really transformative, and that’s the point. They have a lot to teach us, if we would just pay attention and listen.
There are other ways of being – personally and societally – and we need to embrace them, fast.
—
Please consider donating to the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy. The Academy’s mission is to be a catalyst for the transformation of global consciousness, through educational experiences that interweave our collective intelligence, science, and ancestral wisdom. Their vision is an awakened world where all species thrive in symbiotic harmony.
Your registration to ESPD55 includes “BioGnosis,” where the McKenna Academy shows a pre-release screening of their first short documentary. Check out the Academy’s BioGnosis Biologue (part of BioGnosis: Bridges to Ancestral Wisdom project), a visual journey of the making of the short documentary. In 2021, the Academy team visited the Herbarium Amazonense of the National University of the Peruvian Amazon and its surroundings areas to open dialogue with the native wisdom keepers, young and old, academics and traditional practitioners.
1. Rootman JM, Kryskow P, Harvey K, et al. Adults who microdose psychedelics report health related motivations and lower levels of anxiety and depression compared to non-microdosers. Sci Reports 2021 111 2021; 11: 1–11.