Ceremony, Plant Medicines, and Building Character

Ep. 152 (Part 2 of 2) | Life coach, recovery coach, and plant medicine ceremonialist Ron Interpreter has created a multidimensional, whole person healing modality that integrates Navajo spiritual teachings and traditions with Ken Wilber’s Integral Model and Integral spirituality. Humanity is shifting, Ron explains, and is now looking to the teachings of the ancestors and Indigenous practices that can bring a sense of authenticity, purpose, and meaning to our lives. Native spirituality teaches us how we can relate to the elements of earth, fire, water and air in terms of remedies and medicines, and also in terms of beliefs and emotional connections. Plant medicine and other mind-altering ceremonies provide us with the means to get beyond the psychological limitations we put on ourselves, attain higher states of consciousness, and receive answers to our deepest questions.

With a calm, articulate fervency, Ron shares the ancestral wisdom he teaches to people in recovery or who are suffering from trauma, including special ops forces and veterans: the Native concepts of taking responsibility, being accountable, forging a relationship with God or Spirit, and living from a profound understanding of what it means to be a human being. “We are in the creation of self—how do we practice our selves?” Ron asks. The Indigenous teachings that Ron brings forward provide a deep sense of grounding in Nature and Spirit, as we come to a better understanding of our place in the universe and the practices that can open us up to living in a sacred way, in connection with divine being. Recorded August 1, 2024.

“We have to see ourselves as human beings first.”

(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)

Topics & Time Stamps – Part 2

• Stopping the blame game—blaming colonialism—and healing intergenerational trauma (01:28)
• How do we practice our selves? Get back to our ancestral ways, see ourselves as human beings first (05:06)
• The future of recovery depends on the expansion of the practitioner’s approach and getting back to the elementals (11:00)
• What are the most valuable Native practices for healing and recovery? (18:10)
• Psychedelic medicines are tools to get beyond the psychological limitations we put on ourselves (23:52)
• Ceremony is vitally important to give context and reverence to a plant medicine experience (25:04)
• Building character in young people (26:11)
• In order for you to receive the medicine, you need to have a spiritual practice (28:29)
• At Ron’s church, a long period of practicing breathwork and other modalities will often precede the use of psychedelic tools (32:15)
• Facilitating plant medicine ceremonies for special ops forces and veterans (34:55)
• Native traditions are now accessible to help people understand what it means to be human (40:02)
• The future of addiction, especially with addictive potentials increasing exponentially (42:49) 
• We have to stop looking at addiction as your experience, my experience (48:49)

Resources & References – Part 2

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Masaru Emoto, The Hidden Messages in Water*
• Hanzi Freinacht, The Listening Society*, Nordic Ideology*
• Bildung, linking philosophy and education for both personal and cultural maturation
• iAwake Technologies, transformative sound technologies for an evolving world, co-founded by John Dupuy
• The Coming Home Project, founded in 2021 by Navy SEAL veteran Nate Brown
• The Mission After, founded by Mike Bledsoe, empowering veterans to thrive in civilian life
• Ron Interpreter’s consulting company, Interpretive Solutions LLC, specializes in business management solutions 
• Ron Interpreter, co-founder of the church Sanctuary of Consciousness
• Wesly Feuquay’s Psylogia Institute of Consciousness Evolution
• John Dupuy, Integral Recovery: A Revolutionary Approach to the Treatment of Alcoholism and Addiction*

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

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Ron Interpreter is a member of the Navajo Nation, with indigenous relations to the Apache and Yaqui Nations. As an Integral Certified Life Coach, Yoga YTT 200 HR Instructor, and Plant-Medicine Ceremonialist, Ron is motivated by an individual’s commitment of deepening their personal health and spiritual wellbeing. Ron facilitates a healing modality he calls “Beeh Ji Zhoni – Beauty Within,” an integrative practice incorporating Integral Theory and Navajo Principles of wellness to create a divine state of being; in which One’s alignment of consciousness and spirituality is attained by setting positive intentions, practicing self love, and initiating self discipline to create an abundant and healthy lifestyle. 

In his professional endeavors, Ron has expanded the Integral Theory framework into his Substance Abuse and Addiction Recovery practices by utilizing the Integral Recovery Model to help individuals overcome substance abuse disease. Furthermore, as a co-founder of the church Sanctuary of Consciousness, whose ministry is to elevate consciousness throughout the planet, Ron integrates the Integral Spirituality Model—an approach to cultivating higher states of consciousness in the development of psychodynamic psychology, stimulating enlightenment experiences to cultivate sound life practices to heal the mind/body/soul connection. More about Ron here: The Psylogia Institute and Sanctuary Of Consciousness.

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Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell