As many mushroom enthusiasts will attest: the more you learn about the fungal kingdom, the more you see how important mushrooms are to every ecosystem they’re a part of – and how life-changing a relationship with them can be.

In this episode, Joe interviews Jasper Degenaars: mycologist, educator, and the Hyphae Headmaster at Fungi Academy, offering retreats, communal living, and online courses to teach people how to grow mushrooms and form a deeper connection with them.

Degenaars tells of his path to Guatemala and the Fungi Academy, from foraging to cultivation, to the impact psychedelic experiences have had on his life. He believes that mushrooms show up where people like to live; that they are integral to ecosystems, and that they are the masters of death and life – and of ego death and rebirth. The Fungi Academy has several several in-person events for which they just opened up registration, self-paced courses you can enroll in now, and their next Sacred Mycology Summit takes place Feb. 23 – 25, 2025.

He discusses:

• The importance in studying the entire organism rather than just specific compounds
• The stoned ape theory and possible new evidence
• Why he prefers the term ‘magic mushrooms’ to the reductionist way of only talking about psilocybin
• The clash between clinical Western approaches and Indigenous tradition
• The Iron law of prohibition and how MDMA has gotten stronger and stronger
• His desire to move more into permaculture, including courses teaching it alongside the fundamentals of psychedelics: How can they work in tandem?

and more! For links, head to the show notes page.