88: Stephen Gray–How Psychedelics Can Help Save The World: Visionary and Indigenous Voices Speak Out

Conversation starts @ 4:36 In this episode I meet with Dr. Stephen Gray to discuss his latest book, How Psychedelics Can Help Save The World: Visionary and Indigenous Voices Speak Out. We begin by noting the cultural and individual issues that that psychedelic medicine is positioned to treat, we continue with the ways that we have lost our mythic and symbolic root and religious systems, overpopulation, planetary sickness, the universality of change and transformation, the Dunbar number and social systems, the nature of these reality revealing medicines, explore indigenous traditions as revelatory to the hegemony, healing cultural wounds, cultural dynamics exposed by psychedelic practice, psychedelic capitalism, medical and pharma intervention with psychedelics, the lost Mystery Schools, trusting what is, surrender as an attitude nourished by working with entheogens, and more. Bio: Stephen has been involved in spiritual work and psychedelics for 50 years. This includes more than 20 years as a student and occasional teacher of Tibetan Buddhism; a dozen years actively involved with Native American Church peyote prayer ceremonies; “guest” membership in the ayahuasca-using Santo Daime Church, and experience with a number of other entheogens. He is also the author of Returning to Sacred World: A Spiritual Toolkit for the Emerging Reality, and editor as well as one of 18 contributors to the popular Cannabis and Spirituality: An Explorer’s Guide to an Ancient Plant Spirit Ally. Stephen teaches people about the spiritual benefits of intentional cannabis use and conduct cannabis meditation and sound-journeying ceremonies. Perhaps most relevant to the mission of StephenGray Vision, for the past 10 years, he’s co-organized the influential Spirit Plant Medicine Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. That work has connected him to dozens of remarkable spokespeople on behalf of the skillful understanding and use of psychedelic/entheogenic sacramental medicines. About the book: Exploring the way forward for humanity in the face of unprecedented crisis, more than 25 contributors show how the wisdom of Indigenous peoples and the power of psychedelics can help us enact the radical shift in consciousness necessary to navigate the collapse of the old world order and the birth of a new consciousness centered on awakened-heart interconnectedness. We hear from psychedelic visionaries Christopher Bache, Zoe Helene, Wade Davis, Chris Kilham, Laurel Sugden, and others on the promise of psychedelic medicines for spiritual and healing work. We learn about Indigenous stories to support our transformation from Native American leader Solana Booth, ancestral memory from Grandmother Maria Alice Campos Freire, cannabis’s role in world building from Minelli Eustàcio-Costa, the ritual roots of talking plants from Michael Stuart Ani, and alchemy across the arc of time from shaman Ya’Acov Darling Khan. We also hear from cannabis grower The Dank Duchess; Bruce Damer, a “mystic scientist” working on the question of life’s origins and its future in space; Tyson Yunkaporta, Australian Aboriginal artist and scholar; visionary artist Martina Hoffmann; professor of religious studies G. William Barnard; activist Duane Elgin; Kohenet Rachel Kann, ordained Jewish priestess and ceremonialist; and several other wise leaders for our time. https://www.stephengrayvision.com John’s Esalen Workshop: https://www.esalen.org/workshops/portals-and-pathways-ecstatic-experience-music-and-the-red-book-022723 Website for The Sacred Speaks: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com WATCH: YouTube for The Sacred Speaks https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOAuksnpfht1udHWUVEO7Rg Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ @thesacredspeaks Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesacredspeaks/ Brought to you by: https://www.thecenterforhas.com Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com