Life is a Festival

In 2020 almost 100,000 people died of drug-related incidents in the US, many of those were due to fentanyl adulteration. It’s not just opiates, no white powder is safe and so the cognitive libertarians need to get wise and help each other stay safe. Luckily today on the show we have Mitchell Gomez, Executive Director of DanceSafe, to help us understand why this is happening and how to prevent these unnecessary deaths. We begin with a nuanced understanding of overdose and harm reduction. We review Mitchell’s personal journey as well as the rise of DanceSafe in response to drug prohibition and issues with pressed pills in the 90s. Halfway through the show at the hour we talk about fentanyl adulteration, why this is happening, how to use fentanyl test strips appropriately, and how to use Narcan if someone is experiencing an overdose. We end our conversation with Mitchell’s vision for a regulated drug market. Mitchell is the Executive Director for DanceSafe, a health education and harm reduction 501(c)(3) based in Denver, Colorado. He is a Harm Reduction Consultant at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, and has sat on the CU Denver MURPAA (Master of Urban and Regional Planning Alumni Association) board, the Jefferson County Community Development Advisory Board, and the Denver Drug Strategy Commission Data Subcommittee. If you love altering your consciousness like I do, test your shit and let’s end prohibition together. LINKS Mitchell Gomez: http://www.mitchellgomez.com/ Dancesafe: https://dancesafe.org/ Fentanyl Test Strips – Pack Of 10 (FREE SHIPPING): https://dancesafe.org/product/fentanyl-test-strips-pack-of-10-free-shipping/ Dancesafe Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dancesafe_/ Mitchell Gomez Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MitchellGomezAcamapichtli Prohibition-Driven Misrepresentation and How We Can Fix It Together: https://maps.org/news/bulletin/prohibition-driven-misrepresentation/ Finding Carcan: https://www.narcan.com/ NARCAN training video - Instructions for administration of NARCAN® Nasal Spray 4mg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGdUFMrCRh4 TIMESTAMPS :09 - Benefit enhancement is a better term than “harm reduction” :13 - An “overdose” is actually a “prohibition created drug adulteration deaths” :20 - How Mitchell became a cognitive libertarian :26 - Intentionally manipulated data on MDMA leads to the “holes in the brain” theory :33 - Festivals as an initiatory container for psychedelic consciousness exploration :42 - From Tupperware full of MDMA to pressies and the rise of DanceSafe :53 - The Rave Act 1:05 - Why we’re seeing Fentanyl adulteration in non-opioid markets 1:21 - Use Fentanyl strips to test your whole bag 1:34 - How to use Narcan 1:48 - A vision for regulated drug markets

Happy Valentine's Day my fellow travelers! In honor of the Day of Love, we’re diving into the wonderful world of BDSM with Dr. Cat Meyer, a specialist on embodied sexuality. Our exploration begins with Cat’s struggles with self acceptance and libido before she discovered kink in her early twenties. After briefly discussing styles of play, we jump right into why BDSM is a path not only to pleasure and surrender but to healing and growth. Cat explains how to create a safe container and the alchemizing effect of polarity in both the kink and tantra communities. We touch on Miss Jaiya’s erotic blueprint before sharing a few kink archetypes. We close with consideration of kink mishaps, how to vet potential partners, and why aftercare is indispensable regardless of how you like to play. Dr. Cat Meyer, PsyD, LMFT is a licensed psychotherapist specializing in sex, trauma, and ketamine-assisted therapy (KAP), author, yoga teacher, and international speaker dedicated to evolving the relationship we have surrounding sexuality and our bodies.  She is the host of podcasts Eat Play Sex and Erotically Wasted and the founder of SexLoveYoga.com, an online platform for education and programs on relationships, sexuality, and embodiment.  Whether you’re a shy neophyte or a kinky little rockstar, this episode will have something for you to help use desire to expand the width of you being. Enjoy! Links Sex Love Yoga: https://www.sexloveyoga.com/ Cat on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sexloveyoga/?hl=en Eat. Play. Sex. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eat-play-sex/id1192876328 Erotically Wasted: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/erotically-wasted/id1499038381 BDSM Test: BDMStest.org Timestamps :06 - When Cat had zero libido :12 - Styles of BDSM :24 - The kinky road to surrender :34 - Creating a safe container :42 - Kink archetypes and creating polarity :54 - Kinky mistakes and mishaps :59 - Aftercare is indispensable 1:07 - Safe, sane and consensual kink is healing

Over the past two years the optimistic spirituality of many within the psychedelic community has morphed into pessimism and paranoia. This synthesis of wellness and conspiracy thinking isn’t unique to the Covid pandemic. As today’s guest, philosopher Jules Evans explains, “Conspirituality” has been a feature of New Age thinking since its gnostic beginnings. Our conversations opens with Jules’ own spiritual experiences, including traumatic teenage drug use, a near-death experience, and an ayahuasca-induced spiritual emergency. We then dive into our current crisis of Conspirituality and how spiritual elitism and the dark specter of eugenics has been running through New Age thinking since its origins in mysticism and magic. Finally we discuss how we can obtain real spiritual insight and live life like a festival, while still maintaining good mental hygiene. Jules is a writer, speaker and practical philosopher who focuses on ideas which help beings suffer less and flourish more. He is the author of four books including Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations, The Art of Losing Control, Holiday from the Self, and Breaking Open: Finding a Way Through Spiritual Emergencies. His popular articles about Conspirituality on Medium have made him one of the most sought after critics of today’s crisis of meaning in the wellness community. So, level up your many-mindedness, and let’s give our magical lives a healthy dose of skepticism. Links: Philosophy of Life: https://www.philosophyforlife.org/ Jules Evans on Medium: https://medium.com/@julesevans ‘Conspirituality’ — the overlap between the New Age and conspiracy beliefs: https://julesevans.medium.com/conspirituality-the-overlap-between-the-new-age-and-conspiracy-beliefs-c0305eb92185 Breaking Open (2020): https://www.philosophyforlife.org/published-works/breaking-open Holiday from the Self (2019): https://www.philosophyforlife.org/published-works/holiday-from-the-self The Art of Losing Control (2017): https://www.philosophyforlife.org/published-works/the-art-of-losing-control-canongate-2017 Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations (2012): https://www.philosophyforlife.org/published-works/philosophy-for-life-and-other-dangerous-situations-rider-books-2012 Jules on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JulesEvans11 Timestamps: :08 - Why Jules started writing about Conspirituality in 2020 :14 - From teenage psychedelic use to a near-death experience :19 - Stoicism, Greek philosophy and rationality :26 - The search for ecstatic experiences :32 - Many-minded Aldous Huxley :40 - Spiritual Emergencies and the value of the funky gritty bits of life :55 - How optimistic oneness becomes pessimistic conspiracy thinking 1:00 - Charles Eisenstein and the strain of primitivism in deep ecologists 1:12 - How do we know we’ve obtained real insight 1:20 - How Spiritual Elitism leads to Spiritual Eugenics 1:28 - Class Privilege 1:32 - Don’t shame the unvaccinated 1:36 - How we can still make life like a festival

Psychedelic decriminalization is on the move throughout the United States and Colorado is at its epicenter. Today on Life is a Festival Matthew Duffy (Duffy), co-founder of the reform and education platform SPORE, explains Colorado’s upcoming legislation in poetic mushroom metaphors. We begin with Duffy’s initial experiences with permaculture and how a fungi’s mycelial network is the ideal model for organizing political change. We discuss psychedelic decriminalization vs legalization and why the two must happen simultaneously. We review the issue of psychedelic exceptionalism and how to re-perspectivize identity politics. Finally we discuss SPORE’s upcoming Right to Heal campaign and how you can get involved with Colorado’s legislation. Duffy is an ecofuturist organizer, myco-poet, and Co-Ecosystem Director at SPORE, The Society for Psychedelic Outreach Reform and Education. After teaming up with Decriminalize Denver in 2018 for the Denver Psilocybin Initiative, Duffy went on to co-found SPORE and enroll in the Resilient Leadership MA at Naropa University where he completed his master's degree in May 2021. Duffy and SPORE are currently focused on the Right to Heal campaign to prioritize marginalized community empowerment, access, equity, leadership, and stewardship within the psychedelic movement. Generational healing will happen in beloved community so let’s make like mushrooms and get into some radical collaboration! Links SPORE: https://www.thespore.org Right to Heal Campaign: https://www.thespore.org/the-right-to-heal My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem: https://www.amazon.com/My-Grandmothers-Hands-Racialized-Pathway/dp/1942094477 Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by adrienne maree brown: https://www.amazon.com/Emergent-Strategy-Shaping-Change-Changing/dp/1849352607 Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson : https://www.amazon.com/Caste-Origins-Discontents-Isabel-Wilkerson/dp/0593230256 The Ancestors Project: https://www.theancestorproject.com/ Decriminalize Nature: https://www.decriminalizenature.org/ Chacruna: https://chacruna.net/ Timestamp :08 - Sparkle ponies and spiritual bypassing :12 - Social Permaculture applied to the psychedelic movement :21 - Mycelial networks as an organizing principle for political change :25 - Psychedelic decriminalization vs legalization :32 - Psychedelic exceptionalism :37 - Identity politics and queering psychedelics to heal our identity crisis :47 - Right to Heal Campaign :57 - Colorado is the epicenter and what to do about it.

If we are committed to healing and a joyful life, we must look at our culture’s longest shadows, and change the way we understand justice. The opposite of the expansive freedom of a festival is the national nightmare of mass incarceration. Today on Life is a Festival. Sonya Shah, a specialist in restorative justice, is here to shine a light in our collective darkness and a possible path out. The show begins with an exploration how to live a meaningful life and how to cultivate joy in activism. We discuss the US prison system, why incarceration doesn’t serve society, and ways to support reform. Then we dive into the alternative practice of restorative justice with all its benefits and challenges. I share my own experience participating in a community accountability process. We finish our conversation with a discussion of masculinity and gender violence, and how we can create space for healing by learning to sit with our own triggers. Sonya is an Associate Professor at California Institute of Integral Studies and has been teaching and facilitating restorative justice circles for over 15 years. She has trained hundreds of facilitators in trauma healing, and helped communities design their own group healing processes. She initiated the Ahimsa Collective in 2016 which facilitates circles for survivors of sexual harm and people who have committed sexual harm within prisons and other environments. She is a Buddhist, a first-generation immigrant from India and a shining example of joyful service. Links: Ahimsa Collective: https://www.ahimsacollective.net/ Life Comes From It: https://www.lifecomesfromit.org/ Zehr Institute: https://zehr-institute.org/ Justice in America Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0wb6JtwN3qBgGiwKKmqj1i bell hooks The Will to Change Men, Masculinity, and Love: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Will-to-Change/bell-hooks/9780743456081 Thirteenth (film): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_(film) You’re Going to Die: http://www.yg2d.com/what-is-youre-going-to-die Timestamps :06 - bell hooks and patriarchal harm :14 - What does it mean to live a meaningful life? :18 - How to cultivate joy in activism :25 - The prison system, privilege and how we become aware of our collective shadow :37 - How we can take action for prison reform and advocacy :47 - Switching to restorative justice :53 - Eamon’s experience with a community accountability process 1:05 - Reframing from perpetrator to “person who caused harm” 1:14 - Gender violence and patriarchy 1:20 - Sitting with triggers and reactivity 1:25 - Facing challenging truths

In the tradition of the English troubadour, Nick Mulvey is a soulful multi-instrumentalist, an Earth protector, and a student of Celtic Shamanism. Most importantly, he is generous with his insights for young artists. This podcast flows in three parts, first we discuss Nick’s musical background from studying in Havana at nineteen, to playing hang drum with Portico Quartet, to his embodied solo career as a singer-songwriter. We then discuss Nick’s pilgrimage to Embercombe in Southwest England where Mac McCartney taught him the spiritual nourishment of Northern European indigeneity and shamanism. Finally we explore Nick’s work as an environmental protector and his recent experience at COP26. Throughout the conversation, Nick drops beautiful gems of wisdom for emerging artists and offers playful backstories for some of his most popular songs. Nick Mulvey is an English musician and a passionate environmentalist. He studied ethnomusicology at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London where he was a founding member of the band Portico Quartet. Nick released his Mercury Prize-nominated solo album “First Mind” in 2014, following it up three years later with “Wake Up Now.” His most recent album “Begin Again,” explores reconnection to his ancestral roots. Links Nick Mulvey: https://www.nickmulvey.com/ Portico Quartet: https://www.porticoquartet.com/ Mac Macartney: https://macmacartney.com/ Wilderness Festival Movie: https://vimeo.com/155444107 Timestamps :06 - Calling in ancestors with a candle :10 - Studying music in Havana at 19 and Nick’s advice to young artists :17 - Busking with the hang drum and forming Portico Quartet :27 - Nick’s solo career and the felt sense of songwriting from the body :35 - “In Your Hands” - Telling stories about where lyrics come from :41 - Nick’s Pilgrimage to Southwest England :45 - The Elder Mac McCartney and Celtic Indigeneity :52 - “The Shores of Mona” and the Ancient Celtic Institutions of Dreaming Technology 1:08 - Nick’s experience as an environmentalist at COP26 1:15 - Party Heal Serve 1:25 - Sharing your small self on a big stage

Recently on a trip to Ibiza I met a remarkable young woman, Chabeli Chain. Chabeli is an Indigenous refugee and advocate from the Venezuelan Amazon, who is at the beginning of her DJ career. On the show we discuss growing up the in the Amazon and her people’s medicine Yopo, a visionary snuff which contains DMT, Bufotenin, and 5-MeO-DMT. We talk about becoming a political refugee as the result of an instagram post and Chabeli’s journey from Venezuela to Panama, Mexico, Milan and finally Ibiza. Chabeli shares her passion for music and Indigenous advocacy through her work with the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet. Finally we review Chabeli’s daily practices and how she cultivates joy, enthusiasm, and resilience. Chabeli is a DJ, model, and Indigenous advocate. She is the Indigenous Rights Advisor for the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet (Gasp) and author of “Increasing Resilience Through Education, Inclusion and Cultural Preservation.” This was her first interview. Links Chabeli’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chabelichain/ Wayuu Taya Foundation: https://wayuutaya.org/ Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet: https://gasp.world/ “Increasing Resilience Through Education, Inclusion and Cultural Preservation” https://gasp.world/improving-education-and-wellbeing-for-indigenous-youth-while-preserving-cultural-heritage-and-increasing-resilience-in-venezuela/ Timestamps :10 - Growing up in the Amazon :14 - Chabeli describes the Yopo medicine :22 - How Chabeli became a political refugee :31 - How Chabeli became first a DJ and then a producer :39 - Why Chabeli moved to Ibiza :44 - Chabeli’s vision for Indigenous resilience :54 - How to find joy, enthusiasm, and resilience

I am always available for psychedelic service. When I am called to serve, there’s nowhere I’d rather be than sitting calmly beside someone going through the challenging journey known colloquially as a "bad trip." I recently had the opportunity to offer psychedelic peer support, also called "trip sitting," at a party. Although I’ve covered trip sitting before in episodes with Sara Gael of MAPS’ Zendo Project and the TeaFaerie a legendary tripsitter, I thought it would be instructive to share a story of my firsthand experience of offering peer support in the wild. If you’d like to learn more about trip sitting, I highly recommend the Zendo Project which offers trainings, and the Fireside Project, the first ever psychedelic peer support hotline (dial 62-FIRESIDE). If you’d like to hear more about my own background and the history of psychedelic peer support, check out the article I wrote about Zendo and trip sitting back in 2015 called “I Did Psychedelic First Aid at a Festival in Costa Rica.” May we all have opportunities to serve and be served. The psyche you calm… may be your own. Links I Did Psychedelic First Aid at a Festival in Costa Rica: https://medium.com/@eamonarmstrong/i-did-psychedelic-first-aid-at-a-festival-in-costa-rica-edf0d96eaeeb Zendo Project: https://zendoproject.org/ Fireside Project: https://firesideproject.org/ Sara Gael (Zendo Project) on Life is a Festival” https://www.eamonarmstrong.com/lifeisafestival/sara-gael The TeaFaerie on Life is a Festival: https://www.eamonarmstrong.com/lifeisafestival/the-teafaerie Fireside Project on the Psychedelic Therapy Podcast: https://www.mayahealth.com/podcast/fireside-project

I’ve been wanting to train in sexual, shamanic healing at the International School of Temple Arts (ISTA) for years. Today on Life is a Festival I discuss my ISTA Level 1 training with two of my facilitators Ohad Pele & Jasmeen Hana. On the show we talk about temple arts and why a training like ISTA is so valuable. We discuss the practice of bringing life force to interrupt patterns and liberate sexual energy. We review the four stages of Shamanic Shadow Hunting and other techniques to bring consciousness to all areas of the body. We finish with how healing the erotic depolarizes us politically and the benefits and challenges of ISTA in the era of Me Too. The International School of Temple Arts works with spirituality and sexuality as two expressions of the life force. Their vision is a world where humans have a peaceful, delightful, shameless, fearless and loving relationship with their own bodies, sexuality, emotions, hearts, minds and spirit. Ohad Pele, a lead facilitator in ISTA, has been teaching Kabbalah, Sacred Sexuality and Conscious Relating for more than 30 years. A former traditional Kabbalist Rabbi in Jerusalem, he is well known as one of the most influential and radical spiritual teachers in Israel. Before joining ISTA Pele was heading “Neviah – the Hebraic Academy of Universal Spirit” in Tel Aviv. Pele is an artist, photographer and a song writer and author of the historical fiction "Kedesha - A timeless tale of a Love Priestess", Jasmeen Hana has studied Vipassana meditation, Ayurveda, kundalini yoga, plant medicine, and ancient Egyptian embodiment practices. She organizes and co-facilitates Kemetic/ African shamanic yoga teacher trainings in Luxor and offers Egyptian Mystery retreats, blue lotus ceremonies, facilitating with ISTA and holds a point at Highden Mystery School in New Zealand. Timestamps :12 - What are Temple Arts :15 - Jasmeen and Ohad’s initiation to magic :22 - Why ISTA? :31 - Bringing life force to interrupt patterns and liberating sexual energy :37 - The four stages of Shamanic Shadow Hunting :50 - Bringing consciousness to all areas of the body :57 - The structure and facilitation of ISTA 1:05 - How healing the erotic depolarizes 1:12 - ISTA in the era of Me Too Links: ISTA Website: https://ista.life/ Pele Ohad: https://ista.life/profile/pele-ohad Ohad’s books on Amazon: "Kedesha - A timeless tale of a Love Priestess", Kabbalah Love: https://www.kabalove.org/ Jasmeen Hana: https://www.egyptian-templearts.com/ Caitlyn Cook: https://ista.life/profile/caitlyn-cook Autobiography in Five Short Chapters: https://palousemindfulness.com/docs/autobio_5chapters.pdf Wheel of Consent - Betty Martin: https://bettymartin.org/videos/

LIAF 111: “Queer is Questioning” From Spaces Between Podcast with Al Jeffery What does it mean to call yourself queer? Today on Life is a Festival, I’m honored to share an interview I did on Al Jeffery’s brilliant show, “Spaces Between,” discussing queerness as a form of radical curiosity. We open with a comparison of vulnerability and openness, and how to use embodiment to support good mental health. We discuss what it means to “queer” something and how psychedelics and identity-expanding practices are in and of themselves queer. We talk about temperament, attachment style, character and identity and how you can release your own personal mythology by getting down to basic physiology. We close with learning to love the questions themselves, which in our binary culture can be the most difficult love, and yet the most rewarding. Al is a facilitator, community-designer, Top 30 Under 30 entrepreneur, keynote speaker, author and leadership virtuoso. He is dedicated to understanding disconnection and restoring connection in our lives, leadership and communities. Al hosts the "Spaces Between" Podcast, an open-inquiry into restoring community in the 21st Century, which I highly recommend. Timestamps :13 - Courageous vulnerability vs. social media openness :23 - Embodiment and mental health :35 - What it means to “queer” something :44 - Focusing on physiology and releasing your personal mythology :55 - Temperament, attachment personality, character, and identity 1:03 - Can you queer your depression? 1:08 - Masturbation and digital sex addiction 1:08 - Learn to love the questions themselves Links Al Jeffery: https://aljeffery.com/ Inside by Bo Burnham (Netflix show): https://www.boburnham.com/ Finite and Infinite Games (book): https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1476731713? Sacred Sons (podcast): https://open.spotify.com/show/13MNzScptw2xqgkCTrgAEJ?si=a4700281b7c746bd&nd=1 Tara Brach Podcast (podcast): https://open.spotify.com/show/37McjD0j2cdu4GExcFQgm0?si=dcc3018f51b248b9&nd=1 Your Brain on Porn (website): https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/ Johari’s Window: https://www.communicationtheory.org/the-johari-window-model/