Adventures Through The Mind

Back in the summer of 2017, I was invited to go to Mexico by author and Toad (5-MeO-DMT) facilitator Dr. Gerry Sandoval. He wanted me to come with him to Oaxaca, Mexico up to eat the wild psilocybin mushrooms that grow there. It was already an amazing offer and it hit a new level when he told me both Julian Palmer and Kilindi Iyi would be there as well. For this episode, I release to you the recording of Julian, Kilindi, Gerry, and I talking about our mushroom experiences the day after the ceremony. I knew this was going to be an opportunity of a lifetime, not only for myself but for you as well! There was a unique dynamic between us that morning and I knew I wanted to catch it for you. Enjoy. Hear more about my trip and see some exclusive photos at bit.ly/ATTMind57   Episode Breakdown Introductions What is the "landslide mushroom"? The modern history of mushrooms in the Oaxaca region of Mexico. Each of our specific experiences with the landslides the night before. Exploring the differences between different strains of mushrooms. Ayahuasca vs. Mushrooms; the vast potential of psilocybin. Communicating with plants. Entities, plant spirits, or manifestations of personal mind? Reality: oneness or multiplicity? Making sense of the psychedelic experience; the role psychedelics have played in each of our journeys.  The ecological instability and threat encroaching these mushrooms. The different strains we have tried and which are our favorites. Advice for dosing mushrooms at that high, entheogenic level.   Did you hear about my big news and all that goes with it? Please help me in this journey by becoming my patron on Patreon http://www.patreon.com/jameswjesso

Christopher Timmermann is the cognitive neuroscientist leading a project at Imperial College London focusing on the effects of DMT in the brain and human consciousness. He is interested in the use of methods bridging the relationship between the phenomenology evoked by the psychedelic experience and changes in brain activity using diverse neuroimaging tools. We have him on the show to ask him some nerdy questions about his research on DMT, psychedelic research in general, and the relationship between neural activity and Altered Consciousness. Please Support The Show One-time PayPal Donation: https://www.paypal.me/JWJesso Become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jameswjesso   Episode Breakdown What is DMT and why Chris is researching it. The most common and baffling reports on the DMT experience. The value of psychedelic research for understanding consciousness and the brain The research that has been done on DMT in the brain. What do we know already and what's next? The relationship between psychedelics and the 'default mode network' and its impact on our sense of self. Using light/sound frequencies and brain entrainment to produce DMT experiences. Does DMT have an inherent positive effect on the brain? Could it become a clinical medicine? All about that machine that provides a continuous DMT infusion, keeping a person under for 20mins or more. Is there DMT naturally occurring in our bodies and, if so, what is its role? The neural relationship between brain function, psychedelics, death and consciousness in general. Psychedelic therapy is coming; what impact people regularly experience DMT or psilocybin have on society? See Full Show Notes: http://bit.ly/ATTMind56

Julian Vayne is an occultist and the author of numerous books, essays, journals, and articles in both the academic and esoteric press. While his name is closely associated with chaos magic Julian is also an initiated Wiccan, member of the Kaula Nath lineage and Master Mason. We talk magical traditions, self-transformation with psychedelic, religious history, and the nuances around cultural appropriation in the neo-shamanic and nonaboriginal cultures of the modern world. We also talk about different activities or games we can play while tripping to endow a greater sense of meaning in not only our psychedelic adventures but in our daily lives as well. Full Show Notes at bit.ly/ATTMind55 Become My Patron On Patreon SUPPORT ONE-TIME (PayPal)   Episode Breakdown Disambiguating "magic", "self-transformation", and "spirituality". The legitimacy of the recreational use of psychedelics. The root of, and dissociation from, ectasis in religious history. The herding of the mind. Neoshamanism and cultural appropriation. The principle of ceremony and how to make your own. Welding (chaos) magick to craft meaning in psychedelic experiences. The importance of PLAY!!! (and games to play while tripping). Differences/similarities between magick & Jungian depth psychology.

We welcome French cultural anthropologist and philosopher Martin Fortier on the show for this episode to discuss his research into how culture influences cognition. His current PhD research project consists of exploring the interplay between neurobiological processes and culture in hallucinogenic experiences. His main fieldwork is located in Shipibo communities of the Middle Ucayali, in the Peruvian Amazon. Martin Fortier, Ph.D. Candidate, is currently a doctoral student at Institut Jean Nicod (a lab hosted by the Department of Cognitive Studies of ENS-Paris) and at the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences of EHESS-Paris. He is also a visiting student researcher at the Department of Anthropology of Stanford University. *** If you are enjoying the show, I ask you to please contribute to the show by way of a one-time donation or by becoming a continuous supporter on Patreon. PLEASE SUPPORT (ME AND) THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/jameswjesso OR VIA A ONE-TIME PAYPAL DONATION: http://paypal.me/JWJesso ***   Full Show Notes at bit.ly/ATTMind54 Episode Breakdown Martin's educational history and experience. The Sense of Reality; how we build models of the world and how/why we believe it to be real. Feeling "reality" vs. judging "reality". The experiential differences between serotonergic/psychedelic drugs (psilocybin, mescaline, LSD, etc) and anticholinergics/deliriants (datura). Experiential qualities: waking state vs serotonergic psychedelics vs. cholinergic psychedelics vs. dreaming vs. psychosis. .Ayahuasca/hallucinogenic visions as metaphorical perceptions Unpacking how the most valuable things in life are fiction / the hard problem of consciousness. Rationally exploring the hallucinogenic entities/spirits phenomenon. The role of the shaman. Honouring the indigenous cosmology while researching it from a western scientific framework / mitigating cultural appropriation within anthropological research. Scientific framework vs. indigenous cosmology. The nature of schizophrenia and psychopathologies and the potentials of ayahuasca shamanism as a potential treatment. Will psychedelics be important to philosophy? Should philosophers take psychedelics?

Simply put, Changa is a powerful psychedelic smoking blend. It is a combination of herbs infused with dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and containing some form of monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOi). However, describing the "simply put" physical parameters of a psychedelic compound is as gross an understatement as saying sex is, simply put, a penis penetrating a vagina.... there is SO MUCH MORE to it than "simply put", which is why we have Giorgia Gaia on the show. Giorgia Gaia---author of "Changa's Alchemy - Narratives of Transformation in Psychedelic Experiences"---is an independent researcher with a masters degree in Cultural and Social Anthropology and another MA degree in Theology, specifically Western Esotericism, at the University Van Amsterdam. Since her early twenties, she has been working as an electronic musician and event organizer, also in international festivals. *** If you are enjoying the show, I ask you to please contribute to the show by way of a one-time donation or by becoming a continuous supporter on Patreon. PLEASE SUPPORT (ME AND) THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/jameswjesso OR VIA A ONE-TIME PAYPAL DONATION: http://paypal.me/JWJesso *** Episode Breakdown The scope of Giorgia's research What is Changa? (pharmacology, history, cultural impact) Changa within the underground electronic music culture. What denotes "transformation" within the context psychedelic use. The importance of narrativizing profound psychedelic experiences. Prevailing themes or commonalities in the metaphysics and cosmology of changa users. The implication and complications of studying changa culture as an anthropologist whilst directly participating in that culture. Safety, caution, harm reduction advice. *** See Bit.ly/ATTMind53 for full show notes and other bonus content! AND featured image courtesy and copyright of Mugwort Designs

Darcia Narvaez, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame. Her prior careers include professional musician, classroom music teacher, business owner, seminarian and middle school Spanish teacher. Dr. Narvaez’s current research explores how early life experience influences societal culture and moral character in children and adults. She integrates neurobiological, clinical, developmental and education sciences in her theories and research about moral development. *** If you are enjoying the show, I ask you to please contribute to the show by way of a one-time donation or by becoming a continuous supporter on Patreon. PLEASE SUPPORT (ME AND) THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/jameswjesso OR VIA A ONE-TIME PAYPAL DONATION: http://paypal.me/JWJesso *** We are a traumatized people, a people silently bequeathed a heritage of toxic treatment, under-care, and various forms of violence. It is encoded into us during our early years, directing the development of our neurobiology, personality, and morality. We then pass it down accidentally as an extension of an ignorance propagated by a society founded on SHITTY advice on raising children. But we are not lost, nor are we locked into this cycle. We have an opportunity to make a profound difference on the future world by raising healthier, happier, and more well-adjusted kids. The guest on this episode, Darcia Narvaez, Ph.D., is here to gives perspective on what that might look like. She walks us through the influence Western conventional culture's child rearing tendencies has on the individual and the collective, from neurobiology to psychology to society and ecology. We also specifically explore several conventional practices, their harm, and alternative options. FULL SHOW NOTES: http://bit.ly/ATTMind52 Episode Breakdown: *****Episode Breakdown: -How early life experiences influence neurological and moral development -The impact of the parent/child relationship on the child's nervous system -The elements of The Evolved Nest; aka The evolved Developmental Niche ------Soothing birth experience ------Responsive care giver ------Breast feeding ------Multiple adult care givers ------Touch -The good development of the human -The role of epigenetics on moral and neurological development -The slave self; the empty self -The ecological impact of the broken nest -Our mistaken understanding of the baseline of human behavior -Disambiguating childhood trauma (undercare / toxic stress / trauma) -Limbic memory and how we perceive the world -Unpacking what the science shows are the impacts of: -----breast milk vs. formula -----cry it out sleep training -----spanking -----circumcision  -----common Birthing Practices: Pitocin, cesarean, epidural

Tobias Ton is a Kambo facilitator based in Berlin, Germany. His work with the Amazonian 'frog medicine' takes a "more-therapeutic-than-traditional" approach as it is intended to specifically accommodate people living under the burdens of Western industrialized civilization. He specializes in intensive one-on-one sessions and on the synergetic integration of various other healing modalities, addressing the underlying energetic issues that manifest as physical and psychological disease.He advocates a holistic and deeply spiritual understanding of Kambô that goes both beyond traditional indigenous cosmology and beyond the mechanistic interpretations of a supposed "frog poison vaccination". Instead, he recognizes it as the highly intelligent and deeply benign spirit of an animal that can generously impart its own strength, serenity and extraordinary capabilities of transformation. Tobias is on the show for this episode to teach us all about Kambo, from the origins and biomedical science to the underlying spiritual root of disease Kambo helps to cleanse. Check below for a full episode breakdown and of course, please subscribe to the show! Full Show Notes at http://bit.ly/ATTMind51 Support The Podcast   PayPal Donation Patreon Other Options (including bitcoin)   Episode Breakdown What is Kambo? The mythic and traditional Origins. How it's used (traditional and modern). The Kambo process. Biomedical actions of Kambo. Is it a poison? The nonphysical root of disease Tobias' unique practice. My personal experiences. Kambo, ayahuasca, and spiritual purification. Animal vs. plant vs. fungi entheogens. Physical dangers of Kambo? The politics of Kambo Could our society ever accept this?   *** Featured Image Courtesy Jean-Marc Hero - http://calphotos.berkeley.edu

What is Consciousness? Is it unique to human cognition or is it universal and permeating all things? Is it an epiphenomenon of brain activity or a universal constant? Do all things 'have' consciousness or are they 'of', 'in', or 'by' consciousness? Who and what are we, humankind, in the grander process of Consciousness itself? What is the nature of this whole "Reality" game? For the 50th episode of Adventures Through The Mind podcast, we welcome philosopher Bernardo Kastrup onto the show to address these questions and more. For Full Show Notes & Links: bit.ly/ATTMind50 Bernardo Kastrup has a Ph.D. in computer engineering with specializations in artificial intelligence and reconfigurable computing. He has worked as a scientist in some of the world's foremost research laboratories, including the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the "Casimir Effect" of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has authored many academic papers and books on philosophy and science.   Support The Show: Patreon PayPal Donation   Episode Breakdown Building conscious machines. What is consciousness? The hard problem of Consciousness. It's not Panpsychism. Do rocks and trees have consciousness? How about weather patterns and neurons? Differentiating 'conscious experience' from 'consciousness'. The subjectivity of objective reality. God suffers from dissociated identity disorder. Autonomous human awareness, nestled in consciousness. Filtering the mind at large. The relationship between brain activity and subjective inner life. What psychedelics show us about the nature of conscious awareness and brain activity. Metacognition and the default mode network. Physicalism as a neurotic defense mechanism.

Episode Part 1/2 From the origins of life, through ancient human history, to the interplanetary future of humanity and everything in between. "Bruce Frederick Damer, Ph.D. (born 31 January 1962) is a Canadian-American multidisciplinary scientist, designer, and author. Dr. Bruce Damer collaborates with colleagues developing and testing a new model for the origin of life on Earth and in the design of spacecraft architectures to provide a viable path for expansion of human civilization beyond the Earth." This man's resume is extensive and beautiful. From helping to lay the foundations for multi-user digital interfaces in the early 90s, to designing spaceships for NASA, to bringing forth what is "perhaps the first "end-to-end" model proposed for life's origins." Not only that but he is also a strong, public supporter of the counter-cultural movement. Once personal friends, with Terence McKenna, Bruce is an incredible story teller and has come on the show for this special 2 part episode to share the story of the origins of life on planet earth, from start dust through the primordial soup and first homo sapiens all the way to dropping LSD at transformational music festivals.   Full show notes and part 2 at bit.ly/ATTMind49 ... Support The Podcast PayPal Donation Patreon Other Options (including bitcoin) ... TOPICS DISCUSSED A complete model for the origins and evolution of life on planet earth A poetic reference to the world of the progenote, our common biological ancestor  How language and storytelling can immerse you in experience Virtual reality storytelling environment (Android Jones' microdose and Duncan Trussell). Psychedelics, magical spaces, and "endotripping". The mystical experiences at the foundations of Western thought. The corporatization of Christianity and the spread of the Pauline Christians. Civilizational neoteny and the failures of conventional initiations. An updated version of Terence McKenna's Stoned Ape Theory. The Ground Truth. An example of how radically human beings have permanently altered the planetary biome. Will we find life on Mars? Why? Space technology, biospheres, and the future sustainability of humanity. Suppressed technology and how to navigate conspiracy theory.  

Episode Part 2/2 From the origins of life, through ancient human history, to the interplanetary future of humanity and everything in between. "Bruce Frederick Damer, Ph.D. (born 31 January 1962) is a Canadian-American multidisciplinary scientist, designer, and author. Dr. Bruce Damer collaborates with colleagues developing and testing a new model for the origin of life on Earth and in the design of spacecraft architectures to provide a viable path for expansion of human civilization beyond the Earth." This man's resume is extensive and beautiful. From helping to lay the foundations for multi-user digital interfaces in the early 90s, to designing spaceships for NASA, to bringing forth what is "perhaps the first "end-to-end" model proposed for life's origins." Not only that but he is also a strong, public supporter of the counter-cultural movement. Once personal friends, with Terence McKenna, Bruce is an incredible story teller and has come on the show for this special 2 part episode to share the story of the origins of life on planet earth, from start dust through the primordial soup and first homo sapiens all the way to dropping LSD at transformational music festivals.   Full show notes and part 1 at bit.ly/ATTMind49 ... Support The Podcast PayPal Donation Patreon Other Options (including bitcoin) ...   TOPICS DISCUSSED A complete model for the origins and evolution of life on planet earth A poetic reference to the world of the progenote, our common biological ancestor  How language and storytelling can immerse you in experience Virtual reality storytelling environment (Android Jones' microdose and Duncan Trussell). Psychedelics, magical spaces, and "endotripping". The mystical experiences at the foundations of Western thought. The corporatization of Christianity and the spread of the Pauline Christians. Civilizational neoteny and the failures of conventional initiations. An updated version of Terence McKenna's Stoned Ape Theory. The Ground Truth. An example of how radically human beings have permanently altered the planetary biome. Will we find life on Mars? Why? Space technology, biospheres, and the future sustainability of humanity. Suppressed technology and how to navigate conspiracy theory.