#38 – Part Two: The Psychedelic Capitalism Debate That Wasn’t

In Part Two, the Psymposia crew continues to deconstruct a conversation between two self-described entrepreneurs who recently discussed psychedelics and medicalization during an event called Psychedelic Capitalism with Alexander Beiner [Rebel Wisdom] and Lars Wilde [COMPASS Pathways, Atai Life Sciences]— while studiously avoiding a debate of capitalism altogether.


Power Tripping #2: That’s an Old Story

The Psymposia team, discusses how the "Psychedelic Community" responded to T's abuse of Lily in the Ecuadorian Amazon and her attempts to call attention to the wider issues around her experience. We recall our own experiences of Lily's efforts dating back to 2012, and consider a number of individuals and institutions we've experienced as insulating harmful people in psychedelic communities. It takes a village to enable and cover up ongoing harm; how many people in psychedelic communities are complicit?


An open letter to the newly founded Center for Psychedelic Research at Johns Hopkins

With the recent creation of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, we must remember that, while industrialized medicine has never attempted to serve all people, institutional histories vary from one organization to the next.


Power Tripping #7: Political Science

What's going on with the MAPS narratives? How is it possible that Mel, Leah, and Meaghan's experiences have been so at odds with the "standard story" we've heard about psychedelic clinical trials? Why can't we seem to get straight answers to simple questions? The Psymposia team drills down into the questions raised by the revelations in "Political Science" in an attempt to highlight some of the dynamics at the heart of psychedelic science.


Aldous Huxley on the decline of mental health following “progress” in capitalist democracies

Aldous Huxley's thoughts on “progress” in capitalist democracies, why people take drugs, and the role of psychedelics in people's lives.


We are Bwitists and Healers in Gabon. Here’s What We Think of the Global Interest in Iboga. | Part 4

The Ibogaine Conversation Part 4 | The Western world cannot receive the benefits of iboga if they don’t try to understand and assimilate the traditional approach.


Psychedelic Inclusivity: Hopes and Challenges

When stubborn drives for inclusion and connection in the present betray a racially divided past, psychonauts may be able to attend to histories of exclusion, separation and disconnection in order to deepen our understanding and engagement in the present.


Psychedelics and Social Justice

For the movement toward psychedelic consciousness to be as transformative as it can possibly be, it is our obligation as a psychedelic community to be aware of our shortcomings and to challenge them head-on.


Psychedelics and Mental Health

Depression. Anxiety. Addiction. Most everyone of us knows somebody who is battling such a condition. Talk therapies may help, but sometimes they don’t. Antidepressants may help, but sometimes they don’t. Some patients are of the opinion that antidepressants are like “Band-Aids” in the way that they never really tackle the underlying issues of their problems.


Globalhuasca: Reciprocity and Integration of Indigenous and Scientific Worldviews

Even if we don't necessarily share religious, spiritual, or mythological assumptions, are we able to reconcile between such seemingly different and antagonistic worldviews?