ZOOMDOUT

15/04/2022

Research shows effects of compound found in magic mushrooms can be seen weeks after treatment

21/07/2021

A single dose of psilocybin, the active compound in “magic mushrooms,” given to mice prompted a long-lasting increase in the connections between neurons.

30/06/2021

"Before Wasson, nobody took the children simply to find God. They were always taken to cure the sick." - María Sabina

On this day in 1955, R. Gordon and Valentina Wasson became the first Westerners to participate in an indigenous Mazatec mushroom ritual, or velada, consuming Psilocybe caerulescens in the mountains of southern Mexico under the watchful eye of curandera María Sabina.

Two years later, they published accounts of their experience in 'Life' magazine and 'This Week', popularising the consumption of psychedelic mushrooms among the alternative counterculture of the United States, and hugely contributing to the psychedelic revolution of the 1960s. Specimens collected by the Wassons were later used by Albert Hofmann to isolate and synthesise psilocybin.

However, the publication of Sabina's image and location, against her wishes, led to unwanted attention from the Mexican authorities and ostracisation by her community. This, in addition to later revelations that the Wassons' expedition was funded by the CIA's infamous MK Ultra project, has understandably tarnished their reputation, though R. Gordon claimed his only intention was to contribute to the sum of human knowledge.

Regardless, the evening of 29th June 1955 was a significant moment in the history of psychedelics in the Western world, and the event highlights the importance of respecting the wishes of the indigenous people who stewarded and safeguarded knowledge of psychedelic plants and fungi over generations. It is thanks to people like María Sabina that we can once again use 'the children', as she referred to her mushrooms, to cure the sick.

Find out how: https://www.beckleyfoundation.org/science/substances-methods/psilocybin/ 🍄

04/03/2021

As the world contends with the climate emergency, a beacon of hope emerges from the Black Rock Desert of Northern Nevada. Burning Man will never be the same again.

01/03/2021

07/02/2021

04/02/2021

A few conscientious scientists are standing up for the besieged amphibious creatures.

03/02/2021

Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell, one of humanity's vastest and most humanistic minds, died on this day in 1970, having lived almost 100 years. Here is his urgently beautiful wisdom on life: https://www.brainpickings.org/2020/09/27/bertrand-russell-bbc-face-to-face/

11/01/2021

"Just center yourself in silence for a moment. 
 
Instead of waiting for something to happen, flip it just slightly and just be in it. Are you really here or are you just waiting for the next thing? It’s interesting to see where we are in relation to time; whether we’re always just between what just happened and what happens next, or whether we can just be here now. 
 
So, let’s just find our way to be here together. If you’re feeling agitated, just notice the agitation. If you’re warm, be warm. If you’re cold, be cold. If you’re overly full, be overly full. Be it, whatever it is, but put it all in the context of a quiet space, because there’s a secret in that, and it’s worth playing with it. 
 
That there’s a place that we can be inside of ourselves, inside of the universe, in which and from which we can appreciate the delight in life. Where we can still have equanimity, and quality of presence, and the quietness of peace. 
 
It’s something I’ve been cultivating for 45 years now. Just imagine a mandala or a flower and think about the center of the flower and then all the petals that come out from the center and think of the center of the flower as absolutely still, and think of all of the petals as moving, and energy, and change, but the center is still. 
 
Where is your center?" 
 
- Ram Dass 
 
Photo by

02/01/2021

14/12/2020

May the strange silver light of the Eclipse bless the world with beauty and new revelations. Here’s my painting from the Oregon eclipse of 2017. 🌑🖤

24/11/2020

26/10/2020

Zoom clip of the Eco-Bhakti weekend finale with Jahnavi’s Poetry of Nature event.

10/08/2020

“Transcendenta! Transcendenta!
We shall dance a mad cadenza!”

–JK

26/07/2020

Chacruna honors the life and legacy of Ahati Kilindi Iyi, a worldwide pioneer in psychedelic science and healing and a prominent figure in the community of D...