Psychedelic Salon

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Terence McKenna PROGRAM NOTES: We return once again to the land of Terence McKenna's workshops. As you will hear, his question and answer format leads him into telling some of the old stories we heard early on in Terence's talks but some of which were dropped later on. As far as I can remember, this is the only time he talked about taking psychedelic substances in his dreams.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Terence McKenna PROGRAM NOTES: In this talk, Terence approaches the topic of how little of what was considered to be established science 100 years ago has now been overturned. One of the things he says in this talk may resonate with you is where he says, "You could almost describe psychedelics as enzimes for the activity of the imagination." The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow The Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Terence McKenna PROGRAM NOTES: Today begins our 20th year of podcasting from the Psychedelic Salon with a talk that Terence McKenna gave in the late 1980s. Near the end he talks about his daily cannabis use and how he and Kat got together. As far as I can remember, this is his only time that he got so personal.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Casey Hardison and Patreon Saloners PROGRAM NOTES: Today's podcast features a recording from a recent Live Salon. As usual, the conversation was free-form and didn't follow any script. One of the people who dropped by for the conversation was Casey Hardison, and his story captivated us. Links from this salon: An Amateur Qualitative Study of 48 2C-T-7 Subjective Bioassays 2C-T-7

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Charles Grob PROGRAM NOTES: Charlie Grob and Lorenzo (circa: 2012) Today we feature a talk that Dr. Charles Grob gave at the 1994 Transpersonal Association Conference in Killarny, Ireland. The focus of this talk concerns Dr. Grob's work with ayahuasca users in Brazil. As far as I know, this was the first government approved human study of the physiological effects of ayahuasca on humans. This study compared 15 long-term ayahuasca drinkers with healthy individuals and found that UDV members had lower levels of anxiety and many had overcome alcohol abuse. Another study by Grob and Dartiu Xavier Silveira compared 40 adolescent ayahuasca drinkers with non-drinkers. The research showed positive outcomes, such as reduced alcohol consumption among UDV teenagers and improved mood, self-acceptance, and interpersonal relationships in participants. These studies contributed to understanding the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca ARCHIVE of Dr. Charles Grob on the Psychedelic Salon

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speakers: Elizabeth Gips and D.M. Turner PROGRAM NOTES: Today's podcast features what may be the only recorded interview of the legendary D.M. Turner. It was conducted by Elizabeth Gips. FROM EROWID.ORG Elizabeth Gips, was the beloved "psychedelic grandmother" and host of the radio show Changes where she interviewed hundreds of visionaries over a 30-year span. D.M. Turner (born Joseph Vivian; 5 October 1962 – 31 December 1996) was an author, psychedelic researcher, and psychonaut who wrote two books on psychoactive drugs and entheogens. His first book, The Essential Psychedelic Guide, showcased his views on the subjective effects of various psychoactive and hallucinogenic substances. His second book, Salvinorin, addressed the effects of Salvia divinorum. Turner died after injecting an unknown quantity of ketamine while in a bathtub, drowning while presumably incapacitated by the effects of the drug.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speakers: Ram Das and Dr. Kenneth Ring PROGRAM NOTES: Ram Das and a young Lorenzo Today's podcast features two speakers, Ram Das and Dr. Kenneth Ring. Their topic is death! Unless you have come up with a plan to avoid dying, you may find some interesting observations from these talks. Dr. Ring, one of the world's leading experts on the Near Death Experience (NDEs), describes NDEs as being along the same lines as are stories about high-dose psychedelic experiences. Ram Das talks about why people avoid thinking about death and suggests ways to overcome this mental block. He also describes what I consider to be the worst possible setting for an acid trip.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: James Fadiman PROGRAM NOTES: James FadimanPhoto source: psychedelicpress.co.uk Today we get to listen to a long-forgotten talk by one of our most important elders, James Fadiman. This is a talk that he gave at the Transpersonal Vision Convention in 1988 and in it Jim provides us with another way to think about our higher selves. He points out that the self is a collection of personalities. It is not unified and cannot be unified. “Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, 'This is the real me,' and when you have found that attitude, follow it.”― William James, The Principles of Psychology

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Jack Kornfield PROGRAM NOTES: Jack Kornfield Mickey Hart Today's podcast features Jack Kornfield speaking at the 1988 International Transpersonal Conference in Santa Rosa, California. Kornfield is an American writer, teacher, and psychologist who is known for his work in making Buddhism more accessible for Westerners. He trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, India, and Burma, and has been teaching meditation internationally since 1974. He has also spoken about psychedelics in the context of spiritual practice. His views on the intersection of Buddhism and psychedelics highlights the importance of intention, caution, and ethical boundaries when considering their use. Kornfield also recommends getting trained in mindfulness, compassion and equanimity before using psychedelics. As he says, they are not for beginners. Are Psychedelics Useful in the Practice of Buddhism? by Myron StolaroffJOURNAL OF HUMANISTICC PSYCHOLOGY

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Ralph Metzner PROGRAM NOTES: RALPH METZNERImage source: Wikipedia Today we're going to dip back in time to 1988 and the recording of a talk by Ralph Metzner at the Transpersonal Vision Conference. Ralph has been mentioned by several or our past speakers, but this is my first podcast in which Ralph is the main speaker. Ralph was a German-born American psychologist, writer and researcher, who worked with Leary and Ram Das at Harvard. Sadly, Ralph died in 2019. In addition to being a psychotherapist, he was also Professor Emeritus of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Terence McKenna PROGRAM NOTES: Esalen Institute near Big Sur, California Although he first appeared at Esalen in the early 1970s, this may be the earliest recording of a Terence McKenna workshop there. It is from June of 1984. I think this is Terence's best and most clearly detailed description of the psychedelic experience. And that is why I'm repodcasting it now, rather than refer you to a podcast that I first published in April of 2014.Among other little gem in this talk where Terence said that of all the people he'd given DMT to over many years, only FOUR of them reported an experience like the ones he described. And then, he admitted that, and I quote: "every single one of them had been primed by me." Podcast 396 – “A Freely Evolving Topology of Light & Sound” (This is the first podcast of this talk.(The title on the cassette is Mind, Molecules and Magic)

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speakers: Terence McKenna, Dennis McKenna, Eduardo Luna, Kat Harrison PROGRAM NOTES: This is a recording of a workshop session at the Esalen Institute from August of 1985 featuring a conversation between three of the early pioneers of the psychedelic resurgence. The recording begins with Terence postulating the importance of pyschedelics in the early mental development of humans.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Terence McKenna PROGRAM NOTES: Today's program features a recording of a morning workshop that Terence McKenna let at the Esalen Institute in August of 1985. As you will hear, it takes place just before their noon lunch break, and there is no lecture per se. Instead it turns into a salon-like atmosphere with no particular topic, other than the then-current concerns about the millinium and the year 2012.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speakers: Rick Doblin, Lester Grinspoon, Richard Yensen, Donna Dryer, Myron Stolaroff, Willis Harman, Ralph Abraham, and Robert Anton Wilson PROGRAM NOTES: Today's program features the continuation of Podcast 684, the Psychedelic Summit that was held in Santa Cruz in 1992. As you can tell from the list of speakers, it was another celebrity-packed speakers' list. While all of the names will be famaliar to you, this is the first time that we've had talks by Lester Grinspoon, Willis Harman and Robert Anton Wilson here in the salon. PSYCHEDELIC AGENTS IN CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING: A PILOT STUDY (1966) The Issue of the Consciousness-Expanding Drugs - Willis Harman (1963)

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speakers: Ralph Abraham and Terence McKenna PROGRAM NOTES: Today's program features a 1985 conversation between Terence McKenna and Ralph Abraham that took place at the Esalen Institute near Big Sur, California. Their conversation centers on the science of chaotic attractors and models of their actions. While mathematicians will more fully understand some of these concepts, Ralph has a way of explaining them so we can all grok what he explains. The concept of using mathematical models for things like tracking hurricanes is common to most of us, ideas about modeling society may be new to many of us, and exciting as well. If ever there was a time to project the track of our culture's future, this is it. Ralph Abraham's recent book, Schims, is an excellent companion to this conversation. Schism: The Madness of Crowds, Toxicity of Social Media, Social Polarization, and Political Violence; A Cybernetic Approach

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: John Beresford PROGRAM NOTES: Dr. John Bereford delivering this talk in 2006 at the conference celebrating Albert Hofmann's 100th birthday. Today's program features a lecture by psychedelic researcher Dr. John Beresford. Here is Erowid's introduction to him: "British-born John Beresford began his psychedelic research interests in 1961, and shortly thereafter he resigned his post as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at New York Medical College. In 1963 he founded the Agora Scientific Trust, the world's first research organization devoted to investigating the effects of LSD. In contrast to Leary's invitation to "tune in, turn on, and drop out", Beresford initially wanted to keep LSD as a tool of scientifically trained specialists. However, later in his life he adopted a viewpoint that was opposed to the medicalization of psychedelics." Of course, the story that he is best known for is the time that he wrote to Sandoz Laboratories and requested one gram of LSD! (If my math is correct, that's about 4,000 doses of 250 mics each.) Amazingly, Sandoz sent him a gram through the mail and attached a note that read, "Good luck." The talk we are about to listen to was given by Dr. Beresford at the conference celebrating Albert Hofmann's 100th birthday. He titled it: "Psychedelic Agents and the Structure of Consciousness: Stages in a Session Using LSD and DMT".

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speakers: Matthew Brederick, Bruce Eisner, Rick Doblin, Oscar Jannigar, Albert Hofmann, Humphry Osmand, John Beresford, Laura Huxley, Francis Huxley PROGRAM NOTES: Today's podcasta features talks from the 1992 Psychedelic Summit that was held in Santa Cruz. As you can see from the names of the speakers, this was a star-studded event. While this 1992 conference features much talk about the War on Drugs, it is an interesting counterpoint to the conference that was held in Denver earlier this year in which the focus was the scientific importance of psychdelic substances.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Bruce Damer Today's podcast features two Palenque Norte talks that Bruce Damer gave at the 2022 Burning Man Festival. This talk was followed by an hour-long Q&A session that I'll podcast after I post a few of the other Paleqnue Norte talks from 2022. Although I haven't previewed them yet, there are recordings waiting for me from the talks by Corey Doctorow, John Gilmore, Android Jones, and Rick Doblin among others. My plan is to slowly roll them out to you during the next few months. Bruce Damer's Website Confessions of an Ecstasy Advocate from George Wada Dog Paw Productions on Vimeo. Psychedelic Sunday Variety Series - February 5, 2023

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Kathleen Lakey PROGRAM NOTES: Today we feature an interview that Charles Lighthouse recently conducted with Kat Lakey. Besides talking about her latest project, which will be the world's first Psychedelic Athenaum, they discussed the Psychedelic Assembly, which was a conference that Kat and her friends produced a few months ago. Some highlights of this interview include a dicusssion of her work for the salon, including the production of an audio version of Leonard Pickard's book The Rose of Paracelsis. Also, Kat tells talks about the harrowing experience of being deep in a Peruvian jungle when the pandemic hit and marshall law was declared in Peru. The World's First Psychedelic AthenæumThe Kat Lakey Archive on the Psychedelic SalonPsychedelic Salon Archives: The Rose of ParacelsusAthenaums: Where Greek Ideals Meet New England Charm2022 Psychedelic Assembly Speakers

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speakers: Annie Oak and Rachel Clark Ann Shulgin (1933 - 2022) ... photo by Jon Hanna PROGRAM NOTES: Today's podcast features the first of a series of Palenque Norte Lectures that I'll be podcasting over the next few months. And our guest speakers are Annie Oak and Rachel Clark. Annie, among many other activities, is the managing edidor of Lucid.news. Her co-presenter is Rachel Clark whose column "Your Psychedelic Auntie" is featured in Lucid.news. Rachel also works with the DanceSafe Project and is one of the most up-to-date people I know of when it comes to psychedelic substances currently being widely used at festivals and other large events. If you plan on attending an event at which you may be tempted to try something new, be sure to listen to what Rachel and Aannie are reporting. Annie Oak is the founder of the Women’s Visionary Congress and co-founder of the nonprofit Women's Visionary Council. Lucid News Your Psychedelic Auntie DanceSafe