The Future of Psychedelics

Evolvers Spores: The Future of Psychedelics

For millennia, cultures around the world expanded minds and visions with “teacher plants” – what we commonly know today as psychedelics. The widespread popularity of LSD during the 1960s awakened the Western psyche to these powerful substances, ushering in a period of wild experimentation that revolutionized art and music, inspired social movements, and opened new vistas of possibility for psychotherapy. But a swift backlash from the establishment made psychedelics illegal, repressing and marginalizing them as “dangerous drugs.”

Today, there is new potential for psychedelics to be reintroduced into mainstream culture, not as drastic catalysts of social upheaval but as tools that can help people overcome serious problems, explore mystical experiences, find inspiration, and understand more about consciousness and the brain. Psychedelic research with human subjects is underway again after a 35-year blockade, thanks to the efforts of non-profit organizations like MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) and the Beckley Foundation. Prominent newspapers and magazines are giving these substances another look, acknowledging their potential for therapeutic and spiritual breakthroughs if used with care. At the same time, the worldwide resurgence of interest in indigenous shamanism indicates a deeper maturity and respect emerging toward these ancient sacraments. In this Spore, Evolver Regionals will explore and discuss the exciting new frontiers for psychedelics in our modern culture, as both scientifically verified medicines and intentional tools for personal development.

Charles Shaw will be our guest speaker.

Charles Shaw's work has appeared in Alternet,Alternative Press Review, Conscious Choice, Common Ground,Grist,Guerrilla News Network, Huffington Post, In These Times, Newtopia, TheNew York Times, openDemocracy, Planetizen, Punk Planet, RealitySandwich, San Diego Uptown News, Scoop, Shift, Truthout, TheWitness,YES!, and Znet. He was a Contributing Author to the 2008 Shift Report from the Institute for Noetic Sciences, and in Planetizen's Contemporary Debates in Urban Planning (2007, Island Press). In 2009 he was recognized by the San Diego Press Club for excellence in journalism.

Charles is the Director of the Exile Nation Unheard Voices Story Project (coming Spring 2010), and Editor of the Dictionary of Ethical Politics, a collaborative project of Resurgence, openDemocracy, and the Tedworth Trust. He is the former Editorial Director of Conscious Enlightenment Publishing (Conscious Choice, Common Ground, Whole Life Times, and Seattle's Conscious Choice), the founder and publisher of Newtopia, former head writer for the nationally syndicated radio show Reality Checks, former Senior Staff Writer for The Next American City, and a Contributing Editor for Worldchanging.

Along-time activist and former official for the Green Party of the US,he is a native of Chicago who lives on the West Coast...for now.

Attachment Size
Exile Nation - Introduction .pdf 415.37 KB
Exile Nation - Dead Time.pdf 519.46 KB
Exile Nation - Hotel Hell.pdf 944.86 KB

12-9-09 Charles Shaw's blog ShareThis Printer-friendly version
Tags: spirituality Shamanism psychedelic therapy prisons Political Theory neotribalism drug war conscious evolution

After the Spore please stay for Fifth World A psychedelic band fusing elements of dub, funk, acid jazz, hip hop, and electronica.
http://www.fifthworldmusic.com/