The election revealed a lot—maybe too much. But among all the cheering and gloating there's one group I never expected to see celebrating: The psychedelic citizens of “Medicine World."
'A childish part of me truly believed the ultraviolet corridors of the psychedelic realm all led to the same place of unity and agreement' - yes, this! I'm so sad to read this (excellent) essay, but I also know I shouldn't be so surprised. I remember feeling similarly when it turned out there was a 'wellness to QAnon pipeline' and a massive anti-vax/conspiracy theorist problem in the yoga community. More recently I had to grapple with this when I learned that one of the most heinous members of the previous British government is a practising Buddhist. This is someone who used her power in office to demonise immigrants, the homeless, the scourge of wokeness etc etc - last year she tried to bring in legislation that would limit the use of tents by homeless people because homelessness is 'a lifestyle choice' - and yet several times a week she is presumably sitting down to do a loving kindness meditation. Like...make it make sense?!? But I suppose all this just goes to show that ideologies that seem objectively compassionate and unifying are not 'the answer' but can be used to serve ideas and behaviours that seem inherently at odds with them. Humans are just too complex and messy for it to be otherwise, I guess. It sucks though.
Oh that is FASCINATING. Again, it points me back to my own biases and inconsistencies—for instance ”Buddhists couldn’t possibly commit violence (Myanmar).” Anything can, will, and has been used as self-justification. Not that we needed a reminder. Thanks friend!
The histories of Burma, Thailand and Cambodia are replete with wars against each other — during which they were Buddhist nations. Shortly after I returned from a trip to Thailand a young American woman told me she wished she could live in a Buddhist country. Fresh in my mind were the dioramas in a Thai museum of war elephants from Thailand and Burma battling it out.
Appreciated this essay, Seth. You captured a lot of my own confusion. I was pretty stunned to see the ecstasy expressed (forgive the pun) by the psychedelic community over their big win. So much for psychedelics bringing the world together (no, I never envisioned that myself, but I have heard this fantasy from so many others).
This is what I learned about the psychonaut love fest with Trump:
According to RFK Jr, Trump will appoint RFK as the head of the FDA (technically, he'd be appointed the commissioner of Food and Drugs). RFK Jr has vowed to rejigger the FDA to allow everything. Vaccines? No longer required. COVID-19? Also, no vaccines. Although, in case you wondered, COVID is, per RFK, a bioweapon that impacts caucasian and black folks, but not Jews. OK....
Essentially, RFK Jr. is against any government interference (read: protections). Psychedelics for everyone. It is thought that he will reschedule the whole lot, though I'm really not sure how he's going to accomplish that. Also, he is dead set against pharmaceutical companies (I get that), so many in the psychedelic community find themselves in the same camp.
It perplexes me that so many people can listen to the venom spewed by Trump and still get behind him, because somehow he aligns with an issue important to them. It threw me to see this in my professional world.
Feel that (and nice pun!). This all lines up. More than anything, I’m bumping up against the limits of my own naivete. It is…humbling. Thanks for the reflection….
We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Us — perfect title at the perfect time.
Not surprised by response of psychedelic community. Cult leaders and cult followers exist everywhere. The psychedelic community isn’t immune to cult worshipping.
I am a survivor who has done years of psychotherapy — most recently ketamine assisted psychotherapy. And I’ve never, honestly, met more hypocritical people than the healers that work in this space. Lots of spiritual bypassing. Lots of very unhealthy people claiming supernatural powers and connection with Jesus or other entities. Many of these people are entirely delusional.
So when you say, we should all agree that we seek: “Greater peace, greater compassion, greater understanding and respect for one another’s differences.” Sure. When it’s part of your brand. When it’s part of what a charlatan or fake shaman or inexperienced practitioner knows that they need to say to mirror their client, to bring in their clientele, why not.
We can be idealist, wanting the best for the world, but we have to *live* our values, not just communicate the idea of these values as part of our identity through, for example, posting memes. Someone telling me that they’ve trained with a shaman or gone to an Ayahuasca ceremony means nothing to me. I want people to show me who they are by deeds, by what they’re willing to sacrifice, what they’re willing to give others without expectation of payment or recognition or reciprocity.
Candy Everybody Wants by 10,000 Maniacs explains it all.
What I wish the psychedelicly turned on would really press for is the legalization of the chemicals they themselves believe so valuable. Instead they throw in with the Drug War?
I wonder though whether it's only the loudest in the "room" as is often the case, who make the most noise. I'm not in that world but I am intrigued by it. And to me psychedelic conciousness is one of unity and compassion for every being on this earth.
Perhaps humans being humans still have blind spots even being submerged in this world. The people I've come across who have used psychedelics to go deeper within themselves o have found a certain openesss. A willingness to challenge their views.
This might not mean they suddenly adopt exactly my views but there more of that openness and willingness to find their own blind spots. Im curious if you've seen that at all?
You might like @alicia kwons works. She wrote a piece on why she did not vote at all. And how she became disillusioned with both parties.
Wow, I had no idea! "A childish part of me truly believed the ultraviolet corridors of the psychedelic realm all led to the same place of unity and agreement." That was me, till I read this. I still find it hard to believe those corridors would lead anywhere else. So sad to hear that they can.
My friend and mentor Four Arrows is a hypnotherapist, performance coach and indigenous worldview scholar who has studied this extensively. He sent me a student’s PhD dissertation that showed how worldview was a critical factor in spiritual transformation.
Of those who participated in ayahuasca ceremonies, most reverted to their same mindset afterwards unless they also worked for weeks on altering their worldview.
I can send you the study if you want.
Three books I highly recommend by Four Arrows are:
So well said, Seth. Disappointing, and true. We humans suffer from a heaps of delusion and tend to pile on more. Like Anna said, mostly just want to eat candy. You said you didn’t hear any politician framing ideas you believed in... I was pretty darn excited about Cornell West, who may not be said to be much of a politician, but I felt he was ringing the bell. I barely found anyone willing to talk about him.
Agree agree agree. Others have expressed dismay at the gatekeeping done to outside voices. I.E. “we have to do whatever it takes to win this so no distractions, please.”
Thank you for this Seth. I'm not sure i was under the same illusions about the psychedelic so called spiritual set; there was a good bbc podcast about this only a month or so back. But that doesn't mean i don't feel you!
'A childish part of me truly believed the ultraviolet corridors of the psychedelic realm all led to the same place of unity and agreement' - yes, this! I'm so sad to read this (excellent) essay, but I also know I shouldn't be so surprised. I remember feeling similarly when it turned out there was a 'wellness to QAnon pipeline' and a massive anti-vax/conspiracy theorist problem in the yoga community. More recently I had to grapple with this when I learned that one of the most heinous members of the previous British government is a practising Buddhist. This is someone who used her power in office to demonise immigrants, the homeless, the scourge of wokeness etc etc - last year she tried to bring in legislation that would limit the use of tents by homeless people because homelessness is 'a lifestyle choice' - and yet several times a week she is presumably sitting down to do a loving kindness meditation. Like...make it make sense?!? But I suppose all this just goes to show that ideologies that seem objectively compassionate and unifying are not 'the answer' but can be used to serve ideas and behaviours that seem inherently at odds with them. Humans are just too complex and messy for it to be otherwise, I guess. It sucks though.
Oh that is FASCINATING. Again, it points me back to my own biases and inconsistencies—for instance ”Buddhists couldn’t possibly commit violence (Myanmar).” Anything can, will, and has been used as self-justification. Not that we needed a reminder. Thanks friend!
The histories of Burma, Thailand and Cambodia are replete with wars against each other — during which they were Buddhist nations. Shortly after I returned from a trip to Thailand a young American woman told me she wished she could live in a Buddhist country. Fresh in my mind were the dioramas in a Thai museum of war elephants from Thailand and Burma battling it out.
Appreciated this essay, Seth. You captured a lot of my own confusion. I was pretty stunned to see the ecstasy expressed (forgive the pun) by the psychedelic community over their big win. So much for psychedelics bringing the world together (no, I never envisioned that myself, but I have heard this fantasy from so many others).
This is what I learned about the psychonaut love fest with Trump:
According to RFK Jr, Trump will appoint RFK as the head of the FDA (technically, he'd be appointed the commissioner of Food and Drugs). RFK Jr has vowed to rejigger the FDA to allow everything. Vaccines? No longer required. COVID-19? Also, no vaccines. Although, in case you wondered, COVID is, per RFK, a bioweapon that impacts caucasian and black folks, but not Jews. OK....
Essentially, RFK Jr. is against any government interference (read: protections). Psychedelics for everyone. It is thought that he will reschedule the whole lot, though I'm really not sure how he's going to accomplish that. Also, he is dead set against pharmaceutical companies (I get that), so many in the psychedelic community find themselves in the same camp.
It perplexes me that so many people can listen to the venom spewed by Trump and still get behind him, because somehow he aligns with an issue important to them. It threw me to see this in my professional world.
Feel that (and nice pun!). This all lines up. More than anything, I’m bumping up against the limits of my own naivete. It is…humbling. Thanks for the reflection….
We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Us — perfect title at the perfect time.
Not surprised by response of psychedelic community. Cult leaders and cult followers exist everywhere. The psychedelic community isn’t immune to cult worshipping.
I am a survivor who has done years of psychotherapy — most recently ketamine assisted psychotherapy. And I’ve never, honestly, met more hypocritical people than the healers that work in this space. Lots of spiritual bypassing. Lots of very unhealthy people claiming supernatural powers and connection with Jesus or other entities. Many of these people are entirely delusional.
So when you say, we should all agree that we seek: “Greater peace, greater compassion, greater understanding and respect for one another’s differences.” Sure. When it’s part of your brand. When it’s part of what a charlatan or fake shaman or inexperienced practitioner knows that they need to say to mirror their client, to bring in their clientele, why not.
We can be idealist, wanting the best for the world, but we have to *live* our values, not just communicate the idea of these values as part of our identity through, for example, posting memes. Someone telling me that they’ve trained with a shaman or gone to an Ayahuasca ceremony means nothing to me. I want people to show me who they are by deeds, by what they’re willing to sacrifice, what they’re willing to give others without expectation of payment or recognition or reciprocity.
Candy Everybody Wants by 10,000 Maniacs explains it all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jORFcH5uAjM
People love candy. But, it doesn’t mean they should be eating it.
Ha! Appreciate that a great deal, Anna! And obvs, not indicative of the entire community, but…. woof. I feel what you share.
Thank you. I appreciate you acknowledging my perspective. I agree. It’s not indicative of the entire community. Room for improvement, though.
What I wish the psychedelicly turned on would really press for is the legalization of the chemicals they themselves believe so valuable. Instead they throw in with the Drug War?
Sigh. Pretty much, yeah....
Ooof. This title, Seth.
Oh how deeply I relate to the disappointment and confusion you express.
Thanks for this.
I hear the disillusionment
I wonder though whether it's only the loudest in the "room" as is often the case, who make the most noise. I'm not in that world but I am intrigued by it. And to me psychedelic conciousness is one of unity and compassion for every being on this earth.
Perhaps humans being humans still have blind spots even being submerged in this world. The people I've come across who have used psychedelics to go deeper within themselves o have found a certain openesss. A willingness to challenge their views.
This might not mean they suddenly adopt exactly my views but there more of that openness and willingness to find their own blind spots. Im curious if you've seen that at all?
You might like @alicia kwons works. She wrote a piece on why she did not vote at all. And how she became disillusioned with both parties.
In short: No. Or: Maybe? Again, all of this is leading me back to my own blind spots, and assumptions, and naivete. And yet I hope I never lose it.
Wow, I had no idea! "A childish part of me truly believed the ultraviolet corridors of the psychedelic realm all led to the same place of unity and agreement." That was me, till I read this. I still find it hard to believe those corridors would lead anywhere else. So sad to hear that they can.
They absolutely do. Once again, this feels like a "grow up!" moment for me. Still young at 53?
Hey I'm 63 and still learning!
Another spot-on wisdom drop!
My friend and mentor Four Arrows is a hypnotherapist, performance coach and indigenous worldview scholar who has studied this extensively. He sent me a student’s PhD dissertation that showed how worldview was a critical factor in spiritual transformation.
Of those who participated in ayahuasca ceremonies, most reverted to their same mindset afterwards unless they also worked for weeks on altering their worldview.
I can send you the study if you want.
Three books I highly recommend by Four Arrows are:
1. primal awareness
2. Restoring the kinship worldview
3. Unlearning the language of conquest
Thanks again for your great work!
— David
Appreciate that David, deeply!….
So well said, Seth. Disappointing, and true. We humans suffer from a heaps of delusion and tend to pile on more. Like Anna said, mostly just want to eat candy. You said you didn’t hear any politician framing ideas you believed in... I was pretty darn excited about Cornell West, who may not be said to be much of a politician, but I felt he was ringing the bell. I barely found anyone willing to talk about him.
Agree agree agree. Others have expressed dismay at the gatekeeping done to outside voices. I.E. “we have to do whatever it takes to win this so no distractions, please.”
Thank you for this Seth. I'm not sure i was under the same illusions about the psychedelic so called spiritual set; there was a good bbc podcast about this only a month or so back. But that doesn't mean i don't feel you!
Appreciate that Tony! I’m definitely bumping against the limits of my own naivete here!….