Here is an older post, but one that changed my life for the better. Strap in because it is a long one…

This last week was an amazing way to cap off my month. I consider June to be my month since my birthday and Pride both fall within it. I spent the week at an amazing conference in Denver, a late night bear party, and marching in the Pride parade. Just a whirlwind week full of learning, love, understanding, and fun. My overall take from the conference was very positive. I went from having many questions, to having even more questions, but that is the cost of moving forward in a field. You learn two answers, and those spawn six questions, like the heads of a hydra. I don’t want to get into specifics here on what I learned and what I wanted to learn. I will save the remainder of this post for that.

I did want to touch on my perception of the vibe, and honestly it is very much still a big question mark. There is a ton of science, testing, talks, and much more but not a ton of answers. People still just do not know. Colorado is on the verge of defining their laws and rules for treatment. The FDA is dragging like it does. There were some amazing little victories highlighted; CBT codes for insurance reimbursement, the FDA breakthrough status for MDMA, and others (I will try to point them out in each section if those victories are in my notes). Still this question mark looming over everything, and it is freaking beautiful. I would be lying if I said I didn’t tear up on several occasions during the conference (once again topics I will highlight below). I am exceedingly enthusiastic with the space, and equally enthusiastic about the part I am ready to play in it. Living the life of service to others rather than just myself.

Since this was the second time attending a conference without working a booth, I wasn’t quite sure how to manage it. I mean 500+ speakers and many more sessions was daunting. So I decided to let the universe guide me…sort of. On Tuesday I sat down in front of my computer for some due diligence. I went through most of the speakers on both the website and the conference app. I first scheduled the big talks that my schedule would be based around. I then went to most of the speakers, checked what their sessions were about, and added anything that looked good to my schedule. I started with about 65 total sessions I was interested in. I wanted to be a conference ninja, moving quickly, quietly through the conference attending as many sessions as I could. I did however leave plenty of time in between sessions to get a good seat or take a break outside. This made for an enjoyable experience, but also some melancholy when I removed some rather interesting talks from my schedule due to scheduling conflicts. There is no way to see all that I wanted to, but I will see if some of those videos or presentations are shared online at a later date.

Monday – Workshop Day:

Workshop: Guiding Psilocybin Sessions with Mary Cosimano, LMSW

As I begin to write this post I am playing “In Paradisum” by Gabriel Fauré. This song was in Mary’s presentation, but due to technical difficulties she was unable to play it. This piece of music is used in guided sessions, and is the music that drives Alex and his desire to be an exceptional honky tenor. Monday was a special day for me. Filled with anxiety and nervousness about the conference I left my house with optimism and a sense of accomplishment. I have only ever attended one other conference as an attendee (I have worked many though).

Mary Cosimano LMSW and her Guiding Psilocybin sessions workshop was the entirety of my Monday at the conference. Mary is a wonderful person who just lights up the room with her presence. I could dive into her credentials here, but it would perhaps be better to read them on the PRATI site instead. I am using the workshop as an introduction to this work, and I got more out of it than I ever thought I would. Not just merely an introduction, but the actual professional experiences of someone that has done this work for 20+ years in a clinical, controlled setting. Just listening to Mary read from her client’s reflections was well worth the price of admission (all workshops in this conference were sold-out, so I was glad I signed up when I did). I will use my training programs as a real deep dive into this work.

With her words and stories, Mary confirmed my belief that in order to be successful with guiding sessions, one must first really work on themselves. This is something I have been working on since the pandemic started, but I still have a lot of work to do. Here are a few important aspects she touched on during the workshop that I will continue to work on, probably for the rest of my life::

Non-judgmental presence
Have an open-arms approach with your clients, shine your heart open for all the people you meet and guide
Have a loose agenda, be in the present, and go with the flow
Know and accept yourself
Trust, let go, be open

Personally, due to nurture (and perhaps nature), I can be extremely judgemental. This was the word I put on the piece of paper during our spiritual retreat back in October and burned to let go of. Still a big pain point for me, but I work on it daily. Growing up in Compton California, judgment and aggression were things you used for survival. It worked very well for me on many occasions to keep out of trouble, but is not needed now. Using the Ram Dass “heart” meditation every morning will help me to be less judgemental in the long run. I also have a couple mantras I repeat when I feel like I am being too judgemental. The first is, “no judgment, just compassion” and the second is “who is breathing?”. Both mantras get me out of my mind and back to my breath.

Having an open-arms approach when conversing or guiding clients is important. I really like the line that I either got from her or made up on the spot, “shine your heart open for all the people you meet and guide”. So important! When Mary was doing role-playing exercises with her friend and client, she was very open with her arms and her speech. She listened attentively and encouraged the speech with her vocal tics and words. It was to the point where it seemed over the top. I had the question come to my mind if she does this normally, or if that was for the sake of the show? I may never know, but it was very helpful either way.

One of the items above that will need less personal work is the loose agenda. That is me in a nutshell. Going with the flow, pivoting when needed, but still staying on task. That is technology. There are many ways to accomplish the same task. If one doesn’t work, pivot to another, and another. See what works, experiment and learn. Another huge positive when cultivating mushrooms in a controlled environment. A very important trait, but one that comes to a Gemini like me naturally.

I am going to combine the last two here since they are very similar. As an openly gay male who was in the closet for much of my early life, those two are also hard. I am not putting these into any order, just what I wrote down in my notes. I feel I have worked a lot on those two traits since coming out to myself when I was 24, but I still have a lot of work to do. I believe the non-judgmental presence and knowing and accepting yourself go hand in hand. It may be my imagination, but the less judgmental I am the more accepting I am of myself. When I judge others, then it is only natural to assume others are judging me (internalized projection maybe). SO when I let that shit go, then there is a lightness in my mind, I am more accepting and less judgmental. Trust is trust, let go and be open.

Guided Affective Imagery (GAI), a method of intensive psychotherapy by Hanscarl Leuner, M.D, referred to as Leuner Guided Imagery by Mary in the conference. Towards the end of the workshop Mary led us through a couple guided imagery sessions. Having experienced these sessions first hand, I can see how beneficial they could be in a guided session. I am going to read the paper I linked above, and dive a bit more into this, but I will also make a note to talk about this during a training program. It would be good to visit it again in that type of environment.

Mary did recommend a book by Myron J. Stolaroff called The Secret Chief. The way she talked about this book, I knew it should be a major focus for me moving forward. When there was a break I jumped on Amazon to purchase a copy. I did not have the author’s name, just the title. The title the secret chief really stuck out because of my magick teacher Damien Echols (in fact Mary had a couple amazing references to magick in her session, she probably didn’t even know it). In Hermeticism, the secret chief is the name given to the mage who achieves the knowledge and conversations of their HGA (holy guardian angel). It is the title bestowed on the mage who has completed the great work. An example is Aleister Crowley and Thelema. He created Thelema after receiving this transmission. A very auspicious title indeed. It stuck, and I had to have the book.

I found a copy, but nothing on kindle and the only copy was used for $33. I figured maybe it was a textbook or something big, but it is not. It is a very small book with a $10 cover price. What the hell did I buy? Then it hit me, I bought the first edition printed by MAPs in 1997. The original work was created with an intact veil of mystery behind Jacob and his location. Of course we all know that Jacob is actually Leo Zeff and his location was Oakland. Even though I know this, there is still something awesome about the mystery of the first edition I absolutely love. I wish I could have run into Mary during the conference to sign the book. Maybe next time. Until then I will read and study this book as a real prerequisite for my future training.

An important topic Mary touched on, and one that I will learn about a lot more is integration. The importance of integration for incorporating psychedelic experiences into day to day living. Bringing the meaning of the session into everyday living. If not for integration then it would just be an experience. Life is integration. The guided session and the integration afterwards is the real heart of the practice. I know how important this is, but it is still very much a mystery to me. I heard it mentioned a couple times at the conference, so I am sure we will cover it in full during training.

“Magick is the science and art of causing change (in consciousness) to occur in conformity with will, using means not currently understood by traditional Western science.” Donald Michael Kraig in Modern Magick: Twelve lessons in the High Magickal Arts. In the context of psychedelic assisted psychotherapy, the last part of this quote is getting less and less true everyday. With all the trials and testing going on in this space, Western science is catching up with the psychonauts. The first part of this quote was something that Mary touched on. This is nothing more than a change in consciousness, or as Michael Pollan says, How to change your mind. Just like in Hermeticism, the energy behind the practices (the plants) is not really understood, but it is getting better. One of the things I look forward to the most as I get older is seeing Western science understand and quantify energetic practices. I think it would be neat.

I will close out this part with, Intention, Attention, and Action. Set your intention, focus your attention, and respond with action. That is the real work. Thank you so much to Mary for this valuable experience, and to MAPs for this life-changing conference. Now that this workshop has been journaled, time to move on to the actual conference, and the sessions I attended.

Wednesday – First Day, Yay!

Opener: Welcome to Psychedelic Science 2023 and opening addresses from Rick Doblin, PH. D., Governor Rick Perry, and Governor Ja r ed Polis

I moved through the conference quickly, and tried to arrive at the sessions with plenty of time to get a good seat and watch the people come in. I enjoyed it, and I got great seats everywhere I went. Sure I may have sacrificed some sessions for the sake of convenience, but that is fine. One seat I found that was great and I kept coming back to was at the Bellco theater. I found a great seat in the corner towards the back that was pretty well isolated and easy to get to and get out of. That was my place every time I was in the theater, except for day 2 since that spot was a little flooded after the hail storm the night before. You will see a few pictures of my view from that seat in different areas of this post, including the ones above.

It started with an inspirational presentation from MAPs superstar Rick Doblin. Followed quickly by a fun and unusual talk by Rick Perry. Yes, the ex-Texan politician Rick Perry. Doblin wore all white during his presentation, and Perry wore all black. Perry played on the contrasts as Doblin being the light, and himself (or his political representation) as the dark side of the opener. Both talks were well received. Unfortunately the opening remarks were running a bit over time, and by the time Polis got on stage everyone had other commitments to get to. So everyone was leaving as Polis was talking, and I felt bad for him. I stayed in my seat the entire time and listened to what he had to say. The speech was more of a reaffirmation that Colorado is taking the right steps towards body autonomy and freedom. I thought it was a good speech, and wanted to tell Polis that, but I barely missed him at the Pride parade. I noticed him too late as I walked past and was unable to let him know I appreciated his talk even though the room was in a state of flux.

One note that I had on this session may have been from Doblin, “It was my destiny to join in a great experience. Having had the good fortune to belong to the League, I was permitted to be a participant in a unique journey” Hermann Hesse in Journey to the East.

Session: Who Can Be a Psychedelic Practitioner with Andrew Penn, MS, PMHNP, Belinda Eriacho, MPH, MT, and Mary Cosimano, LMSW

As soon as Mary mentioned this session in her workshop, I just had to sign up. It went right there with my “must-attend” sessions like Roland Griffiths and Paul Stamets; The sessions I molded my schedule around. It is fitting that this was my first real session of PS2023. It is the heart of why I attended in the first place. What do I need to be a psychedelic practitioner? The answer was surprisingly simple, yet difficult.

Andrew Penn was one of the speakers on the panel. He is a psychiatric nurse practitioner, educator, consultant, and clinician. He mentioned something that stuck with me, and something I have repeated a few times since the conference. Be a nurse. A nurse has the qualities, skills, compassion, and touch that is needed to be a good psychedelic guide. I am not a nurse, and have never had the desire to get into the field. I see the wisdom in this; Nurses sit with people when they are going through very difficult times and may not be in their normal state of consciousness. I think about the work I am doing with myself, and it seems like the work a nurse would do to be more of an affectionate, compassionate person of service. As a Buddhist I would go another route and say, be a monk. I have worked with Taiwanese nuns and monks before at Chung Tai monasteries in California, they are the most kind, compassionate, and joyful people I have ever met.

Belinda Eriacho was another panelist. She is a wisdom carrier, healer, and founder of Kaalogii LLC. She brought a unique perspective to this panel, and her insight was extraordinary. To have a full cohesive and comprehensive view of psychedelics, you need to listen to the ancestral wisdom of the indigenous peoples that have been using these substances since the beginning of time. The caretakers of these powerful energies (spirits). In this post you will see a common theme of collaboration. There was a sense of urgency and necessity from the indigenous speakers regarding the need for Western medicine to work more closely with the protectors of the spirits, and I agree whole-heartedly with this sentiment.

Something Andrew mentioned that I heard a few times at the conference was CPT codes and insurance reimbursement. It seemed like many people were interested in how these services would be billed and paid for. A very important question for a service that so many people need. The AMA (American Medical Association) approved the CPT codes for psychedelic therapies, and it was a source of celebration at the conference. I think this and the MDMA FDA breakthrough status were positive points at the conference.

Below are my notes on the qualities needed to be a successful psychedelic guide that I noted from the session:

Here with the spirit of service: I see this as living a life of service to others rather than yourself. Like a nurse or monk, as mentioned above.
Not to be driven by monetary gain: not a focus of mine, but it is important to get paid a living wage while doing this work for an undivided focus.
Respect for the medicine: This also plays into the spirit of indigenous collaboration.
Patience – time is your ally and there is a certain wisdom to slowness: I am blessed that I have tremendous patience, but it could always be better.
Safe and trusting: this goes hand in hand with set and setting, you have to put forth the image and energy of being a safe and trusting person.
Enthused with life and excited by the human presence: This is a pain point for me as well, and something I need to work on. Being a self-reliant introvert is not socially healthy. I do love humans and think they are amazing creatures, but I always find myself being overly judgemental and berating people in my mind for not living up to my trumped up expectations.
Don’t be defensive: I am not a very defensive person and am good at seeing all sides to a conversation or opinion.
Be at peace with yourself: Another quality I have been working on and will continue to do so.
Non-judgemental: Same as the comments from the workshop. This is the quality I am working on the most.
Comfort with non-normal states of consciousness: This is something that comes naturally to many professions. IT is not one of them. I think this comes from experience for someone like me.
Blessed is best, more is dangerous: I can’t really remember the context for this quote, and it doesn’t really fall into this category, but I am putting it here anyway because I like it.
Ease with touch: Pain point number 3 for me. I am getting more comfortable with personal touch, and hugging people when seeing them. This also comes with time and experience.
Cultural acceptance and competence: Very important when dealing with different people from different cultures, backgrounds, or religions. I decided last year that learning Spanish was integral to this work for me. I took a bit of a break, but I’m going to get back into it after the conference. Working with people in their native tongue, and communicating with indigenous practitioners can be very beneficial in this space.

That was a nice long list of qualities that I gathered from the talk. These are the gatekeepers to this work. It could be easy to mimic these qualities and try to pretend you have them, but when working with this energy frauds will be exposed quickly. Non-judgmental and compassion are energies to be felt and not words spoken. You cannot fake that energy, especially when under the influence.

Below is another list (somewhat shorter) of preparations needed for this work:

Work on yourself physically!
Work on yourself emotionally!
Work on yourself spiritually!
Have a journey: How are you supposed to facilitate if you do not experience?
What is your way, your practice: To go with the flow effectively there should be a good framework. Something I have been thinking about a lot, and planning out.
Community, accountability, and belonging: Yes! About a year and a half ago I joined a yoga community here in Colorado. This is that. All those qualities are present in that community. This will have direct parallels to my practice. In fact they may end up being the same communities with the same people.
Accountability and responsibility: The above was about community accountability. This is personal accountability. Paul Stamets said in his talk that if you provide a psychedelic substance to another person, it is your personal responsibility to make sure that person has a safe and beneficial experience.

Session: Sex, Death, Money, and Psychedelics with Sylvia Benito, CFA

This session was a surprise. It was not on my schedule. I got to the Doblin stage pretty early to get a great seat for Rick Doblin’s fireside chat with Chistian Angermayer. Then Sylvia showed up for her talk. Sylvia is the CIO of Justice Partners and Beckley Retreats, and is an indigenously trained shaman. She connects consciousness to capital by bridging the traditional world of investing to the alignment, awareness, and transformative purpose of wealth. “Money is energy.”

I personally do not have a good relationship with money. Something else I am actively working on. Money is energy. I can agree with that. I didn’t take many notes here since it was not a particular focus for me. Here are the highlights from her presentation:

Sex: “Truth is the ultimate aphrodisiac”
Money: “Money is hungry and eager to wake up with us”
Death: “Psychedelics heal our essential sense of separation and reveal a more unified and mystery saturated view”
“Invite money, sex, and power to sit at the table with God”
She also referred to the experience of psychedelics as “god giggles” which I found interesting

Session: A Fireside Chat with Christian Angermayer and Rick Doblin, Ph. D.

I was not sure what to expect from this session. I was interested in hearing what Rick Doblin was saying, but he was the person asking the questions which Christian Angermayer was answering. Christian is an entrepreneur and investor who invests in companies that are shaping the future of humanity. Christian’s family office and private investment firm, Aperion Investment Group, manages billions which focus on life sciences, cryptocurrency, life extension, psychedelics, and other advancing technologies. He is compassionate about mental health, and is the co-founder of the AURORA Institute. For more on Christian, please click the link in his name.

I enjoyed this talk, but did not really get anything substantial from it. If anything it helped to improve my view of money. That was the take away from the last two sessions I attended back to back on the Doblin stage. Money is energy, money is freedom, money allows people and organizations to do amazing things for humanity. I would love to see a futuristic utopia where money has no meaning, and people just live and work together for the sheer joy and rewards of advancing our race. I will probably not see that in my lifetime, but I feel that is our future if we really want to survive. Money is also ego and it is greed. Both of which lead to suffering.

Book Signing: Alex and Alyson Grey sign Zig Zag Zen

There were a few firsts for me at this conference. This book signing was the first time I have ever done anything like this. It is not in my personality to have someone sign a book. Seems to be an ego driven exercise, but hey “when in Rome”. This signing came up when I was reading through the different sessions and events at the conference. I was on a break from Monday’s workshop and saw that Alex and Allyson Grey were signing Zig Zag Zen. I have never heard of this book, but reading about it I knew it had to be at the top of my to-read list. I dipped from the workshop, ran upstairs and bought a copy of the book in anticipation for the signing. I am glad I did since there were no copies available at the time of the signing.

So I got to the signing a bit early and got a decent place in line. I waited about 30 minutes chatting up a couple people behind me in the process. Then it was my time, hmmm what do I do this is all new to me. So I kneeled down in reverence to these two wonderful people. I then shared an experience I had with Alex Grey during Sonic Bloom back in 2007 (maybe?). This was an event I was working for High Country, and I got tickets to the night time festivities. I was completely sober (except for the normal THC high I put on everyday back then), and I was vibing. I swear I felt like I was on something, perhaps it was my own homegrown DMT or the energy from the crowd. I just remember pretty vividly the feeling of the crowd which Glitch Mob was on stage and Alex Grey was there making amazing artwork. I mentioned this to Alex, and Allyson said, in a very polite and assertive way, I was there too since we always perform together. Then it hit me, she just called me out on something that I have been actively working on. I debated whether to put this in the post or not, but I am going to since this post is about personal growth. When I was walking away it dawned on me, that was my home-misogyny right there. I may have created this term, but it is misogyny that gay people have towards women. Something I had a lot of back then. Something that would keep me from seeing Allyson with Alex even though she was probably right there. I think this is the fourth pain point for me I mentioned in this post so far, and something I am actively working on.

Session: The Mazatec Sierra and The Sacred Mushrooms: Past and Present with Osiris Garcia Cerqueda, PH. D, and René Alvarado Martinez

This session was in Spanish, but they had a very good translator with them. Also I was able to pick up a bit of what they were saying in their native tongue. Giving me more inspiration to continue my Spanish learning. Osiris Garcia Cerqueda is a very charismatic speaker. He had many serious and urgent things to talk about, but did it in a way that was calm and collected. René Alvarado Martinez was the opposite. He was very nervous speaking to the crowd, but he did well. He is an amazing artist and keeper of sacred rituals like his father before him.

As with all the indigenous speakers at this conference, there was a sense of urgency to their words. They are the keepers of this medicine. René spoke of the “small blooms” and the “wise woman of nature” like many other tribal leaders before and after. This is their natural connection with those spirits and that energy. Both of which are powerfully transformative. There is an aspect he spoke of which is often overlooked in Western medicine, reading the signs. The practitioners of traditional medicine read, what René would call, “the corn, the copal incense, and the candle”. In Western science we say, if you have psychosis or a family history of psychosis then psychedelics would make things worse. The shamans did not rely on their patients’ words, but rather the signs all around them. This is what made their practices particularly powerful, safe, and effective. If it was not your time to take this medicine, then you would not take it. It was not about money, it was about the general well-being of your tribe.

This really made me think. I would like to find a way to incorporate traditional Mazatec ritual into my guiding practice. I am not sure how this would look, but it may be best to see for myself. Unfortunately with the explosion in popularity with the Mazatec people and Maria Sabina in the 1960’s and 70’s this psychedelic tourism cost the Mazatec people greatly. It may have caused them to be more protective and secretive of their practices. I think this may be changing based on the speakers’ words. It seems like they are ready to share and work with Westerners as long as there is a mutual respect for the medicine and the people. Maybe in a couple years when my Spanish is better and my practice is moving I can take a trip there to see for myself.

Session: Building Culture with Principles, A conversation with Burning Man CEO Marian Goodall

I debated whether to add this session in my journal. It was not on my schedule, and I came in towards the end of the talk. I decided to include it since it was part of my experience. I do not have any notes, and no take-aways, that I can think of. It is just awesome to see how far an organization like Burning Man has come over the years, it is truly a unicorn. I am looking forward to seeing what Marian Goodall does in the future.

Session (Main Event): Psilocybin Mushrooms and their Tryptamines: Potential Medicines for Neurogeneration with Paul Stamets

I am not going to dive into Paul’s accolades here. He is a well respected member of the mycelium community, perhaps even its leader. He is respected by many as the godfather of mushrooms. For obvious reasons this was the main event for me. The image above has a slide that talks about some of his many accomplishments as a myco-pioneer. I even remember in a podcast Paul talking about using mycelium and spores as a way to save the bees. Very fascinating work and just one example of how Paul is using mycelium and his experience with it to solve some of our problems. Unfortunately he was not wearing his signature mushroom hat, but that might not be good if you are trying to get around a conference with tens of thousands of people wanting to get a picture taken with you. I had one such opportunity when I was walking by him, but I was not the only person with that idea. He was pretty much surrounded by people hoping to get a usie with Paul. I decided to keep walking and try again some other time. I am sure I will see more of his talks.

A fascinating part of his talk was his recount of mushroom hunting in Egypt. Not for the fruiting bodies, but rather symbols of them on the tomb walls, in the pyramids. He said that every single one he visited had mushroom hieroglyphics. Many people deny it and say those symbols represent a shovel or something else phallic-like. Paul disagrees and says they seem to be representing psilocybe cubensis. The picture at the top being a bundle of fruiting bodies near an unusual hieroglyphic that looks exactly the same. There is also some correlation between psilocybin mushrooms and the Egyptian blue lily. Blue lilies are a very powerful plant in many ancient cultures. I have created tinctures from blue lilies and studied a bit on it. It helps the user perceive or visit other levels of reality. I have taken some in tinctures and teas, but never really experienced anything like that even when deep in ritual or meditation. Leading me to believe that they may have been making an ayahuasca-type brew with psilocybin and blue lily. Paul did not say this, but you can see in the bottom image above he was suggesting it.

The Egyptian hieroglyphics is not the only ancient, psychedelic influenced cultural representation. The famous Mayan mushroom stones were likely a component of Mayan religious rituals. The Mayans would also conduct a brew made from the mushrooms and mescal, a naturally fermented beverage obtained from agave. I do not think it is a stretch to think the ancient Egyptians did something similar. This is just two small representations. I think it would be of great interest to me if there were psychedelic evidence going back to the Babylonians or even Ancient Sumerians. I just don’t think I have seen anything or if any evidence has been discovered or survived those thousands of years. There was another mention of collaboration here. Paul mentioned “two-eyed seeing”, keeping one eye on western technology and the other eye on ancestral knowledge. Keeping with this conference theme.

Going from the topic of ancient representation, Paul talked about his own representation in the world of mushrooms. The image above are four mushroom species that he has discovered and named. Then there is the psilocybe stametsii, that little mushroom in the middle resting on a leaf. That was collected by a few different mycologists and named after him this year. Such a great honor that you can read more about in the link provided.

Mushroom Hunting with Paul

Psilocybe azurescens

This was a fun segment that Paul included in his presentation. He mimicked a mushroom hunting expedition for the crowd, highlighting 3 different varieties. Paul is a natural showman, and has been doing this a very long time. There is a reason he is so popular, and that is his ability to engage a crowd. I have watched a few of his talks online, and they are really good. He commands attention with his stage presence and engaging presentations. The first mushroom he talked about was the one above.

Psilocybe semilanceata

The famous liberty cap mushrooms. One that grows very well up in Paul’s area of Northwest America. A wonderful mushroom that he spoke fondly about, probably because of his history with this species. Not one that I have tried personally, and I am not sure how easy it is to cultivate indoors. Due to a paralyzing effect these mushrooms can have (similar to wood-lovers paralysis) they are not very popular in the medicinal world.

Gymnopilus luteofolius

This was a funny inclusion to his hunting exercise. The infamous “boat” mushrooms. In the northwest it is not uncommon to find mushrooms growing on boats because of the optimal conditions. Here is a video of a psychedelic mushroom growing on Paul’s boat! I guess this has happened once before.

After the mushroom hunting experience Paul took us through some metrics he has seen or hopes to see. The first being decriminalization. This is definitely a heated topic for him, and he is very passionate about it. There was a sense of exhaustion to his words though, like he has talked about this so many times yet nothing seems to change. Paul would love to see a federal decriminalization for amounts under 100 grams of dried fruiting bodies. He did not get into medicinal versus recreational but one statement he made stood out heavily in my mind. He said that is you give a psychedelic to someone, it is your responsibility to ensure they have a safe and beneficial experience. The best way to ensure this is with controlled distribution in a clinical setting.

This is when he pivoted to more clinical topics, the business part of his presentation (now that the fun was out of the way):

An interesting claim was that psilocybin was the only psychedelic associated with lowered odds of OUD (opioid use disorder).
There are currently 124 clinical trials of psilocybin and 12 are using niacin as a placebo. He does not agree with this and proposes a different approach to the studies.
Unfortunately I do not have much information on this next topic, and I am unable to find information online (I swear I lost some photos from this session). He talked about the Berkeley Foundation homological model. I may have written it down wrong.
25MG = High Dose / 15MG = Low Dose
Microdosing = non-toxicity
Microdosing = perceptual intoxicating > 10MG mild dose

This is where he segways into one of my favorite topics, microdosing. Mentioning an app called microdose.me which tests people as they are microdosing to accumulate data on its efficacy and effects. I have not used this app, but I will in the future when I start up my microdosing regimen again. He then introduced us to one of his creations.

The Stamet’s Stack

This is my microdosing regimen of choice. Combining the beneficial effects of lion’s mane mushrooms with any dose of psilocybin mushrooms (possibly any psychedelic) is instrumental at retaining those new budding neural pathways we have created during our experiences. Then adding in niacin as a vasodilator to counteract the vasoconstriction effects from the medicine (full-flush niacin to my dismay) is genius. Everything about this stack is amazing and he named it after himself. Since he has named so many things, many of which are after other people (like Andrew Weil who will show up later in this post), he decided he would name something after himself. I think this is very fitting.

Learn from the Aztec’s lessons, mushrooms and chocolate make for a more palatable experience.

Session: Building the Next Generation of Psychedelic Care Clinics with Daniel Kelly, M.D., Gregory Keams, MHA, and Payton Nyquvest

I was very interested in this session since I thought they may cover more possibilities for future Colorado care centers, but they did not. None of the speakers seemed to want to speculate on something that has not been decided yet. Any mention of the next generation psychedelic care clinic “meta” is all speculation. Only one state has a head start on Colorado here, and that is Oregon. I think there will be more information on this topic once they open their doors s oon or in 2025 when Colorado does. The focus here was insurance, getting paid for the services. Which is understandable since the speakers come from organizations that rely on this sort of funding.

Here is a list of actions they provided in their presentation that care clinics can take, much of it around technology and financing:

Patient/provider safety
Reliable, scalable model
Multidisciplinary for the whole spectrum and covered by insurance
Cooperation between clients for large volumes of data
Good IT systems to capture this data, possibly AI driven?
Take that burden off the patient and provider
Providence Health Center’s example
Value based payments
Engage with your community

Thursday – Keynote Day

Opener: Bia Labate, PH. D., and Amy Emerson

Session: Psychedelics: Spirituality, Mindfulness, and Mortality – Personal Reflections and Visions for the future with Roland Griffiths, PH. D (RIP).

The high point of the conference for me was the Ram Dass session, Paul Stamet’s session was the main event, Mary Cosimano’s workshop was the main intention of the conference, but listening to Rolland speak and this session was why I signed up in the first place. We do not know how much time Rolland has with us since he has had a stage four terminal cancer diagnosis. As he wrapped up his presentation, there was this sense of extreme gratitude and sadness. Like this was it, this was the last time he was on a stage like this in front of an audience of this size. He was very emotional, and so was I. Another moment when tears found their way down my cheeks. Maybe the gods will smile down on him and keep him around for another Psychedelic Science conference, it is out of humanities hands now.

This presentation was very dense. There were many abstract subjects like consciousness and spirituality. I did take a few notes, but honestly looking back at them it does not remind me of anything in particular. I found this talk to be really great, and was looking forward to it throughout the conference, but I did not retain anything from it. Definitely reminded me of the Dalai Lama and his book The Universe in a Single Atom, heavy in science and spirituality both of which just went right over my head. I will create a bulletpoint list of my notes, and add whatever thoughts come up:

Sense of connectivity/unity – This is from the perspective of the client under the influence of psychedelics. There were charts that showed the correlation between these different states of consciousness and the feeling of unity among the partiticpants.
Sacred with the authoritative power of truth.
Secular spirituality and well being
Dose of 25mg per 70kg of body weight
Mystical type experiences predict enduring well-being and spiritual significance.
Psilocybin and meditation are complementary techniques for exploration of the nature of mind and body. – This is very true, meditation is the daily practice to keep the benefits of a psychedelic experience. CHange your mind with the experience, and continue this with meditation.
Psilocybin is not a replacement for the control and efficacy of a meditation practice.
After 16 months the religious leaders said the psilocybin experience was the most spiritual of their life, a lifetime of sacred experiences.

Session: Effects of Psilocybin-Facilitated Experience on Religious Leaders from the Johns Hopkins and NYU Study: Methodological Overview and Preliminary Qualitative Results with Roland Griffiths, PH. D., T. Cody Swift, M.F.T., and Anthony Bossis, PH. D.

This was a continuation of his main presentation in the Bellco Theater. I wanted to see more about this talk, so I attended. This was more of a clinical setting. More of a question and answer session from the previous talk. More of a talk and an explanation of facts from this study. It is a very interesting study and reminds me of the story Ram Dass told regardings his teacher and LSD. I feel a true religious leader or spiritual guru will not be affected by psychedelics since they already live their life in multiple levels of reality. Expanding their consciousness is a daily practice for them. Most people are not this. Most religious leaders are still very much in this existence, and rarely travel elsewhere. So this study is for them. Based on the information I saw, only 1 leader was not of a Western religion, and he was a Zen Buddhist teacher, probably not a monk.

Just like the session above, I did not get much from this talk. I found it interesting, but it has no real significance in my pursuits. Here is a bullet list of my notes from this talk:

Improved relationship to death
Mystical experience questionnaire was taken after the experience.
Intention, meaning, and context matters.
It does not change us unless it changes our views and habits.
Allows us to experience joy and suffering at the same moment.
Are humans wired for meaning and why?
Study design: Religious leaders’ experiences and how they see them. Articulate the nuances and the experiences through the lens of their religions.

Hallway Track: Some of the things you see walking the conference floor

The Hallway track can be one of the most beneficial to a conference attendee. This is where you run into presenters who are in-between talks, talk with people in your industry, hangout with friends that share a personal interest in psychedelics, and so much more. This is the power of the unregulated and uninhibited Hallway track. The image above was just one of many posted in the hallway on the way to the Bellco theater. There were a lot of studies and information on whatever topic you were looking for. One piece of paper I saw was simply, “One word from my experience today.” I simply wrote “Ready”. I feel that word summed up my experience of the entire conference. I am ready!

Session: How Colorado is Building a Careful Revolution in Psychedelic Healing with Christiana Musk, and Senator Steve Fenberg

I was expecting more from this talk. It turned out to be a very politically charged session. It was on the keynote track in the main theater, which I stayed in most of today. I did not take any notes from this talk, an the only picture I had was not good. Shows me I consciously and unconsciously did not get anything from this talk. Senator Fenberg is a charismatic politician, and when he talks you can see it. He does have a good message about the federal government’s advancements with psychedelics, but nothing set in stone. Colorado seems to be making the right moves, but the federal government is stuck and does nothing. That was pretty evident throughout the entire conference. This session is also when my anxiety started to hit. There was a terrible hail storm the night before, and a warning one was coming this afternoon.

Session: Reflections on a Lifetime with Psychedelics with Andrew Weil, M.D.

Dr. Weil is great, but I did not get much from this talk. If you have followed Weil’s work then you would not get much from this talk. He just re-iterated many of his past stories he has shared in books and podcasts. Just being in his presence and receiving this verbal transmission in person was nice. I do wish I had more notes on this talk so I could talk about something, but I did not. Nothing really stood out to me as being beneficial for me. This is when I started to re-think my conference going experience. More science and clinical talk, which I was getting my fill of.

Session: Video Address from Tim Ferriss

Another conference disappointment, Tim was not in attendance. Based on what I heard from his podcast, he was off the grid when this took place. Going into the conference I knew he was not there. Given his past comments about the psychedelic community, I am not surprised. He has other things that he needs to take care of, and hosting an in person session was not one of them. This talk was pretty much just a podcast episode (a very short one) where he was a guest. The talk was somewhat personal for him, and nothing I didn’t already know. I listen to Tim Ferriss so much, there is not much I have not heard from his perspectives on psychedelics. I did not take any notes from this talk, but something did stand out for me. He mentioned he knew many billionaires and hundred millionaires that have not invested in this space. If they would commit just 1% of their net worth to this cause, it would change everything for the better.

Session: Tempering Psychedelics: A Conversation with Michael Pollan and Bob Jesse

My anxiety was at a high at the start of this talk. Based on what I was seeing, the storm was coming and it was looking bad. I was thinking I should leave before this session, but stuck around because I really wanted to hear what Pollan had to say on this topic, so I stuck around. Then everyone’s phones went off in the auditorium. I thought, oh no what is this? I looked at my phone and also got the alert, baseball-sized hail will hit my location in 40 minutes. I decided to trust my instincts and get my car out of danger. So I left and made my way home. The weather was fine where I was, and I later heard it was not bad in Denver. Better sage than sorry. Another reason this conference is best experienced as a vacation. A event where I do not have to worry about hail damage to my car or my dogs being neglected. Lessons I have learned and will change for the next one.

I wish I had more notes from this talk. Tempering psychedelics is a very interesting topic. This goes back to the federal involvement in the 70’s. When psychedelics were outlawed because some politician decided it was a way to attack their opposition. The event that brought decades of psychedelics either into the underground or just a complete dark age of scientific advancement. The focus now is how do we stop this from happening again? I think the easy answer is money. Making it so lucrative that it is too big to fail. Then the rich people get involved and influence the politicians into keeping this going forward. I also believe it is about making this available to all. Either from insurance reimbursement or making it affordable for the average person.

This day was strange. It felt like I was on the fence here. One foot in the physical side, and the other in the spiritual. I did not get as much from the sessions here than I did from the previous days. I think what happened at the end of the day was a great representation of my feelings toward the clinical and science side of this subject. It causes me anxiety and some fear. It is not the language I speak or the topics I am interested in. I will leave that for the people that live entirely in this physical world. I am more focused on the abstract spiritual side. Where we just know and do not have to have a metric shit ton of data to prove.

Friday – Spiritual Day

Deep Space

Deep Space was a beautiful place, albeit a tad confusing. It was a dark room at the corner of the convention. If you were not looking for it, you may have missed it. Once you walk through the small door, it opens up into a massive, dark, musical, and sacred space. There was beautiful artwork everywhere, a giant golden dragon which housed the dance area, many people flowing with conscious movement, and some amazing tribal areas. One tent I sat down in was a Native American ritual tent. The shaman in attendance was providing shots of Rapé right up people’s noses. I was only there for a brief moment to see what was going on and enjoy the beautiful music, I did not partake.

There were also a lot of booths with some very interesting immersion programs. Some were VR based others just audio. There is some real value in these immersive experiences and psychedelics. I am not sure the efficacy of using them for therapy sessions, but I am sure there are studies going on regarding this very technique. Overall this was a fun space with a lot of entertaining exhibits that seem to revolve around the spiritual and entertainment. This was my favorite place in the conference, but I did not spend much time here. Friday ended up being a deep space day.

Opener: Sutton King, MPH

Session: A Video Message from Stan Grof, M.A., PH. D.

There were many rockstars at this conference, but none other than Stan Grof. There was talk that he was not in attendance, so that is why the video message was being shared. This was not true, he was there and he seemed healthy despite having Covid recently. People believed that Covid would keep him from the event, but it didn’t 92 years old, with Covid, and still traveling to Colorado to attend the conference and do a book signing. He truly is a rock star. I do not know much about Stan and am not familiar with his work. I did learn about him, his books, and his breathing techniques during the conference. Just an introduction, nothing too in depth. I did provide a link above that will show more. The only note that I had from his message was a promotion he did for his training programs online. Ubiquity University provides online graduate degrees in Grof studies.

Session: The Richard Rockefeller Transformational Leadership Award with Rick Doblin, PH. D., Michael Mithoefer , M.D., Marcela Ot’alora G., M.A., L.P.C., and Bruce D. Poulter, RN, MPH

Session: A Conversation with Carl Hart, PH. D.

Session: Ram Dass – Psychedelic Insight & Spiritual Transformation with Raghu Markus, Gagan Levy, Danielle Ananda Krettek, and David Starfire

Ram Dass and David Starfire’s Alchemy of the Heart meditation that I learned at the conference. This is a very powerful and moving meditation that I enjoy practicing. I found a very psychedelic version on Youtube to share here.

Session: Ask Our Elders with Adele Getty, M.A., and Patricia James

Session: A Message From the Amazon with Chief Nixiwaka Biraci Yawanawa

Session: Climate, Biodiversity, and Plant Medicines with Chief Nixiwaka Biraci Yawanawa, Mona Polacca, and Mirian Volat

That was the end of my original document detailing my 2023 MAPS experience. I did not finish what I wanted to record and being two years later I really do not remember much of what I wanted to put in this blog post. Oh well, time moves on and things wither and die (especially my memories). If you kept reading all the way up to this part of the post, I thank you with every fiber of my being. Please be kind and help others!