The Spirit of the Stratocaster: Talking Wolves and Ayahuasca with John Sheldon

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After ayahuasca taught him to connect with divine energy, guitarist John Sheldon found a scintillating focus for his life’s work, writing songs that tell a new story about wolves in North America—and how we can save them from extinction. Sheldon is currently working on a collection of new music for wolf conservation and will debut “Southwest Survivors”—an instrumental dedicated to the Mexican gray wolf, or lobo, for #Loboweek (March 23 – 28), an awareness campaign led by the Wolf Conservation Center —at Evolver’s Ayahuasca Monologues in New York City on March 21.

Sheldon was the lead guitarist in Van Morrison’s band at age 17 and wrote songs for James Taylor. Huffington Post says he has “an uncanny gift for conjuring the wild spirit,” and National Public Radio called him “one of the great guitarists of our time.” Sheldon has fronted his own bands and written hundreds of songs for film and theater as well as an autobiographical musical monologue, “The Red Guitar,” inspired by life-altering ayahuasca experiences in the Amazon. “Wolf 06,” his memorial to the famous Yellowstone alpha female who was shot and killed in 2012, went viral. “Southwest Survivors” is part of a collection of new music for wolf conservation that Sheldon is currently working on.

About two years ago, Sheldon caught the Wolf 06 story on NPR while driving home from tennis. He went into his recording studio as soon as he got home and began composing a memorial song for the grieving conservationist community. His new instrumental piece honors the lobos, the most distinct gray wolf sub-species and the smallest and southernmost of North American wolves. Lobos were almost rendered extinct by human hunters, and reintroduction efforts have established a small population of 109 descendants of the last remaining Mexican gray wolves who were captive bred and released into their native territories. But even with an endangered classification, lobos remain vulnerable to a hostile, antiquated political and economic environment.

I caught up with Sheldon, my friend and neighbor, in Amherst, Massachusetts, just as he was preparing to release “Southwest Survivors.”

You’ve gifted two moving instrumentals, “Wolf 06” and “Running Free,” to the wolf advocacy community, and now you have “Southwest Survivors.” Are you thinking about creating an entire collection for the wolves?

Yes, I’m thinking about doing more. I have one in process for Wolf OR7 and the Rogue Pack, and I have an idea for another piece. But I need to visit some wolves if I’m going to keep going with it because just reading about wolves and listening to recordings isn’t enough.

We need to plan a visit at the Wolf Conservation Center in Salem, New York. It’s so close! Around dusk, if you howl in the direction of the wolves’ enclosures, they all howl back and you can hear the different types of wolves and the different packs. They harmonize with each other. You just can’t believe it.

Yes, I’d like to hear that sound in person. Sound is my way into the spirit world. Sound carries so much information. You can’t decode it. And wolves howling—that’s a very powerful sound. Our wolves around here were all killed years ago, but we still have coyotes who live in the conservation area in our backyard, and sometimes they start going, that sound—it’s a primeval sound. It might be some part of our collective memory. It might be genetic memory. I don’t know a lot about wolf or coyote biology or behavior, but I just love the sound they make and the vibe I get from that sound. It’s very personal. It’s a connection I feel through what I hear.

Southwest Survivor John Sheldon Reality Sandwich“Sound is my way into the spirit world. Sound carries so much information. You can’t decode it. And wolves howling—that’s a very powerful sound.” – John Sheldon

SOUTHWEST SURVIVORS

Tell me about the soundscape you’ve created in “Southwest Survivors,” your new song for the Mexican gay wolf, or lobo.

I didn’t want to anthropomorphize the lobo. I’d rather he remain a mystery. Nature is mysterious.

Music is something that I know, but it is a human invention with organized structures and sounds and things like melodies and rhythm, an expression of humanity. So there are people playing music, but then there’s a wild wolf in there somewhere doing what wolves do. I wanted the wolf to be free inside the human construct, and every now and then you hear him. The wolf needed be in there in and around the melody of the Spanish guitar. So now we’re projecting that sound over the lobo’s native territory. Toward the end of the piece, the wolf takes over the melody, so it’s like the wolf taking control of the song.

The music is very cinematic.

I used to watch cowboy movies, and back then Ennio Morricone was doing a lot of the soundtracks. He was very creative and inventive. He used a lot of instruments that people weren’t using, and he used the electric guitar really beautifully as well. And he wrote themes, melodic themes, like the lobo theme you hear in “Southwest Survivors.” The music in those movies is actually better than the movies.

And if you took away the soundtrack…

The movie wouldn’t be nearly as good. I always associate Morricone’s music with that wide-open landscape—this feeling of exhilarating distances you can see. And I feel a close connection to those places, and that’s also the native territory of the lobo, where thousands of them used to live. So all of these wolf pieces, so far, have built musically on that influence. You hear the music, but you see an image with it—you get the feeling of running free. You need a wide-open landscape to run free; you can’t run free in city blocks. You’d be arrested.

Tell me about the lobo in “Southwest Survivors.” That melodic lobo theme came from somewhere.

In the cowboy movies I watched when I was growing up, the style that came through was to glorify men with guns. The cultural conditioning was about what a male should be—domineering and violent. In most of the Westerns, the soundtrack enhanced the heroic, macho cowboys riding with guns and dominating the landscape and killing whatever was in their way. It was “how fast can you draw?” and “how accurate is your shot?” The pioneer spirit was about claiming ownership over the lands, subduing the new frontier. That’s no longer there.

So we have a new new frontier!

The new frontier is about expanding consciousness. So in my song, instead of the cowboy as the hero, it is a heroic lobo in a land where humans also live. It’s important that the new story be written, and the new story is about finding a better balance. The violent, domineering man on the horse with a gun is old. That story is over. The lobo living free in its native wild landscape is a new hero in a new story. And the people who are working against all odds to save the lobos are new characters in that new story.

They’re also heroes.

If there’s any glory in “Southwest Survivors,” it’s for a new narrative, which is about the Mexican gray wolf surviving the humans who are stuck in a previous era of thinking and the humans who have evolved and who are awake and trying to help save it. I wanted to be free of the old story, and I wanted to reverse the hero. In the new story, the lobo is the hero and the story is about the spirit of survival and freedom. In today’s world it is heroic for any wolf to survive. But those wolves aren’t surviving on their own.

So in the new story, there’s one group of humans who almost wiped them out and continues to kill them, and they’re the antagonistic force. There’s another group of humans who are working against all odds to save them. But the lobo is the central hero.

Blue Morpho Ayahuasca by Zoe Helene Reality Sandwich“When you experience the energy world or the spirit world directly, you realize that—that’s the world to connect with.” – John Sheldon

THE AYAHUASCA EXPERIENCE

You have decided to devote the rest of your musical life to serving and protecting the earth. What inspired this change of focus—and did it have anything to do with ayahuasca?

I think it had everything to do with ayahuasca. Ayahuasca changed the direction of my life and the role or the craft of my art. Ayahuasca was the most powerful spiritual experience I’ve ever had. When you experience the energy world or the spirit world directly, you realize that—that’s the world to connect with. That’s the world that can make change and transform. The goal is to use your work to bring that energy into our world in whatever way you can.

I don’t have control over how other people relate to it or what people choose to do with it, but I feel like it is possible to remind people—because I think we tend to forget—that we’re all connected and that we’re all part of nature. I’m always grateful whenever somebody’s work reminds me again what my true nature is. Instead of some random collection of molecules walking around in a body that evolved out of the ooze and that’s just going to break down and become ooze again, now there’s another perception of being a part of this divine energy. You see this spark of divine energy in the ayahuasca and you see that you are made of this divine energy. You just want to remind people, if possible, and you want to remind yourself too.

You’ve been given the gift of music. Would it be any different if you were, say, a painter?

I don’t think so. It’s an intention. You set an intention for your work, and that gives you a direction to go in. The intention is to connect with this energy that you can call “spirit energy,” and people have different names for it. Some people might call it “God.”

I would like to connect with the energy produced by the sum of all things, the energy that’s informing all things and all life. If I were a mystic or if I were in a different tradition, maybe I meditated 12 hours a day, I might be connected right up. But I come from something else. I need to use the art to move toward that.

But you picked up a red guitar one day, and…

Well that was the path that opened up to me for this.

Did ayahuasca help you, as an artist, connect with spirit differently? I mean, you clearly were able to connect with spirit as an artist before ayahuasca.

Ayahuasca made me realize I’d been connected to spirit many times, but it was something that would just happen sometimes. I didn’t have any way to make it happen.

I used to think that I needed to be struck by creative lightning—and that it would just happen and I had no control over when it would happen. And I would wait for that to come. I’d practice and wait. Now I don’t wait for it to happen. Now I don’t need some “lightning strike” of inspiration. All I have to do is work toward this intention of connecting. I set my sails and go toward it. I sail right at it!

So, it’s easier now set an intention to connect with the spirit?

Yes, it is easier for me. I think before the ayahuasca, I probably would have been afraid to set that as an intention because I would be afraid that I would fail. Or I would be afraid that maybe I was being a little crazy. The internal dialogue would be, “The world is not like that. The world is a matter of cause and effect. You’re taking a leap of faith.” Now it’s more like, “I know this energy is there, and I’m going to connect with it.” And it’s perfectly possible that someone can say, “Well, how do you know that it’s there?” And I don’t want to get into that discussion. You can’t define objective reality.

Let’s say there’s a 50/50 chance that that energy is there or it’s not? I’d rather go with, it is there. It just seems like a better way to go than it’s not there.

How does this connect to wolves?

I just started on this path. I’m newly arrived at this. I’ve done three wolf songs now. Maybe four and one in process.

And you’ve written other environmental songs. “Earth Blues” is an eco-rabble-rouser.

That’s also post-ayahuasca, so it’s also fairly new. That was me saying, I’m going to find my way in. I’m going to inquire, I’m going to ask what it feels like to be the Earth when it is scraped and mined and clear-cut by unconscious, oblivious beings who have no idea that it’s a conscious being. And I put those in the music. They’re feelings. So I’m reaching out into some empty space toward the Earth spirit and saying, “Come and sing and play through me.” That’s the intention.

Like channeling?

Exactly. And to remind me, because in the end, environmentalism for me comes down to self-inquiry. What is my relationship, my bond with this Earth, this home of mine? Because I was never taught to have a relationship with it.

I did have a relationship with the Earth when I was a little boy. I got to play in it quite a bit in some really nice natural environments, which is more than a lot of kids have. And looking back, I see that I was really connected into this environment and it was informing me. It was moving my arms and legs, teaching me how to live in it.

What happened?

I was educated out of it, into some abstract world of the mind. I was told, like everyone else I knew, that “you need to live in your mind now.” They actually believed that, so they tried to teach us how to get out of that beautiful world of the heart connection with the Earth and to get into our minds because “that’s what civilization is.”

I’m astounded by people who don’t know that that’s what happened to us all, and that’s why we have this situation where our environment is under siege. It’s because we’re in our minds now. If we were in our hearts—or at least if our minds and hearts were connected—this wouldn’t be the case. Instead we would be astounded by what’s around us in nature, and the closer you look the more astounding it is. We would be loving and celebrating every moment of being part of it!

Your Amazon “Cricket Scribe” song is also about an animal spirit—or an insect spirit, in the case.

The crickets were doing just what the crickets do, but the sound of the cricket and that particular cricket sounded like a sentient intelligence. The sound was so precise, and the cricket repeated that sound exactly the same way over and over again, as if it were occupying a sonic layer and no place else. On a summer night, when you’re hearing crickets, it seems clear that they have a web of communication between them and between other beings, just like the wolves do when they all howl together in the hills. It’s not even confined to crickets communicating with crickets. Maybe they’re communicating with other beings, like other kinds of crickets or insects or frogs or snakes or birds. And if you wanted to tap into that communication matrix, you could.

So, it was another experience of going in through sound.

When I’m in the medicine, I can focus my hearing like a laser. I can focus through all the other sounds and find one sound and stay on it incredibly, which is another way ayahuasca changed my music. Sonically, everything is occupying a space and a field—and where does it go out of the field or where does it morph? I can hear it all much, much better than I used to.

For the guitar geeks like me, how do you make that wolf how with your guitar? I’m crazy about that sound.

I can only make that sound on the red guitar. I have a Stratocaster guitar that has pick-ups that I bought in Australia from a guy who makes pick-ups. No other guitar I have will make that sound, and it’s just setting the knobs in a certain way.

Do you use a wah?

No, I don’t use a wah pedal, but that’s what most people would do because it would make a howling sound.

Do you use the whammy bar?

Yes, I use the tremolo bar. That’s what everyone calls it now. Nobody really calls it a whammy bar anymore. It’s a “trem” now—that’s what the guitar geeks like me call the little handle that bends the note.

I also found that changing the pressure of my fingers will change the frequencies. You want the note to be slightly different each time so you don’t get bored with it. It’s not just one note. It’s usually a couple of notes with a wiggle in there or something. I really don’t know if other people could do it but it would be fun to see if they could. I don’t know how hard it is to do—I just know that one guitar will do it. When you play guitar, you try everything. I want to know all the sounds a guitar will make, like a painter’s palette, so I’m always fiddling with my guitars to find sounds I like.

Are there other musicians who you think might benefit from ayahuasca?

All of them!

Who would you invite to share ceremony if you could invite any guitarist?

The young ones. There are all these amazing young guys out there who are playing incredibly. I’d like to share ceremony with them. The ones playing on the streets somewhere. Some of these younger guys who are inventing alternative techniques.

Has ayahuasca changed your relationship with cannabis?

Yes, it has. Ayahuasca was done as a ceremony, and it was very clear that it needed to be a ceremony done with reverence and respect and humility, approached in the right way. When I came back from ayahuasca and tried marijuana again (mostly in the edible form), I instantly felt like I was in ceremony. I was in a sacred space. I don’t do it very often, but sometimes I’ll drink some cannabis tea and then play music, and I get into a beautiful space that is very creative.

And that wasn’t the case before?

I used to get paranoid and anxious, before but now the feeling of connection and of sacredness and connecting with energy is much bigger than the paranoia or anxiety. It’s as if ayahuasca straightened up a lot of energy so I don’t go down those thought paths anymore. The other path—the happy, connected to life path—is stronger.

John Sheldon Red Guitar Zoe Helene 550 Reality Sandwich“The Spirit of the Stratocaster is about freedom, versatility, and responsiveness to the other side.” – John Sheldon

THE SPIRIT OF THE STRATOCASTER

How has ayahuasca affected your music monologues?

What came to me in the ayahuasca was a voice talking me, a narrator. I asked the voice, “Why are you talking to me? Do you want me to share this or keep it to myself?” The answer that I got was, “Share it.” Like a storyteller.

Like a modern bard or a troubadour?

Yes. The monologue was a way to put the storytelling right into the music.

So, why “The Red Guitar?” I mean, it could have been anything.

It was the spirit of the Red Guitar—to tell the story of the journey of being an artist of being a musician. To talk about it, to tell about it.

And it’s a timeline of sorts.

“The Red Guitar” is one person’s journey through human institutions, which are oppressive. School was one of the first institutions—the way most of us were taught to turn our backs on what was going on outside the window and focus on what was on our desks, mathematics and history.

I also went to church as a boy, and it hit me that the ritual didn’t have any energy. Nobody was excited or lively. If the people in the church had been excited and happy about church, it might have been different. I was in a psych ward for a while as a teen, so that’s part of my story, but what’s interesting in the story is that the psych ward just turned out to be another institution. The institutions are one thing, but people can transcend the institutions somewhat.

So you caught onto this institution pattern early on, and you had the soul of an artist. And these institutions didn’t work for you, and you become depressed.

“The Red Guitar” is really about freedom, becoming free. In the early days, rock ‘n roll represented freedom from these oppressive institutions where we were being trained to be these upstanding citizens.

Breaking out of that 1950s model.

It was hard for us to focus on being model citizens because this music was like a siren song that was calling us toward freedom and joy. It crested in the ‘60s and then broke somewhere at the end of the ‘60s. And then rock ‘n roll also became an institution.

Did you go to the Amazon primarily to get off the psych meds that you’d tried to get off for 15 years?

That was a primary motivation, but it was also that I wanted the direct experience of the divine, the spiritual.

What I’m really hearing is that you came back from ayahuasca with an open invitation into the spirit world and also with a new methodology, this mantra of how to shift or flip a bad situation or a negative viewpoint around if it isn’t working for you.

The ayahuasca really shows you your own shit, meaning what you’re bringing to the situation and how you’re manifesting things in those situations. It shows you that so perfectly and in Technicolor. And it’s like, “Well then, if you want to change this then you have to take responsibility for this.”

And it’s kind.

It’s showing you your own stuff, but there’s no punishment. There’s only, this is what you do when you get scared, this is what you do when you get uncertain, this is how you project things on to certain people or situations, this is what you do—and this is how to change this.

And it presents you with real world ways.

Yes, they’re real ways, but it’s difficult to talk about them in the real world because you start talking about them as spirits and then people’s eyes sort of glaze over.

Let’s say you were really jealous of somebody you think has a better life than you do. The ayahuasca will show you your own version of jealousy, which has its own characteristics. They’re very specific to you, and you know what it looks like, what it sounds like and what it says to you as it sits on your shoulder: “Look at him. He has more than you’ll ever have. He didn’t make the wrong decisions.” After the ayahuasca, instead of saying, “I don’t want to be jealous anymore,” you might say, “I don’t want to connect to that spirit. I don’t wish to engage with and give energy to that spirit.” You learn how to disengage with that spirit. You figure it out. And then you learn how to do that with all the negative spirits.

How would you describe the Spirit of the Stratocaster?

The Stratocaster has affected the world more than you would think—and it’s connected with freedom. Buddy Holly was the first person to use a Stratocaster in a rock sound, and when you listen to recording of him playing, it sounds like freedom.

So the Stratocaster is an instrument through which you could translate your experiences in the spirit world?

Intuition is one of the senses that people talk about, but we don’t really know what it is. It’s a word that is trying to describe a sixth sense. The Stratocaster is responsive to something that somehow you’re picking up some way other than through the five senses. And intuition is huge in what I do.

So I’d say the Spirit of the Stratocaster is about freedom, versatility, and responsiveness to the other side. I don’t think any guitarist would argue with those qualities.

Everything has a spirit.

 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Visit John Sheldon (johnsheldon.com) to download “Southwest Survivors”

Visit Wolf Conservation Center (www.nywolf.org) for information about #Loboweek

Photo of Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus) “Lobo” by Cynthia Kidwell

Photo of John Sheldon by Jeff Skeirik (www.rawtographer.com)

Photo of Ayahuasca by Zoe Helene (www.zoehelene.com)

Hashtags + Handles: #loboweek, #ayahuasca, #stratocaster, #cannabis, @cosmicsister, @nywolforg

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Microdosing DMT & Common Dosages Explained
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DMT Art: A Look Behind Visionary Creations
An entire genre of artwork is inspired by psychedelic trips with DMT. Read to learn about the entities and visions behind DMT art.

Changa vs. DMT: What You Need to Know
While similar (changa contains DMT), each drug has its own unique effect and feeling. Let’s compare and contrast changa vs DMT.

5-MeO-DMT Guide: Effects, Benefits, Safety, and Legality
5-Meo-DMT comes from the Sonora Desert toad. Here is everything you want to know about 5-Meo-DMT and how it compares to 4-AcO-DMT.

4-AcO-DMT Guide: Benefits, Effects, Safety, and Legality
This guide tells you everything about 4 AcO DMT & 5 MeO DMT, that belong to the tryptamine class, and are similar but slightly different to DMT.

How Much Does LSD Cost? When shopping around for that magical psychedelic substance, there can be many uncertainties when new to buying LSD. You may be wondering how much does LSD cost? In this article, we will discuss what to expect when purchasing LSD on the black market, what forms LSD is sold in, and the standard breakdown of buying LSD in quantity.   Navy Use of LSD on the Dark Web The dark web is increasingly popular for purchasing illegal substances. The US Navy has now noticed this trend with their staff. Read to learn more.   Having Sex on LSD: What You Need to Know Can you have sex on LSD? Read our guide to learn everything about sex on acid, from lowered inhibitions to LSD users quotes on sex while tripping.   A Drug That Switches off an LSD Trip A pharmaceutical company is developing an “off-switch” drug for an LSD trip, in the case that a bad trip can happen. Some would say there is no such thing.   Queen of Hearts: An Interview with Liz Elliot on Tim Leary and LSD The history of psychedelia, particularly the British experience, has been almost totally written by men. Of the women involved, especially those who were in the thick of it, little has been written either by or about them. A notable exception is Liz Elliot.   LSD Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety LSD, Lysergic acid diethylamide, or just acid is one of the most important psychedelics ever discovered. What did history teach us?   Microdosing LSD & Common Dosage Explained Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing LSD.   LSD Resources Curious to learn more about LSD? This guide includes comprehensive LSD resources containing books, studies and more.   LSD as a Spiritual Aid There is common consent that the evolution of mankind is paralleled by the increase and expansion of consciousness. From the described process of how consciousness originates and develops, it becomes evident that its growth depends on its faculty of perception. Therefore every means of improving this faculty should be used.   Legendary LSD Blotter Art: A Hidden Craftsmanship Have you ever heard of LSD blotter art? Explore the trippy world of LSD art and some of the top artists of LSD blotter art.   LSD and Exercise: Does it Work? LSD and exercise? Learn why high-performing athletes are taking hits of LSD to improve their overall potential.   Jan Bastiaans Treated Holocaust Survivors with LSD Dutch psychiatrist, Jan Bastiaans administered LSD-assisted therapy to survivors of the Holocaust. A true war hero and pioneer of psychedelic-therapy.   LSD and Spiritual Awakening I give thanks for LSD, which provided the opening that led me to India in 1971 and brought me to Neem Karoli Baba, known as Maharajji. Maharajji is described by the Indians as a “knower of hearts.”   How LSD is Made: Everything You Need to Know Ever wonder how to make LSD? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how LSD is made.   How to Store LSD: Best Practices Learn the best way to store LSD, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long LSD lasts when stored.   Bicycle Day: The Discovery of LSD Every year on April 19th, psychonauts join forces to celebrate Bicycle Day. Learn about the famous day when Albert Hoffman first discovered the effects of LSD.   Cary Grant: A Hollywood Legend On LSD Cary Grant was a famous actor during the 1930’s-60’s But did you know Grant experimented with LSD? Read our guide to learn more.   Albert Hofmann: LSD — My Problem Child Learn about Albert Hofmann and his discovery of LSD, along with the story of Bicycle Day and why it marks a historic milestone.   Babies are High: What Does LSD Do To Your Brain What do LSD and babies have in common? Researchers at the Imperial College in London discover that an adult’s brain on LSD looks like a baby’s brain.   1P LSD: Effects, Benefits, Safety Explained 1P LSD is an analogue of LSD and homologue of ALD-25. Here is everything you want to know about 1P LSD and how it compares to LSD.   Francis Crick, DNA & LSD Type ‘Francis Crick LSD’ into Google, and the result will be 30,000 links. Many sites claim that Crick (one of the two men responsible for discovering the structure of DNA), was either under the influence of LSD at the time of his revelation or used the drug to help with his thought processes during his research. Is this true?   What Happens If You Overdose on LSD? A recent article presented three individuals who overdosed on LSD. Though the experience was unpleasant, the outcomes were remarkably positive.

The Ayahuasca Experience
Ayahuasca is both a medicine and a visionary aid. You can employ ayahuasca for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual repair, and you can engage with the power of ayahuasca for deeper insight and realization. If you consider attainment of knowledge in the broadest perspective, you can say that at all times, ayahuasca heals.

 

Trippy Talk: Meet Ayahuasca with Sitaramaya Sita and PlantTeachers
Sitaramaya Sita is a spiritual herbalist, pusangera, and plant wisdom practitioner formally trained in the Shipibo ayahuasca tradition.

 

The Therapeutic Value of Ayahuasca
My best description of the impact of ayahuasca is that it’s a rocket boost to psychospiritual growth and unfolding, my professional specialty during my thirty-five years of private practice.

 

Microdosing Ayahuasca: Common Dosage Explained
What is ayahuasca made of and what is considered a microdose? Explore insights with an experienced Peruvian brewmaster and learn more about this practice.

 

Ayahuasca Makes Neuron Babies in Your Brain
Researchers from Beckley/Sant Pau Research Program have shared the latest findings in their study on the effects of ayahuasca on neurogenesis.

 

The Fatimiya Sufi Order and Ayahuasca
In this interview, the founder of the Fatimiya Sufi Order,  N. Wahid Azal, discusses the history and uses of plant medicines in Islamic and pre-Islamic mystery schools.

 

Consideration Ayahuasca for Treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Research indicates that ayahuasca mimics mechanisms of currently accepted treatments for PTSD. In order to understand the implications of ayahuasca treatment, we need to understand how PTSD develops.

 

Brainwaves on Ayahuasca: A Waking Dream State
In a study researchers shared discoveries showing ingredients found in Ayahuasca impact the brainwaves causing a “waking dream” state.

 

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a pro cannabis Peruvian Shaman.

 

Ayahuasca Retreat 101: Everything You Need to Know to Brave the Brew
Ayahuasca has been known to be a powerful medicinal substance for millennia. However, until recently, it was only found in the jungle. Word of its deeply healing and cleansing properties has begun to spread across the world as many modern, Western individuals are seeking spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical well-being. More ayahuasca retreat centers are emerging in the Amazon and worldwide to meet the demand.

 

Ayahuasca Helps with Grief
A new study published in psychopharmacology found that ayahuasca helped those suffering from the loss of a loved one up to a year after treatment.

 

Ayahuasca Benefits: Clinical Improvements for Six Months
Ayahuasca benefits can last six months according to studies. Read here to learn about the clinical improvements from drinking the brew.

 

Ayahuasca Culture: Indigenous, Western, And The Future
Ayahuasca has been use for generations in the Amazon. With the rise of retreats and the brew leaving the rainforest how is ayahuasca culture changing?

 

Ayahuasca Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
The Amazonian brew, Ayahuasca has a long history and wide use. Read our guide to learn all about the tea from its beginnings up to modern-day interest.

 

Ayahuasca and the Godhead: An Interview with Wahid Azal of the Fatimiya Sufi Order
Wahid Azal, a Sufi mystic of The Fatimiya Sufi Order and an Islamic scholar, talks about entheogens, Sufism, mythology, and metaphysics.

 

Ayahuasca and the Feminine: Women’s Roles, Healing, Retreats, and More
Ayahuasca is lovingly called “grandmother” or “mother” by many. Just how feminine is the brew? Read to learn all about women and ayahuasca.

What Is the Standard of Care for Ketamine Treatments?
Ketamine therapy is on the rise in light of its powerful results for treatment-resistant depression. But, what is the current standard of care for ketamine? Read to find out.

What Is Dissociation and How Does Ketamine Create It?
Dissociation can take on multiple forms. So, what is dissociation like and how does ketamine create it? Read to find out.

Having Sex on Ketamine: Getting Physical on a Dissociative
Curious about what it could feel like to have sex on a dissociate? Find out all the answers in our guide to sex on ketamine.

Special K: The Party Drug
Special K refers to Ketamine when used recreationally. Learn the trends as well as safety information around this substance.

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

Ketamine vs. Esketamine: 3 Important Differences Explained
Ketamine and esketamine are used to treat depression. But what’s the difference between them? Read to learn which one is right for you: ketamine vs. esketamine.

Guide to Ketamine Treatments: Understanding the New Approach
Ketamine is becoming more popular as more people are seeing its benefits. Is ketamine a fit? Read our guide for all you need to know about ketamine treatments.

Ketamine Treatment for Eating Disorders
Ketamine is becoming a promising treatment for various mental health conditions. Read to learn how individuals can use ketamine treatment for eating disorders.

Ketamine Resources, Studies, and Trusted Information
Curious to learn more about ketamine? This guide includes comprehensive ketamine resources containing books, studies and more.

Ketamine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to ketamine has everything you need to know about this “dissociative anesthetic” and how it is being studied for depression treatment.

Ketamine for Depression: A Mental Health Breakthrough
While antidepressants work for some, many others find no relief. Read to learn about the therapeutic uses of ketamine for depression.

Ketamine for Addiction: Treatments Offering Hope
New treatments are offering hope to individuals suffering from addiction diseases. Read to learn how ketamine for addiction is providing breakthrough results.

Microdosing Ketamine & Common Dosages Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing ketamine.

How to Ease a Ketamine Comedown
Knowing what to expect when you come down from ketamine can help integrate the experience to gain as much value as possible.

How to Store Ketamine: Best Practices
Learn the best ways how to store ketamine, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long ketamine lasts when stored.

How To Buy Ketamine: Is There Legal Ketamine Online?
Learn exactly where it’s legal to buy ketamine, and if it’s possible to purchase legal ketamine on the internet.

How Long Does Ketamine Stay in Your System?
How long does ketamine stay in your system? Are there lasting effects on your body? Read to discover the answers!

How Ketamine is Made: Everything You Need to Know
Ever wonder how to make Ketamine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how Ketamine is made.

Colorado on Ketamine: First Responders Waiver Programs
Fallout continues after Elijah McClain. Despite opposing recommendations from some city council, Colorado State Health panel recommends the continued use of ketamine by medics for those demonstrating “excited delirium” or “extreme agitation”.

Types of Ketamine: Learn the Differences & Uses for Each
Learn about the different types of ketamine and what they are used for—and what type might be right for you. Read now to find out!

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

MDMA & Ecstasy Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to MDMA has everything you want to know about Ecstasy from how it was developed in 1912 to why it’s being studied today.

How To Get the Most out of Taking MDMA as a Couple
Taking MDMA as a couple can lead to exciting experiences. Read here to learn how to get the most of of this love drug in your relationship.

Common MDMA Dosage & Microdosing Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing MDMA.

Having Sex on MDMA: What You Need to Know
MDMA is known as the love drug… Read our guide to learn all about sex on MDMA and why it is beginning to makes its way into couple’s therapy.

How MDMA is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make MDMA? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how MDMA is made.

Hippie Flipping: When Shrooms and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Explore the mechanics of hippie flipping and how to safely experiment.

How Cocaine is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make cocaine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how cocaine is made.

A Christmas Sweater with Santa and Cocaine
This week, Walmart came under fire for a “Let it Snow” Christmas sweater depicting Santa with lines of cocaine. Columbia is not merry about it.

Ultimate Cocaine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
This guide covers what you need to know about Cocaine, including common effects and uses, legality, safety precautions and top trends today.

NEWS: An FDA-Approved Cocaine Nasal Spray
The FDA approved a cocaine nasal spray called Numbrino, which has raised suspicions that the pharmaceutical company, Lannett Company Inc., paid off the FDA..

The Ultimate Guide to Cannabis Bioavailability
What is bioavailability and how can it affect the overall efficacy of a psychedelic substance? Read to learn more.

Cannabis Research Explains Sociability Behaviors
New research by Dr. Giovanni Marsicano shows social behavioral changes occur as a result of less energy available to the neurons. Read here to learn more.

The Cannabis Shaman
If recreational and medical use of marijuana is becoming accepted, can the spiritual use as well? Experiential journalist Rak Razam interviews Hamilton Souther, founder of the 420 Cannabis Shamanism movement…

Cannabis Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to Cannabis has everything you want to know about this popular substances that has psychedelic properties.

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a procannabis Peruvian Shaman.

CBD-Rich Cannabis Versus Single-Molecule CBD
A ground-breaking study has documented the superior therapeutic properties of whole plant Cannabis extract as compared to synthetic cannabidiol (CBD), challenging the medical-industrial complex’s notion that “crude” botanical preparations are less effective than single-molecule compounds.

Cannabis Has Always Been a Medicine
Modern science has already confirmed the efficacy of cannabis for most uses described in the ancient medical texts, but prohibitionists still claim that medical cannabis is “just a ruse.”

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