How Psychedelics Can Help Save the World: Visionary and Indigenous Voices Speak Out

by Stephen Gray (Editor), Julie Holland M.D. (Foreword by)

Overview

Inspiring teachings centered on navigating our world’s collective challenges with indigenous wisdom and the power of psychedelics

• With contributions from Christopher Bache, Zoe Helene, Dennis McKenna, Martina Hoffmann, The Dank Duchess, Jamie Wheal, Grandmother Maria Alice, and others

• Explores the immense healing intelligence of nature, the wisdom of ancient Indigenous prophecies and shamanic practices, the importance of the Divine Feminine for environmental regeneration, and the crucial role of psychedelic and entheogenic plants in initiating transformations of consciousness

Exploring the way forward for humanity in the face of unprecedented crisis, more than 25 contributors show how the wisdom of Indigenous peoples and the power of psychedelics can help us enact the radical shift in consciousness necessary to navigate the collapse of the old world order and the birth of a new consciousness.

We hear from psychedelic visionaries Christopher Bache, Zoe Helene, Wade Davis, Chris Kilham, Laurel Sugden, and others on the promise of psychedelic medicines for spiritual and healing work. We learn about Indigenous stories to support our transformation from Native American leader Solana Booth, ancestral memory from Grandmother Maria Alice Campos Freire, cannabis’s role in world building from Minelli Eustàcio-Costa, the ritual roots of talking plants from Michael Stuart Ani, and alchemy across the arc of time from shaman Ya’Acov Darling Khan. We also hear from cannabis grower The Dank Duchess; Tyson Yunkaporta, Australian Aboriginal artist and scholar; visionary artist Martina Hoffmann; activist Duane Elgin; Kohenet Rachel Kann, ordained Jewish priestess and ceremonialist; and several other wise leaders for our time.

Throughout these profound essays we are reminded of the immense healing intelligence of our plant allies, of the wisdom of shamanic practices, of the importance of the Divine Feminine for environmental regeneration, and of the crucial role of entheogenic plants in initiating transformations of consciousness and healing our world’s collective disconnection from Spirit.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781644114919
Publisher:	Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
Publication date:	11/29/2022
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Stephen Gray is a teacher and writer on spiritual subjects and sacramental medicines. He has worked extensively with Tibetan Buddhism, the Native American Church, and with entheogenic medicines. He is also a conference and workshop organizer, leader, and speaker. The editor of Cannabis and Spirituality, he lives in Vancouver.
Stephen Gray is a teacher and writer on spiritual subjects and sacramental medicines. He has worked extensively with Tibetan Buddhism, the Native American Church, and with entheogenic medicines. The author of Returning to Sacred World: A Spiritual Toolkit for the Emerging Reality, he is also a conference and workshop organizer, leader, and speaker as well as a part-time photographer and music composer under the artist name Keary. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Julie Holland, M.D., is a psychiatrist who specializes in psychopharmacology and a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine. An expert on street drugs and intoxication states, she was the attending psychiatrist in the Psych ER at Bellevue Hospital from 1996 to 2005 and regularly appears on the Today Show. The editor of The Pot Book: A Complete Guide to Cannabis and Ecstasy: The Complete Guide and the author of the bestselling Weekends at Bellevue, she lives in the Hudson Valley.

Read an Excerpt

INTRODUCTION

Embracing an Essential Vision

Stephen Gray

The potent adjective extraordinary barely rises to the task of describing the unprecedented and almost overwhelming challenges facing humanity at this time. Visionaries—including contributors to this book—have sensed that hundreds of thousands of years of collective and individual history, struggle, and karma are coalescing right now. Cynics may dismiss this recognition as magical thinking—a “my-generation” delusion. Others may downplay the urgency of the moment. Still others turn away in denial and cling to chimeras and false, even dangerous, promises and premises. But the signs are clear for those willing to look and to listen.

Mystics, explorers of deep psychonautic realms, intuitives, the long-held prophecies of multiple Indigenous/traditional tribes and societies around the planet, and the clearly evident and observable developments of increasingly rapid climate change, madcap materialism, and gross economic and social inequality and imbalance all point to an inescapable truth: the longstanding dominant mindset of spiritual disconnect that has cast its shadow over the human enterprise has run its course and is no longer viable or sustainable. The flatland days of continuing as we have been are all but over.

Until very recently we’ve had wiggle room. This endlessly generous planet has been giving us everything that keeps us alive second by second, year after year, and generation upon generation. She has allowed the great majority of us to grievously misunderstand our true nature as interwoven, interdependent participants in a vast, living, creatively evolving web of energy and intelligence. She has allowed our species to plunder her bounty, taking far more than we give back, not grasping the core truth that, in the words of legendary Chief Seattle (1790–1866), “Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”1

But now the jig is up. The naked apes have overrun the planet. The ominous facts of our predicament speak for themselves. The scientific consensus on runaway climate change is beyond debate. Piecemeal stabs at incremental change not founded in a deep transformation of understanding—however well-intentioned and innovative they may be—will not save us, much less bring back comforting old certainties and business as usual. As the great prophetic bard of song and poetry Leonard Cohen put it in his song “The Future”: “The blizzard of the world has crossed the threshold and it’s overturned the order of the soul.”

But while all that may sound distressingly disheartening and bleak—even hopeless—it’s far from the whole story. It’s not even the story of the indescribable magnificence and brilliance of life altogether. And that’s where this book comes in. Many are seeing and feeling a death and rebirth process underway that is drawing the whole species in. The great teachings, the great teachers, and all the rest of us who have at least briefly landed on “what is,” recognize that there is an unconditioned, eternal reality. It’s far beyond words, and even our proximate symbols can only hope to carry a modicum of meaning if they’re sourced in experience. Then maybe we could call it Divine Light, Love, Holy Spirit, Creator, Eternal Source Consciousness, the Synchronous Field, the Noosphere (coined by famed philosopher Teilhard de Chardin), or any of a number of considered or even inspired attempts at symbolic reference. The intention and prayer of the participants in How Psychedelics Can Help Save the World is to share insights and visions to help us embrace the message and rise to what we are capable of as a custodial species of awakening and awakened beings.

The call now is for us humans to humbly and courageously face our situation without turning away; engage unequivocally with the inner and outer work that must be done to build a sane and sustainable future for the generations to come; and learn what it will take to collectively embrace and apply our best visions. If we can turn in that direction, we may be able to give birth to a “mature planetary civilization” as Duane Elgin has called it.

A grand chorus of voices is coming forward to call out from the depths of the heart that the time has come—right now. No matter how dark the horizon looks there is simply no other functional attitude to take. We have to believe in what Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa called “the possibility of possibility.” That is the true understanding of prayer by those who have seen it at work: the power of shared intention to manifest real change in the material world. And that understanding is central to the vision at hand, which several of the book’s contributors explore.

Let’s be clear from the outset that none of the contributors to this book are naïve, picturing or promising a golden age of peace and harmony around the next bend. All of us understand that we are moving into an extremely difficult period that may last decades or longer, and that the successful fruition of this period of Great Transition is far from certain.

But the participants in How Psychedelics Can Help Save the World, along with a great many other individuals past and present, do have some understanding of what this remarkable species is capable of. Ancient spiritual teachings remind us that underneath all the turmoil of the confused samsaric mind we are all awake by nature. And at this juncture, the old proverb “Necessity is the mother of invention” has never been more true or more applicable.

So then what is the nature of this invention we’re being so urgently called and invited into? And what might a healed humanity look like? Questions like this are at the center of this book.

There’s a feeling in the air that the time is ripe for this message to be heard. Another—now well-known—Leonard Cohen line, in his song “Anthem,” hits the mark beautifully. “There is a crack, a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” In a similar vein, a few years ago I had a close relationship with revered Native American elder and Native American Church roadman Kanucas Littlefish. Kanucas shared a vision with me that he and some of his associates had been receiving: that there will come a point when the crack has opened far enough and the existing system has lost sufficient viability to make room for a new vision.

As that potentially paradigm-shattering reality dawns on more people, the deep intuition is that the new story will be heard and it will be understood. Nineteenth-century French writer Victor Hugo famously declared that “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” When the great, unimpeachable idea whose time has finally and truly arrived has taken hold and becomes more compelling than the increasingly less functional and sustainable worldview now dominating the conduct of human affairs, many of us envision widespread outbreaks of recognition, relief, and liberation, as if looking back on a painful relationship that we are now so gratefully free from.

The role of psychedelics (a.k.a. entheogens and sacred plant medicines), in the journey of individual and collective transformation requires some context here. They’re not magic bullets, and they’re susceptible to misappropriation and to misuse that can sometimes be damaging. Although the contributors to this book have a deep understanding of the capabilities of these sacramental medicines—and they do play an essential role in the book—they’re not always the lead actors. The overarching mission is this urgent need for widespread awakening and redirection.

However, when the patient is in an advanced state of illness, strong medicines are often required. Abundant evidence has shown that when used in optimal circumstances in the right hands with skill and appropriate intention, and when the openings and insights are brought back into the daily walk as components of ongoing spiritual work and compassionate action, psychedelic medicines are the most potent tools at our disposal. Though most definitely not for everyone, the record shows that they can uncover and help heal suppressed wounds. They can help open the doors of perception to what Buddhist teachings call an unconditional reality, which wisdom carriers have described as more real than the versions of reality most of us experience every day.

So as an old saying goes, “Let us take heart.” No matter how isolated and divided we may feel, we are all being pulled into the same story. A collective vibration is gradually awakening. The energetic imprint of each one of us has at least some impact on the field. What humans think, feel, and do matters more than ever. Great teachings throughout history remind us that we can awaken. Now it appears that a great number of us have to awaken. And that is a prayer and a vision worth holding and feeding.

There’s so much more to say, but you have stumbled upon a treasure trove of inspiration here, so I’ll leave that to the twenty-five brilliant and caring contributors you are about to encounter. For the moment, I’ll end this introduction with some challenging and inspiring words from the remarkable writer and shaman Martín Prechtel. “We live in a kind of dark age, craftily lit with synthetic light, so that no one can tell how dark it has really gotten. But our exiled spirits can tell. Deep in our bones resides an ancient, singing couple who just won’t give up making their beautiful, wild noise. The world won’t end if we can find them.”2

Table of Contents

Foreword
Julie A. Holland, M.D.

Acknowledgments and Expressions of Gratitude

Introduction: Embracing an Essential Vision
Stephen Gray

1 The Birth of the Future Human
Christopher M. Bache, Ph.D.

2 The Great Medicines: A Primer (Mostly)
Stephen Gray and Contributors

3 Psychedelic Feminism: When My Heart Hurts
Zoe Helene

4 Our Story Is Our Future! Four Stories of Our Planetary Journey That Serve the Well-Being of All Life
Duane Elgin, Ph.D.

5 The Turning of the Soil
Belinda Eriacho

6 The Cosmic Orphan and the Wound of the World
Jamie Wheal

7 Ancestral Memory: The Flowering of the Seed
Grandmother Maria Alice Campos Freire

8 Out Past the Shipping Lanes
Chris Kilham

9 The Role of Visionary Art in Elevating Global Consciousness
Martina Hoffmann

10 Becoming Divine Beings
G. William Barnard, Ph.D.

11 Beyond Measure: Reflections on Experienced Realities in an Awakening Universe
Dennis McKenna, Ph.D.

12 The Beckoning Reckoning
Rachel Kann

13 The Psychedelic Journey: Past, Present, Future
Wade Davis, Ph.D.

14 Mama Ganja’s Role in World Building
Minelli Eustàcio-Costa

15 The Tether
Tyson Yunkaporta, Ph.D.

16 Save a Dragon, Slay the Grail
Laurel Sugden

17 Are We Alone with Our Fate?
Bruce Damer, Ph.D.

18 Plants and Subjectivities: Learning from Plants
Ailton Krenak, Ph.D.

19 First Aides: Indigenous Stories to Heal Our Relationship with Mother Earth
Solana Booth

20 Pure Consciousness Is at Play
chad charles

21 Mamafesta
The Teafaerie

22 Bringing It Home: More Inspirational Quotes for the Path

23 From Lead to Gold: Alchemy across the Arc of Time
Ya’Acov Darling Khan

24 The Ritual Roots of Talking Plants
Michael Stuart Ani

25 Growing Cannabis: Submitting to the Wisdom of the Plant
The Dank Duchess

26 The Cosmic Punch Line
Adam Strauss

27 What Really Matters
Bruce Damer, Ph.D.

In Conclusion
Stephen Gray

Glossary

Notes

Selected Bibliography and Recommended Reading

Editorial Reviews

There are lessons and solutions woven throughout. Readers will be enriched and enlightened by the writings of these wisdomkeepers.

Pamela Kryskow

The contributors write passionately on what each of us can do to restore the natural harmony so the full diversity of species can flourish. No easy answers but an amazing amount of wisdom, especially from Indigenous traditions who have incorporated psychedelic visions and insights into their cultural matrix for hundreds of years. Reading this book will leave you sobered, inspired, and determined to do what you can. Truth telling is often uncomfortable, but nothing moves us forward more forcefully.

James Fadiman

This book is a call to action. Gray has put together a much-needed collection of hopeful essays, images, poetry, and prayers to inspire us to forge through our suffering into an awakening of the conscious and unconscious collective.

Dominique Morisano

A stirring and timely call for humanity to co-creatively unite in altruistic service and give birth to a regenerative whole-systems planetary culture—a shared experience of reverence and respect for all our relations, human and nonhuman, seen and unseen. I predict this remarkable book will quickly become required reading in the hands of all entheogen-honoring servants of the Great Work—HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Oscar Miro-Quesada

The breadth of perspectives offered by each of the contributors helps balance the daunting and inescapable challenges of our planetary crisis.

Selma Holden

An authentic, heartfelt, and spiritually inspired work! Stephen Gray has put together an eloquent collection of writings by those who are deeply connected to the spirit of nature in all her glory. Each contributor shares marvelous insights into what it means to be human in our age of potential accelerated psycho-spiritual evolution. Will we meet the challenge? This book is one more step on that path. The time is now. Tune in, energize, evolve, and engage.

Keith Lowenstein

Ever since the 1960s, psychedelic enthusiasts have claimed that if you turn on the world, the world will change for the better. Now that plant medicines and magic molecules are hitting the global mainstream, this flowering is arguably closer than ever before. But we need more than high hopes to bring on the bloom. The voices in this stellar collection—young Turks, old heads, First Peoples, doctors of science and Spirit—fan the flames of possibility with the courage, vision, and canny wisdom demanded by the task.

author of High Weirdness Erik Davis

Often—but not solely—informed by their skillful use of psychedelic sacraments, these twenty-five brilliant contributors show how we can awaken our hearts and minds and work toward creating a world we and our descendants can embrace and rejoice in.

CEO of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps and psyched David Bronner

Gray has once again assembled a truly inspired group of top thinkers in the psychedelic renaissance to contribute to this timely and important work. As psychedelics become more mainstream and corporate interests, venture capitalists, and ignorant ‘influencers’ attempt to sink their fangs into a culture they know nothing about, books like this one serve as an important counterweight to amplify the voices of those who truly love, respect, and understand the dynamics of plant and fungal medicines.

author of LSD—The Wonder Child Thomas Hatsis

Comprehensive perspectives on the current evolution of human consciousness, now increasingly catalyzed by the competent, respectful use of psychedelic substances. Not only do these visionary essays educate and enlighten the reader, but they also somehow dampen our cynicism and invite courage to affirm life with courage and hope.

William A. Richards

This book is an extraordinary overview of the promise psychedelics have for opening our hearts, seeing our self-imposed, culturally reinforced spiritual blindness, and waking us to the creative possibilities for our collective future.

author of Sacred Mirrors Alex Grey

Gray has once again assembled a truly inspired group of top thinkers in the psychedelic renaissance to contribute to this timely and important work. As psychedelics become more mainstream and corporate interests, venture capitalists, and ignorant ‘influencers’ attempt to sink their fangs into a culture they know nothing about, books like this one serve as an important counterweight to amplify the voices of those who truly love, respect, and understand the dynamics of plant and fungal medicines.

author of LSD--The Wonder Child Thomas Hatsis