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Whose stories are we telling: Ethnobotanical understandings in the corporadelic era
Note: This video was adapted from a web stream around the COVID pandemic, so be forgiving if there are any glitches, Elves or the quality drops in and out slightly.
Trigger warning - this video contains content and allegations around sexual assault, trauma and stories of misconduct.
Note: This video was shot in Australia and has some bandwidth issues. But the contents is still well worth watching. Enjoy.
Synopsis
David Nickles of Psymposia and Power Trip talks about psychedelic history and evolution of power, authority and corporadelia.
Gordon Wasson, a forefather of western psilocybin mushrooms destroyed Mazatc shaman Maria Sabina. The psychedelic therapy abuses carried out by Francois Bourzat were disregarded. COMPASS Pathways’ Christian Angermeyer misrepresented claims about Acacia mythology on Twitter.
Nickles covers a lot of ground. He concludes his critiques institutionalisation of ecstatic experiences by sharing his thoughts on keeping the plants central in ethnobotany and nourishing the grassroots.
Storytelling has played a central role in the creation and transmission of ethnobotanical knowledge throughout time. Entheogenic plants have rich histories of social, cultural, and medicinal applications and have tended to feature prominently in the cosmologies, pharmacopeias, and epics of the cultures (and subcultures) that have used them. However, these stories are not static. As psychedelics go mainstream, pharmaceutical executives, financial speculators, and even psychedelic researchers are crafting ethnobotanical narratives to propagate the perspectives they wish to see in the world.
As these narratives compete for dominance in the “marketplace of ideas,” it's up to members of psychedelic communities to develop, maintain, and disseminate evidence-based ethnobotanical frameworks that enable us to “distinguish shit from shinola.” If our realities are constructed from the stories we tell, how significant are the stories we tell about plants that alter our realities? This talk will examine the implications of some historical and current ethnobotanical narratives in order to examine the broader sociocultural significance of some psychoactive plants and the stories we tell about them.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:04:33 Maria Sabina and Gordon Wasson
00:10:30 Psychedelic power and authority
00:31:50 Focusing on plants
00:34:28 Psychedelic medicine, wealthy investors and corporadelia
00:40:18 David Nickles pokes a bear
00:44:22 Bringing it back to local plants
00:46:26 Q & A
00:59:08 Outro
Bio
David Nickles is an underground researcher and harm reduction advocate who has worked as an editor and contributer for Psymposia Media and is also the intermittent moderator of the DMT-Nexus community.
David has presented social critiques and commentary on psychedelic culture and radical politics, as well as novel phytochemical data, at venues around the world. His work focuses on the social and cultural implications of psychoactive substances, utilising critical theory and structural analysis to examine the intersections of drugs and society. He is a vocal opponent of psychedelic commodification and blows glass in an idealistic attempt to avoid monetising his psychedelic work.
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Cover Story is an investigative podcast from New York Magazine. The first season, Power Trip, uncovers the secrets and exposes the darkest corners of the psychedelic renaissance through a twisted, deeply personal tale at the intersection of mind, body, and control. Power Trip is a co-production of New York Magazine and Psymposia.
Power Tripping offers an inside look at Psymposia and New York Magazine’s podcast “Cover Story: Power Trip.” Join the co-creators and the rest of the Psymposia team for deep dives into the histories, characters, and events that shaped our investigation.
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About EGA
Entheogenesis Australis is a charitable educational organisation established in 2004. We provide opportunities for critical thinking and knowledge sharing on ethnobotanical plants, fungi, nature, and sustainability. Through our conferences and workshops, we aim to celebrate the culture, art, politics and community around medicine plants in the hope to better wellbeing for humankind and the planet.
To find out more about what we do, head over to our organisational website, www.entheogenesis.org