From Shock to Awe

Being a veteran myself I fully understand the struggles that someone can go through with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. Though I don’t personally have PTSD as a consequence of war activities, I do have close friends and family who have PTSD from combat. Most Americans can sadly say the same thing as PTSD has become a nationwide epidemic that is not well understood.

PTSD is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event. It is natural to feel afraid during and after a traumatic situation. Fear triggers many split-second changes in the body to help defend against danger or to avoid it. This “fight-or-flight” response is a typical reaction meant to protect a person from harm.

PTSD is often hard to discuss for veterans because they feel that they will not be understood. They are also often continually reliving the memory of the trauma that continues to haunt them. Often guilt is a critical factor in reliving the trauma and sometimes the memory of the experience is buried deep down inside of the psyche to the point that the individual is unable to work through the issues to alleviate some of the symptoms. Though the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or VA is doing as much as they can, the medications used to treat veterans don’t always work. Fortunately, there are options available for those who conventional treatment does not work.

From Shock to Awe is a new documentary that explores the discussion of the effectiveness of psychedelics in helping veterans. It follows the lives of two veterans who suffer from PTSD as start the journey to transformation after experiencing Ayahuasca, a powerful psychedelic and plant medicine, for the first time.

In this episode, we speak with Mitch Schultz the director of DMT: The Spirit Molecule about the documentary he helped to produce called From Shock to Awe. From Shock to Awe explores the lives of two veterans as they use Ayahuasca to treat their PTSD and shows the changes that took place. Additionally, it explores the veterans families and how they react to the changes that take place.

Mitch talks about veterans, the documentary, what psychedelics are and their healing potential, and how others can access the healing power of psychedelics to change their lives.

From Shock to Awe will be released on November 12th in select cities. You can watch the trailer and read more about the documentary at ShocktoAwe.com or visit www.taileaters.com/cepodcast and find links to the site as well as Mitch’s work.

Get Tickets to See From Shock to Awe

Relevant Links

• From Shock to Awe website
• Mitch Schultz IMDB page

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In this episode, we speak with Tom Hatsis who is a historian of psychedelia, witchcraft, magic, pagan religions, alternative Christianities, and the cultural intersection of those areas, who holds a master’s degree in history from Queens College. The author of The Witches’ Ointment and Psychedelic Mystery Traditions, he runs psychedelicwitch.com, a site dedicated to promoting the latest and best information pertaining to the Psychedelic Renaissance. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

We talk with Tom about the history of psychedelics spirituality. We also go into microdosing psilocybin and the benefits behind using mushrooms in that manner. We also extend the conversation by diving into magic and how symbols are represented in psychedelic artwork

Relevant Links

• Psychedelic Witch (Toms Website)
• Toms Facebook Page
• Toms Youtube Channel
• Toms Instagram

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Many changes in the psychedelic community are being made. Psychedelics are being used in research to help with PTSD, depression, and many more psychological disorders. The research and the progression have come from individuals working hard in the background to make these things possible.

In September 2015 an Entheogenic Plant Sentience Symposium took place with some of the most influential and well-researched individuals on plant medicine and DMT. These amazing individuals were not there to talk about themselves, but rather the future of humanity and how DMT can affect our lives for the better in the future.

In this episode, we speak with Rory Spowers about his newest book DMT Dialogues: Encounters with the Spirit Molecule, which covers the Entheogenic Plant Sentience Symposium. Rory is is an ecological writer, filmmaker, and author. He is the founder of The Web of Hope, a UK charity and ecological education resource, and the creative director of the Tyringham Initiative. He lives in Ibiza, Spain.

Relevant Links

• Rory’s Blog
• Book: DMT Dialogues
• Rory’s Author Page

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DMT and the Soul of Prophecy

Taking on the puzzle of understanding human consciousness is one of the greatest endeavors imaginable. Great philosophers and scientists have spent their entire lives searching for the source of consciousness and though they may have provided some interesting theories or ideas, none have succeeded in a definitive explanation. As though understanding human consciousness wasn’t challenging enough, some researchers take it further and try to understand or explain the meaning of the spiritual experience found in human consciousness.

N, N-Dimethyltryptamine, also known as DMT is a tryptamine molecule which can be found in most plants and animals. Not only is it a compound that is found endogenously in humans, it is also sought out by psychonauts as a means to experience the divine or to better understand or explain the spiritual experience. Many people smoke DMT in its pure form to experience a short hallucinatory “trip,” which seems to transport them into another reality where they see beings and have sensations or spiritual experiences that seem alien to the user. Across the history of humanity, people and cultures around the world have also devised ways to extend this experience in teas steeped in DMT rich plants, which extend the experience for hours.

DMT is illegal in most countries and is a schedule I substance in the United States. Because of this scheduling, researchers have been unable to study the effects of DMT in lab settings to better understand its spiritual effects on individuals. It wasn’t until 1990 when Dr. Strassman led a Federal Government-approved and funded clinical research team at the University of New Mexico to study the effects of DMT on human research patients. Dr. Strassman published his research and his personal reflections in his first book DMT: The Spirit Molecule which has since then become a documentary with the same name.

Since Dr. Strassman’s first research on DMT, he has continued to explore the relationship between the DMT experience and the spiritual or religious experience. His reflections also led him to write his newest book DMT and the Soul of Prophecy: A New Science of Spiritual Revelation in the Hebrew Bible.

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Rick Strassman who is the author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule and DMT and the Soul of Prophecy. Dr. Strassman has been instrumental to the body of research conducted on psychedelics. His unique perspective on the psychedelic experience has provided inspiration to millions to explore their consciousness, and he continues research to better understand how psychoactive compounds shed light on how we experience the spiritual aspects of consciousness.

In his newest book, Dr. Strassman discusses and takes us on a journey through the Hebrew Bible and shows us the relationship between DMT and various prophetic states which occur frequently throughout history.

Relevant Links

• Dr. Strassman’s Website
• DMT the Spirit Molecule Book
• DMT and the Soul of Prophecy Book
• Cottonwood research foundation

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