Cosmic Echo: Exploring Topics About Psychedelics, Altered Dream States, Consciousness, Drugs, and Religion - From Shock to Awe - The Cosmic Echo Podcast

From Shock to Awe - The Cosmic Echo Podcast

11/01/18 • 57 min

Cosmic Echo: Exploring Topics About Psychedelics, Altered Dream States, Consciousness, Drugs, and Religion

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.

“More and more research is showing that psychedelics are useful in treating depression as well as PTSD in controlled environments. Some studies conducted by MAPS have demonstrated that MDMA is effective in treating PTSD. On August 16, 2017, the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to MDMA for the treatment of PTSD. In result, we are not far off from giving veterans the opportunity to utilize alternative therapies like MDMA to treat their PTSD.” -nimh.nih.gov

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.

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From Shock to Awe

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.

Get Tickets to See From Shock to Awe

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The post From Shock to Awe appeared first on Taileaters.

Previous Episode

Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection with Kelly Matthews

Lucid Dreaming Astral Projection and Sleep Paralysis

As a lifetime lucid dreamer and experiences astral projector, I can relate to someone who has similar experiences as mine. My story started with me being able to lucid dream at a very young age, then having sleep paralysis, and eventually being able to have an Out of Body Experience. I am not alone in this process as others whom I have read their stories or talked to them in person have expressed this strangely similar pattern or process.

The similarities to my personal experience and others, makes me ask the questions of why do we lucid dream and why do we have these fascinating dreams that seem to take us out of our body? What is the process of sleep paralysis and how do overcome or accept that experience? All of these questions have haunted me most of my life. Though I may not have the answers to those questions just yet, knowing that I am not alone and can discuss lucid dreams, astral projection, and sleep paralysis with others, gives me access to a unique and exclusive club or tribe. In that tribe, I find fellowship which extends past the body and mind, but into the beyond.

In this episode, we speak with Kelly Matthews who is an avid dreamer who has been exploring lucid dreams and astral projections for most of her life. She also runs the website dreamjournal.net where users can post their dreams and read others dreams as well as conduct some research on commonalities in the dream experiences.

Kelly talks with us about her dream experiences, sleep paralysis, and her progression in dreams over the years.

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Next Episode

DMT and the Soul of Prophecy with Dr Rick Strassman

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.