Life is a Festival

The Psychedelic Renaissance is a profound step forward in our understanding of the mind, but there’s growing concern that important lessons and a vibrant culture may be left behind in the rush to medicalization. My guest today, Liana Sananda, has spent a lot of time considering the cultural delivery mechanism of psychedelics into society. Liana is the Development Officer of MAPS and co-founder of North Star and the Auryn Project, which just released the North Star pledge. With input from over 100 stakeholders, North Star is setting a foundation for psychedelic values for an emerging industry. The pledge is an initiative by the Auryn Project, authors of last Autumn’s “We Will Call It Pala,” a cautionary tale about the dark side of psychedelic business. On the show, we set a foundation through Liana’s own story from festivals to Occupy to the Archview Group, and MAPS. We talk about the philosophy behind North Star and the unique participatory process of becoming a signatory. We go over each of the seven invitations and how you can join this growing coalition. I also have an exciting announcement! I have been looking for a community building role in the psychedelic space and speaking regularly with Liana over the past year as I explored different organizations. I am proud to announce I’ve accepted a position leading community for Maya, a psychedelic therapy intelligence platform co-founded by my friend, David Champion. Today we are launching the Psychedelic Therapy Podcast a new show for therapists, healers and enthusiasts. If you’d like to help build it, please join us in the Psychedelic Therapy Facebook Group. The psychedelic movement is at a threshold point where it is vitally important to create an attractor coalition of value-driven leadership. However, in order to get this right we need to co-create and move at the speed of trust. LINKS North Star: https://northstar.guide/ethicspledge Auryn Project: https://aurynproject.org/ “We Will Call It Pala”: https://aurynproject.org/pala North Star Town Hall Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrcOCsrToqHtyfVS8Q1GM0wEBzPe6dqINR Maya: https://www.mayahealth.com/ The Psychedelic Therapy Podcast: https://www.mayahealth.com/podcast The Psychedelic Therapy Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2876946142342178/ TIMESTAMPS :12 - How Liana got involved in this work :20 - The cultural delivery mechanism of psychedelics into society :23 - Liana’s background in Occupy and the Cannabis industry :29 - Will psychedelics go the way of cannabis? :33 - “We Will Call It Pala” :36 - The process of creating the Northstar pledge :44 - MAPS and Northstar :50 - How the pledge starts a conversation :59 - 1. “Start Within” 1:05 - 2. “Study the Traditions” 1:09 - 3. “Create Equality and Justice” 1:12 - 4. “Focus on Process” 1:18 - 5. “Build Trust” 1:21 - 6. “Consider the Gravity” 1:26 - 7. “Pay It Forward” 1:31 - How can individuals support this pledge? 1:36 - How do we impact the “big boys” in psychedelic medicine? 1:42 - North Star Town Hall

With a world on fire and a pandemic raging, it sure makes sense to want to escape into the utopian vision of an intentional community. But is that in integrity with the beautiful world we want to create? And would it even work? Today on the show I’m talking to activist Ashoka Finley about the power and privilege inherent in creating land-based communities. We discuss the enormous grief of the climate crisis and how we might meet the world’s challenges with pleasure activism. We talk about indigeneity and whiteness, and the myth of the perfectible self. We look at conflict within communities through the lens of spiral dynamics and finally, how those of us with the privilege to escape crumbling urban enclaves might do so in right relationship. Ashoka is an emergent strategist and complex systems thinker. He is the former Chief Anarchy Officer at ConsenSys, a leading Ethereum software company and the current Founder & CEO of Tolo, a membership-based content platform that uses a portion of funds to build effective social change strategies. We need to compost the old world, not simply run away from it. Ashoka is here to teach us how to build the infrastructure of care for the new world that we know is possible. LINKS Tolo.earth: https://tolo.earth/ Adrienne Maree Brown: http://adriennemareebrown.net/ Audre Lorde: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/audre-lorde Robin Wall Kimmerer: https://www.esf.edu/faculty/kimmerer/ “Reinventing Organizations” Frederic-Laloux: https://www.amazon.com/Reinventing-Organizations-Frederic-Laloux/dp/2960133501 “The Advantage” Patrick Lencioni: https://www.amazon.com/Lencioni-Patrick-M-s-Advantage-Organizational/dp/B008EAWBXC/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= “Governing the Commons” Elinor Ostrom: https://www.amazon.com/Governing-Commons-Evolution-Institutions-Collective/dp/0521405998 “Thinking in Systems” Donella H. Meadows: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Systems-Donella-H-Meadows/dp/1603580557 “Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature” Janine M Benyus: https://www.amazon.com/Biomimicry-Innovation-Inspired-Janine-Benyus/dp/0060533226 TIMESTAMPS :07 - Ashoka’s beginnings learning about how unaccountable power has so much influence on the world. :19 - The enormous grief of the climate crisis :25 - Pleasure Activism, Indigeneity, and Whiteness :36 - Ashoka’s lineage as a Black American :45 - Dealing with trauma, and the myth of the perfectible self :50 - Conflict in communities and spiral dynamics 1:02 - Should people pursue intentional communities? 1:04 - Privilege and the desire to escape San Francisco 1:10 - Pursuing Intentional Community in right relation

Today’s episode is an encore presentation of a show that aired live on Burning Man Information Radio (BMIR) in 2019 to get you all juiced up for this year’s dirt rave. It features a playful conversation about vulnerability, consent, the trickster, and instant manifestation with Jax, Wolverine, and David Block, the Human Experience.

Also, every year, I give a Harm Reduction talk at my camp. For the first fifteen minutes of this episode, I’m offering that information. Please check out more info about fentanyl adulteration, psychedelic peer support, and how to talk to cops at Burning Man in the links below.

If you need something to listen to on the ride, you can check out other Burning Man-related content from Life is a Festival here.

Have a great Burn! It’s better with you here!

Links

• Burning Man — Life is a Festival
• How to deal with cops at Burning Man (2023 update)
• Zendo Project - Psychedelic Peer Support
• ⁠New Fentanyl Test Strips⁠
• ⁠Learn How To Use NARCAN⁠
• A Brief History of Who Ruined Burning Man

Timestamps

• (06:00) Harm Reduction at Burning Man
• (15:30) Live from BMIR(
• 23:00) Vulnerable shares
• (30:50) Masculinity on Playa and performative vulnerability
• (37:00) Trickster and Play
• (43:00) Consent at Burning Man
• (50:50) Instant Manifestation