Sunday brunch 2/4/23
The best reads on ecstatic and psychedelic integration, ethics and harm reduction from this week
Dear all,
This newsletter is just under six months old but we’re growing fast and I’m enjoying it. We know there are a lot of Substacks out there, and we want to make sure we offer our subscribers genuine value for money. So this is what our weekly schedule will look like:
Tuesday Testimony: an interview, profile or personal story (this week coming up we have philosopher Alan Levinovitz on his occasional ecstatic experiences and why he doesn’t like to talk about them - these will also sometimes be posted on our podcast).
Throwback Thursday: a classic from the archives (this week it’s a story about why it’s so hard to talk about ecstatic experiences)
Friday Feature: our main weekly essay (this week it’s on the ethics of testimonials and the central role they play in the psychedelic renaissance).
Sunday Brunch: the best reads on psychedelic and ecstatic integration, ethics and harm reduction from around the web.
We’re working out our policy on what to make free and what just for paid subscribers. We will usually make some of the Friday Feature free but most of the other content will be semi or totally pay-walled. The more subscribers we get, the more we can pay contributors, and the more you support our research.
So here’s our first Sunday Brunch, I’ll make some of it open-access so people can get a taster.
Ziv Shafir, lawyer and founder of the LA Psychedelic Salon, posted a good Linkedin post on why you should think twice about working in the psychedelic space. He’s right - at the moment there are way more people training or transitioning into the space than there are actual paying jobs (especially in the facilitator space).
The ketamine market in the US, which grew incredibly fast in the last two years, is in a tailspin now as it faces the prospect of the DEA closing down ketamine ‘telehealth’ (ie ketamine delivered to your door). Mindbloom is leading the lobbying against the move, which is set to take place in May. Meanwhile the sudden closure of ketamine providers Ketamine Wellness and Field Trip have left vulnerable clients in the lurch.
Nathan Fisher’s PhD is on ‘dark night of the soul’ experiences in different religious traditions. Here he is on the contemplative science podcast.
As part of the AI boom of 2023, quite a few AI spiritual guru apps have launched. TRIPP, a virtual reality wellness company, is launching an experience where you can be taught by Ram Dass…AI chatbots based on dead icons are going to be a thing I guess.
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