Björk & Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potluck + UV Afterparty)
Plus a recap of our last Mycoverse discussion on Right-Wing Psychedelia by Miranda Van Iderstine!
End of Mushroom Season?
An unbelievable mushroom season, it has been. The rains just keep on. Get out and say hi to your fellow fungi neighbors as they will return underground soon once the heat waves arrive. There is still an abundance of mushrooms even in urban areas!
Upcoming fungi walks with the Theodore Payne Foundation:
Finding Our Way Home with Fungi, Sun April 23rd, 2023 at 11a in Altadena, CA
Finding Our Way Home with Fungi, Sat May 20th, 2023 at 11a in Altadena, CA
Give a read of Miranda Van Iderstine’s wonderful recap of our last Mycoverse discussion on a really tough topic. Such an important discussion. Stay tuned for more. Recommendations welcome.
Next up in our Journey through the Mycoverse…
Björk & Robin Wall Kimmerer + Fossora Listening Party Potluck
Monday, April 24th, 7pm @ Arlington Garden Pasadena, CA
To celebrate the release of Björk's recent album Fossora, we will be having a potluck to accompany our listening party of Fossora's fungi inspired songs. You are invited to bring a dish to share with the group (it doesn't have to be fungi related)!
We will also be discussing the inspiring interview between musician-artist Björk and author-scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer. They talk across subjects ranging from how language connects us to the natural world; the consequences—both personal and global—of living apart from nature; and what it means in our transient society to live in right relationship to the land.
PLUS: with flowers in bloom and the garden lush – we will be doing a UV light afterparty tour of the garden!! Come witness all the UV colors we odd humans can’t see but most other animals can.
Previously in the Mycoverse…
A recap by Miranda Van Iderstine
Right-Wing Psychedelia
Monday, April 10, 2023
Did you know that the QAnon Shaman is a vocal proponent of psychedelic healing? Or that Peter Thiel and the Mercer Foundation have invested heavily in psychedelic research?
Despite their wide association with progressive social movements and groups, psychedelics are, as Right-Wing Psychedelia (2021) argues, politically pluripotent, non-specific amplifiers of set and setting. Core elements of psychedelic experiences including boundary dissolution, meaning enhancement, suggestibility, and even gratitude can (and, for many, do) serve to support conservative ideologies. This can occur when, for example, psychedelics’ effects positively reinforce one’s position within (what conservatives might call “natural”) social or ecological hierarchies.
At last week’s meeting, we discussed the importance of intersectional, interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed research, the need for nuanced conversations about psychedelics that expressly defy authoritarian views, and what the future of psychedelic healing might look like, particularly given, as Why is the American right suddenly so interested in psychedelics drugs? (2022) warns, the effective treatment of PTSD with psilocybin arguably makes American wars more “viable.”
Under capitalism, therapy is highly individualized and communities are increasingly difficult to find, cultivate, and keep. Ensuring that psychedelic therapy includes integration—and not just at the personal level—is critical to sustained healing that isn’t simply keeping us happy, but also empowering us toward systemic change.
Recommendations: Friends of the LA River’s River Cleanup on April 22; Seeding the City, also on April 22 (featuring Mycoverse community member Anne LaForti); the free UCLA webinar Made in Amazonia: The Globalization of South American Psychotropics on April 20; for Culver City folks: tell your council members to protect the bike lanes before their April 24 vote