Fruiting Bodies FRUITING BODIES COLLECTIVE

In episode 6 we are joined by our dear sister-friend, Mariah Makalapua of Medicine Collective. Mariah is the creator of Medicine Collective, a medicine woman, a mother, an artist, a healer, a gardener and a community builder. In this episode she shares with us about Indigenous wisdom and ways of life and dives deep into the beautiful and essential practice of decolonization with us. Thank you, Pua, for your brilliance and wisdom! Much love!

Links mentioned:

Instagram: @medicine.collective

Website: medicinecollective.com


What’s in the episode:

Mariah’s background (3:22)

Feeling called to hold space for people in your community (6:00)

Decolonizing myself (11:45)

Having an interest in vs. feeling called to something (14:45)

Heritage, lineage, and Indigenous Wisdom (19:15)

The importance of honoring traditions (23:15)

The lack of Indigenous Elders in the legalized space (24:40)

Find the beauty in your own lineage (30:00)

Being in service to the relationship you have with yourself (31:30)

Safety (34:30)

The confusion of trying to organize this fluid work into such a rigid construct (39:00)

The fear of what could happen (42:00)

The hope of what could happen (42:50)

Collective healing and liberation (44:00)

What’s happening with Medicine Collective? (46:00)

The absurd cost of land (49:17)

Detachment from nature (52:05)

Dreamy Dream (54:20)

What does healing mean to you? (59:54)


And special thank you to the people behind the scenes who help make the Fruiting Bodies podcast possible. Be sure to send them some love!

· Podcast Editor, Sydney Bogan

· Studio space, Mariah Makalapua & Medicine Collective

· Equipment & support, Joe Izzo from Conscious Cloud Podcast

· Our awesome volunteer team: Yicela Alvarado, SunMee Sandusky, and Allison Holmes

· Our sponsors, Dr. Bronner’s, Mimosa Therapeutics, and Psychedelics Today

· All of our incredible supporters, collaborators, and listeners

Stay connected by following us on Instagram @fruitingbodiesco. Visit our website to find past show notes, become a supporter, and join our email list.

Thank you for supporting our shared mission!

-Elan & Becca


---

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fruitingbodies/support

In episode 5 we are joined by our good friend AJ McCreary, of the Equitable Giving Circle.

AJ is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Equitable Giving Circle, a Black woman and Black femme led organization that is creating real economic impact by sharing food, housing, and wellness with the community.

About our guest:

AJ McCreary is from Portland OR. She is a community maverick who has been working locally for 15+ years. AJ specializes in marketing strategies and fundraising through an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion lens. Her education background and degrees are in spatial art and Black history. She actively and openly is always working on further decolonizing herself, her work, and is actively relearning cultural practices lost to colonization. A lot of AJ's work includes activism around cannabis. Before launching EGC AJ worked on a cannabis topical line and hosts private cannabis events including the elusive Hiiiiiii Tea women and femme networking event.

Links mentioned in our conversation:

Instagram: @EquitableGivingCircle 

What’s in this episode:

AJ’s background (3:52)

I don’t like to rest (8:55)

Fun is not for me (10:30)

The start of Equitable Giving Circle (12:30)

It’s not that complicated (17:37)

USDA food boxes (18:20)

Improving the health and wellness of the community (19:37)

Delivering value to people’s doorsteps (22:00)

Inspiring others to serve better (23:30)

Our team genuinely cares (25:40)

Collecting the data (27:55)

A recent major accomplishment (28:55)

The disconnect from philanthropy to the general public (33:10)

Assumptions of non-profit vs for-profit (36:25)

Scarcity model (38:20)

Finding creative funding avenues (40:15)

Portland’s uniqueness (43:55)

We’ve got a racism problem here (46:55)

A pathway to liberation for Black folks (49:06)

AJ’s future plans (50:00)

A message to white people (51:38)

Dreamy Dream (54:08)

What does healing mean to you (56:13)

And special thank you to the people behind the scenes who help make the Fruiting Bodies podcast possible. Be sure to send them some love!

· Podcast Editor, Sydney Bogan

· Studio space, Mariah Makalapua & Medicine Collective

· Equipment & support, Joe Izzo from Conscious Cloud Podcast

· Our awesome volunteer team: Yicela Alvarado, SunMee Sandusky, and Allison Holmes

· Our sponsors, Dr. Bronner’s, Mimosa Therapeutics, and Psychedelics Today

· All of our incredible supporters, collaborators, and listeners

Stay connected by following us on Instagram @fruitingbodiesco. Visit our website to find past show notes, become a supporter, and join our email list.

Thank you for supporting our shared mission!

-Elan & Becca


---

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fruitingbodies/support

Season 2 is bringing so much wisdom and useful information! 

In episode 4 we are joined by Dr. Angela Carter, our dear friend and trusted mentor.

Dr. Angela Carter (they/them) is a white, transgender, genderqueer, queer, neuroqueer, disabled, dirt worshiping naturopathic physician living in Portland, Or. They manage Oregon’s measure 110 substance use decriminalization and recovery program. They are also the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board vice chair and co-chair of the Equity and Training subcommittees. Angela is deeply committed to health equity and justice work, and ensuring that trauma informed care and racial and social justice are imbued into the fabric of our culture and government. They enjoy the company of cats, crocheting, and getting lost in the woods looking for mushrooms.

Links mentioned in our conversation:

Contact Angie: angelacarternd@gmail.com

What’s in this episode:

Angie’s background (3:29)

Beginning Naturopathic Medicine (4:22)

Queer Activism (5:30)

Burner Community Work (8:30)

Sitting with folks experiencing psychedelic journeys (8:55)

Fireside Project and Oregon Psilocybin Program (9:45)

Unified vision (12:00)

Working from a de-colonized perspective (13:55)

The limitations of a western medicine mindset (15:40)

We should be asking the community (19:18)

Building trust to encourage community engagement (21:04)

Listening sessions (24:10)

Accessibility to information for marginalized communities (26:40)

Following through on lip-service (30:04)

The lack of trust from folks in the underground (32:01)

The spectrum of people on the board (33:00)

The intersections between measure 109 and 110 (36:10)

“Harm reduction” - “Benefit Maximization” (38:12)

Provide a structure for people to relate to themselves (39:55)

Learning how to get out of the way (41:55)

Importance of the inner work (43:00)

Assessment for facilitators without shared experience (43:30)

No fast-track for personal decolonization (44:35)

Implement a restorative justice process and continuing education (50:30)

Dreamy dream (52:40)

What does healing mean to you? (55:37)


Huge thank you to the forever inspiring Angie Carter for joining us. What a gift. Follow them on Instagram at @clitocybe_nuda.

And special thank you to the people behind the scenes who help make the Fruiting Bodies podcast possible. Be sure to send them some love!

·  Podcast Editor, Sydney Bogan

·  Studio space, Mariah Makalapua & Medicine Collective

·  Equipment & support, Joe Izzo from Conscious Cloud Podcast

·  Our awesome volunteer team: Yicela Alvarado, SunMee Sandusky, and Allison Holmes

·  Our sponsors, Dr. Bronner’s, Mimosa Therapeutics, and Psychedelics Today

·  All of our incredible supporters, collaborators, and listeners

Stay connected by following us on Instagram @fruitingbodiesco. Visit our website to find past show notes, become a supporter, and join our email list.

Thank you for supporting our shared mission!

-Elan & Becca


---

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fruitingbodies/support

In episode 3 we are joined by Courtney Watson. Courtney is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Sex Therapist. She is the owner of Doorway Therapeutic Services, a group therapy practice in Oakland, California focused on addressing the mental health needs of Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Queer Folks, Trans, Gender Non-conforming, Non-binary and Two Spirit individuals. Courtney has followed the direction of her ancestors to incorporate psychedelic assisted therapy into her offerings for folks with multiple marginalized identities and stresses the importance of BI&Poc and Queer providers offering these services. She is currently blazing the trail as one. of the only predominantly QTBIPOC providers offering Ketamine Assisted Therapy in 2021. She has also founded a non-profit, Access to Doorways, to raise funds to subsidize the cost of ketamine/psychedelic assisted therapies for QTBIPOC clients.

Links mentioned in our conversation:

Support Doorways Non-profit

What’s in this episode:

Courtney’s background (2:55)

“Professionalism” (4:30)

Becoming a therapist (6:20)

Scholar of human sexuality (7:00)

Shortcomings in the world of psychedelics (9:40)

Meeting folks part way to educate (12:20)

Being in right relationship (13:18)

How can you talk about altered states of consciousness and not talk about spirit? (14:30)

Earth erasure in this field (16:00)

Co-creation with people from marginalized communities (20:05)

Ketamine as medicine (21:45)

The ketamine spirit is perfect for therapy (24:36)

These synthetic molecules have intelligence (27:00)

Equity of sourcing and profiting (28:00)

The genius of the plant world (31:08)

Finding a therapist who relates to your lived experience (33:25)

Information to help move in the right direction (35:30)

Integrity in the medicine space (37:47)

The term “Holding Space” (38:39)

Going back and retrieving the wisdom of things that were pushed into the shadows (41:00)

“The old woman at the end of the village” (43:30)

Dreamy dream (45:45)

What does healing mean to you? (50:00)

The importance of elders (53:20)


Huge thank you to the forever inspiring Courtney Watson for joining us. What a gift. Follow her on Instagram at @doorwaytherapeutics.

And special thank you to the people behind the scenes who help make the Fruiting Bodies podcast possible. Be sure to send them some love!

·  Podcast Editor, Sydney Bogan

·  Studio space, Mariah Makalapua & Medicine Collective

·  Equipment & support, Joe Izzo from Conscious Cloud Podcast

·  Our awesome volunteer team: Yicela Alvarado, SunMee Sandusky, and Allison Holmes

·  Our sponsors, Dr. Bronner’s, Mimosa Therapeutics, and Psychedelics Today

·  All of our incredible supporters, collaborators, and listeners

Stay connected by following us on Instagram @fruitingbodiesco. Visit our website to find past show notes, become a monthly supporter and join our email list.

Thank you for supporting our shared mission!

-Elan & Becca



---

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fruitingbodies/support

Hope y'all are ready to take the drug policy conversation to the next level!

In Episode 2, we are joined by Ismail Ali, an esteemed colleague who is best known for serving as legal counsel at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). For over a decade, Ismail has been involved with efforts around drug policy reform, ending mass incarceration, and creating conditions for social and cultural transformation. It was a delight to dive into this dialogue and remember the glimmers of what we're all working toward together.

About Ismail: As MAPS' Acting Director of Policy and Advocacy, Ismail advocates to eliminate barriers to psychedelic therapy and research,



Links mentioned in our conversation:

MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies)

Update on California's SB519


What’s in this episode:

How Fruiting Bodies and Ismail met (haha!) (4:25)

Ismail’s bio and background (6:15)

Seeing through the American Dream mythology (7:25)

Pursuing law as a facet of social and cultural change (8:20)

Building MAPS policy and advocacy department (9:50)

Emergent space in psychedelics (11:55)

History of MAPS & current efforts (12:38)

Self-sustaining, MDMA-powered drug policy engine (15:09)

What would a legal post-prohibition environment look like? (15:50)

Measure 109 - State level policy change on the rise (16:35)

Public education and harm reduction (18:00)

The current system is not working (20:07)

Nuance of the highly regulated healthcare system (20:50)

What binds us together? (21:45)

Thinking big picture, multi-generational (22:40)

Drug policy in an existential expansion (23:20)

“Shared imagination of what is possible” (24:30)

“Working within or without the superstructure, the status quo” (26:22)

Idealism (27:30)

“A battle of the imagination” (28:15)

Mental health in mainstream conversation (29:05)

Activism and Incrementalism (30:11)

“Revolution is not just theory, it’s also infrastructure” (31:55)

What’s happening in California - SB519 (34:20)

Dreamy dream (41:50)

Celebration without reservation (42:30)

Huge thank you to the forever inspiring Ismail Ali for joining us. What a gift. Follow him on Instagram at @sage_izzy.


And special thank you to the people behind the scenes who help make the Fruiting Bodies podcast possible. Be sure to send them some love!

·  Podcast Editor, Sydney Bogan

·  Studio space, Mariah Makalapua & Medicine Collective

·  Equipment & support, Joe Izzo from Conscious Cloud Podcast

·  Our awesome volunteer team: Yicela Alvarado, SunMee Sandusky, and Allison Holmes

·  Our sponsors, Dr. Bronner’s, Mimosa Therapeutics, and Psychedelics Today

·  All of our incredible supporters, collaborators, and listeners

Stay connected by following us on Instagram @fruitingbodiesco. Visit our website to find past show notes, become a monthly supporter and join our email list.

Thank you for supporting our shared mission!

-Elan & Rebecca


---

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fruitingbodies/support

We’re BAAAACK! :) Season 2 of Fruiting Bodies Podcast is here! This is the first interview of the season.

In Episode 1, we are joined by Micah Stover, a mother, trauma midwife, psychedelic guide, and integration specialist. Micah’s path has taken her from rural Tennessee to Portland’s psychedelic underground, to the beautiful land of Mexico. Join us for this vulnerable, bold and juicy conversation. In this episode we discuss intergenerational trauma, somatics, feeling it to heal it, parenthood, rebirthing ourselves through psilocybin medicine, and much more.

Links mentioned in our conversation:

Micah Stover Consulting

Brené Brown

What’s in this episode:

Micah’s origin story (2:56)

Being raised in the evangelical church (3:26)

Landing here, origin of coaching practice (4:55)

How she found her way to medicine work (5:56)

Lineage of paternal trauma (7:00)

How she came to mushrooms as medicine (8:42)

Turning point (10:35)

Psilocybin curiosity (11:11)

“I need those mushrooms” after becoming a mother (12:23)

Watching what is developing in Portland (13:13)

Experience of overcoming stigma of intersecting identities (15:00)

“Community is like a daily practice” (17:46)

Thoughts on global digital community (18:40)

Accessibility of work during pandemic (19:10)

Intergenerational Trauma (21:35)

“You have to feel it to heal it” (24:25)

“It’s a different perspective when you don’t take it personally” (25:00)

Embracing duality (28:04)

Somatic experience of psilocybin work (29:41)

Childbirth - pleasure and pain (34:35)

Watching her children exist freely (38:03)

Thoughts on effectiveness of psilocybin therapy (40:46)

Integration and life preparation with clients (43:24)

“Where you work out your healing is in the mundane moments” (48:37)

Discussion of Micah’s book (49:38)

Intergenerational themes and opportunities (53:50)

Midwife - rebirth through psilocybin therapy process (55:05)

Lineage story from book (55:45)

Dreamy Dream (58:15)

Eudaimonia- happiness plus purpose (59:22)

What does healing mean to you? (1:00:59)

Thoughts to leave us with (1:02:48)

Huge thank you to the incredible, unforgettable Micah Stover for joining us. Follow her on Instagram at @micahsugarfoot.

And special thank you to the people behind the scenes who help make the Fruiting Bodies podcast possible. Be sure to send them some love!


Podcast Editor, Sydney Bogan
Studio space, Mariah Makalapua & Medicine Collective
Equipment & support, Joe Izzo from Conscious Cloud Podcast
Our awesome volunteer team: Yicela Alvarado, SunMee Sandusky, and Allison Holmes
Our sponsors, Dr. Bronner’s, Mimosa Therapeutics, and Psychedelics Today
All of our incredible supporters, collaborators, and listeners

Stay connected by following us on Instagram @fruitingbodiesco. Visit our website to find past show notes, become a monthly supporter and join our email list.

Thank you for supporting our shared mission!

-Elan & Becca


---

Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fruitingbodies/support