Brainforest Café

In the Brainforest Café, Dennis McKenna discusses a wide range of topics related to philosophy, plant medicines, psychedelics and consciousness in nature. Guests are invited from diverse fields such as anthropology, neuroscience, and spirituality to explore various aspects of the human experience. Some of the topics that are covered in the Brainforest Café include the history and the role of plant medicines in traditional healing practices and the potential benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy for mental health. The Brainforest Café also explores the cultural, social, and political implications of psychedelic use. Dennis McKenna shares his own personal experiences with plant medicines, offering insights and reflections on his own journey of self-discovery and transformation. The Brainforest Café is a thought-provoking and engaging exploration of the intersection between science, spirituality, and culture, and offers a valuable perspective on the potential of plant medicines to transform our understanding of ourselves and the natural world. McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophyhttps://mckenna.academy/ SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring the anomalous, the luminous, and the numinous. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. spectrevisionradio.com linktr.ee/spectrevision

  1. Oct 19

    The Medicine Modern Science Forgot

    In this episode of the Brainforest Café, Dr. Dennis McKenna sits down with Kat Maier, a registered herbalist and physician's assistant who has practiced for more than forty years and wrote the award-winning book Energetic Herbalism. Together they explore what modern medicine loses when it separates the body from spirit: how energetic traditions read the body as a living landscape (hot or cold, damp or dry, tense or relaxed), why context can matter as much as chemistry, and where the psychedelic renaissance fits into a much older understanding of plants as medicine for the soul. It is a warm, rigorous conversation about healing, reciprocity, and our estrangement from nature. In this conversation: Why Kat calls herself a "recovering scientist," and why she refuses to choose between biomedicine and the sacred What energetic herbalism actually means, and how to read your own internal landscape Why Echinacea "failed" a famous clinical trial, and how it was being used wrong The drop of Black Cohosh that felt like a DMT journey, and what it reveals about context and healing Drop doses, regional herbalism, and healing at the pace of tissue, not the pace of a pill The Herbal Mutual Aid Directory, bringing plant medicine to communities after floods, fires, and storms - - - Kat Maier, RH (AHG).PA has been a practicing herbalist for over forty years. She is the founder and director of Sacred Plant Traditions, LLC in Charlottesville, VA. She served as President of the Board of United Plant Savers and received their first Medicinal Plant Conservation Award. As a clinical herbalist she has taught at medical schools, Naturopathic symposiums and internationally at herbal conferences. As a former Peace Corps volunteer in Chile, coupled with her training as a Physician’s Assistant, she weaves the language of biomedicine with traditional energetic systems and wisdom. Kat served on the Admissions Committee for American Herbalist Guild (AHG) for professional membership for over ten years She is the founder of Botanica Mobile Clinic, which offers support to mental health and at-risk community members at no cost. Kat is the co-author of Bush Medicine of San Salvador Island, Bahamas, and the author of Energetic Herbalism: A Guide to Sacred Plant Traditions, Integrating Elements of Vitalism, Ayurveda, and Chinese Medicine. This book won the 2022 Gold Medal Nautilus Award. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    The Medicine Modern Science Forgot
  2. Oct 5

    The Mushroom That Makes You See "Little People"

    For nearly a century, reports of a mysterious psychoactive bolete have puzzled ethnomycologists and anthropologists alike. From the 1930s reports of "mushroom madness" in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, which drew the curiosity of R. Gordon Wasson, Roger Heim, and Albert Hofmann, to modern Yunnan, China, where accidental poisonings from undercooked culinary mushrooms cause people to reliably see visions of tiny, colorfully dressed "little people." In this episode of The Brainforest Café, Dennis McKenna sits down with mycologist and PhD candidate Colin Domnauer (University of Utah) to discuss how modern genomics, natural product chemistry, and fieldwork cracked this long-standing mystery. Colin shares his journey traveling to the markets and forests of Southwest China and the Philippines, using DNA sequencing to identify the primary species responsible (Lanmaoa asiatica), conducting groundbreaking rodent bioassays, and exploring what these non-psilocybin compounds could reveal about the neurobiology of perception and the cross-cultural phenomenon of Lilliputian hallucinations. - - - Colin is a Bay Area California native whose research focuses on unravelling the ethnomycological mystery of psychoactive bolete mushrooms. With a lifelong interest and undergraduate degree in astronomy before changing his studies to the ethnobiology of psychoactive substances, Colin has always felt attracted to explore the mind-bending wonders of nature. In his free time, he enjoys engaging in just about any outdoor activity with friends, most of all foraging for mushrooms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    The Mushroom That Makes You See "Little People"

Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

In the Brainforest Café, Dennis McKenna discusses a wide range of topics related to philosophy, plant medicines, psychedelics and consciousness in nature. Guests are invited from diverse fields such as anthropology, neuroscience, and spirituality to explore various aspects of the human experience. Some of the topics that are covered in the Brainforest Café include the history and the role of plant medicines in traditional healing practices and the potential benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy for mental health. The Brainforest Café also explores the cultural, social, and political implications of psychedelic use. Dennis McKenna shares his own personal experiences with plant medicines, offering insights and reflections on his own journey of self-discovery and transformation. The Brainforest Café is a thought-provoking and engaging exploration of the intersection between science, spirituality, and culture, and offers a valuable perspective on the potential of plant medicines to transform our understanding of ourselves and the natural world. McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophyhttps://mckenna.academy/ SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring the anomalous, the luminous, and the numinous. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. spectrevisionradio.com linktr.ee/spectrevision

More From SpectreVision Radio

You Might Also Like