Plantscendence Jon Reiss

How fear of death led one father to overcome the grief of the loss of his son - and help other parents who have lost children in their journeys.  In this episode, Jon welcomes Larry Carlat, a grief counselor and writer, who shares his profound journey with psychedelics following the tragic loss of his son Rob. Driven by a desire to confront his anxiety about death and connect with his son’s spirit, Larry recounts his initial foray into plant medicine, and the incredible healing that it engendered.  Larry details some of the remarkable encounters he had with spiritual entities – including his mother, father, and Rob – while on psilocybin, as well as the moments of ego dissolution and emotional catharsis that helped reshape his perspective on life, death, and spirituality. Larry also shares insights from his own counseling work, where he guides other bereaved parents and siblings through their grief journeys.


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Expanding plant based medicine to communities of color to heal intergenerational trauma.  Spring Washam joins Plantscendence to talk about her experiences blending plant medicine with Buddhist wisdom, and how they’ve helped her let go of suffering, experience accelerated healing, and move towards liberation. She shares memories of early encounters with plant medicine, including surreal experiences in the “insane circus” and with the soul doctor of ayahuasca, and talks about the process of writing her latest book, The Spirit of Harriet Tubman: Awakening from the Underground. She recounts how the spirit of Harriet Tubman recently led her to Atlanta, where she and Lama Rod Owens are in the process of building a radical church called “the Spirit Underground Church”, a sanctuary for ancestral connection, plant medicine, and collective liberation. She reflects on the work she plans to do there to heal racialized trauma, both in the body and in the land itself, which has historically held immense violence and hatred. The episode also touches on the prevalence of cultural appropriation in the entheogenic world, and the importance of expanding access to plant-based medicine to BIPOC communities.
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Doris La Frenais’ riveting account of her psychedelic adventures from the 1960s to today. This week, we delve into the remarkable life of Doris La Frenais, a Parisian fashion designer turned spiritual seeker and sonic science somatic healer. Doris recounts her first psychedelic encounter in the 1970s, mistakenly ingesting angel dust at a party in Los Angeles, and then hitchhiking to a hippie commune where she took mushrooms on a moonlit beach. This series of events led Doris to realize that the life she had built in Paris no longer aligned with her spiritual path, and that she must relinquish her lavish lifestyle in pursuit of deeper healing and fulfillment. Four months later, she was living in Los Angeles with her son. Over the next fifty years, her journey would take many unexpected turns, from working with Robert Margouleff helping to produce artists like Stevie Wonder and Devo to navigating a tumultuous path of addiction and recovery. Through candid storytelling, Doris shares riveting accounts of her psychedelic 
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Healing and ancestral knowledge and healing through Iboga.  Chor Boogie, a renowned spray paint artist and ordained Nganga in the Bwiti tradition, joins us on this episode of Plantscendence to talk about his work as an iboga healer in Costa Rica, and the sinuous path that got him there. Chor reflects humorously on his early psychedelic experiences, including a trip to Disneyland on LSD, and traces his journey from the world of graffiti art to that of plant medicine, which includes a decade of study and service in Gabon, Central West Africa. He describes how iboga helped him break free from addictive patterns – which he equates to “30 years of therapy” – and eventually reconnect with his ancestral roots. Chor addresses both the dangers and possibilities posed by Western medicine’s piquing interest in iboga, and emphasizes the importance of respecting and preserving indigenous practices amidst the backdrop of globalization.
Links: 
Chorboogie.com
Soulcentro.com

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Can Ketamine be the ultimate antidepressant?  Acclaimed actor and musician Gina Gershon joins us on Plantscendence to talk about her seven-year journey with ketamine therapy. She shares candidly about her lifelong struggle with depression, her many failed attempts at treating it with prescription medication, and the transformative impact that ketamine therapy had on her life and well-being once she discovered it. She describes in detail the feelings and sensations involved, and the profound impact that therapeutic ketamine has had on her creativity – both as a performer and as a painter, a passion that ketamine helped birth. Gina and Jon, long-time friends, reflect together on the ways that psychedelics have helped them both manage social anxiety, negative self-talk, and repetitive thinking. 


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Host Jon Reiss opens up about his first ayahuasca experience with the ceremonialist who started him on his journey. In this episode of Plantscendence, we sit down with Sitaramaya Sita, the spiritual herbalist, pusangera, and plant wisdom practitioner who guided Jon’s very first entheogenic experience four years ago. Together they recount that initial ceremony, detailing both its ecstatic and challenging moments, and touching upon plant medicine’s role in fostering neuroplasticity and the creation of neural pathways. Sita tells the story of her chance first-encounter with plant medicine on Maui in 1997, and the two and a half decade journey that followed, including Sita’s extensive training with the indigenous Shipibo people of the Peruvian Amazon. The episode also addresses the escalating threats posed by deforestation, clear-cutting, and modern development, emphasizing the urgent need to protect the Amazon rainforest and preserve indigenous knowledge.
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