In A Perfect World

In shamanic culture facing the shadow means confronting the issues pushed down and away from the light. Psychospiritual maturity is the ability to stand in the presence of yourself and see what traumas influence your behaviour. Someone who knows that well is consciousness researcher, writer and podcaster James W. Jesso, author of "Decomposing the Shadow: Lessons from the Psilocybin Mushroom". Jesso has faced his own shadow, and come out the other side. Join Jesso and experiential journalist Rak Razam as they talk about the use of psilocybin as a healing modality, and the counterpointing McKenna-flavored 'cosmic mushroom' paradigm. Is the psychological model for psilocybin more useful for global culture in need of spiritual healing? What about the reported ability of psilocybin as a language catalyst? Or for neurogenesis and improving interconnectivity in the brain? How does that affect language, syntax and symbolism, and the physiological basis of our consciousness? If language comes from the necessity to convey information, is our language evolving to help map the realms entheogens take us to? Is the mycelium network connecting us to larger networks of consciousness across space and time? For more info see: http://www.jameswjesso.com If you want to experience an authentic and integral ayahuasca retreat in Peru, join author Rak Razam in Peru on an ongoing series of intensive ayahuasca retreats with curandero Percy Garcia, and in April 2015 a 3-shaman tour with Percy, Ron Wheelock and Borku Cafuk: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

In shamanic culture facing the shadow means confronting the issues pushed down and away from the light. Psychospiritual maturity is the ability to stand in the presence of yourself and see what traumas influence your behaviour. Someone who knows that well is consciousness researcher, writer and podcaster James W. Jesso, author of "Decomposing the Shadow: Lessons from the Psilocybin Mushroom". Jesso has faced his own shadow, and come out the other side. Join Jesso and experiential journalist Rak Razam as they talk about the use of psilocybin as a healing modality, and the counterpointing McKenna-flavored 'cosmic mushroom' paradigm. Is the psychological model for psilocybin more useful for global culture in need of spiritual healing? What about the reported ability of psilocybin as a language catalyst? Or for neurogenesis and improving interconnectivity in the brain? How does that affect language, syntax and symbolism, and the physiological basis of our consciousness? If language comes from the necessity to convey information, is our language evolving to help map the realms entheogens take us to? Is the mycelium network connecting us to larger networks of consciousness across space and time? For more info see: http://www.jameswjesso.com If you want to experience an authentic and integral ayahuasca retreat in Peru, join author Rak Razam in Peru on an ongoing series of intensive ayahuasca retreats with curandero Percy Garcia, and in April 2015 a 3-shaman tour with Percy, Ron Wheelock and Borku Cafuk: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Ayahuasca tourism is on the rise, for better or worse. Join experiential journalist Rak Razam as he meets the kingmaker of Peruvian ayahuasca tourism, Alan Shoemaker, on the Boulevard in Iquitos. Shoemaker is an influential and sometimes controversial gringo in the global ayahausca scene, and author of the recent Ayahuasca Medicine: The Shamanic World of Amazonian Sacred Plant Healing. Once a curandero-in-training with various curanderos himself, he was part of the early 1990s wave of western gringos drawn to Peru and engaging with indigenous shamanism. He has successfully run businesses that revolve around ayahuasca shamanism, from ayahuasca tour groups to founding the annual Amazonian Shaman Conference. He has also founded Soga Del Alma–the Vine of the Soul church, been an exporter of medicinal plants, and been busted by the American authorities and forced to become a fugitive. And as the wave of ayahuasca tourism has increased almost exponentially in recent years, Shoemaker has played an active role, promoting his conference, shamans, and pathways to hungry western audiences. But what are the repercussions of ayahuasca tourism? What are the effects on indigenous culture, and how do westerners mediate the two worlds of Grace & Madness? Photo credit: Vance Gellert If you want to experience an authentic and integral ayahuasca retreat in Peru, join author Rak Razam in Peru on an ongoing series of intensive ayahausca retreats with curandero Percy Garcia, and in April 2015 a 3-shaman tour with Percy, Ron Wheelock and Borku Cafuk: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Ayahuasca tourism is on the rise, for better or worse. Join experiential journalist Rak Razam as he meets the kingmaker of Peruvian ayahuasca tourism, Alan Shoemaker, on the Boulevard in Iquitos. Shoemaker is an influential and sometimes controversial gringo in the global ayahausca scene, and author of the recent Ayahuasca Medicine: The Shamanic World of Amazonian Sacred Plant Healing. Once a curandero-in-training with various curanderos himself, he was part of the early 1990s wave of western gringos drawn to Peru and engaging with indigenous shamanism. He has successfully run businesses that revolve around ayahuasca shamanism, from ayahuasca tour groups to founding the annual Amazonian Shaman Conference. He has also founded Soga Del Alma–the Vine of the Soul church, been an exporter of medicinal plants, and been busted by the American authorities and forced to become a fugitive. And as the wave of ayahuasca tourism has increased almost exponentially in recent years, Shoemaker has played an active role, promoting his conference, shamans, and pathways to hungry western audiences. But what are the repercussions of ayahuasca tourism? What are the effects on indigenous culture, and how do westerners mediate the two worlds of Grace & Madness? Photo credit: Vance Gellert If you want to experience an authentic and integral ayahuasca retreat in Peru, join author Rak Razam in Peru on an ongoing series of intensive ayahausca retreats with curandero Percy Garcia, and in April 2015 a 3-shaman tour with Percy, Ron Wheelock and Borku Cafuk: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

It's 2015–find the OTHERS! Join experiential journalist Rak Razam as he talks with the Executive Director of the International Evolver Network Magenta Imagination Healer about another world that is sprouting from the cracks of the old… Evolver connects individuals and 'spores' into a global network that supports multiplatform initiatives to sustain new paradigm society, from permaculture to urban farming, shamanism, new economies and social resilience, co-operative timeshares and food co-ops, and so much more… But how does one best evolve a modern distributed network that facilitate individuals and still achieve consensus? How can we have right relationship with the earth and draw upon indigenous tribal logistics without misappropriation? How does a global network facilitate knowledge about plant medicines and non-denominational spirituality without becoming a cult? How to best embrace global diversity whilst creating the support structure for common change? Is the R-Evolution upon us, and will Russell Brand be at the fore? Seize the future, today! You are not alone! For more info see: http://www.evolvernetworkwork.org Join author Rak Razam in Peru on an ongoing series of intensive ayahausca retreats with curandero Percy Garcia: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

It's 2015–find the OTHERS! Join experiential journalist Rak Razam as he talks with the Executive Director of the International Evolver Network Magenta Imagination Healer about another world that is sprouting from the cracks of the old… Evolver connects individuals and 'spores' into a global network that supports multiplatform initiatives to sustain new paradigm society, from permaculture to urban farming, shamanism, new economies and social resilience, co-operative timeshares and food co-ops, and so much more… But how does one best evolve a modern distributed network that facilitate individuals and still achieve consensus? How can we have right relationship with the earth and draw upon indigenous tribal logistics without misappropriation? How does a global network facilitate knowledge about plant medicines and non-denominational spirituality without becoming a cult? How to best embrace global diversity whilst creating the support structure for common change? Is the R-Evolution upon us, and will Russell Brand be at the fore? Seize the future, today! You are not alone! For more info see: http://www.evolvernetworkwork.org Join author Rak Razam in Peru on an ongoing series of intensive ayahausca retreats with curandero Percy Garcia: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

art montage: Alex Grey/ Matthew Fox Experiential journalist Rak Razam talks with brilliant theologian, author and religious heretic Matthew Fox, once an ordained Domenican priest, expelled by Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict) for his radical theological leanings… Fox later joined the Episcopolian church to redefine ritual and worship for the 21st century and find ways to make religion matter in the modern world. He formed a series of rituals called "The Cosmic Mass" which he still runs to this day that blend trance/dance and the rave as a techno religion for the masses to bring direct experiential consciousness back into religion under the doctrine of "creation spirituality". Does the original biblical idea of the "Cosmic Christ" parallel modern shamanic and scientific understandings? Fox discusses the perils of Western "fast mysticism", fad spiritualities, and the need for authentic elders, as he delineates in his recent book Occupy Spirituality. How can modern mystics, spiritual warriors and prophets be in service to the global community? How can we balance the healthy sacred masculine with the sacred feminine to sidestep dogma and express joy in our spiritual relationships, to be warriors for the planet? Can ritual help us face negativity and suffering in the world, and be creative and transformative? Is this the beginning of a new religious consciousness? For more info see: http://www.matthewfox.org Join author Rak Razam in Peru on an ongoing series of intensive ayahausca retreats with curandero Percy Garcia: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

art montage: Alex Grey/ Matthew Fox Experiential journalist Rak Razam talks with brilliant theologian, author and religious heretic Matthew Fox, once an ordained Domenican priest, expelled by Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict) for his radical theological leanings… Fox later joined the Episcopolian church to redefine ritual and worship for the 21st century and find ways to make religion matter in the modern world. He formed a series of rituals called "The Cosmic Mass" which he still runs to this day that blend trance/dance and the rave as a techno religion for the masses to bring direct experiential consciousness back into religion under the doctrine of "creation spirituality". Does the original biblical idea of the "Cosmic Christ" parallel modern shamanic and scientific understandings? Fox discusses the perils of Western "fast mysticism", fad spiritualities, and the need for authentic elders, as he delineates in his recent book Occupy Spirituality. How can modern mystics, spiritual warriors and prophets be in service to the global community? How can we balance the healthy sacred masculine with the sacred feminine to sidestep dogma and express joy in our spiritual relationships, to be warriors for the planet? Can ritual help us face negativity and suffering in the world, and be creative and transformative? Is this the beginning of a new religious consciousness? For more info see: http://www.matthewfox.org Join author Rak Razam in Peru on an ongoing series of intensive ayahausca retreats with curandero Percy Garcia: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

How do indigenous cultures like the Shipibo of the Amazon preserve their traditions in a rapidly globalizing world? Writer-filmmaker Athena Gam is spearheading the 'Song of the Amazon' project in alliance with the Shipibo to anchor their art and stories–their world myths, into an upcoming animated feature film. The Shipibo tapestries anchor the "vibrational songs" (or icaros, as seen on ayahuasca), and these circuitry-like patterns are fast becoming an icon of the hip Global Village. But their culture goes much deeper than ayahuasca… And even so, can a cultural transplant such as theirs preserve wisdom, and memeticaly infect the West even as it is commodified? Can that spiritual energy inherent in their worldview kickstart a remembrance of spirit, changing one cultural dreaming for another? In the mashup of the 21st century world, are we all future Global Shipibo? Support the animated film 'Song of the Amazon', a visionary animated film based on the cosmology, art and wisdom of the Shipibo people of Peru by contributing to their Indiegogo campaign here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/song-of-the-amazon Step up and join the Awakening! Join author Rak Razam in Peru on an ongoing series of intensive ayahausca retreats with curandero Percy Garcia. This is the time, you are the ONE: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

How do indigenous cultures like the Shipibo of the Amazon preserve their traditions in a rapidly globalizing world? Writer-filmmaker Athena Gam is spearheading the 'Song of the Amazon' project in alliance with the Shipibo to anchor their art and stories–their world myths, into an upcoming animated feature film. The Shipibo tapestries anchor the "vibrational songs" (or icaros, as seen on ayahuasca), and these circuitry-like patterns are fast becoming an icon of the hip Global Village. But their culture goes much deeper than ayahuasca… And even so, can a cultural transplant such as theirs preserve wisdom, and memeticaly infect the West even as it is commodified? Can that spiritual energy inherent in their worldview kickstart a remembrance of spirit, changing one cultural dreaming for another? In the mashup of the 21st century world, are we all future Global Shipibo? Support the animated film 'Song of the Amazon', a visionary animated film based on the cosmology, art and wisdom of the Shipibo people of Peru by contributing to their Indiegogo campaign here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/song-of-the-amazon Step up and join the Awakening! Join author Rak Razam in Peru on an ongoing series of intensive ayahausca retreats with curandero Percy Garcia. This is the time, you are the ONE: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Can we discover the exact origins of life on earth? Can shamanic plant entheogens help us reveal this knowledge? Experiential journalist Rak Razam and neuroscientist Dr. Juan talk with Dr. Bruce Damer, a technologist, virtual world pioneer, computer historian, CEO and founder of The Digital Space Commons and psychedelic explorer and commentator. Bruce has developed the unique endogenous ability to sustain altered states of mind–without external agents–and build a replicable neurolibrary of visionary states. After meeting Terence McKenna in 1997, Bruce introduced Terence to virtual worlds, and Terence introduced Bruce to the shamanic paradigm, which he has since explored to great depth using his endogenous navigational skills. Working in rare symbiosis with madre ayahuasca, Bruce uses the visionary state to refine and improve his scientific problem-solving, including his designs for NASA spaceships and the mission to bring an asteroid to lunar orbit to search for life. And if that mission succeeds, can we recreate the chemical conditions of life within a man-made "Genesis Engine" by 2039? Can we know the complete unification of spirit and the machinery of being? Is there an Entheogenic Singularity hovering in our near future? Find out, in perhaps the most intense episode of In a Perfect World yet…! And hear more from Bruce on his podcast, the Levity Zone: www.levityzone.com Join author Rak Razam in Peru on an ongoing series of intensive ayahausca retreats with curandero Percy Garcia: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Can we discover the exact origins of life on earth? Can shamanic plant entheogens help us reveal this knowledge? Experiential journalist Rak Razam and neuroscientist Dr. Juan talk with Dr. Bruce Damer, a technologist, virtual world pioneer, computer historian, CEO and founder of The Digital Space Commons and psychedelic explorer and commentator. Bruce has developed the unique endogenous ability to sustain altered states of mind–without external agents–and build a replicable neurolibrary of visionary states. After meeting Terence McKenna in 1997, Bruce introduced Terence to virtual worlds, and Terence introduced Bruce to the shamanic paradigm, which he has since explored to great depth using his endogenous navigational skills. Working in rare symbiosis with madre ayahuasca, Bruce uses the visionary state to refine and improve his scientific problem-solving, including his designs for NASA spaceships and the mission to bring an asteroid to lunar orbit to search for life. And if that mission succeeds, can we recreate the chemical conditions of life within a man-made "Genesis Engine" by 2039? Can we know the complete unification of spirit and the machinery of being? Is there an Entheogenic Singularity hovering in our near future? Find out, in perhaps the most intense episode of In a Perfect World yet…! And hear more from Bruce on his podcast, the Levity Zone: www.levityzone.com Join author Rak Razam in Peru on an ongoing series of intensive ayahausca retreats with curandero Percy Garcia: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

With Niles Heckman In this special post-Burning Man 2014 edition, experiential journalist Rak Razam downloads with Hollywood writer and special effects guru Niles Heckman on the future of psychedelic cinema, and how the shamanic resurgence is being anchored in mainstream media. Heckman has worked on industry films like Tron 2, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Matrix 2 and 3 and Avatar, and brings an insiders view of Hollywood and an understanding of the shamanic archetype to the fore. From early cave paintings to 21st century blockbusters, art has always carried spirit. But can modern CGI anchor the psychedelic experience in film, and what happens when those energies connect with the audience? Is there a conscious art underground infecting the Hollywood meme machine? Can the aperture of the heart open us up on the silver screen, and can a Psychedelic Hollywood re-enchant the masses? And what does the Human Centipede have to do with all this? For more information visit: Production company - Aurora Lab Personal site -  www.nilesheckman.com and on Twitter - twitter.com/jnheckman Join author Rak Razam in Peru on an intensive ayahausca retreat with curandero Percy Garcia: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

With Niles Heckman In this special post-Burning Man 2014 edition, experiential journalist Rak Razam downloads with Hollywood writer and special effects guru Niles Heckman on the future of psychedelic cinema, and how the shamanic resurgence is being anchored in mainstream media. Heckman has worked on industry films like Tron 2, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Matrix 2 and 3 and Avatar, and brings an insiders view of Hollywood and an understanding of the shamanic archetype to the fore. From early cave paintings to 21st century blockbusters, art has always carried spirit. But can modern CGI anchor the psychedelic experience in film, and what happens when those energies connect with the audience? Is there a conscious art underground infecting the Hollywood meme machine? Can the aperture of the heart open us up on the silver screen, and can a Psychedelic Hollywood re-enchant the masses? And what does the Human Centipede have to do with all this? For more information visit: Production company - Aurora Lab Personal site -  www.nilesheckman.com and on Twitter - twitter.com/jnheckman Join author Rak Razam in Peru on an intensive ayahausca retreat with curandero Percy Garcia: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Experiential journalist Rak Razam talks with mushroom shamaness and modern-day Oracle Shonagh Home, author of Ix Chel Wisdom: 7 Teachings from the Mayan Sacred Feminine and Love, Spirit, Medicine. Whilst entheogens like ayahuasca are peaking in mainstream media, other sacraments like psilocybin are also on the rise once more. Home resonates with mushroom magic, and was initiated by "the voice of the mushroom" on 5 dried grams. In the bemushroomed state Home feels spirits possess her body and speak through her, like the classical Oracle at Delphi of Greek antiquity. But can we trust the voice of the mushroom, what McKenna calls the 'Logos'? Is the psilocybin frequency a portal for the faerie folk, the fey, or other star beings? Are women more sensitive to ecstatic states of both sensuality and shamanism? Does the bloodline affect the proclivity to certain plant sacraments? Do we have magic in our blood? A provocative examination of the role of the woman shaman as a portal to the universe… For more information visit http://www.shonaghhome.com. Join author Rak Razam this September or December in Peru on an intensive ayahausca retreat with curandero Percy Garcia: http://www.aya-awakenings.com/retreats SUPPORTING ARTISTS SEED THE FUTURE IS VERY SEXY. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, HOW IT MAKES YOU THINK, WHO IT MAKES YOU FEEL, THEN DONATE RIGHT HERE, BUSTER! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.