4th Annual Fall Entheogenic Symposium

Please join us for our 4th Annual Fall Symposium. This year's theme will focus on sustainability and regenerative practices.

Doors open at 6:00pm Event begins at 6:30pm

• 6:30-6:40 ERIE open and audience roundtable

• 6:45-7:15 Tezwar Perez, MA

Ontagens and Collective Individuation: Evolutionary synergents and the stirrings of a post-patriarchal paradigm

How did the world get to such a stage of imbalance and environmental crisis? Why do we even need symposiums and practices themed on sustainability and ecology in the first place? This presentation aims at partially answering these questions by briefly delving into the evolution of patriarchy as viewed through the lens of collective individuation, and then exploring some potential factors -- such as ontagens (entheogens) -- involved in helping catalyze the transition to a post-patriarchal society which will necessarily be more sustainable and eco-minded.

Teswar Perez is a PhD student in the East-West Psychology program, having also received his MA in Buddhist Studies from CIIS. He is an enthusiastic advocate of the immense potential of ontagens (psychedelics) and other modalities to help catalyze the expansion and deepening of consciousness, thus aiding in positive transformation on personal and collective dimensions.

• 7:20-7:50 Republic of Light

The Vision Quest: Filmmaking as a transformational tool for dreaming a New World.

A NEW MAP OF CONSCIOUSNESS

To the Origin is a docu-fiction focused on the profound relationship between Sacred Plants, Indigenous Healing Rituals and Universal Consciousness. It pollinates indigenous knowledge and contemporary approaches blooming a transpersonal understanding of Nature. This feature length film is composed by three episodes devoted to Entheogenics plants & fungi from the Americas: Oni (Ayahuaska), Wachuri (Peyote & San Pedro) & Nishito (Mushrooms). We will be presenting short pieces about the film and opening the conversation about this subject.

Republic of Light is a holistic media collective recreating the form of storytelling towards the re-evolution of human consciousness. These creations support social needs reflecting upon interconnectedness, respect for life & death and liberation from dysfunctional paradigms. We are serving as a vehicle for the metaphoric shift.We are developing a film project called To the Origin that is inspiring us to adopt a nomadic way of birthing documentaries. We live and create in a resilient mini school bus converted into a mobile statement of intuitive feminine practices. May we all let The Mother in.

• 7:50-8:05 Republic of Light short film screening

• 8:05-8:15 break

• 8:15-8:45 Kirra K. Swenerton, MS

The Medicine of Reciprocity: Practicing Conservation and Cultivating Sustainable Relationships with Entheogens

As ritual and therapeutic uses of entheogens increase, it is critical that conservation of natural sources and sustainable harvesting practices keep pace. In this talk we explore the importance of recognizing entheogens as teachers and allies rather than tools or products. Recounting the stories of a few rare and imperiled entheogens, I share how people are acting to protect them. Drawing on the insights of restoration ecology, permaculture and ancestral knowledge, we learn to reimagine our roles as guardians and allies of these natural sources and are reminded that healing of the self and healing of source is an integrated process. Finally, I present hands-on methods for cultivating reciprocal, healing relationships with entheogens in our own practices and offer opportunities for active conservation of continued, sustainable sources of sacred medicines for future generations.

Kirra K. Swenerton is the Director and Founder of Root Wisdom, an organization empowering people to cultivate a reciprocal, healing relationship with plant medicines and discover a natural sense of belonging. Kirra completed her undergraduate studies in Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley (1998) and her graduate research in Restoration Ecology at the University of Washington (2003). As a scholar and instructor of sacred plant medicine, ethnobotany and ecology, Kirra develops and leads workshops, retreats and devotional journeys for those who seek deeper wisdom in nature. She is an expert in the indigenous flora of the San Francisco Bay Area and a sought-after instructor of plant identification, habitat restoration and endangered species recovery. Her teachings bridge science and mysticism, merging rigor and ethics with herbal wisdom and ancestral traditions.

The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.~Tennessee Williams

• 8:50-9:20ish Panel