Explore this dynamic new Bioneers media series
Twenty-nine years in the making, this compilation offers some of the most compelling information available about the ability of plants to affect the human mind, including insights from Kat Harrison, Terence McKenna, Dr. Andrew Weil, Michael Pollan and more. We’re thrilled to be able to offer many voices and perspectives at a time when this material is in especially high demand.
Explore . . .
Visionary Plants, Psychedelic Experiences and Human Cultures
The Medical and Healing Potential of Psychedelics
Drug Politics and Policy
Intelligence in Nature and More
Don’t miss out! |
This eye-opening media collection of dynamic talks and panel discussions from the Bioneers Conference archive offers an expansive view of the power of sacred vision-inducing and consciousness-altering plants and other “psychedelic” (“mind manifesting”) substances. Since the 1991 Bioneers Conference, many of the luminaries in this field have explored this controversial area: the mysteries of plant intelligence and of consciousness itself. We’ll be expanding this online collection ongoing with new material. Michael Pollan will keynote at Bioneers 2018 on his new book: “How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.”
At this moment of a historic renaissance of serious research into the science and healing powers of psychedelics – a time when the popular use of psychedelics in the U.S. today is as big as it was during its ‘60s heyday – this collection features many of the leading figures in the field: the late Terence McKenna, Dr. Andrew Weil, Michael Pollan, Wade Davis, Paul Stamets, Frances Huxley, Jeffrey Bronfman, Katsi Cook and Kat Harrison. They are ethnobotanists, anthropologists, medical researchers, activists, writers, gardeners, artists, and cultural and spiritual figures.
These remarkable talks cover a wide spectrum: the emerging science, the use of psychedelics as healing agents, and their socio-cultural impacts in the modern West. Others focus on the use of sacred plants in certain traditional First Nations’ cultures and the links between Indigenous worldviews and contemporary ecological consciousness, where people often report deep biophilic experiences of the natural world and nature’s intelligence.
Check out the popular Bioneers anthology book Visionary Plant Consciousness, edited by J.P. Harpignies |
These substances have had a powerful and long-lasting influence on our culture’s music, literature, art, fashions and technology (the cyber revolution’s origins are awash in LSD). However, these influences aren’t uniformly positive or free of risks, excess, and folly, and these experiences need to be approached with respect, caution, guidance and care.
At this moment of dramatically renewed interest in the curative potential of psychedelics and promising clinical trials and research projects, the release of this treasure trove from our archives is especially timely. We hope you find this material as inspiring and provocative as we do.
Visionary Plants, Psychedelic Experiences
and Human Cultures
Michael Pollan – Psychedelics and How to Change Your MindBestselling author of landmark books that have challenged our fundamental civilizational assumptions, such as “The Botany of Desire” and “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, Michael Pollan once again bravely ventures where angels fear to tread. His new book “How To Change Your Mind” surveys the highly controversial terrain of the renaissance of both the science and popular usage of psychedelic substances. As one of our most brilliant and clear-eyed explorers of such topics as plant intelligence and how we feed ourselves, Michael will share his luminous insights from what began as investigative reportage and became a very personal interior journey into the mystery of consciousness and the nature of spirituality at this perilous moment when only a shift in human consciousness can alter the deadly trajectory of our societies. This speech was given at the 2018 Bioneers Conference. (2018) Read More >> |
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Michael Pollan will be joining an exciting group of thought leaders
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![]() The Healing Potential of Psychedelics: Breakthroughs in ResearchAfter decades of repression and demonization of these substances, research trials around the country have been achieving remarkable results that validate the profound healing potential of psychedelics such as psilocybin and MDMA. Mounting evidence suggests they can positively address such varied conditions as end-of-life anxiety, PTSD, and cluster headaches. Hosted by J.P. Harpignies, Bioneers Conference Associate Producer. With: Robert Barnhart, filmmaker of A New Understanding: The Science of Psilocybin; Philip Wolfson, M.D., a leading MDMA researcher; and Mitch Schultz, director of the film DMT: The Spirit Molecule. (2015) |
![]() ![]() The Healing Potential of Cannabidiol, MDMA and EntheogensMartin Lee, Director of Project CBD, a cannabis science information service, and renowned author of Acid Dreams and Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana – Medical, Recreational and Scientific; Amy Emerson, Director of Clinical Research at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS); and Ralph Metzner, legendary psychedelic research pioneer; share their insights into the state of knowledge about the potential curative properties of psychedelic substances.(2013) Read More >> |
![]() The Cutting Edge of Psychedelics ResearchSince the 1960s, it had, until recently, been very difficult to get approval for serious research into “mind-manifesting” plants and drugs, although many believe these unique substances have great potential for social good. Leading figures in the field describe that potential and the status of current research. Hosted by ethnobotanist / artist and founder of Botanical Dimensions Kat Harrison. With: Ralph Metzner, legendary psychedelic research pioneer; Charles Grob, Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine; Mariavittoria Mangini, Ph.D., whose research focuses on the history and impact of psychedelics; and Alicia Danforth, a researcher working on experiments using psilocybin to treat anxiety in patients with Stage IV cancer. (2010) Read More >> |
![]() ![]() Studying the Healing Potential of PsychedelicsHosted by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). New research is providing a provocative look at the healing potential of certain psychedelic substances, possibly yielding a scientific foundation for re-evaluating public policies of prohibition and repression. With Ralph Metzner, consciousness explorer whose groundbreaking books include The Psychedelic Experience and Green Psychology; Rick Doblin, MAPS founder/President; and Valerie Mojeiko, a MAPS analyst of the healing potentials of MDMA (Ecstasy), LSD, lbogaine and other psychedelics. (2008)
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Michael Pollan will be joining an exciting group of thought leaders
and visionaries as a keynote speaker at Bioneers 2018. In his presentation,
he’ll discuss the research behind his latest book on psychedelics.
Register to attend
Drug Politics and Policy
Drug War, Drug PeaceEthan Nadelmann, founder and until recently Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the leading organization in the United States promoting alternatives to the failed “War on Drugs” and its extreme racial injustices, social harms and costs, delivered a passionate talk on the profound racism and social damage of the war on drugs. Read More >> |
Busting the Drug War: The Dawn of Drug Policy ReformEthan Nadelmann, the nation’s leading crusader against the War on Drugs, founder and at the time Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the nation’s leading drug policy reform organization, traces the hidden history of drugs laws, which are intimately connected with racism and the political exploitation of people’s fears. He offered a set of practical and effective policy reforms that have subsequently begun to be adopted by many states and communities. (2010) Read More >> |
![]() The Politics of Psychoactive Plants: Religious Freedom, Shamanism and Sacred PlantsPsychoactive plants are at the heart of many traditional and Indigenous spiritual and religious traditions, yet many have been outlawed or severely restricted. How does society determine religious freedom? With author/anthropologist Jeremy Narby on Amazonian shamanic knowledge; and Jeffrey Bronfman, the U.S. legal and spiritual representative of Brazil’s União do Vegetal (UDV) Church, whose legal victories for its U.S. use of ayahuasca took it to victory in the Supreme Court; moderated by Bioneers’ J.P. Harpignies. Read More >> |
Michael Pollan will be joining an exciting group of thought leaders
and visionaries as a keynote speaker at Bioneers 2018. In his presentation,
he’ll discuss the research behind his latest book on psychedelics.
Register to attend
Intelligence in Nature and More
Intelligence in Nature: Coming Full CircleWhat do octopuses, bees, plants and slime molds have in common with human beings? For one thing, they exhibit the ability to solve problems and make decisions. Author and anthropologist Jeremy Narby reveals his astonishing investigations into what cutting edge science is revealing about the profound intelligence active throughout nature. After all, how could people be intelligent if the nature that created us were not even more intelligent? (2007) |
Intelligence in Nature: A Predator’s InquiryHow can “lowly” slime molds find the shortest route through a maze to a food source every time? Swiss-based Canadian anthropologist, Amazonian indigenous land-rights activist and author of Intelligence in Nature and The Cosmic Serpent Jeremy Narby recently traveled the world to meet shamans and scientists to probe what they understand about the intelligence present in all life forms. He explores how humanity can learn from nature in our own search for a sustainable way of life. (2005) |
Report from the UndergroundPaul Stamets, the visionary biologist, mycologist and author of many books, including Mycelium Running, reveals astonishing evidence of how nature’s solutions surpass our conception of what’s possible to radically restore ecosystems and human health. “I believe in the natural intelligence of this planet. And if I learned anything in the past several years, it’s that that precept that I have adopted has led me to some astonishing breakthrough discoveries.” (2001) Read More >> |
Light at the Edge of the WorldAuthor and anthropologist Wade Davis showcases other ways of living and thinking through stunning photographs and personal stories from his world travels, highlighting the beauty and importance of cultural and biological diversity. (2001) |
![]() The World Spirit Awaits Its Portrait – (Coming Soon)This presentation by one of the world’s most beloved visionary and sacred artists, Alex Grey, who has been deeply courageous in acknowledging his debt to psychedelics of all stripes in helping him access deeper realities, took the audience on a journey through a whole period of his career, replete with fascinating stories of his performance antics, his evolving quest for universal spiritual truths, and the emergence of his most famous body of work, the extraordinary Sacred Mirror series, one of the most important artistic achievements of our generation. Alex offers a living example of the successful integration of visionary information into an exalted human artistic enterprise. (2003)
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