What’s the one thing you need to have a great experience with psychedelics or succeed in psychedelic research? MEN. Nearly all of the world’s psychedelic research groups and funding organizations are led by men, even though women make up more than half of the clinicians, research staff, volunteers, and visionaries fueling and guiding these institutions. Most psychedelic conferences, community groups, and venues are likewise headlined, organized, and led by men, even though women make up a large segment of the attendees, public speakers, and social activists. And while there is more diversity within the leadership of shamanic and religious circles, these settings are not always safe for women. Bullying, manipulation, coercion, sexual assault, and abuse are common in both ritual and research spaces that are dominated and led by men.
We want to change this, so we have brought together powerful women from the psychedelic community who are not afraid to speak out on this important issue. Join host Katherine MacLean, PhD and panelists Sitaramaya Sita, Dimitri Mugianis, Britta Love, and Lily Ross on a wild journey from academia to the Amazon, as they share from their personal and professional experiences to illuminate and critique the current atmosphere of (cis) male domination within psychedelics. They will also explore how the patriarchal perspective and structure impacts all members of the psychedelic community, including cis male allies and gender-queer and gender non-binary individuals. After the panel, we will have time for audience members to share their own stories and find support in community. We need your passion and your voice; because the psychedelic patriarchy isn’t going to smash itself.
$20 advance
$25 at the door
tickets are non-refundable
Katherine MacLean is a psychological scientist, teacher and meditator. In her academic research at UC Davis and Johns Hopkins University, she studied how psychedelics and mindfulness meditation can promote beneficial, long-lasting changes in personality, well-being and brain function. In New York, she co-founded and directed the Psychedelic Education & Continuing Care Program (www.psychedelicprogram.com), focusing on group integration for psychedelic users and training workshops for clinicians. She currently lives on an organic farm and is preparing to be a study therapist on the upcoming Phase 3 trial of MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder. Learn more: katherinemaclean.org
Sitaramaya Sita is a spiritual herbalist and PlantWisdom Practitioner formally trained in the Shipibo Ayahuasca tradition. She has been traveling in the Amazon for the past 17 years, working, learning and engaging with traditional ayahuasca communities. She is the founder of PlantTeachers, dedicated to cultivating entheogenic awareness. Sita shepherds a powerful community in Los Angeles and globally of healers, seekers, visionaries, and creators. She works with individuals and groups, in ceremonies, stewarding plant dietas. She lectures, teaches and tours, bridging the chaos of modern life with the wisdom of indigenous spiritual practice. She produced the groundbreaking event Visionary Convergence: Los Angeles in September 2015. Sita is a stand for the equality of all in the ecosphere. She currently trains, teaches and practices to heal personal, institutional and cultural trauma.
Lily Kay Ross abandoned psychedelic research in 2015 to pursue a PhD in Gender Studies, focusing on everyday responses to sexual violence. Her inspiration was the failure of many in the psychedelic community to withhold victim blame following her experience of rape and abuse by a murderous ayahuasca shaman in the Amazon - which you can read about in NY Magazine. Her experience prompted her to explore how well-meaning and intelligent people can get it so wrong. She is also interested in the dominance of traditional gender norms in psychedelic spaces and ideologies, articulated in concepts like the divine feminine and masculine, in light of feminist critiques of these and related constructs.
Britta Love is a writer, somatic sex educator and multi-dimensional healer based in Brooklyn, NY. A graduate of the London School of Economics and Goddard College, she wrote her thesis in Consciousness Studies on the healing and spiritual potential of altered states, specifically those induced by conscious sexual practice and the ritual use of psychoactive plant medicines. She writes for Alternet, Psymposia and Reality Sandwich, gives talks and facilitates workshops in NYC, and blogs on sex, drugs and consciousness at www.TheDailyTransmission.com.
Dimitri Mugianis is an activist, anarchist, community organizer, artist, Bwiti N'ganga (spiritual healer), and was an IV drug user for 20 years. In 2002 he was treated with Iboga. Subsequently he has facilitated over 500 underground Ibogaine ceremonies/detoxes in the US. Dimitri was initiated into the Bwiti in Gabon and returned several times for spiritual strengthening and study. Dimitri was arrested in 2011 by the DEA in a sting operation using a paid informant. He is currently the N'ganga-in-residence at New York Harm Reduction Educators (NYHRE a syringe exchange in East Harlem), where he is also the co-creator and co-facilitator of “We Are The Medicine,” a holistic approach to drug use and life. He also has a private practice where he works with clients in multiple modalities including: sounds, meditation, Bwiti, and white mesa.
Learn more at dimitrimugianis.com.
The Alchemist's Kitchen is a new and unique destination in the Bowery. More than a botanical dispensary and a whole plant tonic bar serving elixirs and healthy treats, we are a gateway into a conscious lifestyle and community through our plant-based products, wellness events and transformational workshops.
