Recent news from The New York Times examining current research on psilocybin and its ability to reduce patient anxiety about facing death.
The article talks about people experiencing cancer, and the way in which psychedelic experiences can calm a person’s fear about death and help them to appreciate the time they have left.
It also describes some of the early research into psychedelics and how these scientists are trying to separate their work from the shadow of the 1960’s in order to be taken more seriously by the medical world in exploring the therapeutic benefits of these substances.
Ram Dass and Ralph Metzner’s Birth of a Psychedelic Culture details the beginning of this movement that examines the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics and challenges the stigma of these substances from the 1960’s.
“After transcendent experiences, people often have much less fear of death,” Griffiths says. Fourteen months after participating in a psilocybin study that was published in The Journal of Psychopharmacology last year, 94 percent of subjects said that it was one of the five most meaningful experiences of their lives; 39 percent said that it was the most meaningful experience.
Michael Bogenschutz, Dr. Ralph Metzner & Dr. George Greer Presented at the Colloquium
On March 20th, Synergetic Press hosted “Frontiers of the Future,” a colloquium on Psychedelics, Healing and Expansion of Consciousness featuring presentations and discussions with pioneers in these fields.
Dr. Ralph Metzner
The evening began with a presentation from George Greer, Co-founder and Medical Director of the Heffter Research Institute. He spoke about psilocybin research that Heffter is supporting and how psilocybin can be used for cancer anxiety treatment.
Michael Bogenschutz, Professor of Psychiatry at UNM followed Greer talking about current psilocybin-alcoholism research happening at UNM.
The program was moderated by Dr. Robert Weisz, a clinical psychologist, consultant, and life coach in private practice.
Tonight we were looking at the mysterious phenomenon of healing and change and the administration of certain substances that can expand awareness and induce deep experiences,” Weisz said.
Dr. Paulo Barbosa, Professor of Scientific Methods and Mental Health, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Bahia, Brazil gave a presentation on the effects of Ayahuasca on health. He spoke about the health benefits of ayahuasca for people experiencing alcohol/drug-related problems.
Dr. Ralph Metzner culminated the presentations with a talk on the expansion of consciousness and the use of psychedelics for the purpose of healing.
Metzner spoke about consciousness expansion that occurs in our everyday lives. Each morning when you wake up, your consciousness expands as you come out of your dream state and back into reality, he said.
Dinner and a Discussion with the Speakers
He spoke about the need to find terminology, other than “psychedelics” to describe these substances and the experience of consciousness expansion.”These changes in consciousness that happen call into question your entire worldview,” Metzner said. It’s difficult to find a word to describe that experience.
“Psychedelics” is a term that has been identified in popular culture with one specific purpose, but Metzner says there are many different experiences one can have with these substances. “The therapeutic possibilities of consciousness expansion cannot be overestimated,” Metzner said in his talk.
Following the presentations, a dinner and panel discussion was held where the speakers responded to questions from the audience. Food was prepared by Joe’s Diner in Santa Fe.
It’s one of the ingredients in a rather huge and mysterious process of healing and change. We want to keep in mind that there are no absolute answers to these questions but there are a lot of interesting questions to be asked,” Weisz said.
1993 Conceptual and visual design consultant for multi-media CD-ROM Biosphere 2.- Life, Earth, Space and Technology by IBM’s Multi-Media Publishing group with Paul Evans and Francesca Scalpi.
1987 Creative consultant, prize-winning film Ornette: Made in America, based on the life of jazz musician Ornette Coleman, Caravan of Dreams Productions, Fort Worth.
1987 Documentary film producer and narrator, Joumeys to Other Worlds, a series of eleven cultural documentary films, Caravan of Dreams Productions in cooperation with Zagreb Television, Yugoslavia
1986 Documentary film producer, prize-winning film, Dark Planet, Caravan of Dreams Productions in cooperation with Zagreb Television, Yugoslavia.
History and Overview of the Technosphere, Institute of Ecotechnics Conference on Technosphere: Revolution, Involution and Evolution, Santa Fe, NM, October 2005
The Noosphere and the Planetary Integration of Art, Science and Enterprise, Institute of Ecotechnics Conference on The Noosphere: Art, Science and Ventures, Aix-en-Provence, France, October 2004. Ethnosphere, Talk at October Gallery London, UK, December 2003
Biosphere 2 and Design Paradigms for the 21st Century, Eden Project, Cornwall, UK, October 2002.
The Ethnosphere: An Overview, Institute of Ecotechnics Conference on The Ethnosphere, Memes, Themes and Dreams, Aix-en-Provence, France, October 2002
Sustainable Co-evolutionary Design Paradigm for the 21st Century, International Design Conference, Pusan, Korea., October 2000
Noospherics, the Discipline of Intelligence Concerning the Biosphere, Institute of Ecotechnics Conference, France. October 2000
Problems and Challenges of Closed Ecological Systems, NASA Ames and Global Ecotechnics Corp Workshop on Ecosynthesis: Creating Open and Closed Ecosystems on Mars, September 2000.
Stages in Biospheric Development, Mars Society Conference, Boulder, CO, August, 1999.
Biosphere 2: From Concept to Futures, Biosphere Symposium, Univ. Of California, Berkeley, July 1999.
Biospherics and Ecological Design, Univ. Of California, Santa Cruz, May 1999.
Biospheric Ecology, Institute of Ecotechnics Conference on The Future — Worlds, History, and Society, Les Marronniers, France October 1998.
Technical Design, Humanity, and Biospherics. International Design Network Foundation, New York, Oct. 14 1997.
Two seminars on “Biosphere; Ethnosphere, and Technosphere Interrelations. Baltimore Holistic Health Center, February 27 to March, 1997.
An Experimental Case Study of Understanding Biospherics Through Biome Based Enterprise, Harvard Business School Club, Forth Worth Texas. April 8, 1997.
The Kingdoms of the Biosphere and Humanity‘s Place In It, October 25, Conference on Biospheres, Evolution, and Cultures, Les Marroniers, Aix-en-Provence, France. October, 1997.
Keynote: Applying Lessons learned from Biosphere 2 to Biosphere 1, Earth, presented at Tropical Seas Satellite Mission for Biospheric Studies of Coral Reefs, Santa Monica, California, January 10, 1997
Biosphere 2. Presented at the Fifth International Aerospace Symposium, Nagoya, Japan, December 3, 1996 Published in Proceedings.
Biosphere 2’s Place in the History of Science. Presented at the Natural History Museum, Vienna, Austria, October 30, 1996.
Bucky Fuller’s Algorithm for Synergetic Design and the Challenges of the Twenty-First Century, delivered June 4, 1996, Buckminster Fuller Memoria, U.S. International University, San Diego.
The Role of Biosphere 2 in Creating the Future, United States International University, San Diego, March, 1996.
The Taxonomy and Place of Humanity in the Biosphere, ENEA Research Center, La Spezia, Italy, August 1995.
Biosphere 2: Understanding Patterns of Our World, U.S. International University, San Diego, May 1995.
Biospherics and the Future of Health, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist Annual Regional meeting, October 30, 1994.
The Importance of Closed Life Systems: Results of the Biosphere 2 Experiment and New Development from an Industrial Perspective, International Conference on New Urban Industries ’94 Nagoya”, October 4, 1994.
Biospheres, Nature, and Technics. Lecture at American Natural History Museum, New York, September, 1993.
Biosphere 2 : Education for Spaceship Earth, Alexander Ananoff Invited Lecture, -Fourth International Astronautical Federation Conference, Graz, Austria, October, 1993.
Concepts for the Future from Biosphere 2, Natur im Kopf Conference, Stuttgart, Germany, June, 1993.
The Environment and Health in Closed Ecological Life Systems, presentation at The Environment and Health Connection Conference, sponsored by the American Environmental Health Foundation, Dallas, Texas, February 27, 1993. Duplication of Biosphere 2 for the Future. Monterey Institute of Technology Satellite Uplink to 26 campuses, November 26, 1992.
The Mission of Life, Forest ’92 conference in Rio de Janeiro, May, 1992.
Biosphere 2, Desert Nights Lecture series, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona, December 11, 1991.
On the Brink – Breakthroughs in Science lecture series, 92nd Street YM/YWHA, New York City, NY, May 9, 1991.
“Minds for History” annual conference, participant with James Farmer, Betty Friedan, Lynn Margulis and Chou Wen-chung – Cosanti Foundation, Arcosanti, Arizona, October 6 – 10, 1990. The Solar System Corporation, lecture at the Second Symposium International L’Homme et la Conscience Planetaire, Abaye de Fontevraud, France, 1990.
Ecology and Space in Eastern Europe, lecture at the Harvard Business Club, Fort Worth, 1990.
The Role of Biosphere 2 in Relation to Biosphere 1, presentation to the Second Annual ECO Conference, Earth Communications Office, Malibu, California, 1990.
Recent news from The New York Times examining current research on psilocybin and its ability to reduce patient anxiety about facing death.
