Come to the Tropics where Towering Stands of Primary Rainforest Kiss the Sparkling Pacific Ocean!

Sentient Experientials Presents a VOYAGE BOTANICA with Neo-Amazonica Painting, Integrative Yoga, Herbal Medicine, The New Ethnobotany & Ecological Forest & Ocean Experiences with Pablo Amaringo, Amazonian Painter & Teacher inspired by Shamanic Practice, Gaye Abbott, Integrative Yoga Teacher & Explorer, Michael Cottingham, Clinical Herbalist, Jonathon S. Miller Weisberger, Ethnobotanist & Victoriano Villareal Villareal, Osa Peninsula Plant Master. In addition, ECOLOGICAL FOREST WILDERNESS & OCEAN EXPERIENCES!

GUARIA de OSA Retreat Centre (Orchid of the Osa) is adjacent to Corcovado National Park, surrounded by terrestrial and marine biological reserves, and is embedded in a Nature Sanctuary on the Southern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Called "The Little Amazon" of Costa Rica, The Osa Peninsula is described by National Geographic as "The most biologically intense place on Earth."

Pablo Amaringo, from the Peruvian Amazon of Pucallpa, is a world-class painter, originator of a Neo-Amazonica technique of painting, co-author and illustrator of Ayauhasca Visions, The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman, the Director of the USKO AYAR School of Amazonian Painting in Pucallpa, and globally recognized for his visionary, mystical paintings inspired by shamanic practice and plant medicine traditions of Peru. In 1992, he was elected to the Global 500 Roll of Honor of the United Nations Environment Program in recognition of his work to protect and improve the environment through the USKO AYAR School. Pablo Amaringo will re-enchant Amazonian Culture in his daily painting sessions, teach the Neo-Amazonian technique (even if you've never picked up a paintbrush before), talk about his unbelievable life experiences as a curandero in the Amazon and how sacred plants play in the medico-religious life of the people, and, upon awakening from a superb night's sleep in a Nature Sanctuary at Guaria de Osa, you can ask don Pablo to interpret your dreams while you drink Guayusa tea in the Indigenous Traditional Roundhouse.

One of a kind paintings of don Pablo's USKO AYAR Students and his own masterpieces of visions and other vignettes of tropical nature, full of symbolism and metaphor are exhibited & for sale. You'll see paintings illuminate the shaman's world with detailed vividness, full of animals, plants, spirits, and mythological beings. Through his paintings we see life in the Rainforest through the Third Eye of the Earth, expressing the peril, anguish and healing power yet left in the esoteric botanical kindom. In the work of Pablo, the Amazon, visible and invisible, prehistoric and futuristic, comes alive. Many of the spirits we meet through Pablo Amaringo's art are legendary among peoples of the Rainforest and present not only the visions of one man, but the collective visions, knowledge, and lore of native cultures.

Note: Pablo Amaringo will be giving painting classes at Guaria de Osa Retreat Centre & Ethnobotanical Garden on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica from Dec. 15, 2003 until end of February, 2004.

Gaye Abbott is an integrative Yoga teacher and explorer. Yoga sessions will uniquely focus on the needs of the individual as well as the group as a whole, appreciating awareness of our humanness and sense of self in space. Through quieting the mind and body you will easefully explore the possibilities and creativity that can emerge out of the natural earth-based rhythms of expansion and contraction. The focus will be on the inhale and exhale; pleasure and sensation within movement; yoga nidra (deep relaxation); sound; playing with flexibility and strength; and living within the moment to moment experience, both individually and collectively. This yoga practice is open to all levels and abilities. A strong dose of humor and play is most often present!

Michael Cottingham is a Clinical Herbalist, Ethnobotanist, Founder of Bear Creek Herbs in Silver City, New Mexico, Southwest Botanicals, Plant-Planet Films, Voyage Botanica, and Co-Founder of The Herbal Medicine Program at The New Mexico College of Natural Healing. Michael has studied and taught the medicinal plants of The American Southwest for over 10 years. His ethnobotanical explorations have taken him from the Sahara & Kalahari Deserts of Africa to Mexico, Central America, South America and Australia. With Michael In addition to learning Herbal First Aid and how to BECOME YOUR OWN PHYSICIAN, he will talk about the importance of The Oral Tradition of Herbal Medicine and the "Herbal Timelines" that we all share.

Victoriano Villareal Villareal, an Osa Peninsula Plant Master, will share his experiences and knowledge of the Peninsula, and, upon request, do plant healings from plants growing in Guaria's ethnobotanical garden and/or in the surrounding Osa Forest. A timeless elder from the Peninsula, don Victoriano will guide shorter nature walks and identify the local flora, explain the complex inter-relationships of species in the forest, help you identify the birds, and spot well-camouflaged creatures. He imparts his insightful knowledge of medicinal plants and pre-Columbian archeology. His other passions include serenading Latin American guitar music of yester-yore and challenging you to a game of dominoes!

Jonathon S. Miller Weisberger, founder & steward of Guaria de Osa Retreat Centre & Ethnobotanical Gardens is also the Director of The Osa Foundation/Grupo Osanimi. As your host and guide, he integrates "Nature as Teacher, Traditional Wisdom & Rainforest Conservation Strategies." Jonathon's work is to support the re-awakening of humanity's harmonious relationship with Nature, a paradigm of interconnectedness he considers to be the roots of a long healthy and joyous life. His knowledge of ethnobotany, forest ecology, and tropical nature come from deep jungle experiences with elders and self-study from 10 years in the Ecuadorian Amazon among 5 distinct Indigenous communities. As a vivid storyteller, Jonathon enthusiastically shares his countless adventures with those who are interested. But do beware =8A a simple inquiry may lead to a seemingly unbelievable tale!

IN ADDITION, experience the world-famous biological mega-diversity of the New World Tropics of the Osa Peninsula with its dramatic myriad eco-systems with endless fun and adventure & bird-watching is no exception. At Guaria & its surroundings, the Rainforest is emerald green and the Pacific Ocean is a marine-fish-heaven temple! Jonathon and don Victoriano will point out medicinal plants & its uses and identify the invisible and the visible wildlife as you experience the Rainforest and Marine Life of the Osa Peninsula's Nature Sanctuary!

Proceeds, in part, are channeled to benefit The Osa Foundation Rainforest Conservation and Cultural Heritage Projects.
Tuition: $1,295 includes everything from Day 1 to Day 8 on the Osa Peninsula.
Option to stay in-between sessions with Painting & Yoga classes.

Contact: Dahlia Kresch E. Miller
Tel: (510) 235 -4313; Fax: (510) 215-9840
E-mail: reservations@OsaRetreat.org
More information & birds' eye view of Photo & Art Gallery go to OsaRetreat.org

We recommend Cristina LaTorre, if you need a travel agent.
And we thank you, in advance, for networking this event to your friends, family, and colleagues!

With Jonathon S. Miller Weisberger, Ethnobotanist

This journey is intended to raise funds to re-claim Rainforest and Cultural Preservation in the name of the Amazanga Kicshuar Lushin River Community under a perpetual land trust which declares the land intangible to exploitation of any kind. Protecting the Rainforests through land acquisition is a fundamental part of Grupo Osanimi/The Osa Foundation's conservation ethnobotanical strategy. Working with Indigenous communities, local government, schools, and private landowners, Grupo Osanimi in Ecuador acquires land to create national parks that serve as buffer zones around existing protected areas and ethnobotanical gardens.

The Amazanga Community is a strong traditional family of mixed Quichua and Shuar ancestry. They are dedicated to Rainforest conservation and the renaissance of their cultural heritage as they struggle tooth and nail against the oil companies. The community has purchased plots of ancestral primary Rainforest homelands and established their Foundation, Yachai Huanduc, dedicated to the preservation of the area and the strengthening of Indigenous Peoples' traditional values. Translated to English, Yachai Huanduc means "Wisdom of the Sacred Leaf."

We invite you to join us on this journey to visit the Amazanga Community, the Lushin River, and the Sangay National Park. The reserve we hope to acquire will be a forest sanctuary and used for Nature walks, and a site for traditional knowledge transmission and Indigenous spirituality. The area is 95% covered in pre-mountain primary Rainforest from approximately 600 - 1,000 meters elevation above sea level. The area is home to a wide array of wildlife and endangered species. Tapirs, parrots of many kinds, military macaws, kinkajous, olingos, and even puma and jaguar make the area their home. Because these forests are at the base of the Andes, they are wetter than lowland forest and are teeming, from the base of the trees to the branches, with epiphetical growth of all kinds. Orchids and many other species of canopy plants prevail.. The area is also extremely diverse in beetles and there are many species of endemic frogs as well.

With Jonathon as your guide you will:

• experience a wilderness adventure off the "gringo trail"
• meet the Santi Family, an authentic Quichua Indigenous community, struggling to make positive change toward cultural revival and Rainforest conservation
• have an adventure hiking into pristine wilderness Rainforest
• celebrate the sight of the sacred Lushin River and its crystal clear, pristine emerald waters
• hang out at the breath-taking Sangay National Park
• visit the distinguished Shaman Herbacio
• learn from plant medicine
• learn about forest ecology, tropical nature & deep ecology
• participate in sacred ceremonies
• exchange long conversations
• play soccer
• engage in lots of laughter
• climb very tall trees
• and more!

For more information, contact Dahlia Miller grupo@osanimi.org

About Your Guide, Jonathon Miller Weisberger, Ethnobotanist
1990 - 2000: Director of The Osa Foundation/Grupo Osanimi (www.osanimi.org & www.osa-costarica.com/The Osa Foundation). Jonathon works specifically in the field of ethnobotany, evolving a progressive, pragmatic approach he calls The New Ethnobotany. He has lived in Ecuador for 26 years. Since 1990, he has worked in the fields of Rainforest conservation and cultural heritage re-newal among Ecuador's Indigenous minorities in the Upper Amazon. He has built strong alliances among six distinct ethnic minorities including many living in remote regions of the country. They share a common vision of sustained ecological and cultural diversity to inspire many generations to protect the forest, to rediscover the value of traditional ways, and to develop symbiotic relationships with the wealth of useful plants that surround and sustain us. Jonathon's work is ultimately to support the re-awakening of humanity's harmonious relationship with Nature, a paradigm of interconnectedness, he considers to be the roots of a long healthy and joyous life.

Ayahuasca sessions every other night. Lectures on Psychointegrator Plants, Visionary Art, and Brazilian Culture. Permaculture, directed by South African ethnobotanist Dale Millard. Yoga, Tai Chi, Capoeira, Portuguese lessons, gardening, etc. depending on the interest of participants. Excursions to the island and mainland. Fee: $1,000 per week, everything included, except airfare. For a maximum of eleven persons. See http://www.wasiwaska.org, or contact Luis Eduardo Luna, luna@wasiwaska.org.

Conference Schedule

Thursday, October 9
3:50 Clinical Aspects of Ibogaine
Deborah C. Mash, PhD, Professor of Neurology, University of Miami School of Medicine

4:20 Ibogaine Analogues: Drug Development for Addictive Disorders
Stanley Glick, PhD, MD, Professor and Director, The Center for Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience, Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY

4:50 What Can Ibogaine Teach Us About the Mechanisms Underlying Addiction?
Dorit Ron, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Ernest Gallo Clinic & Research Center, UCSF

5:20 Panel Discussion

For more information, visit http://www.ibogaine.org/csam.html

VOYAGE BOTANICA keeps alive the tradition of the connection between people and plants, and through the use of Medicinal Plants we are inspired to do this service. Voyage Botanica bridges the gap between Western Herbology and Traditional Herbal Wisdom and Lore.

This rich weekend of "Oral Tradition of Herbal Medicine" in Arizona, will have Herb Walks; Plant Collecting & Identification; Extract & Salve Making; Herbal 1st Aid including Herbs for the Immune System; Dye Plants of the Desert & its Usage; Aromatherapy; Visionary & Ceremonial Plants & Fungi, their Lore, Ethics, & Application, and much more! In addition, guest speakers:

Michael Moore - Oral Traditionalist, Clinical Herbalist, Author, and Founder of The Southwest School of Botanical Medicine.

Pablo Amaringo - Peruvian Artist, Teacher, Director of USKO AYAR School of Amazonian Painting in Pucallpa, Peru, and once a practicing shaman. His paintings and those of his students will be exhibited. Translator: Jonathon (Sparrow) Miller W.

Jonathon Miller Weisberger - Ethnobotanist, Director of The Osa Foundation/Grupo Osanimi, & founder and steward of Guaria de Osa Rainforest/Beach Retreat Centre on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica.

Michael Cottingham - Clinical Herbalist, Ethnobotanist, Founder of Bear Creek Herbs in Silver City, New Mexico, Southwest Botanicals, Plant-Planet Films, Voyage Botanica, and Co-Founder of The Herbal Medicine Program at The New Mexico College of Natural Healing.

Ryan Eggleston - Clinical Herbalist, Musician, & Co-Owner of Tucson Herbs.

Amanda Brown - Herbalist, Artist, & Co-Owner of Tucson Herbs.

Sarah Root - Herbalist, & Specialist in Primate Communication.

Kathy Gritton - Herbalist, Aromatherapist, & Teacher at The New Mexico College of Natural Healing.

Leonard Mercado - Entheo-botanist, Peyotero, & Co-Founder of Plant Planet online nursery. His interest in ceremonial plant shamanism focuses on the religious use of Peyote amongst the Huichol Tribe of Mexico and within the Native American Church of North America.

Tuition: $250 includes everything during this weekend event
Contact: Michael Cottingham
Tel: (505) 534-4860; (505) 313-0715
E-mail: voyagebotanica@hotmail.com
Website: www.plant-planet.net/Voyage_Botanica

Gary Scozzafava, Producer/Director, InRemotePlaces and Concepcion Productions are hosting a fund-raising event for their documentary project based on the sacred visionary rites of Maria Sabina=B9s community, (famous Indigenous curandera) of the Huatla de Jimenez, the Mazatec in Southern Mexico. This documentary project "Flesh of the Gods" is about the ancient mushroom rituals of the Mazatec and the impact of the modern world on this fragile culture, and how this affects our cognitive liberties.

The event will also include the short showing from the documentary, a discussion with the filmmakers, media stations showing interviews from the movie, and works by international and local cultural artists. In addition, relish the Moroccan food, wine bar and Amazonian herbal tea.

Speakers presenting related subjects all pertinent to our freedoms as sentient and spiritual beings and in support of "Flesh of the Gods" documentary are:

Pablo Amaringo, Peruvian Artist, Teacher, Director of USKO AYAR School of Amazonian Painting in Pucallpa, Peru, and once a practicing shaman. His paintings and those of his students will be exhibited. Translator: Jonathon (Sparrow) Miller W.

Alongside Pablo Amaringo's paintings on exhibit & for collectors to purchase, will be several artists displaying their creative pieces.

Jonathon Miller Weisberger, Ethnobotanist, Director of The Osa Foundation/Grupo Osanimi, & founder and steward of Guaria de Osa Rainforest/Beach Retreat Centre on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica.

Ralph Metzner has been exploring states of consciousness and transformational practices for thirty years. He is a psychotherapist, author, and a professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies and co-founder of the Green Earth Foundation.

Richard Glen Biore, co-director & legal counsel for the Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics, writer, social systems analyst, author & legal scholar, dedicated to examining the developing legal and cultural issues related to freedom of thought.

1 Veterans Place (American Legion Post #176) at The Historic Log Cabin
San Francisco St, San Anselmo, California

Contact Person: Marci Cohen
Tel: (415) 596-6591
E-mail: info@FleshOfTheGodsFilm.com
Website: www.FleshOfTheGodsFilm.com

October 2nd San Francisco
Forum Highlights Independent Institute's Policy Series

OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Addressing one of the most visible and controversial public policy issues of the day -- the legal use of marijuana for medical purposes -- the Independent Institute of Oakland has assembled some of the nation's foremost experts for a public forum in San Francisco on October 2nd.

The discussion will feature remarks from Ed Rosenthal, the noted activist and a key figure in the nation's medical marijuana movement. He is co-author of the book, Why Marijuana Should Be Legal, which presents his concise analysis of the effects of marijuana and marijuana laws on society. Following are the event details:

WHAT	The Truth About Medical Marijuana
WHO	Ed Rosenthal, Donald I. Abrams, M.D., Edwin Dobb and Robert J. MacCoun
WHEN	Thursday, October 2, 2003, at 8 p.m.
WHERE	Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason Street at O'Farrell, San Francisco
TICKETS	Call City Box Office at 415-392-4400 or purchase online at tickets.com

Admission $22, Institute members, $18

Joining Rosenthal will be Donald I. Abrams, M.D., professor of Clinical Medicine at UCSF and one of the leading researchers on the medical use of marijuana; Edwin Dobb, contributing editor at Harper's magazine, authority on civil liberties issues and visiting lecturer in journalism at UC Berkeley; and, Robert J. MacCoun, professor of Law and Public Policy at UC Berkeley and co-author of the book, Drug War Heresies.

"We are gathering together some of the country's foremost experts on the medical use of marijuana, drug policy and civil liberties to address key questions raised by recent federal government actions to overturn the will of the California voters and of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court," said David J. Theroux, founder and president of the Oakland-based Independent Institute. "We expect this authoritative panel of experts and activists to address key questions at the heart of the issue. These include: What is the truth about the medical benefits and the social impact of marijuana use? Why does the government continue to oppose any and all drug decriminalization? Can state action deter the federal government on this issue?"

These and related questions that have arisen in the context of the current gubernatorial recall campaign -- as well as the past, present and future of medical marijuana use and the 'war on drugs' -- will be the focus of this discussion. It is co-sponsored by Harper's magazine, the Drug Policy Alliance, and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley.

Viewing this issue in its political context, it may be noted that all of the leading gubernatorial recall election candidates in California support the use of marijuana for medical purposes. That includes State Senator Tom McClintock, who says, "the federal government has no right to intervene." Besides McClintock, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante (D), Peter Camejo (Green), Arianna Huffington (I), and Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) support legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. Although Peter Ueberroth (R) has dropped out of the race, he favored it, as well. Candidates in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination are divided on this issue.

The Independent Institute is a non-partisan, public policy research organization that sponsors comprehensive studies of critical social and economic issues. The Institute's program adheres to the highest standards of independent inquiry, and its studies are distributed as books, journals and other publications, and are publicly debated in numerous conferences and media programs. For more information visit: http://www.independent.org

Talks given by John H. Halpern, M.D. (Harvard University) on "Hallucinogens and Dissociative Agents Naturally Growing in the United States" and by Dennis McKenna, Ph.D. (University of Minnesota) on "Ayahuasca: Problems and Prospects for Clinical Study". For more information, contact Allison Chausmer, Ph.D. at 301-402-5088 or achausme@nida.nih.gov.

View conference flyer (PDF format)

"We welcome you to a series of two one-week workshops, in an extraordinarily beautiful setting along the coast of Bahia, located approximately 700 miles north of Rio de Janeiro. During each week we will be hosting four ayahuasca healing sessions along with lectures on this plant medicine, it's history, and healing properties on the body. We have found that 'the medicine' and the heart opening process work together synergistically, allowing us to very quickly move past our self imposed limitations. We will spend the week exploring and opening the subtle doorway through the heart energy and into the inner trans-dimentional worlds long forgotten by mankind. This is the path back to remembering your true divinity and awakening of the true self. As we work through our old, limiting patterns, we begin to heal and reclaim our lost power.

"Guest Facilitators and Staff: Ralph Miller, Zoe7 and Silvia Polivoy

"We have chosen a beautiful and comfortable beach front property on the coast of Bahia just south of the fishing village of Itacaré. We will have exclusive and private use for our stay and includes several bungalows, a restaurant, which we'll have full use of, and a guest house. Entirely built in wood following Asian and Polynesian architectural concepts, each bungalow is adapted to the mild climate of this fantastic Brazilian shoreline. Carefully inserted into the rainforest, some of the buildings are almost 3 meters high offering stunning views, giving the sensation of being in treehouses. A shallow and gentle Atlantic Ocean, which in its low tide reveals up to 200 meters of nearly deserted white sand beach and natural pools, meanders by, providing us a place to relax and play."

For booking and additional information please visit our website at http://www.heartoftheinitiate.com.

We are offering an earlybird discount for all deposits received before August 01, 2003.

For more information, visit http://www.cologne2003.org

This interactive presentation begins by sketching out the context for the use of psychedelics in psychotherapy through the tradition of shamanic practices reaching back millennia. Once this foundation is laid, we will discuss the phenomenal explosion of interest and research that occurred in the West from 1947 through 1976, during which time thousands of peer-reviewed research papers were published in the scholarly literature. Since 1990, the FDA and NIDA have resumed approving human-subject research with "hallucinogens" and findings from the contemporary clinical research will be reviewed. Over the past 50-plus years, western researchers have systematically "reinvented the wheel" of ancient practice in roughing out the contours of safe and effective psychedelic psychotherapy and these "best practices" will be described and explained. A brief review of the prospects for the future will conclude the presentation. Lively discussion to follow.

Biography

Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D. is an applied social psychologist -- an incisive commentator on culture, change and the future, an insightful therapist for the existentially and spiritually displaced, and an innovative planner, analyst and consultant on the emergent properties of new technologies. He lives and works in a roof-top electronic cottage in New York's Park Slope community. Neal may be reached by email at neal@inch.com.

Location

Networking Meeting Of The Association For Spirituality & Psychotherapy
National Institute Of The Psychotherapies, (NIP)
330 West 58th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues), Suite 204
$10.00 contribution

Highlights: Mushroom Feast, Forays, Workshops, and "Shroom Parade"

The annual Telluride Mushroom Festival – designed for people interested in edible, psychoactive, and poisonous mushrooms – will be held in Telluride, Colorado, Aug. 21-24.

The festival includes mushroom lectures, forays, hands-on identification and cultivation workshops, mushroom poetry, and a mushroom parade--which runs down the main street of Telluride and features festival participants dressed as mushrooms, spores, and other elements of the mycological world.

This year marks the debut of the Festival's mushroom "Cook-off Feast." Chefs from Telluride's top restaurants will prepare mushroom dishes to be judged by Festival faculty. The winning chef will receive a chef's hat adorned with mushrooms, and Festival participants will dine on the mushroom dishes.

Experienced guides will lead daily fungus forays in the forests surrounding Telluride, generally productive of a wide variety of wild mushrooms, particularly edible species, like chanterelles and porcini.

Nationally recognized authorities on mushrooms will present lectures and workshops:

• Dr. Andrew Weil, author of the best-selling book Spontaneous Healing, on "Mushroom Cookery"
• Gary Lincoff, past President of the North American Mycological Association, "Wild Mushroom Identification;"
• Paul Stamets, President of Fungi Perfecti (www.fungi.com), on "Gardening with Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms;"
• Ethan Nadelmann and Marsha Rosenbaum, Drug Policy Alliance, on "America's Drug Hysteria:"
• Dr. Emanuel Salzman, Co-editor of Mushroom Poisoning, on "Mushroom Poisoning;"
• John Corbin, Cultivation Specialist, on "Growing Mushrooms on Straw;" and others.

Complete information about the Festival program, registration, lodging, and travel is available on the Festival's web site: http://www.shroomfestival.com

Telluride Mushroom Festival
Box 480503
Denver, CO, 80248
(303)296-9359.

With Luis Eduardo Luna (organizer), Ralph Metzner, Diane Haug, Ivania Hassler, Silvia Nakkach, Iván Padilla and Anderson Debernardi. Lectures, five ayahuasca sessions, two holotropic breath work sessions, "Liberating the Voice", a workshop conducted by Silvia Nakkach, artistic expression led by Anderson Debernardi, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and percussion with Iván Padilla, five excursions to the rainforest. See http://www.wasiwaska.org, or contact Luis Eduardo Luna, luna@wasiwaska.org.

There will be lectures by top people in the field of visionary and healing plant teachers, such as ayahuasca and salvia divinorum, as well as workshops in Remote Viewing and Lucid Dreaming, plus, four ceremonies with ayahuasca and two with salvia divinorun (ska pastora), group sharing, transpersonal excersices and excursions.

July 20-29, 2003 Staff:

• Stuart Hameroff, M.D., Neuroscientist
• Richard Glen Boire, Esq., Entheogenic Law
• Pablo Amaringo, Shaman and artist
• Zoe7 Seven, Consciousness researcher and author
• Silvia Polivoy, Psychologist

Altered States and the Spiritual Awakening aims to create a uniquely interactive meeting of the minds. We are gathering together pioneers in the field of consciousness - luminaries who have shown how to deepen the completeness of the human spirit and connections between souls - and encouraging them to share their discoveries with those who wish to learn.

One of the primary goals of this conference is to bring together experts in multiple forms of altered states. We seek to cover three main spheres of knowledge: transpersonal and para-psychology, entheogens, and consciousness exploration through external (technological) means. While all of the fields share certain commonalties, they all provide unique insights into how we can enrich the human psyche and deepen understanding of our existence.

The time is ripe to have a meeting like the one we're organizing. Many youth today are actively searching to fill gaps of meaning and connection in their lives. All too often, young people turn to the underground culture's mind-altering substances to quickly numb themselves and deaden the sensations of spiritual longing. The value of spiritual awakening via altered states that was discovered by older generations has faded out of view. This conference is an attempt to bridge the gap between multiple generations of the same community and help gurus pass their wisdom to students.

In order to succeed at introducing a new generation of people to this type of wisdom, we are conducting this gathering differently than an average conference. First of all, we are deliberately setting the entrance fee at a point that will make it much more accessible to young people. False Profit, the group hosting the event, is predicated on emphasizing human value over financial value, and will turn no profit from the enterprise.

Moreover, this conference will take a different approach to communication than most others. We will go beyond a formal lecture-and-listen model and encourage a more personal learning process. Our loft space is conducive to establishing the intimate milieu we are aiming for. Overall, we aim to create a comfortable set and setting that will allow people to share openly in the event.

For more information visit: www.assacon.com

• Come paint with Pablo Amaringo, World-Class Peruvian Artist, Teacher & Healer: "Painting and the Re-Enchantment of Amazonian Culture"
• Practice Yoga with Toby Levine, Yoga Instructor for Baptiste Power Yoga Institute and Founder of Boston Yoga, Inc.: "A Powerful Blend of Strength and Serenity"
• Learn Ethnobotany with Jonathon Miller Weisberger Ethnobotanist, Founder and Steward of Guaria de Osa Centre: "Nature as Teacher, Traditional Wisdom, and Rainforest Conservation Strategies"
• Sojourns amidst the wilderness rainforest & marine life of the Osa Peninsula, called "The Little Amazon" of Costa Rica. The Osa Peninsula is described by National Geographic as "The most [biologically] intense place on Earth."

Contact Person/International Liaison: Dahlia Kresch E. Miller
Tel: (510) 235-4313; Fax: (510) 215-9840
E-mail: reservations@OsaRetreat.org
For more information (including photo gallery), please visit http://www.OsaRetreat.org

The Spring of 2003 celebrates the 60th anniversary of the discovery of the psychoactive effects of LSD, and the Mind States IV conference will have a panel of experts discussing the past, present, and future of this world-changing molecule. We will also be showcasing a recent documentary film of the man who discovered this compound, Dr. Albert Hofmann. Other panels will be held on the topic of psychedelic/visionary art, and on the topic of control culture.

Currently scheduled speakers include Pablo Amaringo, Susan Blackmore, Richard Glen Boire, Erik Davis, Earth Erowid, Fire Erowid, Lorenzo Hagerty, Mark McCloud, David E. Nichols, Sheldon Norberg, Mark Pesce, V.S. Ramachandran (tentative), Nicholas Sand, Wrye Sententia, Zoe Seven, Ann Shulgin, Sasha Shulgin, R.U. Sirius. More speakers to be announced soon; see our web site at http://www.mindstates.org

Registration information at http://www.projectghb.org/registration.htm

A comprehensive multi-disciplinary conference on GHB, this national conference features three tracks of training:

• Track I: GHB overdose, addiction, rape and death
  For medical personnel, including ER, addiction treatment, sexual assault and coroner personnel
• Track II: GHB symptoms, addiction, sexual assault, death/murder, detection, testing and prosecution
  For law enforcement, judicial and prosecutorial personnel
• Track III: GHB prevention and response
  For school, parent and community resources

Featured Speakers

• Jo Ellen Dyer, Pharm.D., CSPI, Senior Toxicologist and Clinical Pharmacist, UCLA School of Pharmacy, San Francisco General
• Wallace Winters, MD, pharmacology professor and retired FDA medical officer, who researched GHB in the 1960s while at UCLA
• Deborah L. Zvosec, PhD and Stephen W. Smith, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, Hennepin County Medical Center
• Marc LeBeau, Chief of Toxicology, FBI Crime Lab, Washington, DC
• Trinka Porrata, a 25-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, specializing in narcotics
• Karen Miotto, MD, UCLA, Neuropsychiatric Institute

For more information and registration, visit http://www.projectghb.org/registration.htm

Sponsors Include the Harm Reduction Coalition, MAPS, Association for Drug Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT), Cures not Wars, the Dora Weiner Foundation, The Benu Project, The Greens

Proposed Draft Agenda

Sunday, May 4. 2003, noon to 8 pm

• 12:00 noon - 12:45 pm: Registration $20
• 12:45 pm - 2:30 pm: Traditional Healing and Religious Practice
  • Laurent Sazy
  • Marendi
  • Awolowo Johnson
  • Discussion
• 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm: Break
• 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm: Treatment Providers
  • Sara Glatt*
  • Eric Taub
  • Patrick Kroupa
  • Samuel Waizmann*
  • Howard Lotsof
  • Marco Resinovik*
  • Discussion
• 5:45pm to 8pm: Ibogaine and the Search for Lost Sacraments
  • Charles Kater, Friends of Bishop Pike*
  • Frank Morales, Episcopalian
  • Daniel Pinchbeck, author, Breaking Open the Skull
  • Others, TBA
  • discussion

• 10:00 am - 10:30 am: Registration $20
• 10:30 am - 10:45 am: Introductory remarks
  • H.S. Lotsof
• 10:45 am - 1:45 pm: Scientific Panel
  • Kenneth R. Alper, MD
  • Deborah C. Mash PhD
  • Stanley Glick, MD*
  • Emmanuel Onaivi, Phd
  • Carl M Anderson, Phd
  • Discussion
• 1:45 pm - 3:00 PM: Lunch
• 3:00 pm - 5:15pm: Politics and Availability
  • Dana Beal, cures not wars
  • Vic Hernandez, PhD act up*
  • Bob Sisko Addiction Research Institute*
  • Rick Doblin, Ph.D.MAPS
  • Discussion
• 5:15pm - 6:00pm: Final Wrap-up Panel

How do various chemicals affect our sexuality — biologically, psychologically and spiritually? Why the big taboos around both sex and mind-altering drugs, and why do people often link them together? Can psychoactive substances teach us about sex, and vice versa? We will look at how commonly used prescription drugs, recreational substances, as well as herbal and nutritional supplements, affect sexual desire, performance, and one's psychological perception of the sexual experience. This class is open to all genders.

Annie Sprinkle, Ph.D. is the prostitute/porn star turned sexologist/sex educator. For more info: http://www.anniesprinkle.org

David Jay Brown, M.A. received his Masters degree in psychobiology from NYU. He is the author or co-author of four books on the evolution of consciousness. For more info: http://www.levity.com/mavericks

Sylvia Thyssen has been sounding the depths of the psychedelic experience for nearly a decade. For more info: http://www.shamanatrix.org/sylvia

For more information and registration, visit http://www.harveymilk.org/Details/397.shtml

There had been a major sure of interest recently in studying consciousness as more and more people have experiences that cannot be explained by the old scientific paradigm. At this conference we ill explore the scientific and spiritual dimensions of Consciousness. At some point in history, a split occurred and we ended up with Science and Religion. Science limited its study to the material world and the Church took charge of the metaphysical realms. Now, with science studying consciousness, we are ready to reintegrate Spirituality and Science.

Come explore with us the frontier where Science and Spirituality meet.

Presenters include Stanislav Grof, Alexander and Ann Shulgin, Ralph Metzner, and Peter Gorman, and many others. For more information, go to http://www.bizspirit.com/science/index.html or call The Message Company at (505) 474-0998.

John Horgan will discuss his new book "Rational Mysticism: Dispatches from the Border Between Science and Spirituality" with Buddhism scholar Robert Thurman at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway (at 95th Street), New York City. Horgan, a resident of Garrison, N.Y., is a science journalist whose previous books include "The End of Science" and "The Undiscovered Mind." Thurman is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University and author of "Inner Revolution" and "Essential Tibetan Buddhism." Tickets $16, $14 students/seniors. For more information call Symphony Space, at 212-864-5400, or go online to http://www.symphonyspace.org or to http://www.johnhorgan.org.

We welcome you to a series of two one-week workshops, in an extraordinarily beautiful setting along the coast of Bahia, located approximately 700 miles north of Rio de Janeiro. During each week we will be hosting four ayahuasca healing sessions along with lectures on this plant medicine, it's history, and healing properties on the body. We have found that "the medicine" and the heart opening process work together synergistically, allowing us to very quickly move past our self imposed limitations.

Guest Facilitators and Staff:

• Ralph Miller - Respected facilitator Ralph Miller utilizes the gifts of our Earth Mother to awaken the Truth and Proof of our real selves. His gentle, quieting stillness creates a soothing and safe environment necessary to reach the depth of our inner being. It is here that you are awakened to the true you; opening your eyes and mind to the many hidden dimensions that surround us.
• Justis Barrymore - Internationally renowned teacher and visionary Justis Barrymore (or "JC" as he is known) is a familiar presence to those who have been following the works of author Stuart Wilde, particularly during recent world events. With a unique style all his own, the impact JC makes on people is both inexplicable and extraordinary.
• Zoe7 Seven - Zoe Seven is an international lecturer, author, and cartographer of altered states of consciousness. His main area of research is 'techno-shamanism' - the fusion of shamanic psychoactive plants and compounds together with brainwave technology devices. He is the author of INTO THE VOID and has has written for several entheogen and neuro-technology related magazines.
• Silvia Polivoy - With a Master's degree in clinical psychology, Silvia Polivoy has worked extensively in the Peruvian and the Brazilian Amazon with ayahuasca and San Pedro, where she's initiated and trained in shamanism and the ritual use of ayahuasca by a Shipibo shaman.

We have chosen a beautiful and comfortable beach front property on the coast of Bahia just south of the fishing village of Itacaré. We will have exclusive and private use for our stay and includes several bungalows, a restaurant, which we'll have full use of, and a guest house. Entirely built in wood following Asian and Polynesian architectural concepts, each bungalow is adapted to the mild climate of this fantastic Brazilian shoreline. Carefully inserted into the rainforest, some of the buildings are almost 3 meters high offering stunning views, giving the sensation of being in treehouses. A shallow and gentle Atlantic Ocean, which in its low tide reveals up to 200 meters of nearly deserted white sand beach and natural pools, meanders by, providing us a place to relax and play.

For booking and additional information please visit our website at www.heartoftheinitiate.com. We are offering an earlybird discount for all deposits received before February 20, 2003.