This week's episode is all about my personal creative process. I'm taking 5 tracks off my new album, "The Alchemist and the Eagle," and sharing with the listeners about the stories behind the stories behind the music. With each song, I share about what went into creating it, how it fits with the novel, and how events and experiences in my personal life shaped the characters and plot developments in the first place - so we get into some of my psychedelic experiences, my time as a grad student studying at the Mescalero Apache reservation, experiences at Burning Man, and more, and how it all helped shape the story. I get into how I worked to create the songs to go with the particular chapters and how it influenced the sounds, textures, and instruments used in the songs. You can stream the entire album HERE for free, if you'd like to hear the entire thing. I hope you enjoy this exploration of the creative process with me.

This week I'm welcoming back to the podcast Canada-based 5-MeO-DMT facilitator, Chad Charles. Chad has just launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for a one-of-a-kind 5-MeO-DMT research project. As he shares with us here on the podcast, he's collected a wealth of notes and data from all of his sessions and is now looking to comb through this trove of data to find patterns, results, and insights. You can support his project at www.gofundme.com/f/support-chad-charles-project and also learn more about him at ChadCharles.net

Also, Sarah Knapik has a new offering for women's work with 5 here

I'm taking a detour from my regular rhythm on the podcast this week to share some of my thoughts on the current state of the US and the fascist regime change underway, orchestrated with maximum chaos, brutality, corruption, and incompetency. Here I'm reading from three essays I've previously posted online where I'm applying my background as a professor of Religious Studies. The first, "What is a Cult?" comes from Jan, 2021. The next, "A Brief Guide to the 'Spiritual' Forces at Play in Trumpism," was from Nov, 2024, and the final, "On the Apotheosis of Loyalty as the Ultimate Virtue in the Trump Cult Kakistocracy" is also from Nov, 2024.

I'm joined this week by Nick Sun from the Land Down Under - Psychedelic comedian, author, podcaster, and fun time medicine man. We hope this interview puts a smile on your face. You can learn more about Nick at NickSun.com.au

This week's podcast is a conversation between Stephan Kerby and myself about my upcoming class on 5-MeO-DMT Integration Specialist Training via Mindscape Institute. There are now only 3 spaces left in my class, so if you want in, the time to act is NOW. Class starts on Feb 26th (and next 5-MeO facilitator training starts April 27th).

Also speaking of 5, I'm giving another shout-out to Pyasa and her upcoming 5-MeO women's retreat

For this episode I've invited Ezekiel Couper, who was one of the students in the first round of the 5-MeO-DMT Facilitator's course with Mindscape Institute onto the podcast to share his story and his post-class focus on providing integration services. Ezekiel comes with a rocky story of abuse, substance abuse, and finding healing and transformation with psychedelics. He shares his story, his experience of being in the 5 Facilitator's class, his take on the experiential portion of the program, receiving energy work from me, and more. You can find out more about Ezekiel's services as Sacred Journeys Integration

I have a multi-guest interview for you to kick off the 18th year of The Entheogenic Evolution Podcast: Laurel Younis, Darron Smith, and Jenna Kluwe join me for an in-depth conversation about the psilocybin facilitator training program at Emerald Valley Institute in Eugene, Or. With the first legal psilocybin assisted services program in the country, Oregon is a model for how it can be done elsewhere in the U.S. As a legal psychedelic program, it's not without it's challenges, but you gotta start somewhere! This is one of those interviews that's exciting for me to share with you as it's a clear indication of how far things have come since I started this podcast waaaay back in 2008! Learn more about the program at Emerald Valley Institute

Also, if you'd like more info about the new 5-MeO-DMT Integration training program I'm offering via Mindscape Institute link through here or via Nondual Entheogenic Integration

My guest, Julio Rivera, offers super-heroic mushroom retreats in Jamaica for advanced practitioners which combines Jungian psychology with Tibetan Buddhist energetic parasite extraction. Sound exotic? Well, listen in to learn more! If it sounds like something you'd like to participate in, you can find more info about Julio and his offering at www.shape-my.life. We also discuss Julio's anonymous publication of the Ayahuasca Manifesto.