This page summarizes some of the presentations that will be made at the 2012 WVC. See biographies of the presenters for details about their histories and experiences. The schedule shows the order of the presentations.



Ayahuasca and other Amazonian Plant Teachers
Presenter: Yalila Espinoza

Yalila Espinoza is a PhD. Candidate. This presentation is based on a heuristic research study of North American women who participated in ayahuasca ceremonies within the tradition of vegetalismo in Peru, Canada and the USA. It explores how ayahuasca and other Amazonian plant teachers can heal women's sexual trauma as well as the potential for women to be sexually harmed by healers in ayahausca ceremonies.

This presentation explores how women have experienced sexual healing with ayahuasca and other Amazonian plant teachers and also how women can be re-traumatized in ayahausca ceremonies. The discussion is based on a heuristic research study of North American women who participated in ayahuasca ceremonies and plant diets within the tradition of vegetalismo (a healing practice using Amazonian plant teachers in Peru). The complexity of cross-cultural pollination of ethical ideologies between North and South America will be highlighted and how the expansive interest in ayahausca requires a new level of awareness through honest dialogue and diligent education for all parties involved. The intention of sharing the results of this study is to honor the voice of women, maximize the healing potential of Amazonian plant teachers, and minimize the possible harm for spiritual seekers.



An Inner Landscape for Resolving Trauma
Presenter: Julie Megler

Trauma in its simplest definition is a deeply distressing, or disturbing, experience that creates an unresolved impact on an individual. It affects victims on the most primal levels of the brain. The brain can be divided into 3 regions: the reptilian brain (instinctual), the limbic system (the mammalian, emotional brain), and the neo-cortex (the human, rational brain). What makes trauma so difficult to treat is that it resides deep within us, disrupting our basic reptilian and mammalian processes. The limitation of current medication therapy and psychotherapy is that they do not target the interrupted physiology. Medications stabilize and suppress trauma symptoms, and traditional talk therapy targets our rational mind. Neither treatment heals at the source of trauma. Victims discharge trauma by working through its unresolved impact. The journey to resolution is an inward one, where he or she learns to feel rather than alleviate symptoms. By turning inward, victims learn about their physiologic resources and how to consciously utilize them. Ayahuasca activates our primitive brain regions, introducing individuals to their inner landscape where they can explore and transform their trauma symptoms. During the journeys, and with integration post Ayahuasca journeys, victims are empowered with the opportunity to regain their ability to self regulate.



What Can We Learn from the Traditional Uses of Psychoactive Plants Regarding the Way We Work with "Drugs"?
Presenter: Beatriz Caiuby Labate

This presentation will attempt to answer this question by making a general comparison between indigenous and Western paradigms on drugÓ use. First, an overview of the basic Amazonian shamanism concepts will be presented, such as the notions of plant diets, music from the spirits, blowing tobacco, and sucking of pathogenic elements. Special emphasis will be given to the concept of "plant teacher": the idea that plants have their own subjectivity and intentionality. I will discuss the role of these substances in different aspects of social life; such as in the production and transmission of knowledge, cultural identity, cosmological ordering of the world, socialization, interethnic relationships, artistic creations, hunting, warfare, divination, and healing. These uses will be contrasted to Western notions of drugs, hallucination, abuse, and illegality. The presentation will argue for the need to rethink the international prohibitionist regime, and that the drug war is an ethnocentric, anthropocentric (or species-centric), and a pharmacologically and cognitively biased war. Going beyond the harm reduction model, promoting education and research enables us to better know and appreciate the multiple virtues of these substances.



Transmuting Vision into Scientific Gold: an Alchemical Quest
Presenter: Bruce Damer

Vision from many sources may be transmuted into realizations in the world as art, stories, music, technologies and insights in the realms of science. Success in this quest requires entering into visionary states with intention and conceptual pre-loading, applying a careful practice of sequestering and transcribing, right-sensing the results, employing the pivot, and above all, sitting as an open student of the unfolding. Dr. Bruce Damer will give some examples of his own practice in areas of science and suggest that while these methods are not yet well understood, they hold great promise for the future survival and thriving of the human enterprise.



Spirit Allies
Presenter: Shonagh Home

Plant medicine is a portal to the spirit realms. Shonagh will speak about her experiences connecting with extra-dimensional beings during her mushroom journeys and how they continue to guide and teach her. She will also discuss her book, "Love and Spirit Medicine", which chronicles her shamanic journeys with the plant medicine.