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WVC Activity
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WVC News
September 18, 2023 -
Tickets are available for the 2023 Women’s Visionary Congress (WVC) which will take place at the Berkeley Alembic in Berkeley, CA from Friday October 6th to Sunday, October 8th. The theme of the 2023 WVC is Renewal: Drawing on Tradition to Inform the Present.
Since 2007, the WVC has amplified the voices of women and elders who work with psychedelics. Come hear healers, researchers, activists, artists and spiritual leaders who have blazed the trail for the increasing acceptance of psychedelics and point the way forward.
Speakers include Sophia Buggs, Susana Bustos, Erika Dyck, Carolyn "Mountain Girl" Garcia, Rachel Harris, Ayeh Kashani, Tania and Greg Manning, Eleonora Molnar, Edi Osborne, Susanne Seiler, Preeti (Simran) Sethi, Rhoney Stanley, Jane Straight, Courtney Watson, and others.
People of all genders are welcome. Scholarships are available. We hope you will join us!
Please contact info@visionarycongress.org for more information and add info@visionarycongress.org to your address book for schedule updates.
August 22, 2023 -
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Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (c. 1484–1486). Uffizi, Florence.Dear Friends,
We are delighted to announce that the Women’s Visionary Council (WVC) will host the 2023 Women’s Visionary Congress in Berkeley, CA from Friday October 6th to Sunday, October 8th. We hope you can join us for what will be the first in-person Women’s Congress gathering since 2019. Save the date!
The theme of the 2023 Women’s Visionary Congress is Renewal: Drawing on Tradition to Inform the Present. Since 2007, this event has amplified the voices of women and elders who work with psychedelics. We invite you to come hear the healers, researchers, activists, artists and spiritual leaders who have blazed the trail for the increasing acceptance of psychedelics and point the way forward.
The Rose of Venus is a depiction of the geometric pattern of Venus's motion in relation to Earth. Astrologically, we are currently in a phase of Venus's cycle that reviews the past and retrieves that which revitalizes the present.The Congress will take place at the Berkeley Alembic. We will be sending updates in the coming weeks about tickets, speakers and the schedule. We hope you can join us.
Yours in visionary alliance,
The Board of the WVC
P.S. Please add info@visionarycongress.org to your address book.June 15, 2023 -
Fundraiser for Denis Berry
Denis Berry, in her role as the head of the Futique Trust, was largely responsible for the acquisition of the Timothy Leary Papers by the New York Public Library. This is a significant achievement, as these original documents will enable scholars of the future to make a considered assessment of the events and impacts of some of the most notable events of the 20th century's episode of enthusiasm for psychedelics. Please help support Denis Berry, a WVC Emerita, in her GoFundMe campaign: link here.
May 30, 2023 -
Memorial for Ann Shulgin
A memorial service to honor the life and work of Ann Shulgin (1931-2022) will be held on the first anniversary of her death on Sunday, July 9, 2023 from 12-2 PM at the Zellerbach Auditorium in Berkeley, California.You may be familiar with Ann's seminal books PIHKAL and TIHKAL written together with her husband Sasha Shulgin. Not as many of us knew Ann herself: her wisdom, her elegance, her generosity with her time and teaching, her eloquence, and her sense of humor. But this is a free and inclusive event open not only to Ann's friends and family, but to all those whose lives have been touched or transformed by Ann's and Sasha's work. We will share stories, savor memories, and hold space for a future that is wide open, in no small part because of the prodigious life work of the Shulgins.In the manner of many dinners and holiday parties at the Shulgin home, there will be the opportunity to bring and share small bites/finger food following the service. All are invited to bring small dishes made with love. Of course, that's optional, especially if you’re coming from afar.This is a free event; however, we urge you to RSVP here. An accurate count will allow us to plan accordingly. Please NOTE: If you have already RSVP'd on the platform we were using earlier, you don't need RSVP again here.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doors open at 11AM: If you’ve brought something for the potluck, please hand it to a greeter.Service begins promptly at NOON: Please enter the theater in silence, well before noon. Doors will close. Late arrivals may watch the service on a screen in the lobby.Reception starts at 2PM: Yummy Potluck Food. Water and coffee will be provided. Formal tea service in the lobby. Connection and merriment.Event ends at 3 PM.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Please note: No alcohol, any other intoxicants, or smoking of any kind is permitted in the venue or on the grounds, which are public facilities.
For those who can’t attend in person, we will be recording the memorial. We will post the event afterwards on YouTube.April 18, 2023 -
WVC Co-Founders Appear In New Film
Caroline (Mountain Girl) Garcia, a co-founder of the Women’s Visionary Council (WVC), appeared at the Discovery Con event in San Francisco, CA today to celebrate the world premiere of the film “Psychedelic Revolution: The Secret History of the LSD Trade.” Garcia appears in the film together with past Women’s Visionary Congress participants Rhoney Stanley, Carol and Michael Randall and fellow WVC co-founder Maria Mangini. The third co-founder of the WVC, Annie Oak, interviewed Rhoney Stanley who served as one of the film’s executive directors.April 15, 2023 -
WVC’s Maria Mangini Pens a Bicycle Day Essay
Maria Mangini, a co-founder of the Women’s Visionary Council, has written an essay about Bicycle Day which commemorates Albert Hofmann’s first intentional LSD experience. Several quotes from Albert Hofmann included in the essay are below.
It is my great concern to separate psychedelics from the ongoing debates about drugs, and to highlight the potential inherent to these substances for self-awareness, as an adjunct in therapy, and for fundamental research into the human mind.
It is my wish that a modern Eleusis will emerge, in which seeking humans can learn to have transcendent experiences with sacred substances in a safe setting.
I am convinced that these soul-opening, mind-revealing substances will find their appropriate place in our society and our culture.
~ Albert Hofmann, in a letter from April, 2007
January 31, 2023 -
The Women's Visionary Council (WVC) is a nonprofit educational organization founded in 2008 by female researchers and activists to amplify the voices of women in public discussions about psychedelics. As the first women’s psychedelic nonprofit organization, the WVC has organized many gatherings to feature the work of women and their allies, including eleven meetings of the annual Women’s Visionary Congress.
The WVC has expanded women’s representation in psychedelic research, spiritual leadership, activism, business, and cultural organizations. Many women who now lead these groups had their first opportunity to present at a WVC event.
In the summer of 2022, the WVC board of directors voted to refocus the organization to place its attention on elders, another community whose contributions to psychedelic science and culture are often overlooked and undervalued. Elders have deep knowledge and respect for non-ordinary states of consciousness and apply their wisdom for the benefit of all beings. You can read more here about what elders offer to psychedelic communities.
The WVC was founded on the principle of reciprocity. Women who contribute to their communities should be heard, acknowledged, and compensated. It is our intention to foster a culture that advocates for and supports those on whose shoulders we stand. WVC is uniquely positioned to engage elders in critical conversations and propagate their informed perspectives. WVC events have long supported intergenerational conversations and have always been open to people of all genders. You can read more here about how the WVC is championing the work of elders and how you can support this mission. Thank you for your support.
July 9, 2022 -
Ann Shulgin, WVC Advisor and Ally, Dies at 91
Longtime WVC advisor and psychedelic pioneer Ann Shulgin died on July 9 at her home at Shulgin Farm in Lafayette, California. Together with her husband, legendary chemist Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin who rediscovered MDMA, Ann recognized the therapeutic potential of the compound, launching its present use in psychotherapy. Ann and Sasha together authored two pivotal books, PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story (1991) and TiHKAL: The Continuation (1997) which told the story of their relationship and the community of scientists, researchers and psychonauts who use psychedelics for healing and inner exploration.
A skilled lay therapist, Ann was a beloved mentor and a model for living as a good psychedelic citizen. She brought her knowledge of Jungian psychoanalysis to help further a broader understanding of the shadow as an essential part of human nature. Ann gave a masterful presentation on how shadow work is done at the 2019 Women’s Visionary Congress. A transcript of that talk is here as well as Ann’s full obituary. Tax deductible donations to the WVC in Ann’s honor can be made here.
Ann was a steadfast supporter of the WVC and the expanded role of women as leaders in psychedelic communities. She and Sasha attended WVC events for many years and their “Ask the Shulgins” conversations offered many people an opportunity to seek their advice, especially those whose families did not support their interest in psychedelics. Ann’s kindness, wisdom and deep knowledge of the human psyche lit the way for the resurgence of interest in psychedelics and the creation of psychedelic communities throughout the world. She will be greatly missed, but her legacy continues.
April 2, 2022 -
Denis Berry, Emerita Board member of WVC, is a psychedelic elder who has been engaged in selfless service throughout her eventful life. As trustee of the Futique Trust (http://www.timothylearyarchives.org/futique-trust/), Denis arranged the transfer of Timothy Leary's archives to the New York Public Library, where historians of the future will now have an opportunity to understand some of the history of psychedelics by examining original sources. The WVC encourages you to join us in contributing to a GoFundMe (https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-denis-berry-continue-her-cancer-treatment) campaign to support Denis' continuing treatment and chemotherapy and in showering Denis with healing blessings.
January 10, 2022 -
Psyche Unbound: A Celebration of the Pioneering Legacy of Stanislav Grof
Join City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, Synergetic Press, and Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) for a free, day-long virtual symposium on January 22 from 11 am-5 pm PST, celebrating the pioneering legacy and life work of renowned psychologist and researcher, Stanislav Grof. This event will also serve as a launch for the forthcoming book, “Psyche Unbound: Essays in Honor of Stanislav Grof” edited by Richard Tarnas and Sean Kelley.
Grof is one of the founders of transpersonal psychology and is recognized by many as having both inherited and extended the great revolution in psychology begun by Freud and Jung. His investigations of the nature and healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness led him to propose a model of the psyche which honors the full range of human experience. Unconstrained by the dogmatic prejudices of mainstream psychology and of the dominant – reductive, mechanistic, and materialistic – scientific paradigm – Grof offers a liberated, and liberating vision of psyche unbound.
Through a series of sessions comprising panel discussions, we will explore the many aspects of Grof’s life and legacy and pay tribute to a man known to many as one of the great pioneers of the exploration of human consciousness.
Confirmed speakers include Stan and Brigitte Grof, Rick Tarnas, Sean Kelly, Rick Doblin, Susan Hess Logeals, Diana Haug, Michael Mithoefer, Roshi Joan Halifax, Charles Grob, Jenny Wade, Janis Phelps, Maria Mangini, Tom Riedlinger, and Jasmine Virdi, to name a few.
Register here: https://citylights.com/events/psyche-unbound-celebrating-the-pioneering-work-of-stanislav-grof/
November 26, 2021 - Consider making a tax-exempt donation to the WVC! The WVC has demonstrated over many years that we are wise stewards of funding from our community. We invite you to please make a tax exempt gift to the WVC before the end of the year so that we can continue the work we began in 2007. Make your checks payable to Women’s Visionary Council, PO Box 5035, Berkeley, CA 94705 or donate online via Paypal. A donation of $75 gives you membership to the WVC, discounts for WVC events and the WVC newsletter.
If you are not in a position of abundance with money, we welcome donations of time and expertise. The WVC is currently seeking psychedelic women who would like to work with us on bookkeeping, proofreading transcripts of presentations, tech support, and event production. Please contact us at info@visionarycongress.org for more information or to share ideas.
October 31, 2021 - The WVC is shifting our attention to serving elders, and we are listening deeply to the wise women in our community. On October 27th, WVC President, Annie Oak, and Executive Director, Kristina Soriano visited Jane Straight in her garden in Western Sonoma County as part of planning for a series of community garden events which will be coming in 2022. These "Return to the Roots" events will be where we gather at historic farms and botanical gardens to learn more about plant allies and be of service to the land. Stay tuned for more news about our upcoming visits to these green spaces.
September 15, 2021 - The WVC Board is pleased to support the work of WVC's honored elder and plant steward, Jane Straight by awarding her with a Laura Huxley grant.
Jane is in the last stages of writing and publishing her book, Cultivating Allies: A Comprehensive Guide to the Propagation and Care of Plants of Ethnobotanical Significance.
In this book, Jane offers her unique experience of growing entheogenic Plant Teachers and other herbal Allies. Both a practical and metaphysical guide for cultivating relationships with significant plants, this book will be a gift to our community’s collective wisdom. Please support Jane Straight as she finishes her culmination of a decades-long labor of love.
Read Jane’s story and visit her Gofundme page to support by donating and sharing.
Jane's Wachuma San Pedro Flower
August 1, 2021 - We are excited our new website and online community portal became live last month. Our hope is that this virtual presence increases access to the resources, wisdom, and experiences present in our community. It is our intention to build stronger connections with allies who share our values both online and in-person. We invite you scroll down and browse around!
July 22, 2021 - The Journal of Humanistic Psychology recently published an article written by WVC co-founder Maria Mangini entitled, "Unseen Women in Psychedelic History." The paper explores "some of the under-reported history of women's contributions to psychedelic exploration and research in the twentieth century." The article also describes the story behind the founding of the WVC and also explains the meaning and origin of WVC's motto, Dux Femina Facti "a woman was the leader of the enterprise." Read the abstract here.
July 21, 2021 - Watch the recorded videos of WVC co-founders Maria Mangini and Annie Oak at the free, two-day virtual symposium celebrating the pioneering legacy of Sasha and Ann Shulgin. The foreword to Shulgin’s book, The Nature of Drugs: History, Pharmacology, and Social Impact, is written by Maria Mangini. You can watch her moderating Session 2: Stories from the Edge: Trailblazers in Psychopharmacology. You can watch Annie Oak's excellent presentation in Session 4: Psychedelic Psychotherapy & Social Impact. Enjoy!
June 9, 2021 - WVC co-founder Maria Mangini co-authored an article with Erika Dyck, Ph.D. on the Chacruna website as part of their Women in the History of Psychedelic Plant Medicines Series. Entitled “Susi’s Tram Ride: Recognizing the First Woman to Take LSD,” the article chronicles the story of Susi Ramstein, Hofmann’s Swiss laboratory assistant, who accompanied him home by bicycle on April 19, 1943. This is why April 19th is famously known as “Bicycle Day.” On June 12, 1943, Susi became the first woman to take LSD. Read the full article to find out why the WVC plans to declare June 12 as Tram Day.
May 29, 2021 - WVC co-founders Maria Mangini and Annie Oak will be part of a free, two-day virtual symposium on June 26 & June 27 celebrating the pioneering legacy of Sasha and Ann Shulgin. This event will also launch Shulgin’s book, The Nature of Drugs: History, Pharmacology, and Social Impact, with the foreword written by Maria Mangini. She will moderate Session 2: Stories from the Edge: Trailblazers in Psychopharmacology. Annie Oak will be a panelist for Session 4: Psychedelic Psychotherapy & Social Impact. We hope you will join us!
April 21, 2021 - The WVC is excited to announce that the Board of Directors has unanimously appointed Kristina Soriano as the Executive Director of the Women’s Visionary Congress. Kristina lives in San Francisco and was born and raised in Texas to Filipino immigrant parents. A classically trained pianist with a master’s in healthcare administration, she will help the WVC foster community, launch a new community site, and develop relations with donors. Please join us in giving a warm welcome to WVC’s new executive director.
February 23, 2021 - WVC co-founder Annie Oak has edited three articles on Lucid News that address risk reduction. The stories include a description of What You Need to Know About Testing Your Drugs, written by Mitchell Gomez of DanceSafe, How to Plan Your Psychedelic Journey, written by Rachel Clark, also of DanceSafe, and How to Provide Psychedelic Support during the Covid-19 pandemic, written by Adam Rubin of White Bird.
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Welcome to the NEW Visionary Community Portal!
Thank you for joining us as we unveil our online community portal! This interactive site includes information about WVC projects, presenters, and more.
The enhanced features of the community portal include:
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User Profile
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Forums
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Direct messaging
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Groups
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Blogs
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File sharing
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Calendar
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Events
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Chat (coming soon!)
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2019 Congress Presenters Gallery
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Past Events
Our new digital community space also includes privacy, moderation controls, and up-to-date security. The site allows us to increase access to the resources, wisdom, and experiences present in our community. Thank you for joining us as we enter a new phase of development by building stronger connections with allies and communities who share our values.
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How to Participate:
- Feel free to browse as a Guest. This website offers discussion forums organized into different categories.
- To post a topic or respond in a forum, please register as a User.
- To get started, please see the Guides and FAQ forums under the Welcome category.
- When you register as a new User, please introduce yourself to the community by starting a new topic in the Introductions forum.
- Community-wide discussion forums can be found under the Salon category.
- For assistance, please send a direct message to a Moderator, or use the Contact Us form for any questions or suggestions.
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Activity Stream
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02023 Women’s Visionary Congress
untilWe are delighted to announce that the Women’s Visionary Council (WVC) will host the 2023 Women’s Visionary Congress in Berkeley, CA from Friday, October 6th, to Sunday, October 8th. We hope you can join us for what will be the first in-person Women’s Congress gathering since 2019. Save the date! The theme of the 2023 Women’s Visionary Congress is Renewal: Drawing on Tradition to Inform the Present. Since 2007, this event has amplified the voices of women and elders who work with psychedelics. We invite you to come hear the healers, researchers, activists, artists and spiritual leaders wh -
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12022 WVC Gatherings
WVC has always been committed to serving the needs of the profession and ... As Viticus Group, we will retain the WVC events and opportunities with best regards: houseplants care guides
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Recent Posts in Salon Forums
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Recent Posts in News Forums
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WVC Activity in 2020
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WVC 2020 News
December 9, 2020 - WVC co-founder Maria Mangini appeared as a panelist on a community forum discussion about Psychedelics and Death presented by Psychedelic Seminars. The event will take place on December 15 at 5:30 pm PST.
November 19, 2020 - Eleonora Molnar, psychotherapist and Executive Director of WVC Canada, has published a powerful story on Chacruna.net entitled Social Justice Means Decriminalizing All Drugs, Not Just Psychedelics. You can also watch a video of the presentation that this story is based on here.
October 13 2020 - The Psychedelic Psychotherapy Forum 2020 will take place October 14-16 and offer three days of individual presentations and interactive panel discussions from 39 local and international speakers. The WVC is a co-sponsor for this event which feature a wide range of talks on psychedelic-assisted therapies and plant medicines. You can register for the event here WVC supporters can use the PPFSPONSOR discount code. All of the talks will be available post-forum for for six months of replay.
September 30, 2020 - The WVC is happy to announce a donation of $1,000 to the Psychedelic Literacy Fund. Established in May of this year, the goal of this donor-advised fund is to make seminal works about psychedelic therapy available in multiple languages. The WVC’s donation will go towards translating and publishing Stanislav Grof’s The Way of the Psychonaut, Volumes 1 & 2 into Italian. These books will be the main texts for the new Grof Legacy Training, which is based on his research into psychedelic therapy, Holotropic Breathwork, transpersonal psychology, and spiritual emergencies. The Psychedelic Literacy Fund aims to provide more global access to the wisdom transmitted from researchers, visionaries, and pioneers in this movement. For more information, visit www.psychedelicliteracy.org.
September 28, 2020 - WVC co-founder Mariavittoria Mangini will speak on September 30th at an online event entitled, “Bridging the Generation Gap in the Psychedelic Community.” The event is presented by the Chacruna Community Forum Series. More information about the event is here. Annie Oak, also a WVC co-founder, will also speak on September 30th on a panel discussion sponsored the Center for Optimal Living. The topic of the panel is “Addressing Patterns of Violence in the Psychedelic World, Part 1: Patriarchy, Racism and Colonization.” More information about this panel is here.
September 28, 2020 - The Women's Visionary Council, in collaboration with the San Francisco VA (SFVA) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) BAND Lab, is co-sponsoring a special film screening of From Shock To Awe for SFVA mental health providers. From Shock To Awe is a documentary by Luc Côté and Janine Sagert about two combat veterans seeking to heal from post-traumatic stress disorder using psychedelic medicine treatments. The event, which will take place October 7, will feature panel discussions with veterans in the film as well as with VA providers who are psychedelic research experts.
September 21, 2020 - WVC co-founder Mariavittoria Mangini, PhD, FNP, will appear at the Mycelium Mysteries Virtual Conference which takes place September 25-27, 2020. Mangini’s talk, “Doctor, Destroyer, Diviner, Delighter---Women, and Sacred Plants,” will take place Saturday, September 26, 6:30-8:30 pm CST. Registration information is here. Mangini has been a family nurse midwife for 25 years. Her academic interest is the historiography of psychedelics. She has written extensively on the impact of psychedelic experiences in shaping the lives of her contemporaries and worked closely with many of the most distinguished investigators in this field. Currently, she is Professor Emerita of Nursing at Holy Names University in Oakland, California. Her clinical work for the last 22 years has been in a primary care practice which pioneered the medical cannabis movement. Her current project is the development of a Thanatology Program for the study of death and dying.
September 16, 2020 -- The Women’s Visionary Congress is honored to partner with the Psychedelic Psychotherapy Forum 2020 and sponsor six virtual scholarships to the event. The forum will take place October 14-16 and offer three days of individual presentations and interactive panel discussions from 39 local and international speakers. Discussions will cover a wide range of relevant and important topics in the psychedelic and plant medicine space and the larger world.
The Psychedelic Psychotherapy Forum will also provide exclusive training and continuing education credits for health providers including clinic counselors and psychotherapists, psychologists and family doctors. Eleonora Molnar, the director of WVC Canada, will be participating in a panel presentation, “Navigating Climate and Ecological Collapse with Psychedelics,” alongside Claudia J. Ford, Sam Gandy and Geraldine Manson. The presentation will address how the widespread use of ecotherapy can change our collective relationship to the ecosystems that sustains us.
August 22, 2020 - The WVC has begun to collect and post advice from members of our community for personal and communal survival and resilience. Emma Dilemma, chef, food activist, and co-founder of People of Technocolor, offers her thoughts below on cultivating survival and resistance.
July 20, 2020 - Board members of the Women’s Visionary Council have written a Statement on Racial Justice. The WVC board calls on our community and our allies to see that Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) in the U.S. and other countries are disrespected and subjected to racist violence, economic and social injustice. We oppose systemic racism. Black Lives Matter and all of us must act to seek racial justice.
June 29, 2020 - Tania Abdul, WVC web developer, wrote a powerful editorial entitled The Power of Psychedelic Communities, Through the Lens of an Activist POTC. First published on Lucid News, it is republished here by the author in an updated version that speaks directly to the WVC community. The piece includes a list of resources to support social justice and a call to action in the global revolution against racism. Lucid News is a news service that covers psychedelic communities around the world.
May 30, 2020 - Eleonora Molnar, Director of Women’s Visionary Congress (WVC) Canada and WVC Board Member Danielle Schumacher, spoke at the Catalyst Conference https://catalystcalgary.com on May 29th. Watch the video that summarizes Eleonora and Danielle’s presentation about how to use privilege to advance racial justice. This conversation is an introduction to a future WVC session on allyship. You can read a text version of this talk here.
May 7, 2020 — A new documentary film, “The Way of the Psychonaut,” explores the life and work of Stanislav Grof, Czech-born psychiatrist and psychedelic psychotherapy pioneer. Stan’s quest for knowledge and insights into the healing power of non-ordinary states of consciousness, influenced the discipline of psychology and profoundly changed many individual lives. One of transformed by Stan is filmmaker Susan Hess Logeais. The documentary examines Susan’s personal existential crisis as a gateway to Grof’s impact, from the micro to the macro.
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