"Psychedelic Integration & the Heroic Journey"
Presented by Veronica Vargas on 10.22.22. Hosted by Lewis & Clark College.
Below you'll find additional resources from the workshop. I'd love to hear your feedback, ideas, or just to connect in general.
I love this community and am always looking to connect with folks! - Veronica (veronica@colibrisol.com)
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Recommended Books
Dr. Joseph Campbell - "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" - Book about the heroic journey
Malidoma Patrice Some - "Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiations in the life of an African Shaman"
Autobiography of Malidoma Some’s initiation that is reflective of a heroic journey.
Dr. Kile Ortigo - "Beyond the Narrow Life: A Guide for Psychedelic Integration and Existential Exploration" - Link to Assessment
It is both a text rich with an infusion of these concepts, and an interactive workbook with prompts and exercises.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes - Vasalisa the Wise from "The Women Who Run with Wolves" - The story I read during the lecture.
Francoise Bourzat - "Consciousness Medicine: Indigenous Wisdom, Entheogens, and Expanded States of Consciousness for Healing and Growth"
A great resource for understanding psychedelic assisted facilitation. References from this book on integration and the non-ordinary states of consciousness categories are from this text.
Arielle Schwartz - "Post Traumatic Growth Guidebook" - Where I drew ideas from the heroic journey journal activity
Robert Johnson - "Inner Work" - about Active Imagination
Tsultrim Allione - "Feeding Your Demons" - Meditative practice similar to active imagination.
Carl Greer - "Change your Story, Change your Life: Shamanic and Jungian Tools"
Jungian and shamanic themes. I extracted the dialoguing activity from here and combined it with Robert Johnson’s work.
Misc.
Slides - link to PDF
Terrence McKenna on Carl Jung - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ievx0Fk7m6g
Link to Event Page - https://graduate.lclark.edu/calendars/events/event/337718
Resources
Laura Dawn - https://lauradawn.co/
Paul Stamets microdosing or James Fademan microdosing Protocol - https://microdosinginstitute.com/how-to/microdosing-protocols/
Plant Parenthood - https://www.plantph.com/
Adventurs in Om - https://www.adventuresinom.com/
Activities
Activity 1 - The Heroic Journey Journaling Activity
Bringing psychedelic and heroic concepts together through a journal prompt activity. Bring to mind you non-ordinary state of consciousness, then answer the following questions (abridged version from Arielle Schwartz Posttraumatic Growth Guidebook:
My call to enter this non-ordinary state was…
The biggest challenges that I faced were…
I got through these challenges by…
What I believe about myself now is…
When I interact with the ordinary world around me, I feel…
Activity 2 - Active Imagination with Imagery from the earlier activity (combined and abridged from Inner Work and Change Your Story Change Your Life)
This can be done on your own, or you can use the format with whoever you are holding space for.
Bringing to mind the no-ordinary state of consciousness experience, clearing the ego mind, removing distractions, and:
The Invitation - Inviting the image
The Dialogue - give yourself over to the imagination and let the conversation flow, let the inner figures have a life of their own. Do or say what comes to your mind that feels appropriate or ethical.
As, the following questions:
What message do you have for me?
What do you want from me?
Will you give me______________?
What can I do for you?
The values - Caution with action on the guidance received. Evaluate them with both the message received, and your personal morals and ethics. The message is oftentimes symbolic. This can be a window into deepening the active imagination following the symbolism.
Let's Connect!
I'd love to hear your feedback, ideas, or just to connect in general. I love this community and am always looking to connect with folks.
(503) 740-8323 | veronica@colibrisol.com | online form