We provide public education and cultural understanding about psychedelic plant medicines and promote a bridge between the ceremonial use of sacred plants and psychedelic science.
Mission:
Vision:
We envision a world where plant medicines and other psychedelics are preserved, protected, and valued as part of our cultural identity and integrated into our social, legal and health care systems.
Our Programs:
Chacruna Chronicles
Providing public education and making academic knowledge more accessible.
Chacruna Events
Organizing of high-quality conferences, community forums and panels on psychedelics and plant medicines.
Ayahuasca Community Committee
Raising awareness about key issues and promoting positive action.
Racial Equity and Access Committee
Promoting the voices of people of color in the field of psychedelic science.
Women, Gender Diversity, and Sexual Minorities Working Group
Promoting the voices of women and queer people in the field of psychedelic science.
Council for the Protection of Sacred Plants
Documentation, education, and advocacy on the legality of sacred plants.
Upcoming Events:
Multiracial Identity and Psychedelics: Imagined Futures
Wednesday, October 20th from 12-2pm PST
Indigenous Worldview, Property and Extractivism in the Psychedelic Renaissance
Wednesday, October 27th 12-1:30pm PST
Religion and Psychedelics Forum
April 22, 23 and 24, 2022
New Books!
SPIRITUALITY
The Role of Mysticism in Psychedelic Trials
A Conversation with Rachael Petersen, Rita Powell and Joe Welker
Wednesday, January 13th from 12-20pm PST
REGISTER FOR...
Sacred Plants, Religious Freedom and the Future of Psychedelic Spirituality
A Conversation with Erik Davis, Kathleen Harrison and Bob Otis
Tuesday, September 8th from 12-2pm...
Curing an Incurable Disease in the Amazon Jungle
Western medicine says that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is incurable, but my blood tests are now...
Healing Sexual Trauma with Ayahuasca
As a teenager, the power of my sacred feminine energy was taken from me by...
Sacred Mushrooms of the Mazatec Tradition: Transforming the Inner Landscape of the Human Psyche
These entheogens, which have been considered as medicines in indigenous traditions, are still an immensely...
CULTURE
Navigating a Double-Edged Sword: Toward Psychedelic Apprenticeship
This article explores the idea of the psychedelic experience as a “double-edged sword” in the way that although spiritual revelations and insights can aid in bettering mental health, these revelations and insights can also lead to further damaging the psychology of an individual. The authors explore potential causes and solutions to this dilemma.
How I Joined the Secret SSRI Circles of 1985
Through this narrative fictional account, Andrew Penn offers a literary image of underground pharmaceutical practice by telling the story of the SSRI circles of 1985 in New York City. He compares this with the growing popularity of psychedelics in the mainstream and excitement for clinical trials while at the same time underground practice still exists.
The Challenges of Kambô Conservation
In this article, Filipe Ribeiro covers the conservation challenges surrounding kambô. The kambô frog’s secretions are used in traditional practice among several Indigenous peoples in the southwest Amazon. With the growing global demand for kambô, some have suggested that the Indigenous approach to collecting the frog’s secretions is harmful to the frog. Ribeiro urges the West to not rush to hasty and superficial judgments regarding traditional practices.
Is Peyote the same as mescaline?: A Cultural History
The history of transforming peyote into mescaline is a story of separating plants from people. It is a story of colonialism.
Understanding the History of Rastafari and the Sacramental Use of Ganja with Jahlani Niaah
Jasmine Virdi interviews Jahlani Niaah, Rastafari scholar and community member, about the little-known and often misunderstood Rastafari movement. Within the psychedelic renaissance, the sacramental use of ganja by Rastafari is often overlooked. In this interview, Niaah provides a historical overview of the origins of the Rastafari movement, explaining certain key elements of Rastafari praxis, and about the sacramental use of ganja among the Rastafari.
SCIENCE
Risks of Serotonin Syndrome when Combining Psychedelics with Antidepressants
Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacists Dr.’s Ben Malcolm and Kelan Thomas recently published a review article discussing the risks of serotonin syndrome with various serotonergic psychedelics, either alone or in combination with serotonergic antidepressants. In this article, the authors offer a short summary of their main findings.
Could Synthetic Mescaline Protect Declining Peyote Populations?
The rise in popularity of peyote has unfortunately led to overharvesting which consequently poses a great risk for the future of the species. With the increasing need to protect peyote, synthetic mescaline may offer an alternative gateway into this experience that is bereft of issues regarding sustainability. This article summarizes the chemical composition and production of synthetic mescaline.
Iboga Conservation
This articles highlights conservation issues around Tabernanthe iboga, sacred plant medicine of the Bwiti and a common source of ibogaine used in the treatment of addictions.
When Ayahuasca Microdosing Might Cause Serotonin Toxicity
While there has been promising evidence of safety and effectiveness for ayahuasca macrodosing to treat...
The Scientific Study of Ayahuasca Ethno-Varieties with Regina Célia de Oliveira
Jasmine Virdi interviews Regina Célia de Oliveira, a Brazilian biologist and professor at Brasília University, specializing in the study of Banisteriopsis caapi and other plants that make up the ayahuasca brew. In this article, Regina shares about the different varieties of the B. caapi vine, the deeply sophisticated knowledge of traditional peoples about these vines, and the importance of protecting these plant species amidst ongoing ecological destruction in the Amazon Rainfor-est.
POLICY
Community Alert! Arrests and Encounters with Law Enforcement are Increasing
This is a community alert about the seizures of sacred plants and arrests by law enforcement that have been increasing across the US, most of which have been in religious and ceremonial settings of indigenous peoples. Chacruna is taking action to provide free education, resources, and support of other organizations who are also advocating for the protection of sacred plants.
Controversies Around California’s Psychedelic Decriminalization Law Senate Bill 519
https://youtu.be/BnaYwqsxkbk
Now, the California legislature is on the verge of becoming the first legislative body to...
Can Coca Leaf Avoid the Wrongs of The Psychedelic Revolution?
On August 25, 2020, a proposal presented in Colombia’s Congress to regulate coca and its derivatives, including cocaine, made history. This article dispels the equation of coca and cocaine; highlights the sacredness of the plant to Indigenous Americas; analyzes the underlying questions of the legislative proposal; and discusses the new economic models and regulation of coca.
Psilocybin Mushrooms in Mexico in Danger of Extinction
One of the psychoactive mushrooms described by Gordon Wasson in LIFE magazine (1957) is today an endangered species. This article describes how mycologists located the fungus Conocybe siligeneoides in the Sierra Mazateca of Oaxaca (Mexico).
Two Projects Seek to Change the Legal Status of Peyote and Mushrooms in Mexico
Mexico is currently debating ritual and traditional uses, as well as non-Indigenous and therapeutic uses of entheogens. During the past year, two legal reform proposals have been introduced to Mexico’s drug policy reform landscape. One of which is focused on the reclassification of psilocybin mushrooms and peyote, and the second is a request for legal consumption of the same sacred plants. This article describes the initiatives’ intentions, analyzes the proposals’ impact on the landscape for drug reform, and highlights the importance of a multicultural and human rights perspective, especially for the protection of Indigenous peoples’ rights.
INTEGRATION
Love and Psychedelic Psychotherapy: Bridging the Divide
There is incredible potential for the psychedelic renaissance to rehabilitate and revitalize the concept of love in psychotherapy and in our culture more broadly. Studying the emergence of love in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies, from medicine-induced experiences of love, to the importance of the felt sense of love between therapist and client, is a means of bridging the divide between the discourse of therapy and the experience of this powerful healing energy.
Expanded States of Consciousness for Healing and Growth
Through our healing process, expanded states can teach us to have compassion and love for...
Psychedelic Leadership Community Build at Psychedelic Liberty Summit
The psychedelic space is going through one of the most impressive and daunting growth spurts...
Children and Psychedelics: Using Indigenous Wisdom to Examine Western Paradigms
For Westerners, the topic of children and psychedelics is a near-untouchable one, mired in taboo...
Traveling Without Moving During COVID-19 Lockdown
Some people have been taking this time in isolation and the slowing down of day-to-day...
NEWS
Press Release – Chacruna Institute’s Patenting the Sacred Series: Critical Dialogues on Law, Economics, and Indigenous Rights in the Psychedelic Renaissance
Chacruna Institute's Patenting the Sacred series is related to Chacruna’s Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative of the Americas, and aims to educate and promote critical thinking in the field of psychedelics by bringing together experts in intellectual property, law, medicine, anthropology, sacred plants, and Indigenous worldview to deepen public discourse on critical issues that impact all of us inside the psychedelic renaissance. The next forum is titled “Indigenous Worldview, Property, and Extractivism in the Psychedelic Renaissance" and will stream on October 27th.
Press Release: Psilocybin Symposium to discuss the medicalization and commodification of psilocybin in the US
The International Symposium on Psilocybin: Therapeutic Potentials, Culture, and Decolonization, September 20-21, 2021 | A...
Press Release: Chacruna Institute to host community conversation about CA SB 519
On August 25, 2021, California Senate Bill 519 (SB519) was paused in the CA State...
Plant Medicine Healing Alliance Seminar with the Portland Psychedelic Society
Tuesday, August 24th, 7:00–9:00pm PST
Join the Portland Psychedelic Society on August 24th to learn about...
Peer support line helped 16 “bad trippers” avoid the emergency room
The Fireside Project, which helps guide people through their psychedelic experiences, finds success in its first month.
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