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Thursday, September 8th, 2022 from 6:00pm-10:30pm PST
Atlas Room
1100 N. Western
Los Angeles, CA
*Paid underground parking garage located at 1110 N. Western Ave
Register here.
Tickets: $25*
Scholarships Available. Apply Here.
We are excited to announce an in-person Chacruna event which is part of our new series Chacruna Community Dialogues. This panel will be focused on educating the public and bringing awareness to the emergent globalization of ayahuasca. This event will include a panel discussion with Ariel Clark, who is General Legal Counsel to Chacruna Institute and member of Chacruna’s Board of Directors, Bia Labate, who is a Brazilian anthropologist and Executive Director of Chacruna, Sitaramaya Sita, who has traveled, worked and studied extensively in the Amazon for the past 20 years, and Tony Moss, who is the founder of I.AM.LIFE, a Los Angeles-based non-profit event production company focused on interconnectivity. Prior to the panel, live music will be provided by I Am Life Music. After the panel, we will also provide a space for socializing among participants and attendees, to whom we will be happy to offer delicious snacks and drinks for refreshment. Tickets to participate in this event can be purchased here.
With the mainstreaming of psychedelics, we are seeing more and more stories of people talking about their ayahuasca experiences at retreat centers in the Amazon and elsewhere. From celebrities on talk shows, reality tv shows, vlogs on youtube, to decriminalization efforts in the U.S., all of these representations of ayahuasca use in pop culture and the general public sphere are peaking the interest of people across the nation to have these experiences themselves. What is happening globally with ayahuasca, and what are the biggest concerns with this expansion beyond the Amazon, and how do we address these issues? For some, this globalization might represent a hope to save our societies and even human species, while for others, it’s a very problematic phenomenon. How can we understand this complex cultural scenario? Are there benefits in this globalization? And who is benefitting? What is happening to Indigenous communities outside of the U.S. who come from ayahuasca traditions? What is happening in the U.S. in regards to ayahuasca? Are local US communities healthy, ethical and organized? How do we combine a critical reflection on these matters while also acknowledging love, spirit, and the real lived benefits of healing and spiritual growth that many of us have experienced in our own flesh? In this panel, speakers will address topics such as: mainstreaming, commodification, cultural appropriation, extractivism, tokenism, conservation, Indigenous reciprocity, legal regulation, spirituality, ethics, and education. With different backgrounds and expertise, ranging from law & policy to decades of researching ayahuasca in the Amazon, or practicing these healing modalities, speakers hope to raise awareness about key issues and create community safeguards as ayahuasca goes global. Come support advancing cultural understanding and legitimacy for ayahuasca, engage in advocacy and protection of sacred plants and cultural traditions, and most importantly: to be together in community as ayahuasca people!
Program (PST)
6:00 – 6:30pm: Arrival of guests N live music by I Am Life
6:30 – 8:00pm: Panel
8:00 – 10:30pm: Social hour + networking + snacks
*Refund Policy: No refunds may be provided.
Dr. Beatriz Caiuby Labate (Bia Labate) is a queer Brazilian anthropologist based in San Francisco. She has a Ph.D. in social anthropology from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil. Her main areas of interest are the study of plant medicines, drug policy, shamanism, ritual, religion, and social justice. She is Executive Director of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines (https://chacruna.net, https://chacruna-iri.org, https://chacruna-la.org) and serves as Public Education and Culture Specialist at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). She is also Adjunct Faculty at the East-West Psychology Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and Visiting Scholar at Naropa University’s Center for Psychedelic Studies. Additionally, she is member of the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board’s Research Subcommittee, and Advisor at the Synthesis Institute and at InnerTrek. Dr. Labate is a co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies (NEIP) in Brazil and editor of its site since. She is author, co-author, and co-editor of twenty-five books, two special-edition journals, and several peer-reviewed articles (https://bialabate.net).
Tony Moss is a visual and recording artist, music and event producer, public speaker and founder of I.AM.LIFE, a Los Angeles-based non-profit event production company focused on interconnectivity. Moss’ work focuses on the spirit, experience and science of interconnectivity, which he believes is fundamental to a sustainable path forward for humanity. He produces projects and events that bring together modern and indigenous wisdom and knowledge, with an emphasis on the evolution of human consciousness fostering greater understanding of and reverence for nature. With over 20 years experience in the study of the psycho-spiritual use of ayahuasca and traditional and neo-shamanic technologies of healing and transformation, he is a public advocate for the legalization and responsible use of all plant medicines. Moss has spoken at numerous conferences in the United States and abroad, has been a featured guest on the Discovery Channel’s “Expedition Unknown”, several podcast including Zach Leary’s “It’s All Happening”, and is featured in several upcoming documentaries including “The Song That Calls You Home,” premiering at the 2019 World Ayahuasca Conference in Spain. His music is distributed internationally and will be featured in a variety of upcoming documentaries and media projects. For more information, see: https://www.tonymoss.me/
Sitaramaya Sita has traveled, worked and studied extensively in the Amazon for the past 20 years. She is a spiritual herbalist, pusangera and plant wisdom practitioner formally trained in the Shipibo ayahuasca tradition. She is the Founder of PlantTeachers, dedicated to cultivating entheogenic awareness, and producer of the Visionary Convergence conference. Sita stewards a 70 acre land conservation project in the Peruvian Amazon – Fundo Sitaramaya which is directed by the One Acre Project. She lectures, teaches, and works with individuals and groups in ceremonies and guides plant dietas. Sita currently trains, teaches and practices to heal personal, institutional and cultural trauma. Sita firmly believes that our wounds can become wisdom. She is a Somatic Experiencing practitioner, has trained with the HeartMath Institute and blends her training in multiple modalities in the services and teaching she offers. She is an art curator and organizer of Ayahuasca & Visionary Art: A Coming Together of Cultures, showing over 300 pieces of visionary art at AYA2019 – The World Ayahuasca Conference in Girona, Spain.
Ariel Clark is an attorney, activist, and co-founder of Clark Howell LLP, a women-steered law firm focused on cannabis, hemp and psychedelics. After practicing law at California Indian Legal Services, she started her own firm in 2010, to be of service to the plants and communities she is in deep connection with. Ariel is General Legal Counsel to Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines and member of Chacruna’s Board of Directors. She has been involved in numerous drug policy, social equity and justice reform efforts in her life. Her organization affiliations have included the Psychedelic Bar Association, the LA Cannabis Task Force, and the California Native American Cannabis Association. She has been recognized by Rolling Stone as one of 18 “Women Shaping The Culture of Tomorrow” and Entrepreneur’s “Top 100 Cannabis Leaders.” She is licensed in California; J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law (2005); B.A. in Religious Studies, University of Michigan (2000).
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