Sunday 7 August 2016, 4-6pm: The Central Coast Psychedelic Salon is back, and this time they’ve invited an interesting pair of speakers, Elizabeth Bast and Chor Boogie, to discuss their work in the intersections of psychedelics and healing from addiction.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

About the event:

Elizabeth Bast and her partner Chor Boogie will come to discuss their experiences with Iboga as a solution for drug addiction, about which she wrote in her book Heart Medicine: A True Love Story – One Couple’s Quest for the Sacred Iboga Medicine & the Cure for Addiction. Drug addiction is notoriously difficult to cure or even treat. Relapse rates are discouragingly high, as are mortality rates. Since all the addictive drugs are also illegal and possession can result in incarceration – the cards are stacked against addiction therapy. Into this toxic psychosocial mix comes the legendary central African plant root Tabernanthe iboga or its semi-synthetic derivativeibogaine, a powerful entheogen used in healing and initiation ceremonies in the Bwiti  cult. Uniquely among other psychedelic plants or substances, ibogaine has the capacity to actually block addictive cravings for long enough to permit an addict to re-establish a healthy connection with the core of their being – given appropriate guidance and support.  In the past twenty years or so, a number of healing centers offering ibogaine therapy for addiction have been established in  countries outside the US. What a karmic paradox: a potential cure for the addictions plaguing the urban West comes out of former slave colony states in central Africa!

Elizabeth Bast is a yoga teacher, temple dancer ritual performance artist and hierodule. Her partner Chor Boogie is a spray-paint artist whose brilliantly colored murals adorn public spaces in several continents. During their relationship he relapsed into a drug addiction he had left ten years before, coming close to death.  The couple went on a healing quest and found themselves in an iboga addiction treatment center in Costa Rica with a 10th generation Bwiti shaman from Gabon.  Both went through intense cleansing and truth-telling rituals, releasing deep pockets of shame, guilt and self-deception. This book tells their unique and inspiring story – a healing story for our troubled time – a story of courage, vision, truth and deep love.

About the group:

Let’s gather to share and learn, through books, talks, movies, and conversation about entheogens and their profound impact on consciousness. Have you had significant breakthroughs & transformational experiences with psychedelics or are you curious? Both are welcome. Psychedelics have been powerful tools in the quest to engage our higher selves across millennia and cultures. As founder Daniel Jabbour noted, “The Psychedelic Society of San Francisco is showing just how deep and wide the psychedelic community really is. Doctors, lawyers, software engineers, artists, scientists, and hippies alike are all members of the group.” We will draw on seminal figures like Terence Mckenna, Albert Hoffman, the surge of interest in Ayahuasca ceremony, the research of MAPS, and our own journeys to enjoy an informed and engaged community.

Our group doesn’t engage in or promote illegal activities during our Meetups. We are a mature, safe group. You can join the MeetUp group here, or simply show up!