All language subtitles for Psychedelica.Series.1.08of14.The.Shadow.Side.of.Psychedelics.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

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>> One of the more important
and forgotten aspects

of psychedelic experiences is
the shadow side of all people,

all events, and life itself.

The side of the
coin less involved

with profound visuals, "aha"
moments, and inner healing,

and more involved
with hidden aspects

of the psyche, misguided,
or under-educated use,

and even malicious intent.

Since the dawn of time,
it's in the shadows that

lurk the predators and blind
spots that have timelessly

intimidated humanity.

Some steer clear of the
darkness and keep safe.

Others use the dark to
cover their hidden agendas.

And a rare few venture into the
dark shadows to bring light.

A tool that has been used
since the dawn of art

and human expression to
illuminate the darkness

is the judicious use
of psychedelic plants.

But these plants
are tools that can

be used for the light, the dark,
and every gradient in-between.

So, what do psychedelic
researchers and experience

psychonauts suggest for
newcomers when considering

a plant-medicine experience?

>> I'm the faculty advisor for
the psychedelic club at Naropa

University, where I
teach herbal medicine.

And there's a concern
that a lot of young people

are taking these
substances and maybe

having a difficult or
dangerous experience.

And personally,
I think that when

you're doing these substances
at a concert with thousands

of people and very loud music
that may not have the highest

intentions, it might
be music that's

coming from a place of ego
and only junk food and alcohol

being served.

I see that as something
that's going to not give you

a deep personal experience.

>> For me, I try to avoid
festivals and concerts

in general when I'm
on psychedelics.

I don't think that I get a
lot of deep inner work done

when there's music blaring and
a light show and all of that.

It can be fun.

It's not that I
never do it, but it

can be a little overwhelming
for a lot of people, I think,

or just not productive.

>> And you have to choose if you
want to use the full potential

of psychedelics or if you want
to play kind of psychedelic

roulette.

People have taken it under a
lot of lousy circumstances,

of course.

The raves that people
go and get it--

they don't know what
they are taking,

how much they are taking.

They know they're doing
something illegal,

the police can come--

just a lousiest possible
setting I can imagine.

>> In the 1950s around London,
wild Bohemian parties called

the raves began popping
up in youth culture.

Their evolution moved
through the psychedelic craze

of the '60s.

And once the '80s rolled
around, drugs and dancing

became the mantra.

These raves have
been the setting

for many psychedelic
experiences gone wrong.

The music is typified
by monotonous drums

and catchy hooks that go
for extended amounts of time

to afford people long
soundscapes upon which

to dance.

Others claim it's a revival of
shamanic trance rhythms taught

to our elders by the plants.

Newer renditions of
these scenes seem

less interested in
community bonding and prayer

and more into
recreational drug use.

However, there is also a
resurgence of ceremony, prayer,

and oneness once you leave
the typical rave scene

and enter festivals like Burning
Man, Boom, Lucidity, Envision,

Spirit Weavers, and Symbiosis.

But as culture moves farther
away from our shamanic past,

the safe containers for
psychedelic journeys

are less understood
by our youth.

>> A couple of years ago, I
went to a Shpongle concert.

I was signing books.

It was in Austin.

And I smelled more DMT
coming from the dance floor

than I smelled pot.

So, afterwards, I asked Simon
Posford, one of the Shpongle

members, about that.

I said, well, I smelled more DMT
than marijuana from the floor.

Does that happen?

He said, yeah, it
seems to happen.

So, there's a lot of people
smoking DMT at dance events.

And I asked one kid that
I was signing a book for,

what was the deal
on the dance floor.

He described that you
would smoke a small amount

on the dance floor and it
would just kind of enhance

your sensory experience.

And if you wanted the
full-on DMT effect,

you would go outside,
or you stay along

the wall of the hall,
kind of out of the way.

>> Some believe that just as
our ancestors had no rulebook

for the responsible
use of psychedelics,

the youth today are finding
their own ways to explore

the depths of consciousness
while remaining in modern-style

gatherings.

But perhaps the
biggest difference

is traditional
ceremonies included

only those participants
that the shaman would allow.

Today, anyone with
any intention is just

a ticket fee and a few
travel arrangements

away from being in your space,
in your sphere of influence,

and therefore, in your
psychedelic journey.

But gathering together
for music, dance,

and psychedelic
journeys is not new.

In ancient Greece,
the Dionysia festivals

were a time for people to
gather, dance, and sing, even

perform plays and partake in
psychoactive herbs infused

in alcohol.

Across the Atlantic in
present-day Mexico City,

the Aztecs worshiped the
god of dance, pleasure, joy,

and psychoactive plants,
named Xochipilli.

It's hard to know how safe
the set and setting were

at these ancient festivals.

But we know they were highly
celebrated as opportunities

to depart from daily labor.

So, in these moments
when thousands of people

are unleashing their
day-to-day stressors

onto the same patch of
land, at the same time,

just like modern
music festivals,

is there more in the
air than meets the eye?

Modern-day regression
therapist and healer,

Marion Boon explains the dangers
of uncontained ceremonies.

>> What I do as an
advanced-regression therapist

is postmodern shamanism,
because we are doing, in fact,

similar of the shaman approach.

But we teach our client to go
there under the right guidance.

So, when I'm opening up
at a trance festival,

and thousands of people
are doing the same,

and we go trance,
trance and open up,

there is always some
shadow that can enter.

And when you are
hurt inside, you

will attract a similar kind
of hurt from somebody else.

That is seen as darkness.

That is seen as shadow.

So, to work with this is
what ancient shamanism does.

They have the courage,
and the tools,

and techniques, and the focus
to go into the darkness.

That doesn't allow fear.

There is no fear.

There is light to
gain in the darkness.

And that light has
to be retrieved.

That's a soul retrieval.

>> There hasn't been enough
medical research to make any

scientific claims regarding the
dangers of psychedelic journeys

around thousands of strangers.

But postmodern shamans
see the damaging effects

and pick up the slack where
modern health care lacks.

And the best methods seem to
be the empowerment of others

to understand and engage
with their own healing

by listening to their
own words, and therefore,

their own subconscious.

>> The client is
the expert of life--

not me.

My client is.

They only took the wrong
exit on the highway.

And I am indicating
how to go back.

But you cannot go back
by ignoring the mistakes.

You go back by going
into your mistake,

seeing how did it happen,
regression in time,

back to where you still
are good, onto the future,

and back on track.

And that's why it's so
exciting, because it works.

People may say, I'm so sad.

I'm so sad.

My mother died, and
I can't handle it.

Under the sadness is anger.

She went too soon.

She was supposed to stay here.

I'm so angry.

I'm all alone.

So, under anger is loneliness.

And then we go for
the loneliness.

And we find inner children
and probably past lives

where you have lost soul parts
that need to be retrieved.

They can go there themselves.

So, when they leave,
the side-effect

is they feel empowered,
because they did it.

Of course, I guide them.

That's my job, but
the client does it.

And that is the big difference
in the postmodern shamanism,

as I use the term, as opposed to
the shaman who travels for you.

>> By educating people about
the energetic anomalies that are

yet to be scientifically
proven, this calls them to rise

to the occasion of acknowledging
just how much we don't know.

Once this is acknowledged,
receptivity and sensitivity

to psychic phenomena
can be addressed.

This is the first
step to safeguarding

against life's shadow elements.

However, there is also the
flip side of this coin.

Those who are overly fascinated
by the world of psychedelics,

yet naive to the landscape,
are in danger of delusion,

and vulnerable to the
shadows that lurk therein.

It is believed by mystics, as
well as some psychotherapists,

that people can be hypnotized by
forces that work through them.

And it is believed that
these individuals become

driven to climb
corporate ladders

or inject themselves
into positions of power.

As ayahuasca tourism
is growing, newbies

are fascinated
with medicine work

and believe they will
be the next shaman.

Medicine worker,
Boa Cowee has seen

many accounts of this naivety
in ayahuasca communities.

>> It's kind of crazy.

In shaman, it's become
almost a dirty word in a way.

People start doing
medicine or maybe

drink ayahuasca
for the first time,

and they want to
become a shaman.

I've even met people who have
never drank ayahuasca who said,

I'm going to become a shaman.

I'm going down to Peru,
and I'm going to be that.

And drinking ayahuasca
does not make you a shaman.

Working with your
spirit helpers,

working with your people
can make you a shaman.

But it takes so it
takes a long time.

It takes five to seven
years to get to that point.

And it's diets, yes, it's
wisdom, it's learning.

But what happens is
this psychic dredging.

And when you get to that point,
you are that hollow bone.

You're that clear
person that can be there

without judgment for somebody.

And people who are just drinking
ayahuasca for the first time--

so what happens is that
people are going down there,

and they're drinking ayahuasca.

They think that they're
going to be the one that's

going to be the shaman.

But there is no
relationship-building, there's

no association,
there's no giving back.

Their ego gets
inflamed, and they

think that they're the
ones that are doing it.

And even if they
are, the medicine

will teach you that you
don't work like that.

The medicine works through you.

You are that hollow bone.

And to get to that point,
it takes a long time.

>> The "hollow bone" is a
term to represent the space

an authentic healer or
facilitator must cultivate

within themselves--

an attentive presence with
a focus on the illness

being healed rather than
the appearance it takes on.

Being a hollow bone means
to leave fear, excitement,

urgency, unnecessary judgment,
astonishment, and even

hope, out of the equation.

The healer understands
they are equivalent

to an electrical current
that closes the loop in order

for universal currents of life
to flow freely to the ones

seeking healing.

In this way, healing
is not seen as being

done from one healthy
person to a sick one.

Rather, illness is the
result of disconnection

from the flow of life.

So, the dangers of
psychedelic plants

is in their power to
connect or disconnect you,

depending on the
set and setting.

>> Set and setting is
of paramount importance.

There's nothing more important.

I have seen also people
20 years in a back ward

because they bad a trip,
which was also poorly handled

by psychiatrists.

They're given a big dose of
tranquilizers in the middle

and then put on
maintenance dosages

to make sure that the experience
will never complete itself.

And there are people who get
stuck in that in-between place.

>> Not only can the improper
use of psychedelics lead

to psychological illness,
but those who are genetically

predisposed to mental illness
find that psychedelic plants

may cause the issue to surface.

>> In our studies, we screen
out people that have any kind

of mental illness,
psychosis in the family,

first-degree relatives just to
prevent precipitation of sort

of an acute psychosis.

There are people out there--

you probably met them,
we've all met them--

who, you look at that guy,
and if you would think of them

taking a psychedelic, you
go, that person should never

take a psychedelic.

They're just not all there.

There are people with
bipolar disorder,

schizoaffective
disorders, things

like that-- shouldn't
be taking these,

because they're powerful
psychoactive drugs.

Schizophrenia typically
hits late adolescence, early

adulthood.

This is a time
when a lot of kids

are experimenting with drugs.

And I get cases from
email every once

in a while, where
someone has taken a drug

and clearly, they've
become schizophrenic.

And they go, did the
drug do this to my son?

Did the drug do
this to my daughter?

And what I say
is, probably, this

would have happened
anyway, because they're

at the right age.

And typically, stress will
produce an onset of psychosis.

>> Psychedelic plants open the
user up to far more unfiltered

information, and therefore,
is akin to sending more

electricity to a light bulb.

Those with predispositions
to mental illness

are perhaps unable to
handle the sudden influx

of new experience.

And eventually, they burn out.

Even those without
mental health issues

are at the risk of hidden
dangers of psychedelic plants.

>> Some of the unknown dangers
that psychedelics can have

for newcomers would include,
being overly excited about it,

overly excited about the
life-transforming nature of it,

having done it once, and
then wanting to do it again

and again.

And regular use like that,
overuse, is unhealthy.

And not a lot of
people talk about that

in the psychedelic
community, particularly

in like recreational settings.

They're non-addictive,
generally speaking.

So, people think that
they're always safe to use.

But there can be
moments where you've

had fun every time you've taken
them hanging out with friends,

and then all of a sudden,
you take it one time,

and you drop into a space
that you had no idea existed

and weren't prepared for.

And those can cause
mental-health crises.

And in uncontained
settings, the dangers

would be having
the police called,

or trying to
intervene unskillfully

in a situation that
may look really weird,

but isn't dangerous in itself.

There are also people who use
these medicines in unsafe ways

intentionally--

practitioners that might
not have the best intentions

either to get money from
someone or to manipulate them

emotionally, psychologically.

>> So, it only
takes about a year--

not even-- to become a brujo,
a witch, a witch doctor.

Somebody who practices
sorcery can actually

really hurt somebody just
by thinking about it.

>> "Brujo" is the Spanish
word for witch, or magician.

There are benevolent
brujas and white witches

that are basically shamans
and medicine workers.

But in some ayahuasca
circles, "brujo"

refers to a dark or
black witch, meaning

they use the same medicine
or methods as shamans,

but with deception, ill will,
and harmful intent to gain

power over others.

But how are the newcomers
to plant medicine

supposed to identify the
ulterior motives of shamans

before deciding with
whom to do ceremony?

>> I don't know if there is any
way to spot somebody that you

can say, well, this
guy is a brujo.

And I should not be here.

And you have to hang out
with them for a while

before you really know that.

One sign, I think, in
the context of Peru is

if they're putting toé, if
they're putting Brugmansia

into their brew,
that's a bad sign,

because Brugmansia
is a drug of power.

And they use it sometimes
by itself to essentially

make you very confused and
very susceptible to suggestion.

>> Toé-- is from the Brugmansia
of flowers of the Solanaceae

family, better known as
angel's trumpets, Datura,

or thorn apple.

These contain scopolamine,
which is a tropane alkaloid that

causes extreme suggestibility,
and even paralysis, which

has been used in dark circles
to convince people to give them

money, unwittingly
accept sexual advances,

or even to induce harm.

There are accounts of young
women from around the world

traveling to South
America for ayahuasca

and waking up after being
drugged and taken advantage of.

Even though these
situations are not the norm,

it is important to
know that dark magic

or deceitful
medicine work exists.

The best advice from those
deeply invested in healing

with plant medicine is
to do your homework.

Travel with friends.

And use your intuition
about the people you meet

and the situations
you fall into.

And remember that the
best dark magicians

will be the best at
disguising their intentions

and getting close under the
guise of friendship or wisdom.

But when the invisible
forces you're experiencing

seem too great to withstand,
remember that even

the most powerful
shadows are obliterated

by the smallest hint of light.

>> We are more than meets
the eye, especially--

and usually our limited sensory
world of the third dimension--

that we often, unless
we can see spirits--

there are some
individuals-- but most of us

are limited in our
five senses until we

take a psychedelic
or something happens

that opens up our perception.

But in that moment where we
might be having a difficult

time, people from the beginning
of time have found that there

are other energies that exist
that we cannot necessarily see,

but that exist nonetheless,
and that if we asked

for their help, that they
can guide us and assist us.

In some cultures, we
call them the angels.

Or it could be
Michael or Gabriel.

Or it could be even Yahshua
or Buddha in some cultures.

In the Native American,
it might be the spirit

of the bear or the elk.

>> Spirit guides,
angels, patriarchs,

and matriarchs from
timeless myths--

all of them serve
the same purpose.

Human consciousness
is free of all form,

yet becomes most powerful in
this world when it's given form

to work through.

This is how our limited
minds grasp unlimited power

and give it direction.

No matter which guides
or helpers we choose,

the importance is to acknowledge
that we, too, all of us

are capable of
directing consciousness

for harm or protection.

And psychedelic plants
amplify this innate power.

So, how is it that the
same plants can be used

for two polar opposite results?

>> I now have the
feeling that science,

current materialistic science,
no matter how sophisticated,

is naive if it does not
include these hidden dimensions

of reality.

We had years ago, a
wonderful conference where

Humphrey Osmond was present.

And he addressed this issue.

And he said, can you imagine
a discussion about a knife?

Is the knife this very
diabolical weapon,

or is it a useful tool?

And imagine that you
would have a debate where

one of these persons
who would be present

would be Chief of New York
Police who would be talking

about all the murders that were
committed in back lanes in New

York City.

And you would have
the Surgeon General

who would say, wait a minute.

With the right kind of training,
you can do fantastic things

with a knife.

And you would have
a housewife who

would be thinking
about it as a tool

to cut salami or a vegetable.

And you would have an artist
who would think about carving

beautiful things from wood.

That we would understand
that we are not

talking about the knife.

The knife is a tool that can
be used in many different ways.

And the same with psychedelics--
there are used for healing.

They are used for inducing
spiritual experiences.

But they're also used
by the military--

horrible experiments.

The CIA-- including experiments
on our own population

and in San Francisco and so on.

I have tremendous
awe and respect

for what psychedelics can
do on both sides, depending

on the set and setting,
depending how they are used.

They are powerful tools.

Aside from dark magicians
or medicine workers

using these plants as
personal power moves,

it must be noted
that psychedelics

have been used by
governments experimenting

on their own people.

In the mid-1900s, the
Central Intelligence Agency

was fascinated with
psychedelics for mind control,

as well as other wartime
tactics and began

conducting experiments on
soldiers and college students.

Then on August 16 of 1951,
the town of Pont-Saint-Esprit

was dosed with LSD.

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

- The CIA funded Fort
Detrick to an experiment

there involving aerosol LSD
sprayed in the small village.

That affected 500
people in that village.

There were three suicides.

And about 40 people were carted
off to a nearby insane asylum

as a result of that experiment.

[END PLAYBACK]

>> Although much of these
accounts can be frightening

to accept, by taking a
sobering look at human behavior

throughout the ages, we
shouldn't be surprised that

those with ill intentions will
seek advanced means of getting

what they wish.

So, the way forward, in a
safe and intelligent manner,

is to understand the protections
we have available to us.

The power of psychedelics
to open the mind

to new information is not
simply to make the world look

better than it is.

It's to address the
shadow side of all life.

In Buddhism, there are three
steps to truly honoring

the whole of existence.

First is right sight.

Second is right understanding.

And thirdly is right action.

Even though action is the way
to bring change into this world,

that action will
always be polluted

if you do not see the
world as it truly is.

And if you don't see it clearly,
understanding it is impossible.

Psychedelics help
achieve this goal.

They don't spoon-feed
us the answers,

but they do dismantle unhealthy
beliefs that muddy our vision.

They offer new
perspectives to worldviews.

And because of this, a
new and more relevant

understanding of the
actual world we live in

can organically assemble itself.

So, how did the
spiritual traditions

of the ancient past view and
deal with the shadow side?

>> Well, the concept of the
shadow side and the way that

you talk about it is big
in many different cultures.

I think, as it relates to yoga,
it tends to be talked about

in a kind of new-agey way,
that from my experience,

from the traditional
yoga standpoint,

I would say that the shadow
side is more this idea

of the unconscious
or the subconscious--

the idea of Samskara.

In yoga, the word "Samskara"
means a habit or a pattern.

It's like this deep,
grooved pathway

that we just tend to fall into.

The mannerisms that we
do, the way that we speak,

the emotional
habits that we have,

the things that we keep having
show up in our life over,

and over, and over
again, we're like,

how am I still in
the same thing--

that's a Samskara.

It's this it's almost like we're
being ruled by another force.

But in yoga, we would
say that we're just being

ruled by our unconscious self.

>> It might seem that if the
shadow side is merely our own

subconscious mind, then other
individuals or entities cannot

penetrate this realm and
complicate our experience.

However, it was postulated
by Carl Gustav Jung

that there is a collective,
unconscious realm

that all people share.

If this is true, the
landscape of the unconscious

would be a shared territory
that other sentient beings can

use to enter other subconscious
minds, meaning that the yoga

perspective might fit perfectly
with psychic attacks reported

by shamanic and
spiritual practitioners.

Even though there is
currently no technology

to verify the existence
of these realms,

countless people
are still imbibing

psychedelic substances,
entering the unknown,

and coming back with tales
of spirits and entities

with all kinds of motives.

University of Pennsylvania
neuroscientist Dr. Andrew

Newberg has been studying the
relationship of brain function

and states of consciousness.

He found that the parietal
lobe of the brain in Tibetan

Buddhist monks becomes
deactivated while

in meditation.

This area of the
brain is said to be

responsible for giving us
a sense of our orientation

in time and space.

So, as meditation causes this
brain region to go offline,

the sensation of leaving the
body and the suspension of time

ensues.

Dr. Newberg has called this
the "neurotheological model."

In other words, brain
function is the phenomenon

which gives rise to mystical
or religious-type experiences.

However, some believe
that mystical events

are not caused by the brain,
but simply correlated.

Symptoms in the brain are
seeing at the same time

as the experience.

So, if there are
really shadow entities

with their own
capacity to think,

or if these are just
unknown compartments

of human intelligence, what
communication mechanism

allows us to become
aware of them at all?

Ancient and shamanic cultures
may have proposed the idea

that through cycles of time
and in vibrations of matter,

these may account for all
phenomena and the unity

between our individual conscious
minds and the Universal Mind.

>> Many indigenous cultures had
an idea that the basis of all

of manifested creation is either
sound, or certain geometries,

or certain frequency
patterns-- certain numbers.

And the Mayans and the Aztecs--

they encoded this into
not only their calendar,

but in their system of how
they structure their society.

And they recognize that our
body is a set of vibrations.

Our part is pulsing, our
breath, our brain waves,

every cell of our
body is vibrating.

And then we have
all the rhythms.

And if they knew that there was
a certain set of frequencies

that were the fabric, that just
these certain notes or numbers

were what we encoded into
our system of culture, then

we would be in harmony
with the cosmos.

They would even use
breathing practices,

along with meditation
and intention,

to align themselves
with these patterns.

And from this,
they would achieve

altered or expanded states.

This is where yogis, just like
other shamanic traditions,

actually start to use sound.

So, there's an understanding
that sound is vibration

and that vibration is at
the essence of everything.

And usually, our awareness
is caught in all this noise

and sound of the outside world.

So, as we sit, we breathe, we
start to draw awareness in,

and then we focus the
awareness on something--

one-pointed concentration.

So, we work with quieting the
mind, withdrawing the senses,

and merging with and resting
in this place of awareness that

is beyond just the ups and downs
of the mind and the emotion.

And while both are real--

because your mind still exists,
your emotions still exist,

they're never going to go away--

we just start to
step away from that

that's our only identification.

>> There are some that say
identifying with darkness

and shadow is the way we
hand over power to it.

But the traditional
practices that

have survived thousands
of years acknowledge

that the shadow side
is a phenomena that

will never go away.

It's merely the way
that light works

in a world of objects and form.

Day fades to night, and
light goes into hiding.

The daily activity
falls into sleep.

And waking consciousness
goes dormant.

Light touches a leaf
and casts a shadow.

These are natural and
beautiful phenomena.

And when all is said and
done, the dark aspects of life

are our greatest teachers.

The sages and adepts
of times long ago,

as well as wise gurus
and savants today,

have only one thing
to say when they

peek behind the veil
of their own mind

and see the darkness
of the world.

Thank you.

Thank you for calling
attention to my blindness

and giving me the
gift of right sight

so that I may rightly understand
what lurks in the shadows

and act in love and
protection of all life.

Up next, join us
as we shed light

on the expanded states of
consciousness in the dream

state and what this can teach us
about psychedelic experiences.