By Contribution
Animism, Ancestors, and Psychedelics
with Diana Davis, Kirra Swenerton, and TBD
Thursday, August 8
90 min each | 12:00 LA | 3pm New York | 21:00 Berlin
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Our Invitation
This fourth gathering in our five-part series will focus on the role of psychoactive substances in ritual arts, personal healing, and work for cultural change. Presenters will share from their experience as psychologically grounded ritualists and long-term facilitators of consciousness-transforming offerings in service to life, community, and cultural healing.
Amidst the catastrophe of our times, the Earth still sings through and around us with ancient wisdom and magic. This innate belonging and joy is fundamentally good and also our nature as human beings. In this series, we’ll ask how animist ethics—respect and love for our greater web of kinship—can help us to navigate accelerated Earth changes and bring fresh perspective and energy to the traditions that already nourish our path.
This event will be hosted by Kirra Swenerton with the Ancestral Medicine Practitioner Network and esteemed guest Diana Davis. Kirra is an edge-walker, healing artist, scientist and specializes in plant medicine and ceremonial psychedelics. Diana is an American Indian Researcher and educator with a PhD in Natural Resources and Water Resource and CEO of NativeSci LLC, co-editor of the Journal of Native Sciences. See below for more on their work in the world.
We’ll explore topics like:
- In what ways can respect for tradition and animist and ancestral teachings deepen our experiences with psychoactive medicines?
- What helps in honoring a calling to psychoactives while avoiding cultural appropriation or careless approaches to strong medicines?
- How can work with consciousness-altering substances support grounded and lasting work for personal, family, and cultural healing?
Our time will include:
- Direct, pragmatic teachings from respected psychonauts and ritualists
- A guided practice to access ancestral wisdom on psychoactive medicine
- Live Q&A with our esteemed presenters
Our time will be held in a kind and culturally inclusive spirit for participants of all backgrounds. Those new to the material as well as seasoned herbalists are likely to find something of benefit.
This event is part of a larger series that includes four other teachings on Animism, Ancestors and…Astrology, Activism, Psychedelics, and Yoga. This series also serves to highlight two of our foundational courses, Ancestral Lineage Healing and Practical Animism. Thousands have taken these courses since 2017 and have gone on to take the teachings into their practices, professions, families, and activism.
Price
Accessibility is a core value at Ancestral Medicine. We offer several pricing tiers, and we leave it to you to select the most appropriate tier. The ranges in pricing aim to take into consideration global economic disparities, historical injustices, and personal circumstances. The system is designed for those with more to register in ways that support those with less.
Price
- This is the standard cost that allows us to sustain our work. We encourage most participants to register at this level.
Supporter
- This rate is for those with relative financial abundance and/or those who wish to help us to offer economic hardship rates.
Reduced Cost
- This rate is for low income folks in the Global North, most in the Global South, and others in economic hardship.
Secure your spot at all five events and save 28%
- Animism, Ancestors, and…Astrology, Herbalism, Activism, Psychedelics, and Yoga. Each session will be a lively 90 minutes of teachings with three guest panelists, a guided practice, and time for some questions and live interaction
Others in the Series
“You should see this world, a drop of dew, a bubble in a stream, lightning in a summer cloud, a phantom and a dream.” -Diamond Sutra, 9th century China
About the Presenters
Dawn D. Davis
Dawn D. Davis is a mother, a wife, CEO of NativeSci LLC, co-editor of the Journal of Native Sciences, a Newe and a citizen of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. Dawn is an American Indian Researcher and educator with a PhD in Natural Resources and Water Resources. Her research has focused on Peyote [Lophophora williamsii] decline and conservation efforts since 2006 and in natural and water resource management. Dawn has shared her research among Indigenous, academic, ethnobotanical, and psychedelic audiences nationally and internationally. Dawn enjoys spending time with her family, growing plants for tea, and being at home.
Kirra Swenerton
Kirra Swenerton is an edge-walker, healing artist and scientist. Kirra teaches ritual, nature reverence and regenerative ecology. Her dharma includes picking up trash and planting seeds, restoring vulnerable populations and revitalizing wild places. Kirra specializes in land and water tending, death and dying, dreamwork, depossession, plant medicine and ceremonial psychedelics. She is a minister, Iyengar Yoga sādhaka and völva, initiated in Old Norse ways. Kirra remains an avid student of her British, Irish, Armenian and Italian ancestors. She serves as watershed custodian of the Atihana Preserve and homestead in Northern California and inhabits the wider SF Bay Area. Learn More
