Hola Breakero!
It’s less than two weeks until this spring’s one-day event, Here & Now! We have been blown away by the response; with so many people keen to attend in-person we’re actively considering holding an autumn event, in addition to a few social evenings in the coming months. Watch this space!
Livestreaming (including access to recordings of the talks) is an option if you would like to join us remotely, with opportunities to ask questions.
The speaker schedule will be published shortly, as a note here on Substack, as well as emailed directly to all those who have bought tickets. You’ll hear from the BC Executive Committee, The Seed Sistas, Andy Letcher, Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes, Leor Roseman, Ashleigh Murphy-Beiner, Carolina Maggio, Rosalind MacAlpine, Chiara Baldini, Iryana Mosina, Darren-Paul Kley, Amanda Feilding, David Luke, Julian Vayne, Celia Morgan, Kurt Stocker, Maria Papaspyrou, and Alexander Beiner.
Amongst other things, we’ll have in-depth panel discussions on Psychedelic Education and Training, Filter Theories of Consciousness, Contemporary Clinical Practice, and two talks about the importance of festival culture, including research results on how people engage with the recreational and spiritual dimensions of psychedelic festivals, leading into a discussion. The day begins with a theatrical start from the Seed SistAs, bringing their characteristic iconoclastic and nourishing perspectives to the world of psychedelic medicine; the wider story!
All in all it looks to be a thought-provoking and entertaining day; acknowledging and honouring our past roots, attempting to become more aware of where we are right now, and looking to our future as ancestors of collective psychedelic spaces.
At our 2025 conference at the University of Exeter, we’ll have the time and budget to feature a lot more of the research, culture, and people from beyond Europe. Make a note of the dates for your diary; 17-19th April 2025
If you just can’t wait, you can find two of our finest speakers in conversation online this week, discussing ecology, altered states, and modern pagan practice. Details below!
Nikki
On behalf of the Breaking Convention team
Julian Vayne and Andy Letcher – In Conversation
Wednesday April 10th: Online and delayed viewing
Hosted by Treadwell’s
"From Druids to magic mushrooms and from the indigenous music of the British Isles to the contemporary use of the Fly Agaric Mushroom, join us for a magical conversation between Andy Letcher and Julian Vayne. Both speakers have written and lectured extensively on ecology, psychedelic history, modern pagan practice, the ancient rites of Eleusis and contemporary entheogenic culture. This meeting of manifesting minds is one you won't want to miss!"
Fundraiser Announcement from PsyCare UK!
Thanks to all your generous support and donations, we’ve raised over £10,000 through our winter fundraising campaign.
We’d like to take a moment to thank each and every contributor, donor, speaker, artist and volunteer who made this possible. We are filled with gratitude and give each and every one of you our heartfelt thanks.
As a fairly small, grass-roots charity, the money raised from this fundraiser will make a significant impact, helping us to cover our core costs and develop as an organisation. This will ultimately enable us to keep doing what we do; providing a safe, supportive environment for festival goers in need, offering welfare & harm reduction support.
Look forward to seeing you all in the fields this summer!
Love,
The PsyCare UK Crew x
This month’s featured paper: Psychiatric risks for worsened mental health after psychedelic use
Alessia Marrocu, Hannes Kettner, Brandon Weiss, Richard J Zeifman, David Erritzoe and Robin L Carhart-Harris
Journal of Psychopharmacology 2024 38:3, 225-235
https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811241232548
Background: Resurgent psychedelic research has largely supported the safety and efficacy of psychedelic therapy for the treatment of various psychiatric disorders. As psychedelic use and therapy increase in prevalence, so does the importance of understanding associated risks. Cases of prolonged negative psychological responses to psychedelic therapy seem to be rare; however, studies are limited by biases and small sample sizes. The current analytical approach was motivated by the question of whether rare but significant adverse effects have been under-sampled in psychedelic research studies.