Episode description

Today on the Mushroom Hour Podcast we have the distinct privilege of being joined by Dr. Andy Letcher. Dr. Letcher is a writer, performer and scholar of religion who began life as an ecologist, completing his D.Phil in Ecology at Oxford University. After a spell as an environmental activist during the 90s, especially during the anti-roads protests, he moved across to the humanities, completing a PhD at King Alfred’s College Winchester. He is an expert on contemporary alternative spiritualities, especially modern Paganism, neo-shamanism and psychedelic spiritualities. He is especially interested in the tangled and sometimes tortuous relationship between science and spirituality, and in so-called dark green religion. He has written papers on: the distribution of mammals across continents; fairies; mysticism; and psychedelic spirituality. Andy is also the author of the comprehensive work “Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom” that examines enthnomycological research, legends and myths surrounding humanity’s relationship with psychoactive fungi.   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Ecologies, Environmentalism and Cries to the Moon
• What is Spirituality?
• Sensory and Cultural Inputs Birthing Religious Traditions
• Defining the Self
• Exploring “Semi-Permeable Self”, “Ecological Self”, “Community Self”
• Consciousness Fields, Panpsychism & Animism
• Symbiosis and Sympoiesis
• Are Psilocybe Mushrooms Guiding Human Culture?
• Are Psychedelics Going to Save Us from Ourselves?
• What does a Psychedelic-Informed and Ecologically Self-Aware Society Look Like?
• How Large a Role did Psychedelics Really Play in Ancient Cultures, Religions, Rites and Secret Societies?
• Are We Part of the Most Psychedelic and Mycologically Inspired Culture Ever?
• We are the Mushroom People   
• Psychedelics in Druidry and Other Future Research   

EPISODE RESOURCES:   

• Andy Letcher Website: http://andy-letcher.blogspot.com/   
• Andy Letcher Writings: https://independent.academia.edu/AndyLetcher  
•  "Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom": https://www.amazon.com/Shroom-Cultural-History-Magic-Mushroom/dp/0060828293  
• Schumacher College: https://campus.dartington.org/schumacher-college/   
• William Blake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake   
• Victor Turner: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Turner   
• Terence McKenna: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_McKenna   
• Carl Jung: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung   
• Donna Haraway: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Haraway   
• Huston Smith: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huston_Smith