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