94: Hunt Priest & Jessica Felix Romero - Ligare: Psychedelic Christians
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- Interview begins @ 6:02
In this episode of The Sacred Speak podcast, we explore the potential of the Christian church as a sanctuary for psychedelic healing. Our guests, Hunt and Jessica, seek to reconnect the worlds of psychedelics and organized religion, addressing the misinformation that has driven them apart for the past 50 years. They assert that the church must prioritize healing and work to rectify the damage caused by this disconnect.
Throughout our discussion, we delve into the concept of the church as a nurturing environment for fostering profound experiences, self-love, and personal growth through the exploration of one's relationship with their body and the importance of firsthand experiences. We also lay the groundwork for defining a "psychedelic Christian" and how this integration could lead to a more comprehensive understanding of how a divine encounter can be paired with the Christian faith.
Recurring themes in this conversation include social justice within the psychedelic movement, the democratization of psychedelics, the significance of mystical experiences, embracing one's true self within small community groups, the power of honesty and truth in community settings, the church's role in healing, and the experiences of people of color within psychedelic communities. Join us as we examine this thought-provoking and transformative topic.
Bio:
Hunt Priest is a priest in The Episcopal Church and the founding Executive Director of Ligare: A Christian Psychedelic Society, a non-profit network of Christian leaders educating themselves and those they lead about the intersection of open-hearted Christianity and the Psychedelic renaissance. A participant in a psilocybin study in early 2016, he had two life-changing mystical experiences under the care of a research team. His encounters with psilocybin opened him to the healing and consciousness-raising power of psychedelic medicines and changed the landscape of his work. Hunt believes the healing power of psychedelics should be in the toolkits of all who are healers of bodies, minds, and souls and can’t wait to be part of providing access for legal, safe, and guided experiences in a Christian setting. In April 2021 Hunt took an extended break from full-time parish ministry to expand his priesthood out into the emerging psychedelic landscape.
Jessica Felix Romero has over 16 years of experience in social justice advocacy, organizing, and communications. With a doctorate in conflict analysis and resolution, she integrates holistic system analysis and transformative design to help nonprofits advance social change. She is Vice President & Chief Strategy and Impact Officer at Sojourners, a faith-inspired nonprofit that works with Christians to put their faith into action in the passionate pursuit of social justice, peace, and environmental stewardship.
Jessica loves all things about food and spirituality - her pioneering doctoral research in El Salvador documents the transformational possibilities of conflict-resolution oriented food systems that feed people and nurture peace. She is a student of somatic writing and practitioner of embodied leadership. Her current work explores the intersections of spirituality, ancestral wisdom, psychedelics, and Christianity.
www.ligare.org
www.sojo.net
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At c.1 hour 20 Hunt reminds me of your conversation with Brian Muresku, and Christi!nity's possible origins. Worth a pod cast.
A wonderful conversation. Perhaps the way to move forward is to offer psilocybin retreats in a Christ based venues or retreat centers? I’m a retired Episcopal priest, and very open to these possibilities. Magic mushrooms have the potential to take committed spiritual seekers - within the faith community - deep into unimagined depths of faith. 🙏🏽
You are incredible!
I'm on the path. What a gift. Thank you for walking it with me.
Im on leesburg va wow!
BIG BIG LOVE, BROTHER JOHN!!!! You continue to inspire me.
Takes one to know one. Thank you, brother!
Love this man. Felt some resistance to this conversation, curiously enough; some Churchianity baggage. "Embodiment" is messy; there is no amount of fluffy language that can dress up lived experience which, at this moment in my own journey, James Hollis summarises Jesus' message:
"Therapy will not heal you, make your problems go away or make your life work out. It will, quite simply, make your life more interesting. You will come to more and more complex riddles wrapped within yourself and your relationships. This claim seems small potatoes to the anxious consumer world, but it is an immense gift, a stupendous contribution. Think of it: your own life might become more interesting to you! Consciousness is the gift, and that is the best it gets."
How does one console a positivist attitude with the embodied knowing entheogens instill? There's a conversation brother.
Thank you for your insightful comment. I deeply appreciate your willingness to grapple with these complex issues and the openness you've demonstrated in sharing your thoughts and personal experiences.
James Hollis' quote beautifully encapsulates the intricate and continually unfolding process of self-discovery. It is indeed a gift to find our lives and our selves increasingly interesting, and I believe this journey towards greater consciousness is truly what it's all about ... (and, I'll interview Hollis again very soon - episode will be out in July).
Your question regarding how one reconciles a positivist attitude with the embodied knowledge that entheogens instill is an intriguing one. On one hand, positivism is deeply rooted in the observable and measurable aspects of our reality. It largely revolves around empirical evidence, tending to leave little room for the subjective and experiential dimensions of consciousness that entheogens often reveal.
On the other hand, entheogens can instill a profound, embodied knowing that transcends our standard modes of perception and comprehension. This experience often feels more real and truthful than anything observable or measurable, presenting a direct challenge to the positivist worldview.
Marrying these two perspectives can indeed be a challenging task. It's a conversation that requires us to question our fundamental assumptions about the nature of reality, the validity of personal experience, and the limits of empirical knowledge.
Your comment inspires me to delve deeper into this conversation in future episodes. I believe it's a dialogue that holds immense potential for expanding our collective understanding of consciousness and reality.
Thank you once again for your thought-provoking contribution. Your reflections inspire us all to keep questioning, exploring, and growing.
@The Sacred Speaks I imagine that dialogue as a triangle, with "Synthesis", consciousness, linking those perspectives. I've experienced states in climbing, for example, that are strongly embodied - enforcing attention to the present, immediate environment. It's a tricky one. More sharing.
@The Sacred Speaks if you feel a conversation with me is a way forward, happy to do so.
The sacred mushroom helped to make me a better person. The sacred mushroom helped to heal me of substance abuse.
I'm teaching on this subject currently. What a relief you must feel now that you are free from substance abuse!
@@TheSacredSpeaks Yes. The sacred mushroom also helped to make me a more spiritual person I never prayed much or studied sacred geometry until after I had a few trips of the sacred mushroom.
Hmm...justice...on who's terms? I'm smelling a lot of wokeness from Jessica the last 30 minutes or so...or am I missing something? I've come across enough inclusive language as a wrapper, a veil even, for divisiveness. Happy to be called out.
I love yoir channel but i feel like this lady has an agenda that is not centered in the well being and DDevelopment of was of healing. Even tho im a liberal my self. Her langauhe and points jsut feel like they are means to push the woke movement with "inclusiveness" for the sake of it and appeasing demographics and theres a himt of incensirity masked with polite specific language.
Appreciate your Work. 🖤🤍
Thank you ❤️🌓🌻