SynergeticPressSymposiumandSalon

UnderstandingAyahuasca:FromIndigenousOriginsToNeoShamanism
JeremyNarby*MartinaHoffmann*DavidLuke*FrancoiseBarbiraFreedman*John
DolphinAllen*TerryWilson,PeterMoore,MusicbyELSTIR

PresentationsPanelDiscussionsDinnerVisionaryArtPoetryLiveMusicDancing

TheOctoberGallery
24OldGloucesterStreet,LondonWC1N3AL
Holborn/RussellSquare

5November2016
Saturday,
2:3010:30PM
(Registrationopensat2:00PM)
Join leading authorities on cultural anthropology, psychology, ayahuasca and visionary art for an
enlightening afternoon Symposium, Dinner and evening Salon, as we explore the cultural history,
traditional and neo-shamanic practices, artistic and literary inspirations, therapeutic and ecological
dimensions of the sacred plant medicine from the Amazon. The afternoon symposium will feed your
mind and heart with compelling presentations and lively discussions, while the evening Salon will
continue the journey with spoken word, art, music and dance.

PROGRAMME
Symposium

2:00 Registration
2:30WelcomeAnnouncements/IntroductionsDeborahParrishSnyder&DavidLuke
2:45 DavidLukeTheEcology,CosmosandConsciousnessofAyahuasca
3:15 FrancoiseBarbiraFreedmanMedicinefromtheAmazonandPreservationofCulture
4:00 Break
4:15 MartinaHoffmannArt,ExpandedStatesandSpiritConnection
5:00 JeremyNarbyAyahuascaasAntidote
5:45 Break
6:00 PanelDiscussionwithallspeakersledbyDavidLuke
6:307:45DinnerintheGallery


Salon

8:00 WelcometotheSalonwithDaveLukeandtheCosmicSerpent
8:10 JohnDolphinAllenBiosphericPoetry
8:30 TerryWilsonreadingPerilousPassage
8:50 PeterMoore(PenDragon)PoetryofAncientMysteries
9:15 MusicbyElstir;MartinaHoffmannartprojections,andDancewiththeCosmicSerpent
10:30 Programmeends

AbouttheSpeakers:
Jeremy Narby, PhD, is an anthropologist and author of several books, including The
CosmicSerpent:DNAandtheOriginsofKnowledgeandIntelligenceinNature.Narby
has altered how we understand the Shamanic cultures and traditions that have
undergone a worldwide revival in recent years. He has traveled the globe from the
Amazon Basin to the Far East to probe what traditional healers and pioneering
researchersunderstandabouttheintelligencepresentinallformsoflife.
Franoise Barbira Freedman was born and raised in France before studying
anthropologyatCambridge,England.ShehashadclosetieswiththeJakwashLamista
ofPeruvianAmazoniaeversinceherdoctoralfieldworkinthelate70s.Herpilotproject
ofYakuMamay,nearIquitos,Peru,aimsatapplyingtheknowledgeofshamanicplants
to womens health. Mother of four children, she teaches Medical Anthropology at
CambridgeUniversityandalsocoordinatesBirthlight,acharitabletrusttopromotethe
enjoyableexperienceofpregnancy,birthandbabies.

DavidLukeisSeniorLecturerinPsychologyattheUniversityofGreenwichwherehe
teachesanundergraduatecourseonthePsychologyofExceptionalHumanExperience.
Hisresearchfocusesontranspersonalexperiences,anomalousphenomenaandaltered
statesofconsciousness,especiallyviapsychedelics,havingpublishedmorethan100
academicpapersinthisarea,includingfivebooks,mostrecentlyNeurotransmissions:
Essays on Psychedelics (2015). David is also director of the Ecology, Cosmos and
Consciousness salon and is a cofounder and director of Breaking Convention:
MultidisciplinaryConferenceonPsychedelicConsciousness.
Martina Hoffmann is a painter and sculptress. Her unique iconography has been
greatlyinspiredbyexpandedstatesofconsciousness;therealmsoftheimagination,
meditation, shamanic work and the dream state. Much of her imagery has deep
connectiontothesacredfemininewhilehersculpturalworkisundeniablyinfluenced
byAfricanenergy.ShestudiedartwithProfessorKiefer(fatherofAnselmKiefer)and
sculpting at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt with Professor
Spelmann.Herworkisexhibitedroundtheworld.
John Dolphin Allen is author of Me and the Biospheres (Synergetic Press), poet,
playwright whoinvented, conceived and cofounded the Biosphere 2 project the
worlds largest laboratory for global ecology ever built, setting a number of world
records in human life support. He conceived and cofounded several other projects
around the world pioneering in ecotechnics and exploration, including the Research
VesselHeraclitus,whichhassailedover250,000nauticalmilesaroundtheworld,up
the Amazon River for a twoyear ethnobotanical expedition in the late 80s in
collaborationwithProfessorRichardEvansSchultes,circumnavigatingSouthAmerica,
andtoAntarctica.(www.rvheraclitus.org)

Terry Wilson, author of Perilous Passage, writes in this work of fiction of his
apprenticeshipunderthetutelageofthelegendaryBrionGysin,painter/writer/inventor
andaccomplishedshamanoftheavantguard.TerrysworkincludesDreamsofGreen
BaseandDTrain.

PeterMoore(PenDragon)isamysticalpoetwhoseworkcelebratestheessentialunity
offleshandspirit,microcosmandmacrocosm.Workingbroadlywithintheframeofan
AvalonianBardictradition,hisworkseekstotranslatetheancientmysteriesofarich
cultural tradition into a darkly delightful, slyly erotic tapestry of contemporary
storytellingwiththecapacitytoenchantandastonishyoungandoldalike.

Elstirisa20yearoldelectronicaproducer.Hismusicblendsvariousinfluences,from
ambienttodowntempo.Thefirsthalfofhismusicalprocessisspentwitharecorder,
walkingaround,capturingsoundssuchasthecreakingofachair,oraforestambiance.
Thesecondhalfisaboutorganisingthese,andlayeringthemwithelectronics.Theset
that he is going to do at the October Gallery will also incorporate Amazonian field
recordingsandayahuasquerosongs,capturedinthesummer2015.

Eventdetailsandticketsonourwebsite:
http://www.synergeticpress.com/understandingayahuasca/

Mycellphoneyoucantextmeon:+15056035822.
Seeyousoon,Deborah