Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Can Scholars Talk to the Spirits?
When we discuss psychedelics, we are not merely addressing molecules, 5-HT2A receptor agonists, and laboratory research. Although we may not always be aware of it, we are also engaging with politics, culture, philosophy, climate change, cosmopolitics, and indigenous rights. Moreover, there are ideological dimensions and economic inequalities between the Global North and Global South that impact the international psychedelic field.In this presentation, we will explore several anti-colonial concepts, such as "Confluence," "Cosmophobia," and bring Indigenous perspectives from the Brazilian Amazon, to discuss how the psychedelic field can foster dialogues among diverse knowledge systems, ontologies, and epistemologies. Our aim is to build bridges between Western and traditional perspectives on sacred plants and psychedelics, and to liberate the psychedelic field from the Eurocentric monotheistic discourse in favour of a more dialogical, inclusive, and transformative approach to psychedelics.
Bio:
Dr. Glauber Loures de Assis is a researcher of sacred plants and their traditions, a Santo Daime Church Leader at his home in Brazil, and a psychedelic dad to 3 children. With his wife Jacqueline he is the Co-Founder of Psychedelic Parenthood Community. Dr. Emily Sinclair is an anthropologist of ayahuasca shamanism, a women's activist in the field, and a psychedelic single mother to her daughter Aeva. She is the Educational Program Co-ordinator for Psychedelic Parenthood Community.
Can Scholars Talk to the Spirits?
When we discuss psychedelics, we are not merely addressing molecules, 5-HT2A receptor agonists, and laboratory research. Although we may not always be aware of it, we are also engaging with politics, culture, philosophy, climate change, cosmopolitics, and indigenous rights. Moreover, there are ideological dimensions and economic inequalities between the Global North and Global South that impact the international psychedelic field.In this presentation, we will explore several anti-colonial concepts, such as "Confluence," "Cosmophobia," and bring Indigenous perspectives from the Brazilian Amazon, to discuss how the psychedelic field can foster dialogues among diverse knowledge systems, ontologies, and epistemologies. Our aim is to build bridges between Western and traditional perspectives on sacred plants and psychedelics, and to liberate the psychedelic field from the Eurocentric monotheistic discourse in favour of a more dialogical, inclusive, and transformative approach to psychedelics.
Bio:
Dr. Glauber Loures de Assis is a researcher of sacred plants and their traditions, a Santo Daime Church Leader at his home in Brazil, and a psychedelic dad to 3 children. With his wife Jacqueline he is the Co-Founder of Psychedelic Parenthood Community. Dr. Emily Sinclair is an anthropologist of ayahuasca shamanism, a women's activist in the field, and a psychedelic single mother to her daughter Aeva. She is the Educational Program Co-ordinator for Psychedelic Parenthood Community.
