Millions of people use plant medicine every year under various circumstances. Little focus is often taken on how to integrate and embody these visionary states into everyday life.  It’s my great pleasure to be in this virtual room together with Dr. Katherine D. Coder, who is working in this field for over 10 years.  There’s three main areas of focus that we will touch upon in this episode: How do we best integrate plant medicine after the ceremony ends? What role does trauma play in integration? The intersection of spiritual awakening and social change. Like always in my podcast series, and handing over to you: What are the pivotal biographical moments that made you the human being that you are and show up with your purpose in the way you do? When the Ceremony ends: How do we best integrate plant medicine? Psychedelics are very seductive! Introducing Visionary Plant Medicine Integration: Power and Pitfalls How much ceremony is too much ceremony? And, when is ceremony not the best next step? If your shaman is not from your culture or local to you, what can you do to integrate after a ceremony? Who do you turn to? Especially highlighting the differences in traditional and “western/integrated/neo-shamanic settings” What do you do when ceremony reveals trauma? How can you find and trust the “right guides” with a trauma informed background. What kind of support do you need post-ceremony to help yourself fully heal?  How can you ground your work with visionary plants and walk the teachings in your daily life? Especially focus on psycho spiritual discipline and practices. What role does trauma play in integration? somatically informed and trained facilitators bringing the visionary state back into soma to be fully embodied, importance of working with dissociation and gently shifting out of the trauma-based identity Example – deep sense of something being “wrong” with me Archetypal death-rebirth cycle Sharing some of your own healing practice & offerings The intersection of spiritual awakening and social change Promotion of Compassionate Action in Premodernity: Indigenous traditions, The Axial Age, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions, Indian religious traditions: Hinduism and Buddhism, Ancient Greek traditions Moving Toward the Interdependence of Social Action and Spirituality & Reconsidering the path of spiritual development Contemporary Socially Engaged Spirituality Social action as a spiritual practice Varieties of socially engaged spirituality How can we ensure that all these peak experiences people get do not further spiritual narcissism?  Dr. Katherine Coder is an awakener of evolutionary potential and a guide to remember one’s birthright and soul essence. She weaves the ancient wisdom into the now, serving as a vessel for the Divine Feminine in modern times. She holds the form and the formless, facilitating the integration of the known with the unknown. Her transformative work connects body, mind, heart and Soul and seeks to meet each person as and where they are in the journey of life. Her stance is to recognize the fundamental Truth in each person, honor them as that Truth, and begin the work that needs to be done to bring a person to this essential nature. Her specialties include trauma resolution, attachment challenges, codependency, childhood and family wounding, women’s work, and motherhood. From a transpersonal perspective she helps her clients with deeper awakenings and integrations. She brings together Western clinical psychology, Eastern spiritual teachings, indigenous wisdom, and the continuous cultivation of the deep feminine in the world. She has taught lunar wisdom, elemental wisdom, herbal plant wisdom, elements of ceremony, and facilitated women’s work, council circles, workshops, retreats, year-long women’s feminine spirituality schools, and transformative book clubs.

Co-creation has been one of the most abused buzzwords in the last years, alongside maybe sustainability. So, why should cocreation as a cultural change technique be of such importance for the many challenges we face as humanity, from local communities, to city planning, to global governance issues? It’s my pleasure today to share this virtual room together with Jascha Rohr, who works with participatory design and cocreative processes and formats for over 25 years, on a micro, meso and macro scale. Like always, starting the podcast, and before we dive into the concepts, the scaffolding and architecture of the design of cocreation, I want to start with the human being. Jascha sketched his biography from the ecological question and exponential growth, permaculture and participatory design.  Basics of cocreation: What exactly does the term “cocreation” mean and why did you decide to write a whole book about it? Areas of application: In what social and organizational contexts do you see the greatest potential for the principles of cocreation? Jascha shares two examples, one to inject cocreative DNA into a process design on the parliamentary level in Germany around nutrition and another one on a whole city level, in the city of Frankfurt/Main for innovation in the schooling sector.  Discerning the basic ingredients: When we look at the models, concepts and methods such as the Cocreative Commune, Governance Design, and the Field Process Model - they all have a radically nondual process orientation and the breakdown of mental silos (e.g. in between inner and outer work). Challenges: What obstacles and challenges often arise when people try to cocreate, and how can they be overcome? Experience is the only way to understand, so we need opportunities to participate in good facilitated processes. What role does tech play in the area? I reckon through a full stack lens, there are many different layers and applications that are needed. So, what tech is available, and what tech solutions are lacking in the space to facilitate a co-creative process? Instead of again putting nature, society, and technology into mental and emotional silos, we explore the concept of “Gaia the Cyborg” from Donna Haraway. Future of cocreation: How do you see co-creative processes developing in the future? Are there any trends or developments that might become particularly relevant in the coming years? The pivotal moment will be a shift from methods to processes, to attitude, to paradigm.  Practical Tips: For listeners who are excited about the concept of cocreation after this conversation: What first steps do you recommend they take to implement co-creative principles in their own work or communities? It’s always the same principles: create a field of playfulness, potentiality, and agency, invite people to it, protect the qualities, otherwise let go and, above all and anything, trust the process. Jascha Rohr is philosopher, social entrepreneur, developer and facilitator of participatory and co-creative design processes. He works on new ways of collaboration that enable us to discover our collective potentials and develop solutions and ideas for acute social problems. My goal is to enable participation that can change the world we live in for the better. He is also founder, benefactor and board member of the Cocreation Foundation. I see myself as a process artist and hands-on intellectual. Using models, concepts and methods such as the Cocreative Commune, Governance Design and the Field Process Model, I believe I can support new attitudes and ways of seeing and working towards a more vibrant, sustainable world. He lives with his partner and wife Sonja Hörster, my son and a demented cat in an eco-settlement in the countryside near Oldenburg and in Berlin. Two co-daughters have already left home. https://www.partizipativ-gestalten.de  https://cocreation-foundation.org/  https://www.murmann-verlag.de/products/jascha-rohr-die-grosse-kokreation [in german]

From “Breaking Open the Head”, “Quetzalcoatl Returns”, “How Soon is Now?”, “Conspiranoia”, and “When plants dream”, I’ve been following the footsteps of Daniel Pinchbeck for over a decade now. I appreciate his radical honesty, speaking truth to power, slaughtering holy cows, and bridging many different areas of exploration. Sometimes, your writing seems like advocating doomsday scenarios - and albeit many of the signs point in the wrong direction, I want to distill in our conversation today what gives you hope. Before that, let’s start with giving the listeners an overview of your body of work. Easiest is to run through your oeuvre, the books, and articles you have written. I want to know what made you write these pieces, as well as how they shaped your reality forward. Please sketch from a meta-perspective how you see your body of work evolving from “Breaking Open the Head”, “Quetzalcoatl Returns”, “How Soon is Now?”, “Conspiranoia”, “When plants dream”. What were the crucial, pivotal points that moved you from one paradigm to the other? How do your personal experiences link to your body of work? What’s the quintessence from your own work?  What body of work are you currently working on? What gives you the most hope? I know you reference yourself more on the pessimistic side but nevertheless, what are signs of hope? http://www.pinchbeck.io/  

Key Arguments from Post-Capitalist Philanthropy: Capitalism has inherent flaws that perpetuate inequality, environmental degradation, and social injustices. Philanthropy, as practiced within the capitalist system, often maintains the status quo and fails to address root causes. Post-capitalist philanthropy seeks to transform the underlying systems and structures that create and perpetuate societal problems. Philanthropists should prioritize systemic change, challenge power imbalances, and support movements working towards equitable and sustainable futures. Collaboration and solidarity among philanthropic organizations and grassroots movements are essential for effective systemic change. Key Arguments from Alnoor Ladha Capitalism's focus on profit maximization and growth leads to exploitation of people and the planet. Philanthropy, in its current form, acts as a Band-Aid solution that fails to address the root causes of systemic problems. Philanthropists must shift their focus from charity and individual projects to challenging and transforming the systems that perpetuate inequality and environmental destruction. Genuine change requires redistributing wealth and power, democratizing decision-making, and centering marginalized communities. Social and environmental justice movements are critical catalysts for systemic change, and philanthropists should support these movements by leveraging their resources and networks. Podcast Questions How can post-capitalist philanthropy challenge the systemic flaws of capitalism and contribute to radical systemic change? What are the limitations of traditional philanthropy in addressing root causes, and how can we move towards a more transformative approach? What strategies can philanthropists employ to actively challenge power imbalances and support movements working towards equitable and sustainable futures? How can collaboration and solidarity between philanthropic organizations and grassroots movements strengthen the impact of systemic change efforts? What role does wealth redistribution, democratizing decision-making, and centering marginalized communities play in catalyzing genuine and lasting change? How can philanthropists effectively leverage their resources and networks to support social and environmental justice movements? Finally, since the book is about anything post-capitalist: How do you envision a post-capitalist society? Alnoor Ladha is Co-director of Transition Resource Circle, Council Chair for Culture Hack Labs and Co-author of “Post Capitalist Philanthropy”. From 2012 to 2019 he was the co-founder and executive director of the global activist collective The Rules. He holds an MSc in Philosophy and Public Policy from the London School of Economics. He lives in Costa Rica at Brave Earth, a center for applied cultural transition.

Paving the Path for a Sustainable Planet When I look back at the last 38 episodes, quite a lot of them focus on the lever that money has. Money makes the world go round, as the saying goes. So, before we dive deeper into the nitty-gritty of impact investing - and the why, how, and through what you make a difference, I want to start with the human being, Alessa Berg. Who are you as a person, what do you care about, and why are you building what you’re building? Let’s reverse your journey. So, where are you standing now, beyond Top Tier Impact with ESG360 and the upcoming series on Gaia TV? Please share with us your personal journey that led you into the realm of impact investing. What was your initial spark of interest, and how did you nurture it into your current career? What is Top Tier Impact? How do you differentiate it from other networks of impact investors? What is your personal vision behind the creation of Top Tier Impact? How does it align with the wider objectives of sustainable and socially responsible investing? Where do you see the market for impact investing currently? In this context, do you see yourself more as a market-maker, or as an adopter?  How do you address the issue of ESG criteria sometimes being used as greenwashing instruments in impact investing? What steps can we take to prevent this? Please highlight some of the investments you have made, especially those that have had significant systemic leverage across sectoral boundaries? Why do you believe that impact investing is crucial for the transition towards a planetary civilization, particularly at this critical juncture in human history? Can you shed some light on the potential you see in Blockchain and DLT for enhancing the transparency, accountability, and impact of your investments? is an entrepreneur, investor, and active board member of several companies. Swiss-born and fluent in six languages, Alessa created her first business at eleven years old, and has been investing in the blockchain and biotech sectors since graduating from Oxford University in 2012. After covering product at early-stage technology startups, Alessa worked in private equity at Blackstone, and in venture capital at Mosaic Ventures. She’s the youngest member of her Oxford degree’s advisory board.  Alessa is the co-founder of ESG360, a climate and ESG risk management SaaS platform that enables its enterprise clients to quantify the financial impact of climate and ESG factors, then take strategic decisions on that basis. Alessa Berg speeches. Alessa also founded Top Tier Impact (TTI) to accelerate the mainstream adoption of impact and sustainability. TTI has become the global ecosystem of leaders focused on the critical issues of our time, present across more than 45 countries. For Alessa and TTI, “impact” represents a positive paradigm shift towards a sustainable, equal and joyous society. https://www.toptierimpact.com https://www.alessaberg.com/ Alessa Berg https://esg360.io

Hosts: Alistair and Alex The conversation focused on personal transformation, indigenous traditions, and working with sacred plant medicine Alex shares her journey from a career in Western medicine to exploring Ayahuasca and personal growth Exploring Ayahuasca and Campbell Ceremony Alex's decision to follow her excitement and leave her career in western medicine Alex's discovery of Ayahuasca and the transformative path it led her on Alex's training in the use of Kambo ceremony after learning about its potential medical benefits Alistair's curiosity about Kambo and inquiry into Western medicine's stance on it Benefits and Risks of Kambo Medicine Discussion on Kambo, a peptide extracted from frog secretion, as a medicine Alex's personal experiences using Kambo to treat health issues and addiction Exploring the animistic philosophy of perceiving everything as having higher intelligence or spirit Energetic Centers and Kambo Medicine Alistair and Alex's discussion on the different energetic centers impacted by Kambo medicine Highlighting the importance of following protocols and disclosing any health issues before using Kambo Kambo's potency in flushing through the entire meridian system Plant Medicines and Self-Reflection Alex and Alistair sharing their experiences with plant medicines, including Kambo and mushrooms Alex's journey to becoming a mushroom healer and acknowledging the pitfalls of ego leading to burnout Burnout and Shamanic Training Alex's experience with burnout, therapy, and shamanic training Exploring the energetic and healing potential of mushrooms Emphasizing the importance of self-work and due diligence when choosing a spaceholder Supporting Indigenous Communities and Plant Medicine Discussion on the hosts' involvement with indigenous communities and plant medicine Emphasis on reciprocity, friendship, and avoiding pedestalizing indigenous people while supporting their communities Healing Power of Plant Medicine and Consciousness Shift The healing potential of plant medicine and the need for a quantum leap in consciousness and healing Mention of Alex's potential participation in a music and medicine event in Berlin, pending personal considerations Conclusion: Recap of the main points discussed in the episode Invitation for listeners to explore personal transformation, indigenous traditions, and sacred plant medicine

Luca Ruggeri Co-Founder & Platform Design Micro-Enterprise Lead Electronic engineer since 2003, he has worked in the telecommunications industry for 10+ years with large corporations. From 2013, struck by lean & agile thinking, he began to engage with startups up to co-found one in the context of smart mobility and cleantech, selected and funded by the EU (Incense) among the best 28 cleantech startups in 2016. Well connected with the local entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem as a director of Roma Startup and mentor/advisor of some startups, he is an expert in change management, service & process design, the impact of technology, and business model innovation. Consultant for the Italian government on the use of emerging technologies (above all AI & DLT) till 2020, he coordinated the task force of AI experts that led to the first whitepaper on AI for public administrations in 2018. Since 2016, he has been firmly committed to the development of the Platform Design Toolkit and co-founded Boundaryless in 2018. https://www.boundaryless.io/  What we do:  https://boundaryless.io/our-approach/  LINKS: https://www.clubofrome.org/publication/the-limits-to-growth/  https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doughnut_Economics:_Seven_Ways_to_Think_Like_a_21st-Century_Economist 

“Making inner, personal development accessible to large parts of the population is a prerequisite for stable and flourishing democracies.” There seem to be patterns that connect individual personal development (cognitive, moral) to the development of societies through stages from pre-modern, to modern, to post-modern and beyond. The question is then, how can we collectively raise the level of consciousness of the citizens? Through which means? And what can we learn from societies collapsing? And with the looming fate we collectively face, where many signs of the omni-crises point into collective Armaggedon and Apocalypse until the end of this century, where do you personally see signs of hope? What could be a “third attractor” beyond the extremes of surveillance state capitalism China style and late stage extractive capitalism in the West?  Whereas it seems clear to us that the meta-crises, omni-crises and meaning-crisis are all interlinked, what are ways to build the capacities for meaning making to adresse the many converging global challenges? As you spent more than a decade exploring with the leading renegades and experts the field of societal development, what are your main takeaways? What can we extrapolate from the Nordic Secret? Meaning the uprise of Scandinavia due to large investments into public education? From the many endeavors you are supporting as a philanthropist and serial social entrepreneur, what are promising examples? From all the initiatives and projects you helped kick-start, what will you do differently in the years ahead? What is the legacy you want to leave behind? Do you see a realistic change in the next decades ahead that some of the code explored in your books, moves into more mainstream applications? Or the other way put, are there already large scale applications of personal development into societies that you see taking fruition?  Tomas Björkman has a long career behind him as entrepreneur in a variety of businesses within financial services, IT, property and banking – working all over Europe. He founded Investment Banking Partners AB and served as chairman of EFG Investment Bank. In 2008 Tomas established Ekskäret Foundation in Stockholm. The foundation has established a conference facility on its island Ekskäret in the Stockholm archipelago. The mission of the foundation is to facilitate personal development and social change with the aim to help create a more conscious society. A special focus of the foundation is supporting the development of social entrepreneurs and the understanding of the complexities of social change. The foundation also operates the Ekskäret Klustret co-working space in central Stockholm with the aim to bring together organizations working towards a more conscious society. Tomas is also a member of the Club of Rome, a fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Science and a fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Science. Among Tomas' initiatives are the Perspectiva Institute in London, Co-Creation Loft in Berlin, the Emerge media initiative (www.whatisemerging.com) and the digital platform for personal growth: 29k.org. Tomas has published three books: The Market Myth (2016), The Nordic Secret (2017, co-authored with Lene Andersen) and The World We Create (2019). https://www.tomas-bjorkman.com  https://www.whatisemerging.com  https://systems-souls-society.com https://www.innerdevelopmentgoals.org  https://29k.org   

Is there any methodology or framework that can help us approach creatively and solve the many entangled wicked issues we face collectively.   I want to start with a quote:   “In the past, changing the self and changing the world were often regarded as separate endeavors and viewed in either-or terms. But in the story of the Great Turning, they are recognized as mutually reinforcing and essential to one another.”  ― Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone, Active Hope In my own biography from an early age I was overwhelmed with what today is called the omni-crisis, multi-crisis or poly-crisis. When we look at the state of affairs on planet Earth, we are faced with runaway climate change, many of the crucial planetary boundaries crossed, large macro-economic changes away from a Western dominated narrative and exploitative late stage capitalism going haywire. It seems we need to adjust to chaos. But I reckon most listeners will agree, that’s not what we are used to in our brains that pretty much haven’t changed since we roamed the Earth as hunters and gatherers.  So, where does Human System Dynamics (HSD) fit into the puzzle of the Great Turning? “Certainty used to be the foundation of knowledge and action. Those days are gone. Today, uncertainty is the only certainty. HSD’s Pattern Logic helps you make decisions and take action, even when you can’t predict or control anything in your world.” Please explain that quote from the website.  If I got it right, HSD is not a ™ but an open source methodology that everyone can nudge, tweak, integrate into her respective toolbox? What do you think is the cooperative advantage that follows that open source approach? Is HSD more than “just” another change management methodology? Please start with describing HSD, at best by using a hands-on example? What are the crucial ingredients of HSD? What’s the vision? I read on the website “Our Vision: People everywhere thrive because we see patterns clearly, seek to understand, and act with courage to transform turbulence and uncertainty into possibility for all.” What does that mean in practice? Please highlight some best practice examples and success stories where HSD has made a difference. Where do you see the future of HSD? What’s the legacy you want to leave behind? Dr. Glenda Eoyang  works with public and private organizations to help them thrive in the face of overwhelming complexity and uncertainty. She is a pioneer in the field of human systems dynamics (HSD), which she founded. Through Human Systems Dynamic Institute, Glenda uses her Models and Methods to help others see patterns in the chaos that surrounds them, understand the patterns in simple and powerful ways, and take practical steps to shift chaos into order. Her clients include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oxfam International, Canada School of Public Service, Cargill, Fraser Health Authority (BC), and Roche/Genentech. Glenda’s latest book, with co-author Royce Holladay, is Adaptive Action: Leveraging Uncertainty in Your Organization (Stanford University Press, April 2013). https://www.hsdinstitute.org 

In episode 34 of our podcast, we delve into the current state of Web3 amidst recent crypto market downturns, with a specific focus on Cerulean Ventures and their investment strategy. While some remain skeptical about the transformative potential of blockchain technology, others fail to discern meaningful endeavors from mere speculation. Cerulean Ventures, however, believes in the regenerative power of natural assets and backs crypto and Web3 companies that are building the necessary infrastructure and tools for scaling climate impact. By taking a hands-on approach, they assist their portfolio companies across various domains, from technical aspects to marketing and operations. One significant theme explored is the shift from ownership to stewardship of the Earth, facilitated by Web3 and blockchain technology, which enables novel forms of value exchange and interlinked hyperlocal communities. We highlight examples of promising initiatives, such as stakeholder governance and accounting systems for nature, alongside the regenerative renaissance—a term emphasizing the regeneration of soil, biodiversity, and other natural assets. While some aspects of Web3 are overhyped, Cerulean Ventures remains focused on unlocking value through interblockchain communication and other infrastructural innovations. The episode concludes with a call for discernment in evaluating Web3 initiatives and emphasizes the potential of Web3 and the regenerative renaissance in unlocking systemic change and shifting towards stewardship of the Earth. For more information, visit Cerulean Ventures at cerulean.vc. Jahed Momand co-founded Cerulean Ventures with his partner Matthew Stotts. Cerulean Ventures backs crypto / web3 companies building the infrastructure and tools necessary to scale climate impact in this decade. Cerulean Ventures is an investment firm that believes natural assets will unlock the next $50 trillion in growth, while incentivizing the regeneration of Earth through new coordination technologies. We focus on the ecosystems in Cosmos Network and Regen Network, but invest actively outside it, as we believe the value unlocked by interblockchain communication (IBC) and other infrastructural innovations will rapidly scale climate impact through user-focused web3 tools. We take a deeply hands-on approach informed by our own experience and background as founders, helping our portfolio with everything from the technical (mechanism design, product management, data engineering) to marketing and operational (community engagement, governance, tokenomics design, recruiting). He also actively contribute to DAOs, as a steward to both PrimeDAO and GnosisGuild. https://cerulean.vc