There is something very interesting happening in Australia.
There is an acacia on the Australia Coat of Arms
Some call it Aussie-huasca or Aussiewaska, but more directly, it’s the drinking of highly psychedelic brews made from DMT-containing psychedelic acacia trees of Australia in combination with an MAOi-containing plant, usually Syrian rue.
The consequence of this, culturally, can be described as a growing underground movement of drinking these Acacia brews as a part of a uniquely Australian spiritual culture based in connection to the land and communication with its plants.
Ya, that’s a mouthful, and it’s more than that too. The experiences that the psychedelic acacia trees of Australia reveal, and the history of their consumption, open many more curious areas of exploration too. (I mean that figuratively, but of, literally as well!)
That larger area of potential exploration on the discussion of drinking the psychedelic acacia trees of Australia is what led me to invite a number of different experts on the subject to participate in this episode of the podcast, another Psychedelic Café.
We explore This central question:
“Where do the Australian psychoactive acacia species fit into the contemporary, local psychedelic scene and how does interaction with these species inform a deeper connection to this land and its dreaming?”
We talk about the history, pharmacology, and phenomenology of drinking the psychedelic acacia trees of Australia. As well as their conservation, challenges of learning to drink them with there being no known history of their ceremonial use, and the complications of using them in the context of colonialism. We also talk about plant intelligence, interspecies communication, and encounters with “the unseen realm” of spirits that exist beyond the human mind.
Nick Sun was an award-winning, international stand up comedian for 13 years. Then he drank Ayahuasca and had a malefic entity exorcism that ended a 12-year bout of depression. The sentient intelligence of the Gaian super-organism then informed him that the shit was going down and that she needed help. Following this experience, Nick’s life took a turn for the weird and he’s been living in a fantasy novel of his own making ever since, walking the plant medicine path for the past 5 years and relaying his experiences of his self-apprenticeship as a plant medicine facilitator on his popular, irreverent underground blog that he’s currently compiling into his first novel. Support him on Patreon.
Rohan B. is a former miner whose life was transformed by his encounters with Acacia and has since invested years into researching, exploring, experiencing, and learning from the various psychedelic acacias of Australia.
Dr. Liam Engel is a postdoctoral research fellow at Edith Cowan University’s School of Medical and Health Sciences. Liam is the founder of The Conseracacian Project, which has been helping to produce public education on the conservation and protection of the Australian acacias, especially amongst those using them for their psychedelic effects. He is also a passionate ethnobotanist.
Jef Baker heads the Sydney chapter of The Australian Psychedelic Society facilitating community film screenings, Q&A Panels, interviews, book clubs, and picnics and is involved with social media and community engagement. Jef also co-founded The 5-Hive forum and runs his own Facebook group Entheogenic Anthropology dedicated to discussion around the role of psychoactive substances in human history. Jef’s long-standing fascination with psychedelics also led him to complete his 2015 Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies and Communications with an Honours thesis analyzing the Deep Ecological themes of Ayahuasca Discourse. | He has been on the show here
Julian Palmer is a long-standing independent psychedelic researcher and the author of Articulations: On the Utilization and Meaning of Psychedelics. He is also a filmmaker, Ayahuasca facilitator, and the creator of Changa: a smokable combination of DMT and MAOi infused herbs. | He has been on the show here, here, and here
Episode Breakdown
Communicating with psychedelic acacia trees of Australia
Connecting to the spirit of the land
A growing language between humans and the acacia
Conservation of Acacia in the face of wild harvesting
The modern cultural context of acacia drinkers
Australian Psychedelic Acacia spirituality is an unexplored area of psychedelic anthropology
Acacia species that are orally active without separate MAOIs?
Psychedelic alkaloids in Acacia other than nn, DMT—e.g. NMT, 5-MeO-DMT, and other undiscovered alkaloids
Why plants produce alkaloids (beyond survival)
Experiential differences between the psychedelic acacia trees of Australia
problems and concerns for conversation and preservation
DMT and Acacia general usage patterns in Western Australia
Ask not what the plant can do for you, but what you can do for the plant
Finding a sustainable commercial source for the psychedelic acacia trees of australia
Will drinking the plants reconnect us with the land
Asking for permission
Learning the plants and how to take them with integrity without a culture to guide us
Psychedelic encounters with spirits — DMT, acacia, and “the unseen realm”
You can’t just chalk entity experiences up to ‘just a trip’
All non-human life has intrinsic value
Grow plants
Existence is just a joke but you have to take it seriously or it isn’t funny
Learn to en-joy
The message DMT is attempting to give humanity
Different plants from different lands, consumed on different lands, invite different insight
What Is The Psychedelic Café?
The Psychedelic Café is a structured conversational space exploring various, deep questions about the nature of mind, life, and reality.
Each cafe features a curated selection of 4-5 people to explore a question according to a specific structure, based on the method of Dharma Talking, a conversational technology from Jean Robertson, forged in The Liminal Space Agency Meta-Monastery, and based on “The World Cafe”.
Why this style?
The cafe structure creates a quality and dynamic of conversation, idea sharing, and mutual learning that is incredibly ripe and valuable for not only the people involved but the listening audience who will be able to listen to it afterward. In the current times of uncertainty, complexity, and change, I believe the psychedelic cafe will offer content not otherwise available in a time where it is deeply needed.
*** Extra BIG thanks to my patrons on Patreon for helping keep this podcast alive! Especially, Andreas D, Clea S, Joe A, Ian C, David WB, Yvette FC, Ann-Madeleine, Dima B, Eliz C, Chuck W, Nathan B, & Nick M
Nick Sun was an award-winning, international stand up comedian for 13 years. Then he drank Ayahuasca and had a malefic entity exorcism that ended a 12-year bout of depression. The sentient intelligence of the Gaian super-organism then informed him that the shit was going down and that she needed help. Following this experience, Nick’s life took a turn for the weird and he’s been living in a fantasy novel of his own making ever since, walking the plant medicine path for the past 5 years and relaying his experiences of his self-apprenticeship as a plant medicine facilitator on his popular, irreverent underground blog that he’s currently compiling into his first novel. Support him on Patreon.
Rohan B. is a former miner whose life was transformed by his encounters with Acacia and has since invested years into researching, exploring, experiencing, and learning from the various psychedelic acacias of Australia.
Dr. Liam Engel is a postdoctoral research fellow at Edith Cowan University’s School of Medical and Health Sciences. Liam is the founder of The Conseracacian Project, which has been helping to produce public education on the conservation and protection of the Australian acacias, especially amongst those using them for their psychedelic effects. He is also a passionate ethnobotanist.
Jef Baker heads the Sydney chapter of The Australian Psychedelic Society facilitating community film screenings, Q&A Panels, interviews, book clubs, and picnics and is involved with social media and community engagement. Jef also co-founded The 5-Hive forum and runs his own Facebook group Entheogenic Anthropology dedicated to discussion around the role of psychoactive substances in human history. Jef’s long-standing fascination with psychedelics also led him to complete his 2015 Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies and Communications with an Honours thesis analyzing the Deep Ecological themes of Ayahuasca Discourse. | He has been on the show here
Julian Palmer is a long-standing independent psychedelic researcher and the author of Articulations: On the Utilization and Meaning of Psychedelics. He is also a filmmaker, Ayahuasca facilitator, and the creator of Changa: a smokable combination of DMT and MAOi infused herbs. | He has been on the show here, here, and here
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