06/12/08 Entheogenesis Australis 2008 Symposium- ON SALE NOW

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06/12/08 Entheogenesis Australis 2008 Symposium – Melbourne University

 

The organizers and speakers at EGA believe that information about psychoactive plants and chemicals should be readily available.

Also that only through creating such a space, where we can talk freely on such matters, can methods for harm reduction and the true benefits of such substance be explored.

Entheogenesis Australis is a collection of thinkers from all walks of life, we come together to share knowledge about sacred plants, chemical alchemy and states of consciousness.

 

Each year we will now be alternating between and indoor inner-city conference space and a 4 day outdoor gathering as we saw last year. As we feel we can reach a larger gamut of people with this approach as well as create the most sustainable mode for our association.

 

 

Shortlist of Speakers

 

1. Headliner – Under raps for now :wink:

 

2. Dr David Caldicott -

 

3. Dr Des Tramacchi - "Persecuting Ephedra, Persecuting Religion: a comparison of the Avesta and the Queensland Drugs Misuse Act as moral guides"

 

4. Anna Kokavec PhD - “Wine: Medicine or Poison for the Human Body?”

 

5. Tim Payne - ‘Why are we still taking drugs’

 

6. Torsten Wiedemann ‘Iboga’

 

7. Michael Bock - ‘Absinthe and the toot: the exciting alcohols’

 

8. Twix Elbert “ketamine as a model of schizophrenia: evidence from human and animal studies”

 

9. TBA

 

 

 

Location: Copland Theatre, Economics and Commerce Building, Melbourne University. Victoria.

 

 

Date: 06/12/08

Registration starts at 8:45 in the Foyer.

 

 

Tickets

Entheogenesis Australis is a presale only event with very limited ticketing, and over the last 3 years the event has sold out completely well in advance of the event commencement date.

 

Early Bird tickets go on sale for $75 on the first of October. For more information about tickets see;

http://www.entheo.net/2008tickets_1st_round.htm

 

Entheogenesis Australis Incorporated is a not for profit association. Our official statement of purpose can be downloaded on the link below.

http://www.entheo.net/EGA_SOP.doc

 

 

For more information see our web page

http://www.entheo.net

 

To stay current with EGA happenings join our NEW email list subscribing at http://www.entheo.net

 

In Plant We Trust

EGA Crew

 

 

You can contact us email entheogenesisaustralis@<remove this>gmail.com

[RonnySimulacrum]

06/12/08 Entheogenesis Australis 2008 Symposium – Melbourne University

 

Entheogenesis Australis (EGA) is a not-for-profit association that exists to create a supportive environment that fosters mature, open discussion about psychoactive plants and chemicals. We seek to explore ways to assess societal impacts and examine the positive applications of plant-based psychoactives and empathogens.

 

Altered states of consciousness have long been a fundamental part of human culture, and as our world becomes increasingly fast-paced, alternative modes are becoming ever more significant and consciously explored.

 

The Entheogenesis Australis 2008 Symposium aims to address the issues relating to drug use/misuse from social, cultural and historical/traditional perspectives. EGA speakers will draw on the backgrounds of physiology, biology, pharmacology, psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, botany and more to provide a more realistic context to the role drugs and altered states play in the modern world.

 

If you’ve ever asked yourself “has the ‘War on Drugs’ created more problems than it tried to solve?” or “is MDMA really a more dangerous drug than alcohol?” - then EGA is for you.

 

Entheogenesis Australis is a collection of thinkers from all walks of life, we come together to share knowledge about sacred plants, chemical alchemy and states of consciousness.

 

We hope you will join us on this exploration

 

www.entheo.net

[RonnySimulacrum]

official EGA press release;

media

[RonnySimulacrum]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3183/3018445245_13d4cf2902_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3023/3019275868_ac5cf625a9_o.jpg

 

 

Speakers

 

1. Dr David Caldicott - Psychotropic mushrooms, an analysis of misidentification

Bio Dr. David Caldicott is an Irish research fellow of the Emergency & Trauma Department of the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia. He is the convenor of the OzTox Collaboration, an independent multidisciplinary, hospital-based research group committed to a harm minimisation approach to illicit drug use. He has been an outspoken critic of politicians supporting 'zero-tolerance' and prohibitionist drugs policy, questioning the evidence of their efficacy in preventing morbidity and mortality from illicit substances. He believes that drugs policy should not be guided by moral values, but by interventions known to have an effect on users behaviour. He has advocated a pill testing program in South Australia, as recommended by the 2002 Drugs Summit, but has yet to be granted a license by the State Government.

 

Dr. Caldicott is one of the founding members of The List, a politically independent group of experts committed to maintaining the truth on illicit drug debate in the Australian media. The List promised to monitor the media on drugs policy issues in the run up to the Australian federal general election in 2007.

 

Dr. Caldicott is one of the designers and co-authors of the Designer Drug Early Warning System, and was the Project manager for the TRAUMATOX Project. Both of these studies are some of the largest of their kind ever conducted in Australia. In addition to having a research interest in the acute health effects of illicit drugs, he is also co-author of the Bombs, Blasts and Bullets course, a primer for first responders approaching mass casualty incidents of terrorist origin.

 

In the emergency department, Dr. Caldicott is known for his assertive manner towards patients and colleagues, and can often be found engaging the internet for research during shifts.

 

 

2. Deva Daricha - "The Shaman's Journey: Culture, Context, Ceremony, Allies and Altered States. Some Reflections After 32 years."

Bio: Deva Daricha is a philosopher, shaman and natural healer. He taught academic Philosophy for 13 years, completing his career as Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at the Melbourne campus of the State College of Victoria.

He is a director of The Centre for Human Transformation in the Yarra Valley where he teaches.

 

He was first called to the shamanic path in 1976, and has taught throughout Australia and in the USA and Europe. He is the author of 5 books including “The Making of a Shaman. An Australia Story.”

 

 

3. Dr Des Tramacchi - "Persecuting Ephedra, Persecuting Religion: a comparison of the Avesta and the Queensland Drugs Misuse Act as moral guides"

Bio: Des Tramacchi holds a PhD in Religious Studies specialising in entheogens. He has a deep interest in trance and altered states of consciousness, shamanism and other wisdom traditions. He is a keen student of ethnobotany and has trained in both biology and anthropology.

 

 

4. Dr Anna Kokavec - “Wine: Medicine or Poison for the Human Body?”

Bio: Dr Anna Kokavec, a registered psychologist, is currently a Senior Lecturer and Head of Section for the School of Psychological Science at La Trobe University, Bendigo. To date Dr Kokavec has published a number of experimental papers aimed at investigating the effect of alcohol on the complex neuro-endocrine-immune feedback loop between energy intake and metabolism, immune response, and activity of steroid hormones. Dr Kokavec is also listed as the first author on several theoretical publications that aim to explain the malnutrition and lack of appetite for food commonly observed in the alcoholic population. Other research interests, separate to the substance use area, include supervision of major projects in the migraine and chronobiology areas.

 

 

5. Tim Payne - ‘Why are we still taking drugs’

Bio: Tim Payne originally trained as a Biologist, and is a comitted science generalist.

He has worked in Tropical Agronomy on 3 continents, in Gestalt Psychotherapy, in Martial and Living arts and Zen in Japan. He now runs a world leading precision Scissorsmithing business and is convinced that if God is alive on earth today s(h)e

is probably James Lovelock.

 

 

6. Torsten Wiedemann "The iboga journey"

Bio: Torsten is an avid plant collector and amateur ethnobotanist specialising in pharmacologically active plant species. He runs a nursery and online community for enthusiasts of psychoactive and other ethnobotanical plants. On his subtropical property 'Wandjina Gardens' he maintains a large collection of native and exotic plants for preservation and research.

Torsten's main interest lies in plant species and drugs that affect the serotonin neurotransmitter system as he believes this to hold the key to a happy and content individual life and society. He was privileged to be one of the first to propagate the tropical west african shrub Tabernanthe iboga outside its native countries and has made the species widely available to the rest of the world.

 

Torsten is doubtful of the existence of gods and spirits and hence approaches the astonishing healing power of plants such as iboga on a pharmacological basis with full recognition of the cultural context.

 

 

7.- Julian Raxworthy - "Los Libros Locos: a typology of psychoactive books"

Bio:Julian Raxworthy is a landscape architect and a bibliophile.

 

 

8. Michael Bock - ‘Absinthe & Toot: the exciting intoxicants'

Bio: Has been lecturing in ethnobotany for over 10 years and working on a book about Australian Ethnobotany for many years too.

 

 

9. Vince Cakic “ketamine as a model of schizophrenia: evidence from human and animal studies”

Bio: Vince Cakic completed his honours in psychology in 2007 at the University of Sydney developing a novel animal model of anxiety.

 

His research interests are in the neurobiology of schizophrenia, with an emphasis upon hallucinogenic drugs (DMT and ketamine) as pharmacological models of the illness. He is also interested in the application of floatation tanks in performance enhancement.

 

 

10.Taking it to the Man - Mainstreaming the Earth sacraments

Bio: Richard King has always felt an abiding connection to the natural world. His background is in apiculture. Richard observes that the honeybee with 100 million years of experience has forgotten more about weaving the life-web and maintaining the ancient (& now shredded) ‘Contract with Nature’ than materialist modernism ever knew!

 

In the mid 1960's when “Haight was Love” he visited San Francisco. This experience has had a profound life-long effect. He immediately recognised that the Counter Culture was presciently pointing western society to the recovery of its lost co-operative tribal values. These survival values have been trodden underfoot in our heedless careen into soulless mechanistic-materialism. Richard is overjoyed that these life-affirming verities are alive and well and finding their expression through the entheogenic renaissance.

 

Richard is a life-long student of pre-pagan Originary Tradition shamanism. He is founder of ‘An Comhaltas Celtia Og’ & ‘Thórr’s Shield & Forge’ pagan religions (in the religioning, [re-connecting] not the blind-faith sense of the word.) Thórr’s risk-reduction Bliss Bays, as a service to the community, proffer Full Body Blossoming Delightenment at Dance Party Festivals. Delightenment draws upon Neolithic shamanic tech.

 

Richard is an advocate for Deep Reconciliation. Settler Society (the uninvited guest from hell) has managed to spend 200 years here without bothering to learn the house rules. Deep Reconciliation, because it invites real engagement, is genuine reconciliation. It is not, (unlike John Howard’s ‘Practical Reconciliation’) just another despicably disguised form of assimilation by the dominant culture. Deep Reconciliation is purposed to, (with the assistance and blessing of Aboriginal elders & the spirit of Australia’s native entheogen ‘Wattlewaska,’) forging an abiding relationship leading to Union with the spirits & founding ancestral cultures & Creator Beings of our land.

 

The holy wattle, our national colours, the green & gold, is the binding motif & wisely chosen floral emblem of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms. It is a natural gateway to deeper realities. Richard’s dream is to see Wattle Day transformed into National Wattlewaska Medicine Ceremonies honouring our land & the First Australians. Richard feels that, though it may take generations, Wattlewaska (Somacacia) & other powerful Earth Sacramental ceremonies will help repair the Dreaming & the Song Lines in those places where they are now in disrepair.

 

 

Discussion Panel

"Harm reduction - balance, information and practical methods for safer usage when experimenting with the Ethnobotanicals".

 

 

Market stalls on the day

IZWOZ - clothing, Tshirts, hoodies, art, banners and intergalactic wears - http://www.izwoz.com.au/

Polyester - totally weird shit, especially books! - http://www.polyester.com.au/

Tribe Earth - assorted herbal products: dried, liquid and resined - http://www.tribeearth.com.au/

 

 

Location: Copland Theatre, Economics and Commerce Building, Melbourne University. Victoria.

 

 

Date: 06/12/08

Registration starts at 8:40am in the Foyer and the event will run till approximately 9pm.

 

 

Tickets

Entheogenesis Australis is a presale only event with very limited ticketing, and over the last 3 years the event has sold out completely well in advance of the event commencement date.

 

General admission tickets are on sale Now for $95 until the 5 December or until sold out.

For more information about tickets see;

http://www.entheo.net/2008tickets_1st_round.htm

There is also a student option available this year (see the web page).

 

Tickets may also be purchased in person from the following locations:

 

Melbourne - The Happy Herb Shop

317 Smith Street Fitzroy Vic Ph 03 94191277

 

Melbourne - Hippy Heaven

1/186 Barkly Street St. Kilda Vic Ph 03 9534 9361

 

Entheogenesis Australis Incorporated is a not for profit association. Our official statement of purpose can be downloaded on the link below.

http://www.entheo.net/EGA_SOP.doc

 

To stay current with EGA happenings join our NEW email list subscribing at http://www.entheo.net/2008mailinglist.htm

 

Each year we will now be alternating between and indoor inner-city conference space and a 4 day outdoor gathering as we saw last year. As we feel we can reach a larger gamut of people with this approach as well as create the most sustainable mode for our association.

 

In Plant We Trust

EGA Crew

 

You can contact us email entheogenesisaustralis@<remove this>gmail.com