SacredPlants

The OPEN foundation is proud to present: ‘Mind Altering Science – An OPEN Conference on Psychedelic Research‘, at the University of Amsterdam, on the 23th and the 24th of October 2010. From the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with MDMA, and the use of ibogaine as a tool to combat addiction, to the globalization of ayahuasca religions; ‘Mind Altering Science’ will be the first conference on Dutch soil that offers a multidisciplinary perspective on recent developments in the exciting field of psychedelic research.

The two-day conference will include a variety of lectures, interactive dialogues and presentations of recent research data. Academics, therapists and medical professionals from various countries will discuss the use of psychedelics from their own disciplinary perspective. Everyone with an eagerness to lean more about psychedelic research is invited to attend this unique event, whether they are researchers, medical professionals or students.

Confirmed Speakers;

Torsten Passie MD (DE)
R. Andrew Sewell MD (US)
Peter Oehen MD (CH)
Amanda Feilding (UK)
Bia Labate PhD (BR)
Jordi Riba MD (ES)
Jose Carlos Bouso MD (ES)
Adele van der Plas (NL)
Katharina Kirchner MSc (CH)
Stephen Snelders PhD (NL)
David Luke PhD (UK)
Dr. Anwar Jeewa (SA)

Website and bookings: http://www.mindalteringscience.com/

BBC Documentary on the Babongo. The Babongo cultivate the drug Iboga for their ceremonies, and worship it as the source of spiritual knowledge. Some Bwiti scholars believe it is the Tree of Knowledge from the Garden of Eden. It comes from the bitter root of the Iboga tree, and is a powerful psycho-active drug – something like LSD, mescaline or amphetamines. Taking Iboga brings a sense of anxiety, extreme apprehension and visual hallucinations – effects which can be made stronger by darkness, ambience and suggestion. It makes you violently sick, can lead to a state of lethargy lasting four to five days and, in extreme doses, it can kill.

When Bwiti shamans eat Iboga, they are granted the power to see the future, heal the sick and speak with the dead. The Babongo use it as a stimulant before hunting and during initiation ceremonies. They believe that Iboga frees your soul to leave your body and go on a great journey, to speak with the spirits of animals and plants.

A revealing documentary about the most effective but criminalized treatment modality available for drug addiction.