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/

Ayahuasca is used largely as a religious sacrament. Those whose usage of ayahuasca is performed in non-traditional contexts often align themselves with the philosophies and cosmologies associated with ayahuasca shamanism, as practiced among indigenous peoples like the Urarina of Peruvian Amazonia. The religion Santo Daime uses it. While non-native users know of the spiritual applications of ayahuasca, a less well-known traditional usage focuses on the medicinal properties of ayahuasca. Its purgative properties are highly important (many refer to it as la purga, “the purge”). The intense vomiting and occasional diarrhea it induces can clear the body of worms and other tropical parasites, and harmala alkaloids themselves have been shown to be anthelmintic. Thus, this action is twofold; a direct action on the parasites by these harmala alkaloids (particularly harmine in ayahuasca) works to kill the parasites, and parasites are expelled through the increased intestinal motility that is caused by these alkaloids.

A German production on Spirit healing with English voice-over.

A feature length documentary which invites the viewer to rediscover an enchanted cosmos in the modern world by awakening to the divine within.

The film examines the re-emergence of archaic techniques of ecstacy in the modern world by weaving a synthesis of ecological and evolutionary awareness,electronic dance culture, and the current pharmacological re-evaluation of entheogenic compounds. Within a narrative framework that imagines consciousness itself to be evolving, Entheogen documents the emergence of techno-shamanism in the post-modern world that frames the following questions: How can a renewal of ancient initiatory rites of passage alleviate our ecological crisis? What do trance dancing and festivals celebrating unbridled artistic expression speak to in our collective psyche? How do we re-invent ourselves in a disenchanted world from which God has long ago withdrawn? Entheogen invites the viewer to consider that the answers to these questions lie within the consciousness of each and every human being, and are accessible if only we give ourselves permission to awaken to the divine within.