Medicine Song: Dr. Joe Tafur on Mysticism, Healing & the Future of Psychedelics

In this episode of Ayahuasca Podcast, host Sam Believ (founder of www.lawayra.com) has a conversation with , a Colombian-American family physician, curandero, and author who bridges Western medicine with Amazonian spiritual healing. Trained at UCLA and UCSD, Joe spent six years in the Peruvian Amazon studying Shipibo curanderismo and is the author of .

We touch upon topics of:

• Joe’s journey as a doctor and curandero (01:16–02:22)
• Why he wrote Medicine Song and what it adds beyond his first book (03:39–05:14)
• Mystical experiences as a core part of healing (05:14–06:40)
• The Eagle and the Condor prophecy: science and spirit uniting (06:40–08:32)
• Measuring spiritual wellbeing and connectedness in research (09:03–11:42)
• Nature connection as a foundation for healing (13:54–17:56)
• The state of the psychedelic renaissance today (21:14–25:31)
• Traditional plant medicine and modern clinical therapies learning from each other (26:27–30:35)
• The limits of scaling retreats and ethical growth (31:20–44:25)
• Building a spiritual community and legal recognition in the U.S. (45:08–51:49)

If you would like to attend one of our Ayahuasca retreats go to www.lawayra.com

Find more about Joe Tafur at www.drjoetafur.com and his work at www.modernspirit.org.