When the Pendulum Goes One Way...

There is an old idiom that says when the pendulum goes one way, it’s bound to swing back the other. Our guest, my old acquaintance and esteemed academic, Dr. Mariavittoria Mangini, has found that phrase applies to many aspects of her life. While we may be in precarious and difficult times, Mariavittoria has managed to stay positive, knowing that things can always change for the better. We sit down to have a full and wide-ranging conversation on politics, the state of the nation, privilege, and, of course, the profoundly lasting impression psychedelics have made on her life.

“I feel like I've had a lot more adventures and a lot more color and texture in my life because of those experiences.”

Mariavittoria Mangini, Ph.D., FNP has written extensively on the impact of psychedelic experiences in shaping the lives of her contemporaries and has worked closely with many of the most distinguished investigators in this field. She is one of the founders of the Women’s Visionary Council, a nonprofit organization that supports investigations into non-ordinary forms of consciousness and organizes gatherings of researchers, healers, artists, and activists whose work explores these states. She is Professor Emerita in the School of Science, Allied Health, and Nursing at Holy Names University and a visiting scholar at the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics. For the last 50 years, she has been a part of the Hog Farm, a well-known communal family based in Berkeley and Laytonville, California.

Show notes:

* Psychedelic elder and visionary- Mariavittoria Mangini- featured in the forthcoming book Psychedelic Wisdom (0:42)

* Mariavittoria's first experiences at the age of 16 (2:17)

* Realizations about death and the change in life course (3:18)

* The effects on her life happiness (4:33)

* The Haight Ashbury free clinic – a barefoot patient and later a Chairman of the Board (6:38)

* Will the American experiment in democracy last? (10:00)

* The problem with unremitting negativity in the media (10:22)

* The dangers of political polarization (12:48)

* Is religion the source of moralizing divisions? (14:44)

* Has America ever been a theocracy? (17:01)

* The dawn of open discussion of psychedelics and radical social changes of the past 30 years (21:21)

* The role of community radio in a democracy (25:27)

* Why communities need elders (31:24)

* What's going on with elders who lack wisdom? (34:32)

* The lingering effects of racism and white supremacy (37:00)

* The appropriate age to introduce children to psychedelics in a post-legalization world (45:30)

* The legacy of Betty Eisner and the idea of "Matrix" (46:29)

* The idealized view of universal access to psychedelics (48:47)

* How "matrix" effects one's protocol for administering psychedelics (50:27)

* What were the Eleusinian mysteries? (53:23)

Links and references:

* Psychedelic Wisdom

* Betty Eisner- “Set, Setting, and Matrix”

* Stephen Jenkinson

* Ann Shulgin

* The Way of the Psychonaut- Mariavittoria’s interview

Mariavittoria’s previous episode on MBHP:

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