Altered Mates

In this episode we discuss a chapter from Scott Hill’s book, Confrontation with the Unconscious. It was our intention to cover two chapters, but in the end we managed to get through only Chapter 7: Psychedelic Experience and Psychosis. We try to wrap our heads around useful, working models of psychosis and (attempt to) determine where this troubling and mysterious phenomenon overlaps with the psyc...

In this episode we discuss a paper written by Gary Fisher concerning some intriguing research that he and some fellow colleagues conducted in the 1960s. This paper and our discussion surrounding it is quite confronting, as it deals with extremely troubled children who were suffering terribly. But even more intriguing than the depths of the psychoses these children were trapped within, was the prof...

In this episode we continue our foray into the world of schizophrenia and psychosis. This week we base our discussion around a fascinating paper written by Sarah Marks, titled: “From experimental psychosis to resolving traumatic pasts: Psychedelic Research in Communist Czechoslovakia, 1954‑1974”. And… while people moving through a schizophrenia or a psychotic break often experience disordered thou...

In this episode we explore the mainstream medical understanding of the domains of schizophrenia and psychosis. In the process we discuss a number of texts including Better Call Saul, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Black Swan and Joker. According to the Verywell Health website psychosis is a “symptom”, of which signs include: hallucinations, delusions, and agitation; and schizophrenia is a ment...

In this episode we continue our exploration of the Jungian shadow in our lives and in literature. The two texts we are primarily concerned with are A Monster Calls and Fight Club . Both began as novels and both were adapted into fine films— Fight Club , especially, is an excellent adaptation and deserving of its popularity. A Monster Calls  (2011), is a novel written by Patrick Ness, dev...

The shadow— a concept developed by Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung— refers to the unconscious aspects of one’s personality that are repressed and thus, not integrated into the “conscious” aspect of the self. The confrontation with The Shadow is an important step in the process of Jungian “Individuation”, in which a person faces, integrates and balances different parts of the psyche. In the Altered M...

In this episode, the Altered Mates explore the slippery concept of Mysticism. Our conversation centres around a classic work by pioneering American psychologist and philosopher  William James  (January 11, 1842–August 26, 1910), and specifically, the 1902 masterwork based on his Gifford Lectures:  The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature  ( public library...

This is the second episode of a two part series on our experiences with, and understanding of, the Internal Family Systems (IFS) Model of Mind. If you haven’t listened to the first episode in the series yet, we do recommend stopping there first: Episode 4 — Understanding ourselves through Internal Family Systems . This episode begins with Dr T. delving deeper into the nuances of the IFS Model, inc...

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a model of the mind where the basic assumption is that the human mind can be divided into a number of sub-personalities, known as “parts”. Ideally, each of these sub personalities work in harmony, with a central “Self” leading the system. According to the model, as we grow and develop throughout our lives, our sub-personalities, or “parts”, also grow and develop a...

Last episode (Episode 2 — “Take it easy, dude…”) we concerned ourselves with the preparation for a high-dose psilocybin mushroom ceremony. This episode focusses on our integration, following that journey. In coming to terms with our respective “mystical” experiences, we discuss: ego-death; who or what is the intelligence we encounter in high dose breakthrough psychedelic experiences; noetic experi...

Episode 2 — “Take it easy, dude…” In this episode we take seriously, the late, great Terence McKenna’s famous words: “Take it easy, dude… but take it!” Tune in as we discuss our preparation process for a so-called “hero’s” dose of psilocybin mushrooms, taken in the manner advised by the man himself, as “five dried grams in silent darkness.” The conversation starts with our reasons for undertaking...

Experienced psychonautical adventurers will know that the psychedelic experience is not all love and light. For all the beautiful visions, profound insights, and pleasure; it is also possible to expose ourselves to incredible pain, suffering, fear, and confusion. In the conversation that follows the Altered Mates discuss three particularly challenging experiences from Alejandro’s psychonautical jo...