In late August and early September the Australian Psychedelic Society (APS) will be hosting premier screenings of the award-winning documentary, ‘From Shock to Awe’ in Adelaide, Brisbane, Byron Bay, Melbourne and Sydney. The APS thanks Vasudhara, Psychedelic Research in Science & Medicine (PRISM) and Aadii Mesh Foundation for their sponsorship and collaborative events in helping produce these events.

 

The film follows the journey of two combat veterans struggling with Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who abandon ineffective pharmaceuticals for psychedelic substances in an attempt to relieve their suffering.   

 

Struggling with anxiety, depression, anger, and an overall inability to find equilibrium in society and with their families, Matt Kahl and Mike Cooley, decide to venture into the Amazon to partake in a weekend ceremony of ayahuasca consumption – an indigenous brew traditionally used for healing and spiritual insights.  

 

With the ceremony bringing about profound revelations for the soldiers about their experiences and trauma, they must then learn to integrate these lessons into their life as they return home.  

 

To gain a better understanding of their husbands’ journeys, Matt’s wife Aimee and Mike’s wife Brooke then too embark on their own psychedelic healing journey with ayahuasca and MDMA respectively. 

 

With one in four people suffering from some form of mental illness this year, our current psychiatric model has proven drastically ineffective in treating this pressing health crisis. Psychedelic medicines now represent a revolutionary and life-changing new treatment paradigm that may potentially address the shortcomings within our current mental health system.  

 

Researchers at some of the top universities in the United States such as Johns Hopkins, NYU and UCLA are publishing scientific papers that show a startlingly high level of efficacy using psychedelic-assisted therapy for a range of conditions, from end-of-life anxiety to depression to addiction to PTSD. Over the past decade in the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) have approved clinical trials for a number of psychedelic substances with promising results.  

 

Confirmed speakers at the screenings include Mitch Schultz, producer of ‘From Shock to Awe’ and Director of ‘DMT: the Spirit Molecule’, and Major Steve McDonald, war veteran and co-founder of Psychedelic Research in Science and Medicine (PRISM). More speakers TBA.  

 

 

Screening Times & Locations 

 

Byron Bay – Sunday August 18th, from 2.30pm – 5pm at The Byron Theatre, Byron Bay.
Tickets

 

Brisbane – Saturday, 24 August from 1:30pm – 4:30pm at Kindler Theatre, Queensland University of Technology.
Tickets

 

Adelaide – Saturday, 31 August from 14:30 – 18:30 at Mercury Cinema, 13 Morphett St, Adelaide.
Tickets

 

Sydney – Saturday 7 September from 12:30 – 16:30 at Giant Dwarf Theatre, 199 Cleveland St, Redfern.  
Tickets

 

Melbourne – Saturday 14th September from 12:30 – 16:30 at The State Library of Victoria Theatrette, Melbourne.

Tickets

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The Australian Psychedelic Society – Sydney will be hosting speakers with a focus on DMT, Ayahuasca and how psychedelics fit within our cultural and economic context.

DAVID NICKLES

David is an underground researcher and moderator for The DMT-Nexus community. He has worked on numerous harm reduction projects including KosmiCare, TLConscious, The Bunk Police, The Open Hyperspace Traveler and others.

‘Underground Research’
As new developments in sanctioned psychedelic research continue to drive increasingly positive mainstream publicity about psychedelic plants and compounds, governmental restrictions have relegated significant research efforts to the shadows of the criminalized underground. For the past decade, the DMT-Nexus has been at the forefront of this underground research, providing a hub where researchers from around the world and across numerous disciplines autonomously collaborate to push the boundaries of scientific knowledge on these substances. Underground research is an often overlooked and undervalued component of the current psychedelic resurgence. The members of the DMT-Nexus believe that psychedelic research should embody the psychedelic experience: open, inquisitive minds and a participatory spirit should be the bare minimum to engage in psychedelic research.

While sanctioned research is incredibly important to the current psychedelic paradigm, it is equally important to consider the social, political, and legal factors that influence the content and viability of these efforts. As new opportunities for discreet collaboration between sanctioned and underground researchers appear, larger questions loom with regards to the role of psychedelic research in dominant culture and the tension surrounding what applications are considered meritorious.

COL HAWK
‘Acacia DMT in Australia, a Personal Overview’

Col will give a acknowledgement of Ancestors and recognition of the Sacred Plants and places.
Col discusses Acacia’s importance as an entheogen and the plant’s environmental vulnerability with considerations for its responsible use from his perspective of 20yrs association with its Spirit.

EMILY BLATCHFORD
‘Does Psychedelic Substance Use Predict Empathy and Sharing?’

Psychedelic substances facilitate connections with others by enhancing social awareness and reducing egocentricity. Emily will explore the recent findings from her thesis, as well as neuropsychological and clinical evidence which supports the capacity of psychedelics to increase empathy and prosocial behaviour.

JEF BAKER
‘From Changa to Change – Self to Society’

By exploring Changa as a unique representation of modern alchemy, the theme of change becomes a central one. The way Changa alters our sense of being in the world has (like all psychedelics) the potential to act as a powerful catalyst in shifting conditioned personal, sociocultural and political boundaries. Changa is used here as a lens to inquire as to how selftransformation informs social change and to what extent people’s reactions to or utilisation of Changa and other such experiences validates the Ghandian notion “If you want to change the world, start with yourself”.

SEBASTIAN JOB
‘Psychedelic Capitalism and it’s Discontents’

The commercialization of psychedelics is happening in the context of a capitalist lifeworld which is itself becoming increasingly psychedelic. This far reaching process will likely change how revolutionary politics conceives of itself in the era of the eco-techo apocalypse. Put another way, as we fall deeper into the techno-capitalist “bad trip”, the psychonautic experience gains in cultural and political salience. This short talk will try to throw light on these issues.