POD 111: Cullen Clark on the traditional use of psychedelic mushrooms in Africa
🕑 Added 2024-08-30 07:08:45 +0000 UTCI talk with ethnomycologist Cullen Clark about his work describing two new Psilocybe species in Southern Africa and becoming the first outsider to observe and describe the use of Psilocybe species in African traditional medicine. Clark also provides an extended analysis of African cave art depicting mushroom use, a video accompanying this talk with relevant slides will be uploaded later today. This is definitely worth a listen!
Support Cullen's upcoming book!
Cullen's Company: Aether Apothecary
Bwiti: An Ethnography of the Religious Imagination in Africa
Comments
Steven Leflair
Hamilton said the rock art is in the video upload on another comment!
ghoul
Oh thank you! Didn’t see that
Hamilton Morris
It's in the video upload.
ghoul
Please link a collection of the cave paintings! I would to see this rock art!!!!
Terry Henry
Epic intro and a great podcast
Jānis Stūrītis
Intro is 10/10 on point. It always amazes me how analytical and grounded in facts Hamilton is.
zealot
People tell him not to do psychedelics in front of a mirror, so Hamilton does arguably the strongest psych in front of a mirror......this man is my favorite contrararian
Kd
The assumption of extraction is inappropriate- so cogent. To assume so really is infantalizing
Brian
Amazing discovery. I wonder why he didn't have the other mushroom identified (the one that he mentions was found near the new Psilocybe species that he discovered and looked similar to P. cubensis).
mia
loved this guest and the discussion! 🍄
Owen
Thats a nice find! I think the books are great even if some of the chemistry is a little spotty.
Austin T.
Awesome, thanks alot
Robert
Incredible story, I just got back recently from a honeymoon in Cape Town. South Africa is a gorgeous country and the excitement Cullen felt at being part of something revolutionary in his hobby and home was palpable. Excited to follow this story in the future!
Siwanand Das
Sheesh they go for hundreds? I found one at a local books store for like seven bucks. Even came with and extra sheet of paper detailing a mescaline route. Was a nice surprise. I'd also be very curious to here the authors thoughts on that book
UnpopularCupbearer
"Not exactly an uplifting story, but it does involve a mushroom." A sentence that sums up a lot about this domain 😅
Sean Devonport
Would love to see the rock art Cullen shared! Such a fascinating podcast, great work Hamilton, thank you! And thank you Cullen, as a fellow South African I can say what you are doing is making us proud!
Blake Markwell
Good to hear. I can't imagine viewing Allegro's work without a comedic lens but perhaps that interview will change my mind.
Hamilton Morris
Yeah, I've read Shroom several times and would love to interview him. I'm planning a talk with an Allegro scholar that I hope will provide a counterpoint to Letcher's analysis.
Blake Markwell
Great interview! I'd love to see you interview Andy Letcher on mushrooms and Deep Ecology.
Alejandro C.
Amazing interview! Is there a video version coming? really want to see the photos discussed in the late part of it!
B-Boy Bungus
That Feinberg book is a great read, I highly recommend it!
Matthew H
Wow this is an fantastic story. Love all your work, have been listening/watching for a long time. I have some basic home chemistry (deactylation of melatonin), and have a bunch of theoretical molecules/routes, in which I can send Chem draw files, if you please. My only question is do you have the free time to hear some of my information/discovery’s?If so what would be the best means, platform of communication for you. Lastly, keep up the amazing work, as all your podcast are extremely entertaining. 😊👍
Lilveiss
Thank you so much for yet another amazing podcast. Glad to be a part of your luftemensch squad yet again. Cant wait for the QNA when you finally have time in your schedule. Much love to you Hamilton, Lila Bambi LilWeiss ❤️
Owen
Great Podcast! not sure if its possible considering his current state of affairs but Steve Preisler "uncle fester" Practical LSD Manufacture has some interesting chemistry In it. Not sure how much of it is even really possible but definitely interesting . It's a Shame he can't sell his books anymore and they go for hundreds online. Anyway Thanks Hamilton!
zealot
Only through the intro but love the topic! Anybody know any good reads for potential Celtic use of liberty caps?
M
✌️
Tyler Young
I had been going down a rabbit hole looking at psychedelic books online tonight. YouTube had just rolled into your hermit of carpathians video, which made me wonder if you had posted anything new on patreon. As soon as I had that thought my phone lit up with this post. I've had other oddly synchronous stumblings lately. I can chalk it up to coincidence, but I can't ignore the mystical tingling I feel when it happens. Can't wait to listen to this. Thank you for all you do. I'm always looking forward to the next post.
Shady_P0tat0
This was an excellent convo Thanks much, as always, Chaos Personified