With Chris Bache, Ph.D., Jeffrey and Cielle Backstrom, Talat Jonathan Phillips, and Rak Razam Chris Bache, Ph.D., is professor emeritus in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Youngstown State University where he taught for over 30 years in the psychology of religion, transpersonal studies, Buddhism, and world religions. He is also an adjunct professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and for two years was the Director of Transformative Learning at the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, CA. An award-winning teacher and international speaker, his work explores the philosophical implications of deep non-ordinary states of consciousness, especially psychedelic states.  He has written a pioneering book in psychedelic philosophy and collective consciousness, Dark Night, Early Dawn: Steps to a Deep Ecology of Mind. In addition, he has written Lifecycles: Reincarnation and the Web of Life, a comprehensive study of reincarnation and karma in light of new information emerging in contemporary consciousness research.  In his book The Living Classroom: Teaching and Collective Consciousness, Chris presents his revolutionary ideas concerning the transpersonal dimensions of teaching.  In addition to working with sacred medicines, Chris has been a Buddhist practitioner for many years. Website Christopher Bache at SkyBlue Symposia - Pt 1 of 2 Christopher Bache at SkyBlue Symposia - Pt 2 of 2 BatGap interview with Chris Bache and Michael Pollan Jeffrey and Cielle Backstrom call their work "Stepping Into Freedom", explaining that "with each step we release or transcend old, limiting patterns of being-seeing-acting... and open to the beings our souls are calling us here to become." They offer shamanic healing work and deep practices to facilitate embodied awakening and opening to the soul's calling. In the past several years, Jeffrey and Cielle have studied with indigenous medicine workers and teachers in the Andes and the Amazon basin, who represent ancient traditions grounded in the Sacred Feminine and Mother Earth. Since 2009 they've been welcoming their students to accompany them to experience these connections for themselves. Websites: ciellebackstrom.com steppingintofreedom.com Talat Jonathan Phillips is a co-founder of the cutting edge web-magazine Reality Sandwich and The Evolver Network and is a well-regarded life coach and Bioenergetic healer who has been practicing for over a decade. His memoir, The Electric Jesus: The Healing Journey of a Contemporary Gnostic, has become one of the must-read books of the new consciousness movement for its honest portrayal of life on the emerging edge of the transformational culture. He is the creator of The Ayahuasca Monologues: Tales of the Spirit Vine, a religion blogger for the Huffington Post, a Reiki Master and Bioenergetic Healer who does Skype sessions for clients around the world and in his San Francisco office. Individual BatGap interview with Talat Rak Razam is the author of two books: Aya: a Shamanic Odyssey, a travel-memoir of his time with shamans in the Peruvian Amazon. His film AYA: Awakenings is a documentary journey into the world and visions of Amazonian shamanism adapted from this book. The Ayahuasca Sessions: Conversations with Amazonian Curanderos and Western Shamans, published by Icaro. In 2006 he visited Peru on a feature magazine assignment to see what the almost mythical archetype of the shaman was really like in the 21st century. Excerpts from AYA, A Shamanic Odyssey have been published in Australian Penthouse (Sept 2006); High Times (Aug 2007); and Filmmaker magazine online (Oct 2007). He was also interviewed and appears in the CBC’s 2007 audio documentary In Search of the Divine Vegetal talking about his Ayahuasca experiences, which has been broadcast twice due to special demand to millions of people throughout North America. A founding editor of Undergrowth, Australia’s leading counterculture arts and literature magazine, Razam is an “experiential journalist” that participates in the experiences he writes about, giving his global audience an intimate familiarity with his subjects. For more information visit www.rakrazam.com. "Like" Aya Awakenings on Facebook. Summary and Transcript of this discussion Discussion recorded 12/28/2013 YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Ayahuasca and Psychedelics: Exploring Consciousness and Facilitating Awakening 00:04:37 - Traditional Practices with Sacred Plants in Healing and Transformation 00:09:26 - The Thirst for Connection to Spirit 00:13:26 - Deep Sincerity and Purposefulness in Approaching Psychedelic Experiences 00:17:50 - Healing in the Jungle 00:21:59 - The Effects and Influences of Meditation and Drugs 00:26:07 - Ayahuasca: a Pathway to Healing and Integration 00:30:13 - The Purging and Cleanliness in Ayahuasca Ceremony 00:34:40 - Safety and Regulation in Psychedelic Healing 00:39:47 - Energetic Realities and Integration 00:44:03 - The Collective Psyche and Planetary Change 00:48:37 - The Role of MDMA in Spiritual Awakening 00:52:41 - Exploring the Territory without Capturing the Fort 00:56:53 - Pathways for Hyperdimensionality 01:00:41 - Connecting with the Energy of the River 01:05:26 - Exploring the Chakra Systems and Elemental Journey 01:09:23 - The Tipping Point in Spiritual Evolution 01:14:31 - Reconnecting with Nature and Spirituality 01:18:42 - The Meaning of Pachacuti 01:22:38 - Riding the Wave and the Potential Extinction of Humanity 01:27:13 - The Planetary Initiation 01:30:41 - The Planet's Journey on the Verge of Collapse 01:34:55 - The Expansion of Consciousness and the Evolutionary Crisis 01:39:35 - Contextualizing Our Practice 01:44:04 - Letting Go of Attachments 01:48:44 - The Value of Group Work in Altered Realms 01:53:28 - Manifesting through Psychedelics and Entheogens 01:59:08 - The Grounded, Embodied, Feminine Path to Awakening 02:04:09 - The Mystical Experience of Ayahuasca and 5-MEO DMT 02:08:23 - Conclusion and Gratitude 02:12:12 - Conclusion and Next Week Preview