PSYCA's Guide to Climate Week, Travels to the World Aya Forum, DC's Historic FDA Hearing, and The Gateway's Launch
Dear friends and colleagues,
I'm just back from the World Ayahuasca Forum, five days of ancestral voices, researchers, practitioners, and allies - a global gathering in true alliance. Days later, the FDA held its historic hearing on the future of therapeutic psychedelics in DC, and that's where we launched The Gateway, a new platform I'm co-creating with Joe Moore and Anne Philippi (more below).
While at the Forum, I moderated "From Iboga to Ibogaine" with Dr. Martín Polanco of The Mission Within and Simeon Schnapper of JLS Fund, tracing iboga's path from native traditions into clinical practice today. We'll publish the full panel soon.
Huge thanks to Gateway sponsors JLS Fund and Thank You Life, and to everyone on stage helping us unpack the hearing, from financing and advocacy to storytelling and policy. The evening benefited SSDP and MAPS - recap to follow.
Formal speaking slots at the hearing have closed, but written comments are open through Oct 5, and the full testimonies are now online. For FDA coverage, read strong write ups in Psychedelics Today, The New Health Club, Psychedelic Alpha, Psychedelics States of America, and The Microdose. I'm still sitting with what I heard. More soon.
One more thing: I had a dream that mycelium was quietly powering our computers, some kind of safeguard against AI moving too fast. I woke up, laughed it off, then found this: Ohio State researchers have gotten shiitake mushrooms to act like organic memory devices, biodegradable and low cost. Living Computers Powered by Mushrooms. Maybe my sleeping brain was onto something.
Now, on to PSYCA’s Guide to Climate Week. Below: ways to prepare, ways to integrate, community picks from friends across the ecosystem. For example, this Saturday, I'm walking with 24 The Planet to raise money for Justdiggit, which regreens dry, degraded land in Kenya and Tanzania - contribute to my campaign. Also, single? An end-of-world partner sounds like a good idea - find your “apocamate,” and here’s why.
Climate Week Heart Opener
Yajé and the Path of the Heart with
Yadira Ocoguaje & Sophia Rokhlin 9/21
Join Yadira Ocoguaje, young leader of the Siekopai Nation of the Ecuadorian Amazon, in conversation with author and advocate Sophia Rokhlin on yajé (ayahuasca), women's leadership, and the Siekopai's cosmovision and ecological wisdom, plus the role non-Native drinkers can play in honoring and protecting yajé's ancestral keepers - RSVP.
Ground Throughout Climate Week
Empathogen Experience 9/20-9/30
Join a 90-minute guided meditation on sensory perception, blending nature-based practice with contemplative art and sound, entirely sober.
Created by artist Samantha Rose Stein, it explores how cultivating our senses can access states of loving awe - no experience required. A short integration talk follows, a fitting way to ground for Climate Week. Limited spots - RSVP.
Postponed: “Integrating Eco-Grief” w/BPS & Robin Silver - Save the Date 10/25
Where Climate Week Comes to Imagine - Join Dear Crisis at Caravan of Dreams
An urban refuge for a resilient, regenerative future, 9/21–27 (full list). Some events are sold out, but these highlights and a few others still have space - grab spots!
Tues, 9/22, 11a-1p: Rewriting our futures with Design Science Studio & School for Sacred Storytelling
Tues, 9/22, 7:30-9:30p: What to Do as the World Falls Apart With Nate Hagens
Weds, 9/23, 12-1:45p: The Climate Cooling Initiative: Global Launch
Thur, 9/24, 4-6p: Biodiversity Love & Law: How Stories, Art, & Law Unite
Thur, 9/24, 6:30-7:30p: Dreaming a World that Works for All – Ecocivilization Coalition
Fri, 9/25, 1:30-2:30p: Climate Engagement Lab - Thinking + Emotions = Behavior
Sat, 9/26, 8-10p: Apocamate: Find Your Person/People Before the End of the World
Mark the Fall Equinox, Two Ways, 9/22
Choose your ritual: a cacao & song circle in Central Park, 6-9p, gathering at sunset to mark the moment we turn to fall, or Kundalini yoga, breathwork, and gong healing at Moonrise in Tribeca, 6:30-8:30p.
Transformative Impact Summit 9/26-27
Join our TIS friends Sept 26-27 in NYC for a gathering connecting change-makers, social entrepreneurs, and impact investors working across ecological, economic, technological, and social transformation. Beyond talks and panels, TIS focuses on making real connections - introducing changemakers to funders and policymakers who can help scale what's working. Get your tickets here - official PSYCA members will receive discount codes (sent separately).
Climate Week Integration
Join 24 The Planet 9/26
Join 24 The Planet on Saturday, Sept 26 for a 24-mile walk around the entire Manhattan waterfront — Battery Park to the Hudson, under the GW Bridge, back down the East River, with breathwork, meditation, and music stops along the way. No training required, just shoes you've already broken in. Every walker fundraises for Justdiggit, which regreens degraded land in Kenya and Tanzania to help cool the planet - just $12 restores 1,335 square feet. Join us and please support my campaign!
Integrate - NYC Day of Climate Action
PSYCA Discussion of Podcast Model to Bridge Community & Action 9/27
Close out Climate Week at the NYC Climate Day of Action on Sunday, Sept 27, 4-7pm, where 9 organizations come together, hosted by NYC2030 and our friends at Good Standing.
I'll facilitate a discussion on a possible podcast model for the PSYCA community, bridging conversation and action: who to bring on as guests at the intersection of psychedelics and climate, and how we might use the Good Standing platform to track the actions their recommendations inspire.
Mental Health, Still Present Since 9/11
A new FDNY report found roughly 1 in 7 WTC-exposed rescue and recovery workers still screen positive for depression, with PTSD rates well above the general population, 25 years on.
Nushama offers no-cost, WTC Health Program-covered care to those affected, and Thank You Life helps fund access for survivors outside that coverage. If this is you or someone you know, call Nushama at 646-394-9996.
Save the Date: The Gateway at Horizons, 10/15, Psychedelics are Becoming Mainstream, Meet the Field of Psychedelic Leaders
The Gateway, the psychedelics event and content series I'm building with Joe Moore and Anne Philippi, will be hosting the after-event for Horizons Business Day on October 15 (save the date). If you haven't already, grab your tickets to Horizons Perspectives on Psychedelics, the longest-running psychedelics conference, right here in NYC. Details on our after-event to follow.
Sign Up: Psychedelics Design Conference & Awards, Nov 6-7
Online this year. I'll be in conversation with Clare Ferrell of Extinction Rebellion, details to follow. Tickets are moving, so grab yours as soon as you can.
InnerMost: Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy & Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Training, Dec 11-13
A training for clinicians ready to work more skillfully at the intersection of harm reduction and psychedelic-assisted therapy, led by Andrew Tatarsky, PhD and Casey Paleos, MD, at InnerMost in Gramercy, NYC. Journey Clinical and MAPS join as partners, with Global Psychedelic Society and the Psychedelic Assembly as community partners. Space is limited to 50 participants, $1,500, CE credits available. Use the code JOURNEY10 for 10% off - learn more & sign up.
As always, thank you for reading and being part of this growing community. If you'd like to support this work, become an official PSYCA member. And feel free to reply with news for consideration, I'm always looking for stories that fit our community.
Gratefully, Marissa
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Marissa Feinberg
