The Magic of Mushrooms

Robin Carhart-Harris’ became fascinated in the effects of mind altering substances on the brain while studying Psychology before getting an MA in Psychoanalysis and a PhD in the field of Psychopharmacology. Now Head of The Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London he and his team conduct ground-breaking studies on the use of mushrooms to treat depression. His talk will cover this pioneering work, the physical and psychological effects and the social, societal and political stigma of magic mushrooms.

Darren Springer is an educator, researcher and resident mycologist for our on site (psilocybin-free) mushroom growing project Edible Utopia. Springer has undertaken extensive research on the use of psychedelic plants and the origins of these practices in ancient Africa, Mesopotamia and Europe and how they became coded in several mythological entheogenic rites of passages throughout the ancient indigenous world.

Author and Cultural Historian Mike Jay joins the panel to talk about psilocybin usage in Britain, looking at the earliest historical usage, through Lewis Caroll’s Alice In Wonderland up to the current day and the High Society: mind-altering drugs in history and culture exhibition he curated at the Wellcome Collection in 2010.

The event will be chaired by Writer and Artist Camille Barton.

The work of the Imperial College Centre for Psychedelic Research is showcased in the film Magic Medicine that we are also screening as part of the Mushrooms events programme.

The talks programme for Mushrooms: The Art, Design and Future of Fungi is kindly supported by the Gaia Art Foundation.

About the speakers

Robin Carhart-Harris is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, and one of the leading voices in psychopharmacology. He has a degree in Psychology, MA in Psychoanalysis and a PhD in the field of Psychopharmacology. Since 2009 he has been studying the effects of psychedelic drugs on the brain, including LSD, MDMA and psilocybin (magic mushrooms). As well as conducting some of the first brain imaging studies of these drugs, recently he and his team completed the first phase of a clinical trial using psilocybin on patients with treatment-resistant depression.

Darren Springer is a grassroots researcher and event organiser based in London. He’s the Director of Ancient Future and curator at Soul & Sound. After setting up Ancient Future in 2006 — a charitable organisation — he has continued to develop projects geared around creative arts, personal-development and African-Caribbean history, culture and spirituality in his community. He is part of the Breaking Convention committee and is a regular presenter at the London Psychedelic Society, he has also presented at the Detroit Entheogenic Conference, Ozora Festival (Hungary), Beyond Psychedelics Conference (Prague), 920 (Amsterdam) and numerous gatherings around the world. Darren is a knowledgeable and dynamic speaker who is passionate about sharing his extensive research on entheogenic plants and how they can assist humanity in the here and now.

Mike Jay has written widely on the history of science and medicine, and particularly on the discovery of psychoactive drugs during the 18th and 19th centuries. His books on the subject include Emperors of Dreams: drugs in the nineteenth century (2000, revised edition 2011) and most recently High Society: mind-altering drugs in history and culture (2010), which accompanied the exhibition he curated at Wellcome Collection in London. The Atmosphere of Heaven is also the third book in his series of biographical narratives of political reformers in 1790s Britain. It follows The Air Loom Gang (2003, revised edition forthcoming 2012) and The Unfortunate Colonel Despard (2004).

Camille Barton is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, facilitator, coach and somatic movement practitioner, working on the intersections of wellness, arts, drug policy and social change. Camille is the director of the Collective Liberation Project, and creator of the Embodied Solidarity Method , a trauma informed approach to diversity, inclusion and decolonisation work that centres the body and lived experience. Camille works closely with Release in the UK on drug policy reform and they sit on the advisory council for MAPS, ensuring that MDMA Psychotherapy will be accessible to BAME communities. Camille co-produced RE:GENERATE , an arts festival on drug policy, racial justice and liberation. They have written for Vice and Talking Drugs on drug policy & racial justice. Camille has spoken on these issues at conferences including Psychedelic Science, The International Drug Policy Reform Conference and Harm Reduction International.