psilocybin | The Blog of Baphomet

Living in the northern hemisphere, in the British Isles, as we head towards Midsummer there is so much light! As I write this it’s 9:30pm on the 19th of June and the sky is still blue with the longest of twilights.

Spring, with its blossom and bluebells, gives way to the branching white heads of umbellifers and the yellow glow of St John’s Wort as we reach the height of the year. The floral gems of Sedum acre, also known as ‘biting stonecrop’, – from its habit of growing low across almost bare rock – are scattered over the ground at Midsummer. Its habit of growing in luxurious patches over stone gives rise to an alternative name for this vibrantly coloured plant, ‘golden carpet’. The ones shown here are from a little spot beside the river where I like to practice my Qigong.

I’ve been pulling back on some of my work, or at least trying to, so I can focus on doing more writing, I’m currently about 13k words into a new book project. That said, there’s still plenty of cool things planned over the next few months that I wanted to share with you…

One big project that reaches its next stage this year is the release of more of my Magical Qabalistic pathworkings with Treadwell’s Books. These guided audio journeys through the tarot paths and sephira of the Tree of Life are designed to work even if you only know a little Qabalistic symbolism, while those more familiar the Tree will be able to appreciate the rich iconography woven into the pieces. Each journey is built using a carefully crafted blend of spoken word and original soundscapes, using contemporary and cross-cultural imagery to make the Qabalistic system really accessible. There is some challenging material here; these are not a series of easy-going well being meditations. Unsurprisingly the path of The Tower and sphere of Geburah include some challenging material. My intention has been to provide a deep and, at times, intense set of practices which can be used multiple times. I’m planning eventually to produce guided audio journeys for every sphere and path of the Tree of Life.

The first group of pathworkings are already available here and I’ll be teaching a two-part workshop which will sit alongside the new audio tracks that are due be released in the autumn. If you’ve never explored the Qabalah before these workshops will give you an easy introduction to the system, while experienced practitioners will discover new ways to think about and connect with the various zones of the Tree.

I’ll also be teaching sessions on The Magick of Aleister Crowley and Knowledge & Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel online, and presenting two in-person events at Treadwell’s for those who are able make it to London in September, The Magic of Sound and Vision and Psychedelic Magic.

Another big project, this time with The College of Psychic Studies, is the first London exhibition from The Order of the Sun and Moon (OSM). Kate Southworth, Greg Humphries and I will be showing our magical artworks at the College from the 30th of August until the 27th of September. We’re also doing some in-person esoteric art workshops and a group ceremony on the opening weekend. And before that we’re inviting you to a free online event where we’ll be sharing some of our practice, including a preview of some of the artworks we’ll be showing in London. In February 2025 OSM will be exhibiting again in St.Ives, Cornwall to coincide with a show at the Tate gallery, St Ives of work by the occultist, artist and esoteric founder of the Order, Ithell Colquhoun.

I’m going to be doing additional workshops with the College later in this year – see my listings on their site for details – which will include a deep-dive, eight-part course on the Eight Colours of Chaos Magic in theory and, most importantly, practice.

Finally, I’m proud to be a member of The Fellowship of Psychonauts; we offer multidisciplinary teaching in psychedelic space holding, with a focus on an apprenticeship model and practical skills development. Our next psychedelic ceremonial retreat in the Netherlands will be held in October this year, from the 9th to the 15th, with additional sessions before and after the retreat providing a six month training program. This program is for people who already have some psychedelic experience, and want to broaden and deepen their space-holding practice. It’s also for those who want to get a better understanding of ceremony, and to have an opportunity to explore what other roles they might be suited to within the wider psychedelic community. To find out more and register your interest click here.

The sun stands still, the tide of the year changes. I wish my friends in the northern hemisphere a bright Midsummer, and a cosy Midwinter for my friends in the south.

From the heights of the heavens, to the depths of the earth, we are one heart, connected.

Sending blessings to you all from sunny Devon!

Julian

For many years I’ve been interesting in teaching and learning, how these processes happen, and what makes them more or less effective. My university studies were in the field of pedagogy, and my undergraduate dissertation explored the value of a playful approach to learning in hypertext environments. That was in the very early days of the World Wide Web. These days we just call this process ‘online learning’, a process which, like any educational experience has a variety of benefits and limitations.

The Russian pedagogue Lev Vygotsky described learning as a process that takes place in the zone of proximal development (ZPD); this is the conceptual space between what the learner knows, and what they can come to know in the presence of a teacher (a ‘more knowledgeable other’). This concept and the metaphor of a ‘learning space’ reminds me of a definition of magic given by Phil Hine in his seminal work Condensed Chaos:

‘Magic is a set of techniques and approaches which can be used to extend the limits of Achievable Reality. Our sense of Achievable Reality is the limitations which we believe bind us into a narrow range of actions and successes—what we believe to be possible for us at any one given time. In this context, the purpose of magic is to simultaneously explore the boundaries and attempt to push them back—to widen the “sphere” of possible action.’

I’ve written before about the importance of strategies to break out of behavioural patterns, which entails learning something new. Sometimes this new knowing, the wisdom attained in the ZPD, is of such magnitude that the self that arises in it may be profoundly transformed. To make change of this magnitude we need a technology (an approach or method—as in Phil’s definition of Magic) and/or a great teacher.

When it comes to learning, one great teacher that increasing numbers of people are seeking out, is the category of psychedelic medicines. These substances, whether cultivated, wild-harvested, or conjured into visible appearance in the alchemist’s laboratory, can provide a range of new perspectives. They can provide healing by providing us with new ways to understand trauma. They can give us creative insights and help cultivate a new sense of connection between us and other beings (from our family and friends through to the biosphere as a whole). The idea that the psychedelic state can be usefully thought of as a teacher is one that educationalist Lindsay Jordon and I have both spoken about. Like any wise teacher, psychedelic medicines often give us the lessons we need, not necessarily the ones we think we need. The psychedelic state, with it’s ability to generate novel neuronal connections helps us come to realizations ourselves, and it also encourages us to ask more questions.

As an educationalist I was delighted to be contacted by the Fungi Academy and invited to collaborate with them in the creation of a Psychedelic Journeywork Course. The Fungi Academy already provide courses, both online and at their center in Guatemala, on mushroom cultivation. With this new course I had the opportunity to translate the accessible approach of Getting Higher; The Manual of Psychedelic Ceremony into a complete program for people wanting to learn how to work with sacred mushrooms of the genus Psilocybe. I hope you’ll have the time to check the course out; it contains some beautiful videography and music, as well as written information to help students connect with the world-wide mycelial network of psychedelic practice. Follow this link to view the course. You can get 25% off the course price with the promo code/coupon ‘Julian’.

The growth of online classes and events that the pandemic has occasioned means more and more people are increasingly confident navigating online spaces. In terms of my own esoteric work I’m part of a group that has been experimenting with online ritual for decades and, while of course there are limitations to this way of working, there are benefits too. I’ve stood in the virtual circle with practitioners from many time-zones, allowing us to collapse chronology and distance, coming together to work our magic and build community across the globe.

As we begin to reconnect with each other in physical space I hope that we can continue to develop our intelligent use of the online space. That we can learn how opinions form, how they can be successfully challenged, and that we can increase our ability to sift useful information from the less useful. I hope too that those international meetings, now so commonplace in Zoomland, can help us grok that we are in fact one global community, however much nationalism and other ideologies claim otherwise.

While we should remain mindful of the echo-chamber effect, and of bad actors, there’s much more collaboration and community around these days than we may immediately appreciate. Much more solidarity and cooperation than the news portrays. The creation and development of these virtual communities can be a great blessing, may it serve us well.

Julian Vayne

Coming up next

Nikki Wyrd and Julian Vayne are hosting two online events:
A Spring Equinox ritual with The Psychedelic Society, 21st March
A two-day intensive session on Psychedelic Magick organized through Occulture, 27-28th March
Nikki and Julian will also be speaking at the Mt.Tam Psychedelic Integration Jamboree April 16th-18th

Julian is taking part in a panel on Morning Rituals with The Psychedelic Society, 6th April
Julian is also teaching online with Treadwell’s Books, check their events page for details
Nikki is holding an online workshop, The Structure of Psychedelic Ceremony, 25th April; details to follow