A North Star for Psychedelic Ethics

May 7, 2020 Eamon Armstrong

Life is a Festival #65: Liana Sananda (Auryn Project)

The Psychedelic Renaissance is a profound step forward in our understanding of the mind, but there’s growing concern that important lessons and a vibrant culture may be left behind in the rush to medicalization. My guest today, Liana Sananda, has spent a lot of time considering the cultural delivery mechanism of psychedelics into society.

Liana is the Development Officer of MAPS and co-founder of North Star and the Auryn Project, which just released the North Star pledge. With input from over 100 stakeholders, North Star is setting a foundation for psychedelic values for an emerging industry. The pledge is an initiative by the Auryn Project, authors of last Autumn’s “We Will Call It Pala,” a cautionary tale about the dark side of psychedelic business.

On the show, we set a foundation through Liana’s own story from festivals to Occupy to the Archview Group, and MAPS. We talk about the philosophy behind North Star and the unique participatory process of becoming a signatory. We go over each of the seven invitations and how you can join this growing coalition.

I also have an exciting announcement! I have been looking for a community building role in the psychedelic space and speaking regularly with Liana over the past year as I explored different organizations. I am proud to announce I’ve accepted a position leading community for Maya, a psychedelic therapy intelligence platform co-founded by my friend, David Champion. Today we are launching the Psychedelic Therapy Podcast a new show for therapists, healers and enthusiasts. If you’d like to help build it, please join us in the Psychedelic Therapy Facebook Group.

The psychedelic movement is at a threshold point. It is vitally important to create an attractor coalition of value-driven leadership. However, in order to get this right we need to co-create and move at the speed of trust.