Plantscendence
Welcome to Plantscendence, a new podcast hosted by filmmaker Jon Reiss. Join us on a transformative journey as we explore the world of plant medicine and its profound impact on healing, personal growth, and artistic expression.
Within each episode, Jon engages in insightful conversations with a diverse array of experts, practitioners, artists, grief counselors and everyday people who have harnessed the power of plant medicine to heal trauma, navigate loss, unlock creativity, and become more their true selves.
Guests for the ten episode first season include poet and musician Vera Sola, author and pioneer of microdosing Jim Fadiman, actress Gina Gershon, artist and Nganga Chor Boogie, US Army veteran Itzel Barakat, author and teacher Spring Washam, artist Doris La Frenais, plant wisdom practitioner Sitaramaya Sita, grief counselor Larry Carlat and healer and author Tricia Eastman.
Jon Reiss is a critically acclaimed filmmaker, author, and media strategist. He began his film career at the fabled Target Video, where he shot seminal punk bands, including Black Flag, X, Iggy Pop, Throbbing Gristle, and The Cramps. Reiss then filmed and edited a series of videos documenting Mark Pauline’s Survival Research Laboratories. After directing numerous music videos, including, notoriously, Happiness in Slavery for Nine Inch Nails, he directed the feature films Bomb It, Better Living Through Circuitry, and Cleopatra’s Second Husband. Through his company 8 Above Reiss also helps filmmakers navigate the new distribution and marketing landscape.
Plantscendence
#6 Chor Boogie: Unplugged from the Matrix
Healing and ancestral knowledge and healing through Iboga. Chor Boogie, a renowned spray paint artist and ordained Nganga in the Bwiti tradition, joins us on this episode of Plantscendence to talk about his work as an iboga healer in Costa Rica, and the sinuous path that got him there. Chor reflects humorously on his early psychedelic experiences, including a trip to Disneyland on LSD, and traces his journey from the world of graffiti art to that of plant medicine, which includes a decade of study and service in Gabon, Central West Africa. He describes how iboga helped him break free from addictive patterns – which he equates to “30 years of therapy” – and eventually reconnect with his ancestral roots. Chor addresses both the dangers and possibilities posed by Western medicine’s piquing interest in iboga, and emphasizes the importance of respecting and preserving indigenous practices amidst the backdrop of globalization.
Links:
Soulcentro.com
Plantscendence.com