Psychedelic Orgs & Resources

Amanda Gelender חַנָּה 🔮
4 min readFeb 13, 2022

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Photo ID: A rolling hill with golden and purple flowers and green plants backdropped by a vast blue sky with scattered clouds. Photo credit: Nabih El Bostani

As a psychedelic facilitator, I get a lot of requests for resources in the field, so here’s a compilation of orgs and resources I recommend checking out:

The Ancestor Project

Mission: “We integrate ancestral Sacred Earth Medicine wisdom into the modern journeyers’ experience to reduce harm and expand consciousness. We believe that Sacred Earth Medicine is key in liberating all oppressed peoples. We facilitate online and in-person opportunities for learning that support radical self-transformation in the name of collective liberation.”

Chacruna Institute for Plant Medicine

Mission: “We provide public education and cultural understanding about psychedelic plant medicines and promote a bridge between the ceremonial use of sacred plants and psychedelic science.”

Decriminalize Nature

Mission & Purpose: “To decriminalize entheogenic plants, restore our root connection to nature, and improve human health and well-being. To improve human health and well-being by decriminalizing and expanding access to entheogenic plants and fungi through political and community organizing, education and advocacy.”

The Drug Policy Alliance

Mission excerpt: “The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is the leading organization in the U.S. promoting alternatives to the war on drugs. We envision a just society in which the use and regulation of drugs are grounded in science, compassion, health, and human rights; in which people are no longer punished for what they put into their own bodies; and in which the fears, prejudices, and punitive prohibitions of today are no more.”

Fruiting Bodies Collective

Mission: “Increase public awareness and access to psychedelic education and opportunities. Remove the barriers of stigma, cost, and lack of information through education, outreach, coalition building, and affordable, culturally relevant training and services.”

Fireside Project

Mission: “Our mission is to help people minimize the risks and fulfill the potential of their psychedelic experiences in ways such as providing compassionate, accessible, and culturally responsive peer support, educating the public, and furthering psychedelic research, while embracing practices that increase equity, power sharing, and belonging within the psychedelic movement.”

ICEERS

Mission: “ICEERS (The International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service) is dedicated to transforming society’s relationship with psychoactive plants. We do so by engaging with some of the fundamental issues resulting from the globalization of ayahuasca, iboga, and other ethnobotanicals.”

Kilindi Iyi

Not an organization, Kilindi is an ancestor who gave us tremendous knowledge in the psychedelic field, particularly as it relates to psilocybin mushrooms. I highly recommend watching his videos here.

Microdose NYC

About: “We are an educational resource and research hub that centers psychedelics , autism , neuroscience and mental health. Our 501c3 non-profit is called P.R.I.D.E. Inc (Psychedelic Research Integrating the Diaspora Experience): Psychedelic research focusing on the oral histories of trans and non binary autistic melanated people, who regularly use psilocybin to improve their quality of life.

New York Psychedelic Society

Oakland Hyphae

About: “Oakland Hyphae is a socially responsible, Black-owned grassroots business, who’s goal is to educate and provide dependable, high quality resources and information for plant medicine cultivators and enthusiasts. Locally owned and operated in Oakland,California, we strive to create pathways that make the plant medicine accessible to members of our community.”

People of Color Psychedelic Collective

About: The People of Color Psychedelic Collective (POCPC) is a body of members dedicated to psychedelic healing and education based in the United States. We nurture leaders to work in our communities to undo the harms caused by the war on drugs and oppressive systems of injustice.

Psychedelic Liberation Collective

Mission: “We are working for the healing and liberation for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BI&POC), 2SLGBTQIA+ people, and all who are oppressed by structural inequality. Through the mind-manifesting aspects of psychedelics, we aim to root out the falsehood of supremacy in ourselves, in our relationships and in our communities; heal from the effects of intersecting systems of oppression; and empower ourselves and others in transforming culture.”

Recommended Books

Not every one of these books explicitly cover psychedelics but each explores topics deeply relevant psychedelic journeying

Photo ID: An assortment of beautiful assorted flowers in bright colors. Photo credit: Julien Chatelain

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van der Kolk

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Drug Use for Grown Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear by Carl L. Hart

Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by adrienne maree brown

Hunger by Roxane Gay

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mate

Manual of Psychedelic Support by MAPS

Maria Sabina: Selections by Maria Sabina

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by adrienne maree brown

The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys by James Fadiman

Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals by Alexis Pauline Gumbs

Yoke: My Yoga of Self Acceptance by Jessamyn Stanley

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Amanda Gelender חַנָּה 🔮

🪐 Jewish queer anti-zionist 🇵🇸 TV/film, abolition, plant medicine 🍄 Writer | Chief of Staff @ Vaya 🌙 linktr.ee/agelender