Plants, Practice, and Song in Vegetalismo

Wed, Apr 5
7 pm
Free

An evening with
Dale Pendell
joined by Susana Bustos and Robert Tindall

celebrating the release of
Pharmako/Gnosis
by Dale Pendell
published by Mercury House Press

Contemporary alchemist and author Dale Pendell completes his poetic
study of botany, chemistry, spirituality, psychology, and history in
this final volume of a trilogy covering the composition and uses of
hallucinogenic plants. PHARMAKO/GNOSIS: Plant Teachers and the Poison
Path covers the visionary plants, weaving together the contemporary
uses of plant poisons, historic cultural lore, and ancient shamanic
rites. Dale will be joined by two fellow travellers in an evening of
lively discussion.

Dale Pendell was recently anthologized in the Wisdom Book of American
Buddhist Poetry. He and his wife Laura and a familiar cat live in the
foothills of the Sierra in California, where they grow pine and oak
trees, along with some manzanita. He is the author of:

PHARMAKO/DYNAMIS
Stimulating Plants, Potions, and Herbcraft

PHARMAKO/POEIA
Plant Powers, Poisons, and Herbcraft

and now

PHARMAKO/GNOSIS
Plant Teachers and the Poison Path

all published by Mercury House Press

Susana Bustos has worked as a Clinical Psychologist and Music
Therapist for over fifteen years. Her interests and practice have
dwelt around the use of expanded states of consciousness for healing
purposes. In recent years, she has focused on sound, music, and the
traditional ritual uses of plant medicines, which led her to a year
long research journey into the Peruvian Amazon. While collecting data
for her dissertation on Icaros the healer's songs, she got introduced
to the practices of mestizo and indigenous healers. The journey
opened up the wisdom of an entire cosmology, some of which will be
shared in this presentation. Susana is a PhD advanced candidate in
the East-West Psychology Program at CIIS.

Robert Tindall is a writer and a long-time student of Zen Buddhism
with a strong interest in the practice of pilgrimage. He has
published and done multi-media presentations on the Camino to
Santiago and his most recent work, on the ayahuasca churches of Daime
in Brazil and the use of Amazonian vegetalismo in the treatment of
addiction in Peru, are forthcoming in the International Journal of
Transpersonal Studies and Shaman's Drum. His path cross-fertilized
with Susana's in Peru while continuing his own narrative pilgrimage.

Venue:

City Lights Booksellers & Publishers
261 Columbus Avenue
San Francisco
415-362-8193
www.citylights.com

How to get there:
City Lights is located in San Francisco's historic North Beach
district between Broadway Street and Pacific Avenue on Columbus
Avenue. 24 hour parking is available at the public garage on Vallejo
Street between Stockton and Powell Streets, across from Central
Police Station. MUNI access via No. 15 and 30 lines. The nearest BART
access is MONTGOMERY station.

Additional Info:

415-362-8193
www.citylights.com