• Soul Man

Ram Dass shines a light on attachment, psychedelic drugs, out-of-body experiences, the ’60s revolution and more.

• Kundalini Rising

A local devotional singer and her yogi parents are raising consciousness and making miracles happen. GT’s Damon Orion illuminates their spirited tale with exclusive interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Ram Dass and The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir.

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• Science and Synchronicity

Can quantum physics help explain eerie coincidences?

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• All Aboard the Express Kundalini: Trippin’ Balls with David J of Love and Rockets and Bauhaus

• Wise Guy

Meet Rob Brezsny, contemporary literature’s Sage against the Machine.

• The Man, the Myth

A Talk with Burning Man Founder Larry Harvey

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• The Man Behind the Kirtan

Krishna Das lets his soft white underbelly show

• How I Learned About the DMT Entities

• Special Delivery (cover story for High Times Medical Marijuana)

With the federal government continuing to target storefront cannabis dispensaries, some of the country’s top medical marijuana can now arrive directly at your doorstep

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• 5-MeO-DMT and the Near-Death Experience

• Benefits of Microdosing with Psychedelics

• Are We Here Yet?

How mindfulness practice has made me a happier person

• Author and Religious Studies Professor Martin W. Ball on 5-meO-DMT and the Mystical Experience

• New Film Shows the Incredible Power of Psilocybin Mushrooms to Heal Us, Physically and Spiritually

• Huachuma (San Pedro Cactus) – Healing the Spirit and Body

• The Future of Psychedelics

• When Ayahuasca Speaks

• Organic vs. Synthetic 5-MeO-DMT: The Psychedelic Toad Dilemma

• The Art of Awareness

A community of local visionary artists is making higher consciousness visible

• Surreal Estate

The cryptic-looking temple on Fair Avenue has mystified Santa Cruz residents for decades. Believe it or not, it’s even stranger than it looks.

• Rocking the Boat

Long before Umi was a Zen master in the Santa Cruz Mountains, he was a seafaring rock radio pioneer who riled the establishment and ushered in the British Invasion. In this spirited interview, he shares tales of his colorful journey and sheds light on the nature of Zen.

• Altered Statesman

Psychedelic visionary David Jay Brown has peered deeply into the nature of human awareness, bonded with the greatest thinkers of our time and explored the outer limits of philosophy, science, spirituality and parapsychology. In this mind-expanding interview, he shares tales from his journeys to the fringes of consciousness.

• Tales of the Vine

How gonzo journalist Rak Razam met his maker in the Peruvian Amazon—and lived to tell about it.

• Welcome to the Jungle

A talk with Rak Razam

• Podcast: In a Perfect World (Episode 80: Awakenings)

Damon Orion interviews Rak Razam, experiential journalist and the writer-producer of the critically acclaimed shamanic documentary Aya: Awakenings. 

• The History of Bicycle Day

Celebrating the lysergic legacy of Dr. Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD

• Transcendental Medication

A look inside the local nonprofit that has set out to prove psychedelic drugs like ecstasy and LSD can help restore mental health. Do the benefits outweigh the dangers?

• Herbal Outfitters

Quirky new downtown shop dispenses natural highs

• The Final Countdown

Why are we so fascinated with the end of the world? 

• Who Let the Gods Out?

Transforming sexual desire from the profane to the sacred

P. 1, P. 2

• Dead Men Rocking

A Wiccan High Priest performs a tarot reading for the horror punk/psychobilly band Stellar Corpses.

• Dream On

Looking for musical inspiration? Try sleeping on it.

• Life Coaching and Death Coaching

Comedian Myq Kaplan on the benefits of ayahuasca

• Here Comes the Sun King

The final weeks of 2012 bring us the release of The Hobbit, the end of the Mayan calendar and the world’s first post-apocalyptic winter holiday. What do all these things have in common?