Women’s Visionary Council Hosts A Day of Remembering
Many cultures around the world take time to acknowledge their ancestors at this time of year. A psychedelic community in California has organized a gathering to reflect on the lives and work of those who came before us and what they have left in our care.
On November 1, the Women’s Visionary Council (WVC) will present a Day of Remembering: Honoring Psychedelic History. The event will focus on elders and ancestors whose work paved the way for our present understanding of psychoactive materials.
“The psychedelic elders and pioneers represent an irreplaceable and disappearing resource,” says WVC co-founder and board member Mariavittoria Mangini, who helped organize the event.
Founded in 2008 as the first nonprofit for psychedelic women, the WVC will host the afternoon gathering at the Berkeley Alembic in Berkeley, CA. The event will bring traditional seasonal practices into a contemporary context. It will feature stories from those who contributed to formative moments in the field and whose experiences offer knowledge that cannot be replaced. The Day of Remembering will also be streamed online, and a video recording of the event will be sent to everyone who registers.
Voices of Psychedelic History
The gathering will include author and journalist Susannah Cahalan, who will speak about her book “The Acid Queen,” a revelatory biography of Rosemary Woodruff Leary. Clinical psychologist and researcher Alicia Danforth will discuss her recent scholarly work on neurodiversity. Roger Walsh, professor of psychiatry, philosophy, anthropology, and religious studies, will reflect on the convening that resulted in the publication of the book “Higher Wisdom: Eminent Elders Explore the Continuing Impact of Psychedelics.”
The event will feature Medrith, one of the “The Eldest of the Elders” in the silent psychedelic underground described in Rachel Harris’ book “Swimming in the Sacred.” Medrith has been guiding journeys secretly since long before the current psychedelic renaissance.
“Because the whole subject of psychedelic use has been reprehended in the general social environment for a large part of the lifespan of anyone who is ‘elderly’ in age, such persons are often very reluctant to talk about their historic activities, and concerned about confidentiality and safety,” says Mangini. “It is a gesture of trust and solidarity for these elders to appear publicly and to reveal their experience and wisdom.”
The gathering will include time for questions, an altar for remembering, and a postcard-writing table where participants can contribute their own words to the record. According to organizers, this is “an opportunity to be present with living witnesses to the history of the psychedelic movement, to carry forward their knowledge, and to recognize that the act of remembering is itself a form of cultural continuity.”
The WVC was formed to amplify the voices of women in the fields of psychedelics, visionary culture, and healing. Since 2007, the organization has hosted intergenerational gatherings that center lived experience, mentoring, and creative expression. Led by educators, researchers, cultural workers, artists, and activists, the WVC honors the legacy of elders while bridging the transfer of wisdom to the next generation of visionaries.
Annie Oak Harrison is a co-founder and board member of the Women’s Visionary Council.