Our readership continues to grow, and people continue to buy me coffee cacti. I’m genuinely touched by this as well as the messages of support I’ve gotten. I know money isn’t everything, but if I can write stuff that resonates enough for people to make a contribution, especially when I have less than a hundred subscribers, I figure I must be doing something right.

In this issue:

For all this, plus some blatant self-promotion and an event that’s gone under the radar, read on!

Psychedelic research was a mixed bag this fortnight. There were some papers that were great, some that replicated what we already knew, and some that, in my opinion, reflected poorly on the journals that published them. These are what I felt was worth reading:

Rebecchi, 2025 is what I think is possibly the most interesting paper of the past fortnight. It documents the case of autistic woman with aphantasia (the absence of mental imagery), and how she developed the capacity for vastly increased visualisation after relatively little use of psychedelics. Yes, it’s a one off case, so we can’t infer too much, but it’s exciting to consider that the ability to visualise mental images may not be as static as previously thought. The author of this paper also deserves praise for their excellent discussions around language use, and their efforts to not represent the subject’s cognitive difference as an inherent deficit.

Lancelotta et al, 2025, found that ‘psychedelic experiences may positively impact mental health and facilitate identity exploration in LGBTQIA+ individuals.’ Importantly, this research addresses a notable gap in the literature because it focuses on the experiences of gender and sexual minorities in naturalistic settings. (One more nail in the ‘clinical only’ coffin!)

Bălăeţ et al 2025 confirms what many of us suspected: people who used psychedelics and cannabis over 2020-2022 showed improvement in areas such as depression, anxiety and overall mental health. Interestingly (but not a huge surprise) people who used other drugs, including cannabis by itself, did not experience these same improvements.

As the PAT machine in Australia rolls relentlessly towards treating more a handful of people, there is finally some movement worth discussing. Foremost amongst these is the deal where Medibank, Australia’s largest private insurer, will cover MDMA assisted therapy for PTSD at Emyria’s facilities, up to a value of $10,000,000 AUD. (So, up to about 300 patients, potentially finally exhausting Optimi Health’s last shipment of GMP pingers.)

While I do think that Medibank entering this deal is a vote of confidence in MDMA-assisted therapy, keep in mind that private insurers in Australia also cover such scientifically-robust practices as homeopathy and chiropractic. (Side note: chiropractic philosophy makes use of a number of vitalist concepts, including ‘innate healing intelligence’. Wherever have I heard that before?) This indicates, at best, that Medibank feels the money side will likely add up, for them at least.

Yes, this is technically a share dilution for Emyria, but if they can chart a path to private then public coverage ahead of their competitors, it might pay off.

The other news was that Mind Medicine Australia has launched a partnership with Incannex via a new entity, Mind Medicine Australia Clinics, to operate a psychedelic services clinic in Melbourne, presumably as some sort of wholly owned subsidiary. Now, apart from me wanting to demonstrate that I probably won’t spontaneously combust for mentioning MMA rather than the more popular choice of pretending it doesn’t exist, I wanted to point out that this vertically integrated approach is pretty much what I predicted back in early 2024.

In both cases, I genuinely hope this will all work out well for people who would benefit from these therapies, even those of us too poor to have $20,000 in extras cover.

What I can say with more certainty is that that this will continues to heighten the divide between medicalised practice and underground communities. If a police dog is encouraged to sit next to me by its handler indicates on me at a music festival, leading to me being strip searched because someone, somewhere might take a pill and have a nice time, it’s OK. If I just think of Michael Winlo, CEO of Emyria, and all the money he’ll make, I’m sure I’ll feel much better.

Vertical integration is shaping Australia's psychedelic therapy rollout, just like I said it would. If you’re building in that direction, or know someone who is, hit reply or hit forward.

I’m working my way thought Sam Woolfe's excellent book, Altered Perspectives: Critical Essays on Psychedelic Consciousness. (Sam, if you’re reading this, I promise I will write up that review I promised, soon.)

Chapter 5 discusses the practice of asemic writing, where imaginary letters and whole apparent languages with no meaning are created by artists and psychonauts.

As a philosopher of language, I find it super exciting to run this phenomenon into conventional theories of meaning and reference, and see what comes out of the collision.

The short version is that this artform shows us the limits of theories of meaning (if not breaking them outright) but also demonstrates the living and dynamic nature of language. And that’s without getting into the metaphysical weeds on whether they really are downloads given to us by entities from other dimensions.

As Woolfe himself says: “Herein lies the apparent paradox of asemic writing: the symbols themselves are meaningless but the creation and interpretation of them are not.”

See Asemic Writing and Causal Reference for more!

Disclosure: This section contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a tiny commission at no extra cost to you. I rarely recommend products or services, and when I do it’s only those I genuinely trust or use myself.

Potent opioids such as nitazenes have been popping up in unexpected places, including pills sold as MDMA. So, it’s worth learning & following some safety measures, even if you and your friends aren’t intending to take opioids.

Learn the symptoms of opioid overdose:

Carry Naloxone and know how and when to use it

In Australia you can get naloxone from participating pharmacies. Organisations such as HRVic can help you learn how to use it.

Keep an eye on drug alerts

Pill Testing Australia’s Night Watch App can deliver geo-local alerts without compromising your privacy.

Test your stuff

Especially if it’s a new batch form a new vendor, get it tested at either a pill-testing service or use nitazene test strips.

For more, see the Australian Psychedelic Society harm-reduction resource: Why everyone needs to know about opioid overdose.

Want to help pay for my petrol so I don’t have to hitch-hike to EGA? Support me via Buy Me a Coffee.

Not that this will be news to many of you, but I’m officially approved to speak at EGA Garden States later this year.

My talk, Fruiting Bodies, Political Depression and Composting the Psychedelic Dream, is not optimistic. If anything, it’s based on the fact that, by lots of measures, we’ve comprehensively failed to save or create The World we wanted. But, if we’re willing to let go of things that don’t work for us any more (if they ever did,) we can have a say in the possible worlds that unfold from here, and what it’s like to live in them.

More on this year’s EGA program here.

If you’re near Brisbane next weekend, fellow seeker, Nick Sesh, has organised a community event with what looks to be a huge range of activities, stalls and talks.

For more details, see https://www.selfseeker.org/

You made it to the end (or maybe you just scrolled down for the joke.) Either way, thanks for reading!

I’d love to crack the 100-subscriber mark by next time. So, while I’m not going to ask this too often, I’d really love it if you could forward this email to someone you know who might like it.

As always, all feedback and suggestions are welcome, and I promise* to not whisper your name into the void in exchange for Chthulu’s favour.

*Unless you’re on LinkedIn claiming RFK jr will be a net positive for the health of Americans.

PS:

A 5-MeO-DMT facilitator walks into a bar in Tulum and vomits on the bartender. When the bartender complains, the facilitator says, ‘Relax, you signed a consent form.’

Written on Worimi lands. Sovereignty was never ceded.

Icon by Freepik from Flaticon