Through the lens of psychedelic plant medicine, therapist Shasta Winn joins Madison Margolin to discuss the transformative power of spiritual experiences.
“These sacred plant medicines that have been used for thousands of years have been found to really be transformative in very short durations.” – Shasta Winn
In this episode Madison Margolin and Shasta Winn explore:
- Being a lifelong mystic and seeker
- Therapeutic work with Psilocybin
- The power of spiritual experience
- Journaling to communicate with a higher power
- The spiritual versus the clinical
- Inner divinity, soul, and ego
About Shasta Winn:
Shasta Winn is a Saba Cooperative DAO member, solarpunk storyteller, content creator, and community incubator, who also supports individuals and communities as a group facilitator and counselor. She is a credentialed therapist and educator, with a MA degree in Psychology and Counseling, who over the past 15 years has studied consciousness, world spiritual practices, and sustainable communities, and has been assisting individuals and groups with issues related to co-occurring addictions, trauma, and other issues, as well as dispute resolution and mediation. She is passionate about socially building and networking healthy communities, permaculture, and nomadic life, as well as mystical pursuits, sound therapy, meditation, music, and shamanic-type practices.
About Madison Margolin:
“I’m a journalist straddling California, New York, and Israel-Palestine, focused on psychedelics, cannabis, and Judaism (in jest, I’ll say “Jews & Drugs”). I also cover culture, policy, and science. I’m passionate and curious about how people can transcend their minds to access something greater than themselves — be it through getting high off acid or God, meditating, creating art, or something somatic, I’ve set out to explore the various ways people nourish their souls. This is what drives me, and most of my writing, in some way or another, connects back to this theme.
These days, I work as an editor at DoubleBlind, the print and digital magazine I co-founded, covering psychedelics and where they intersect with mental health, spirituality, environmental justice, and social equity. I also co-founded the Jewish Psychedelic Summit and host a podcast called Set & Setting on the Be Here Now Network. I’ve been practicing journalism since 2014 and have been published in outlets like Rolling Stone, Vice, Playboy, High Times, Tablet, and Nylon, among others.
I got my start with a column on cannabis at the Village Voice, just after graduating from Columbia Journalism School. Prior to that, I lived in Tel Aviv, working with Israel’s African refugee community. In a past life, I also lived at a crazy co-op called Cloyne, while studying rhetoric and linguistics at UC Berkeley.
I’m a nerd about language and speak or dabble in French, Russian, Yiddish, and Hebrew. When not working, writing, or reporting, I’m usually dancing, spinning my hula hoop, or practicing yoga.”