PT554 The Hero's Journey: Finding Your Story in Psychedelic Healing, with Mareesa Stertz
In this episode, Joe interviews Mareesa Stertz: lead of strategy/communications at the Global Psychedelic Society, co-founder of Lucid News, and filmmaker, currently finalizing her second feature film, \u201cConfessions of a Psychonaut.\u201d
She discusses her path to wanting to create the film: how she always felt like something was wrong with her but didn\u2019t know exactly how to start her healing path, how seven ayahuasca trips didn\u2019t give her the breakthrough experience she wanted, and how she realized over time that she didn\u2019t have a hidden moment of trauma to overcome, but rather, lots of \u201clittle t\u201d trauma \u2013 something that a lot of us have, without necessarily knowing it. She saw the true power of people sharing their stories of becoming healthier, and has found that aligning our stories to the classic framework of the Hero\u2019s Journey and Carl Jung\u2019s concept of individuation is the perfect formula for self-awareness, growth, and finding more meaning in life.
She talks about:
- How the Hero\u2019s Journey makes sense of the abyss, and how the abyss helps us to see how much we\u2019ve been programmed
- Her formula for a good story: who you were before the event, the event, and how it changed you
- Her Sphinx project, where she aims to bring giant sphinxes (from \u201cThe NeverEnding Story\u201d) to Burning Man, as a way for people to determine if they are \u201cworthy\u201d
- Her \u201cTalk Box\u201d art installation, which involves strangers meeting in a confession booth to engage in meaningful conversations based on a wheel of questions
- The power of group coherence and how much stronger a healing container can become over time
and more!\xa0
Stertz is offering a course on finding where the Hero\u2019s Journey is in each of our lives: \u201cEmerge: A Journey of Self-Authorship\u201d begins on October 29. Click here for more info.