History
PT411 – The Humanity of Healthcare Professionals, Ancient Psychedelic Use, and Breaking the Cycle of Colonialism
May 23, 2023
Featuring: Priyanka Wali, MD
In this episode, Joe interviews Priyanka Wali, MD: board-certified practicing physician in Internal Medicine, MAPS-trained psychedelic facilitator, comedian, and co-host (with Sean Hayes of “Will & Grace” fame) of the HypochondriActor podcast, where they discuss interesting medical issues in a funny (and hopefully uplifting) way.
In this episode, Joe interviews Priyanka Wali, MD: board-certified practicing physician in Internal Medicine, MAPS-trained psychedelic facilitator, comedian, and co-host (with Sean Hayes of “Will & Grace” fame) of the HypochondriActor podcast, where they discuss interesting medical issues in a funny (and hopefully uplifting) way.
She talks about recognizing and protecting the humanity of healthcare professionals, and how medical school is creating a cycle of hurt people trying to help other hurt people. She believes we need to become more holistic, especially in embracing Indigenous ways of thinking, as their frameworks may be the only way to explain phenomena with which Western science can’t yet come to terms.
They talk a lot about ancient psychedelic use: the use of a soma described in the Rigveda; Egyptian culture and mushrooms observed in statues; Plato; the work of Brian Muraresku and Graham Hancock; and Vedic chants, Kashmiri Bhajans, and how singing (especially in a group) can be especially healing to the nervous system. And as Wali experienced first-hand the Kashmiri Pandit genocide of 1990, she discusses how much colonialism has changed cultures, and how much our cycles of oppression relate to our collective inability to experience pain and fear.
They discuss the psychological impact of living through major catastrophes; the special and hard-to-describe feeling of returning to your home (especially in a world changed by colonization and constant conflict); the sad case of Ignaz Semmelweis and hand washing; ghosts of Japan’s 2011 tsunami, the concept of ‘future primitive,’ and more.
Notable Quotes
“We’re only thinking about it from a certain perspective. And this is where you think about principles of colonization come in: looking at things only from one perspective. If you start to bring in Indigenous systems [and] Indigenous ways of looking at data, then suddenly, we do actually have ways to account for these other phenomenon that can’t be objectively tabulated.”
“In traditional Kashmiri culture, it was routine to gather together and sing together. We humans: we’re supposed to gather around the fire and dance and chant. There’s actually something very healing for our bodies. And let’s not forget how our nervous systems regulate with each other, so being physically together as a group, as a collective, singing, using our bodies: it’s actually very healing for the nervous system. We need more of that.”
“I think the next shift in consciousness is recognizing that we experience fear as part of the human experience, but we can choose not to give into it. We can be with it, we can allow it to be there, we can even honor it, but we don’t have to act on it. And we can, instead, choose the path of peace or love, or not even choose those paths, but just choose not to do anything with the fear; choose not to oppress someone, judge someone, lash it out, [or] numb it. …Unless we, in the present day, begin to start being with our fear, we will continue to perpetuate these cycles of oppression.”
Links
Apple podcasts: The HypochondriActor podcast
Wikipedia.org: Kashmiri Pandits
Ripleys.com: The Hallucinatory Voices That Saved a Woman’s Life
When the Impossible Happens: Adventures in Non-Ordinary, by Stanislav Grof Ph.D.
Cosmic Trigger I: Final Secret of the Illuminati, by Robert Anton Wilson
Researchgate.net: Evolution of ephedra as the Soma of Rigveda
Tripsavvy.com: Philae Temple Complex, Egypt: The Complete Guide
Sciencedirect.com: The entheomycological origin of Egyptian crowns and the esoteric underpinnings of Egyptian religion (Stephen R. Berlant)
Libcom.org: What is anarcho-syndicalism?
Psychedelics Today: PTSF 35 (with Brian Muraresku)
Netflix.com: Ancient Apocalypse
Psychologytoday.com: Kirtan: The Easy Meditation That Can Improve Your Brain
Paannyaar.com: Kashmiri Bhajans – List Of Most Popular Bhajans In Kashmiri
Psychedelicmedicinecoalition.org
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn
Npr.org: The Doctor Who Championed Hand-Washing And Briefly Saved Lives
Historicalindia.org: Genocide of Kashmiri Pandits
