In this episode, Joe and Kyle interview Erik Davis, Author of High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies. In the show they cover topics on La Chorrera, uncertainty, synchronicities and more. 3 Key Points: Erik is the Author of High Weirdness, a study of the spiritual provocations to be found in the work of Philip K. Dick, Terence McKenna, and Robert Anton Wilson. These 3 authors chart the emergence of a new psychedelic spirituality that arose from the American counterculture of the 1970s. Erik examines the published and unpublished writings of these thinkers as well as their own life-changing mystical experiences. Erik is America's leading scholar of high strangeness, and talks of synchronicities, uncertainty, and all things weird. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Erik Erik went into the PhD program and always wanted to write about Phillip K Dick He got a sense that he didn't want to spend 3 years in Phillip’s head He looked into the works of Phillip K Dick, Robert Anton Wilson, The McKenna brothers, etc He wanted to find a way to take their experiences seriously, without taking them literally The Book Much like understanding religious experiences, unpacking psychedelic experiences involves clinical analysis, free-thinking, pragmatism, and skepticism. “Creative insecurity is one of the greatest gifts of these compounds.” People want an answer, but maybe there isn’t always an answer. “There’s something else that’s going on that's more cosmic, and difficult in a lot of ways. I want to invite that difficulty in.” A large reason people have difficulty with uncertainty is because often, there are many “answers” right there, likely from someone trying to sell them something. Studying religion made Davis more critical of these “sellers,” but gave him much more sympathy and patience for religious people because of the fact that they’re seeking something. Davis’ favorite image for the idea of courage in trying to understand the unknown is that of a tight-rope walker. The tight-rope walker steps away from solid ground, and the only way to survive is to maintain balance. “There is a way of continuing to be reasonable, asking questions, respecting balance and homeostasis, even as you enter into really difficult situations.”  He wanted to tell these stories because “that’s what the weird is. [Psychedelic experiences] are great- they can be holy, they can be integrative, they can be healing, they can be unifying, they can be restoring- all those things are true, and they’re totally weird! And what are you going to do with that? You’re going to pretend that’s not there?” The healing part of psychedelics is great, but viewing psychedelics as a learning tool is equally as important. La Chorrera Erik says that it's the great story He says that no one had taken it seriously, and he wanted people to recognize what their work was, which was their experiences Its half science, and half a ritual It was a theater of transformation and novel experience The purpose is to avoid the traps of blaming it on psychosis, and look at it as a creative venture “I think a lot of us wrestling with psychedelics and visionary experiences have our own challenge of, how do we put these pieces together?” - Erik Uncertainty “I want to invite that difficulty in, it's not always love and light” - Erik When someone is uncomfortable, people just turn away from it, and they just live in this lie  Erik says he blames the culture and capitalist scene Because of uncertainty, there are so many experts ready to sell you something “The people who are seeking, I have more sympathy for. The people that are selling, I have less sympathy for” - Erik “If you keep the balance, you can go pretty far and not fall in” - Erik A lo