Welcome back to the Let’s be friends podcast with us today is a new friend Lewis Ungit, author of The Return of the Dragon : The Shocking Way Drugs and Religion Shape People and Societies. With the current rise in psychedelic popularity, this episode takes a closer look into the history, culture, and philosophy about these drugs becoming mainstream, what the potential downsides are, and how they historically affected individuals and societies throughout time.In our conversation, we discuss if psychedelics open a door to another realm and if so, what the potential dangers to that might be. We discuss the symbolism and meaning of the Serpent, hydra, and Leviathan and what Lewis’s book concludes of it all.  Lewis also shares his extensive research into how religions have used and viewed psychedelics throughout time, and also what the Bible has to say about it all. “Psychedelics are in vogue again. No longer are they promoted solely by hippies and cultural outsiders. The potential benefits of LSD, mushrooms, and ayahuasca are now being touted by major cultural influencers, tech titans, and academia. It seems a matter of time before our laws loosen and the use of these drugs becomes mainstream. But why were they illegal in the first place? What are the potential downsides? Why has Western civilization historically viewed these drugs with such suspicion?” Lewis Ungit, from The Return of the Dragon : The Shocking Way Drugs and Religion Shape People and SocietiesLewis Ungit's SubstackOrder his book here