Into the Psychedelic Renaissance

Privilege & Spiritual Accountability

Hey there -

Thanks for being here and choosing to read my words. It means a lot. I originally wrote this piece as a reflection for a course I had to take to complete my Master’s degree in Psychedelics & Consciousness Studies at the University of Ottawa.

Please read until the end for updates on upcoming retreats and our new men’s group.

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As a white and spiritual man immersed in the evolving psychedelic movement, I find myself continuously grappling with the implications of my privilege and the responsibilities it entails. The psychedelic community, often celebrated for its embrace of diversity and social justice, serves as a microcosm of broader societal dynamics, where issues of race, gender, environment and class intersect with spirituality, in addition to personal and collective healing.

Within this context, acknowledging both the advantages and disadvantages afforded by my identity becomes important. While my identity as a white man with a university education may open doors and provide access to certain opportunities within the psychedelic sector, it also comes with its own set of challenges and complexities. As I navigate this space, I am mindful of the potential for my privilege to influence the perspectives and actions of myself and others who I come into contact with.

I recognize the importance of transparency and self-awareness in this process, as well as the need to actively confront and challenge systems of oppression that perpetuate inequality. My evolving relationship as an ally to marginalized groups and the living planet is deeply intertwined with my evolving spiritual journey, as I seek to integrate spiritual insights from various traditions and personal practice with a commitment to social and environmental justice. Moreover, my experience navigating the emerging psychedelic sector has underscored the interconnectedness of personal and collective transformation.

As I engage with diverse voices and perspectives within the community, online and in-person, I am reminded of the power of solidarity and collective action in effecting meaningful change. By fostering dialogue, collaboration, and mutual support, we can work towards building a more inclusive and equitable psychedelic community that honours the diversity of human experience and promotes holistic healing on individual, societal, and ecological levels.

My journey as a white man within the psychedelic renaissance is an ongoing process of self-reflection, learning, healing and growth. By acknowledging and confronting the complexities of privilege and identity, I strive to contribute to the creation of a more just, equitable, compassionate and inclusive psychedelic community. Through personal and collective efforts to cultivate mature spiritual awareness which honours lineage and promotes social and environmental justice, we can harness the potential of psychedelics to create a world that recognizes the inherent sacredness and interconnectedness of all life.

I am a white man of French Canadian descent born in Canada and raised in China. My ancestry encompasses various North and South European ethnicities, while the majority of my life, including my most formative years, were spent in a part of the world which I have no historical or ancestral link to. While my upbringing in China has offered unique experiences, perspectives and understandings as an ethnic minority and immigrant, it has also produced a felt-sense of uprootedness, a lack of cultural identity or belonging, and a strong desire for deeper relationship to the land and people which I was born from.

Fortunately, as a teenager, my uprootedness and personal challenges led to the ingestion of a large dose of mushrooms, alone, in search of spiritual enlightenment. Through countless intentional and self-guided psychedelic experiences revealing the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, I received what I needed. My first mushroom journey was a profound spiritual experience which clarified my intuition as a spiritual being in a material body. This ancient recognition allowed me to feel and subsequently cultivate a strong sense of interconnection with and compassion for all life, including the planet and humanity.

This ultimately signified the beginning of awareness of my life as a spiritual journey through which I have sought and engaged with various practices and teachers, mostly Buddhist and Indigenous, to shed my personal identity and reconnect with a universally shared spiritual essence. Ultimately, and so far, the spiritual journey has taught me that our spiritual essence is enmeshed with our material existence, allowing me to understand that, to honour our spiritual essence, I must honour my personal identity, including the privilege that comes with it.

My personal identity as a white man with a university level education during the psychedelic renaissance illuminates a complicated and multifaceted reality which I am still learning to navigate and integrate. While my white maleness might normally be considered a privilege which grants me access to opportunities and platforms that may be less readily available to individuals from marginalized communities, I also feel the opposite is true. I would be amiss not to say that I have felt my whiteness and biological sex as a potential impediment because companies, communities, and organizations within the psychedelic movement seek diversity and inclusion.

Whether it be obtaining positions of leadership within organizations, or being invited to speak at conferences and events, my whiteness and maleness has felt like a double-edged sword. Occasionally, within the psychedelic sector, I have had the impression of not having any privilege, which I believe is a sign of progress. This is not a complaint or an effort to make this situation any different for myself. I simply share my honest perspective as a white man involved within the various structures of the psychedelic renaissance for the past 5 years. While I may not feel privilege in certain circumstances, I recognize that I still maintain a level of privilege within my day-to-day interactions within the psychedelic community (and the world at large) in simple virtue of being a white man. The dual reality that I experience throughout my involvement in the psychedelic space as a white man and ally to marginalized groups underscores the dynamic systemic inequalities within a multifaceted movement which, for the most part, seeks to champion diversity and inclusion.

I recognize that my presence as a white man in the psychedelic space can inadvertently perpetuate dynamics of power and privilege, and that my involvement in this space necessitates awareness of social justice and commitment to anti-oppressive action. In a field where cultural appropriation and suppression, in addition to spiritual bypassing, has historically been prevalent, it is essential for individuals like myself who seek to benefit all to critically examine our roles and responsibilities. Am I amplifying the voices of marginalized communities, am I co-opting their narratives for personal gain? Am I actively working to dismantle systems of oppression, or am I perpetuating them through my actions and attitudes? Am I acting from a place of mature spiritual awareness or is this a form of spiritual bypassing? Are my actions building trust and inclusion, or do they inadvertently replicate patterns of exploitation?

These are questions that I continue to ask myself as I deepen my commitment to fostering the equitable and just integration of psychedelics into the West’s social and legal systems, in addition to the culture which I am enmeshed in. While I seek to use my privilege as a white man for the benefit of people by being an ally to marginalized groups, I also feel a duty towards all life, including the non-human beings with whom we share the living planet. As a result, I am acutely aware of the importance of allyship between myself and marginalized groups, including people, plants and fungi, in leveraging my privilege for the betterment of all. I feel a responsibility to use my voice and influence to advocate for those who’s voice have historically been suppressed, silenced or marginalized. This means supporting initiatives that prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion, whether it be through mentorship, resource allocation, or advocacy for policy change. It means continually educating myself about relevant topics, including liberation psychology, cultural humility, sacred plant traditions, and Indigenous knowledge systems. It means being willing to step back and cede space to those whose perspectives and experiences have been historically excluded from mainstream discourse. It means advocating for the environment with an understanding of the interconnectedness of social, colonial, racial and environmental issues. It also means advocating for ancient and intelligent sacred plant and fungi teachers which humanity must learn to co-exist with, but which have been suppressed and stigmatized through an domineering process of colonization, prohibition and commercialization. Finally, it means devoting myself to something greater than myself while cultivating a mature spiritual awareness which recognizes the ways in which all life is interconnected and sacred.

Navigating the psychedelic renaissance as a white spiritual man demands a nuanced understanding of privilege, identity, and responsibility within the broader context of spirituality, culture, the environment and social justice. It requires cultivating a mature spiritual awareness that transcends the pursuit of an individualistic spiritual enlightenment to encompass a deep recognition of the material realities of oppression, inequality and environmental destruction. As I continue contributing to the psychedelic renaissance through business and academia, I must remain vigilant against the influence of preconceived biases that can distort my perceptions and perpetuate unequal power dynamics. While the universal spiritual principles of love, unity, interconnection and sacredness may bind all life together, I cannot ignore the systemic injustices that disproportionately affect marginalized communities on a daily basis. Therefore, it is incumbent upon people like myself, as individuals with privilege, to actively participate in and contribute to the dismantling of these systems of oppression, advocating for equity and inclusion within the psychedelic movement. By amplifying marginalized voices, confronting our own biases, and promoting diversity and social justice, we can work towards creating a more just and equitable world that honours the interconnectedness of all beings while fostering genuine collective healing and transformation.

While I continue on a deeply personal and increasingly collective spiritual journey which highlights a need for collective healing and liberation, I am reminded of the complexities of privilege and the imperative to use it responsibly in service of all life, encompassing social and environmental justice. Upon reflection, I feel a renewed commitment to actively participating in and contributing to the dismantling of oppressive systems within the psychedelic movement, advocating for inclusivity and diversity at every turn. By centering diversity, environmental, and social justice in my work and interactions within the psychedelic renaissance, I aspire to contribute to the creation of a world that is truly inclusive, equitable, and representative of the diverse tapestry of experiences and perspectives, beyond those of the human species. This work is not static; it requires continual engagement, growth, and a willingness to confront biases and challenge existing power dynamics. Cultivating spiritual awareness has helped me approach my work in the psychedelic sector with humility and a willingness to use my privilege for the betterment of marginalized people and the environment, acting with the recognition that my individual material existence is deeply tied into our shared spiritual essence. Through ongoing self-reflection and a steadfast dedication to being an ally to marginalized groups, I believe we can collectively foster genuine healing and liberation, not only within the psychedelic community but also in the broader world.

Offerings

While these offerings are only for men, I encourage anyone who doesn’t identity as a man to share these offerings with men they believe will benefit. Also, please stay tuned for an upcoming offering for everyone, taking place in Vancouver, BC.

Woven Retreats

I’m grateful to announce two more Woven men’s retreats coming in 2025, set against the beautiful landscapes of British Columbia, Canada. These gatherings are for men looking to deepen their spiritual practice, rekindle a bond with their soul and the natural world, and explore transformational states of consciousness through meditation, breathwork, microdosing, safe psychedelic journeywork and more.

Woven’s Rewild Retreat | Dates: April 9–13, 2025

• Focus: Reconnect with your wild self through immersion in nature, guided introspection, and communal support. Unplug from life’s noise and rediscover your soul’s inner compass in a community of men. Learn more here.

Woven’s Reconnect Retreat | Dates: September 16–21, 2025

• Focus: Reflect on what truly matters, strengthen your sense of belonging, and cultivate clarity for the next phase of your life. This retreat is about integrating spiritual insights into daily living in a community of men. Learn more here.

Whether you’re stepping onto this path for the first time or looking to deepen an existing practice, these retreats offer a safe and supportive space to awaken your inner wisdom and build lifelong relationships with like-hearted men.

The Mindful Men’s Guild

If you identify as a hard-working or high-performing man and you’re looking for genuine connection and mindful support from other men, the Mindful Men’s Guild might be for you. Jack and I are building a community of men dedicated to exploring meditation, breathwork, psychedelics, conscious communication, and other mindfulness practices for better living—all within a safe, supportive environment.

Whether you’re seeking better work-life balance, a deeper spiritual practice, or simply a space to be heard and understood, this group is here to help you grow and thrive.

We currently have one full group (12 men total, including Jack and I), we’re soon starting another group and we’d love to welcome you into the Guild!

Learn more here.

We hope to meet you soon!

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Thank you for your time and attention. I know there’s a lot of other “content” fighting for it these days. So thank you. To connect with me, feel free to comment.

Peace and wholeness.