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The Psychedelic Salon x Villa Mare
Villa Fest at Villa Mare
We have a great lineup with something for everyone.
8008 Zurich | Neumünsterallee 21 | Saturday, November 7, 2026 | 5:00 pm–11:30 pm | Free admission
Related
Cannabis Health Symposium
Following the reforms of CanG, Germany’s medical cannabis landscape is shifting fast. The Cannabis Health Symposium brings clinicians, industry and patient advocates together in Frankfurt to examine the evidence, the regulatory picture and the practical realities of prescribing and access.
Mainhaus | Frankfutrt | DE | Wednesday, 4 November 2026 | 9 – 17.30 h
Musée de l’homme:
Drogues – An exhibition about drugs
75016 Paris | 17 Place du Trocadéro | November 11, 2026 – June 6, 2027
Substanzen jetzt
The festival “Substances now) offers a varied program: whether it’s psychedelic art, panel discussions, informal get-togethers, or one-on-one conversations with experts, concerts, or other experimental formats—there’s something for everyone.
8005 Zurich | Photobastei | Sihquai 125 | 12.- 29. November 2026
good to see
Ask me anything
The Sudanese refugee Abulaal Hussein answers any question about himself and his life in clubs and meetings in the Netherlands.
Discovering the many properties of Amanita muscaria.
In Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia, join Hamilton Morris as he investigates the extraordinary chemistry, scientific history, and societal impact of the world’s most misunderstood psychoactive substances. From laboratory experiments to complex organic syntheses, discover the fascinating science, neuroscience, and chemical engineering behind these incredible molecules.
good to hear
Remembering Mighty Sparrow
Party Classics by the King of Calypso
Slinger Francisco (1935 – Septemberr 2026), widely known as The Mighty Sparrow and the “Calypso King of the World,” passed away on September 27. He was a Grenadian-born Trinidadian calypso vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist who defined Caribbean music for over seven decades. His breakthrough came in 1956. Seventy years laer, he leaves us one of he most remarkable collections of Caribbean music. ” Birdie, as Francisco was also affectionately known, recorded hundreds of songs in a career that spanned six decades. He performed in several countries around the world, including at famous venues such as New York City’s Madison Square Garden.” (The Guardian obituary)
Django Django & Max Pope
Feel Alright
Here’s something really psychedelic again—that groovy, feel-good sound we’ve been missing for so long in these aggressively gloomy times. At least from bands we don’t already know and love. The British art-rock and indie band Django-Django was founded in London in 2009. Its members met while studying art in Edinburgh. Their sound is often described as psychedelic synth-pop. Max Pope is also a Londoner and has released two albums to date: Counting Sheep (2022) and PRAISE ANIMAL (2025).
Cloud’s Hill
Trentemóller with Sune Rose Wagner
Your love Walks Alone.
Danish musician, producer, multi-instumentalist and DJ Andres Trentemøller has had a remarkable career. He first made a name for himself in the club scene, where he stood out with minimalist techno and house. Later, he made melancholy his musical signature: dark, wistful, and Nordic. He now plays shoegaze music—still sad, with an eye toward the past—but also, post-punk. He has laso starting singing, along with his long-time freind and guitarist. “‘Your Love Walks Alone’, the third single taken from Trentemøller’s new, untitled album, is a gothy torch song built from layers of industrial-sized fuzz.”
In My Room
Marina Herlop
Vas volant, from the Album DjaDja
Marina Hernández López (born 1992), known professionally as Marina Herlop, is a classically trained Catalan pianist, singer, and experimental musician and lives in Barcelona. She sings many of her lyrics in languages she invented, creating otherworldly sounds, blending electronic, avant-garde, folk, and classical elements. Her draws inspiration from the musical traditions of Karnataka, in Southern India and a technique known as konnakol (vocal percussion), layering and chopping her vocals on a computer. Nobody sounds quite like her.
Lapsus Records
Fontaines D.C.
Marianne, from the album Dopamine Chamber
From Ireland to London, this post-punk band also met in art school and ended up in London. The D.C. in their name stands for Dublin City, to avoid confusion with a similarly named band from L.A. The band produced its first record, Dogrel, in 2019; Dopamnie Chamber is its 5th. “Even with just one spin, it becomes evident that the album seems to be more like three distinct EPs and one single that have been collected. This might seem a weird way of assessing music, but the album clearly shifts gears after every three songs.” (Beat per Minute) Check it out!
XL Recordings
goodnews editorial
transhumanism
Timothy Leary, one of the pioneering advocates of space migration, could hardly have imagined his most ardent supporters would essentially be the world’s wealthiest right-wingers.
In 1983, we published the first article on transhumanism in the magazine of the same name as our publishing house, Sphinx, of which I was also the editor at the time. “The Prosthetic Gods” by Kurt Bracharz described bodily enhancements and predicted that these would lead to significant class divisions. He summarized what was already a reality: heart and other organ transplants, artificial joints, implanted teeth. Artificial beauty, artificial veins, limbs, hands, and feet. Many of these represent not so much optimization as replacement and are commonplace today. He also presented the authors who had foreseen these possibilities and concludes that the humanoids of the future won’t be happier than we are. Who knows?
Transhumanism has become the playground of the super-rich, although—aside from harmless smartwatches and fitness rings, and those peepshow glasses—I haven’t seen many of their enhancements on them yet.
I’d rather put off the “bio-optimizations” needed to venture further into space until later. (Maybe in a next life?) I don’t like the idea of a chip in my brain or anywhere else in my body. It’s all far too invasive for me. My body is my temple. That’s where I live.
I don’t mind those in the tech world rushing towards the stars and other planets, such as Mars. I don’t mind that they’re leaving me behind, even if it comes at an immense financial and environmental cost and they leave me behind. I ‘d rather stay here and renature nature. That’s the best medicine against environmental madness: that and less consumption, less reliance on any kind of energy other than our own.
Otherwise, there are plenty of enjoyable distractions. We attended the ALPS conference in early October (good contributions and atmosphere), and in Zurich, we have two weeks of psychedelic events coming up at Photobastei.
We’ll be there and hope to see you.
Yours, as always,
Susanne
P.S.WIDE OPEN BOOKS @ Villa Mare, Neumünsterallee 21, 8008 Zürich. New opening hours: Thursday 15-20 h or by appointment. Our film program starts on 12 November. Out theme this winter is the Nouvelle Vage of the 1960s.
P.S.S. It’s not too late to contribute to our Audioguide for “Bicycle Day,” which we’re currently developing so that we won’t have to shout on the next “Bicycle Day” and can share individual stops from Albert Hofmann’s famous bike ride with the world—right on your cell phone.
good to read

The Psychedelics Manual: Metaphysics and Meaning
Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes
Designed for therapists, researchers, and psychedelic explorers alike, this manual requires no prior background in philosophy. It provides a “metaphysical menu” to help readers integrate and articulate experiences that can otherwise feel ineffable or disorienting. Thought-provoking, and practical, The Psychedelics Manual is a handbook for rethinking consciousness, reality, and psychedelic experience. Philosophy matters!
Bloomsbury Academic

Darkness Becomes Bright. On the Brief Life and Immortal Art of Edgar Allan Poe
Emily Ogden
Edgar Allan Poe did not truly die. In the years since his mysterious demise, his works have captivated millions and spawned the genres of horror and the detective story. His masterpieces – filled with talking ravens and buried women, haunted houses and beating hearts – live on in our imaginations and our nightmares. They are endlessly adapted, parodied and obsessed over. Emily Ogden dives deep into the mind of a man whose darkness has shaped our world.
Pan MacMillan

Anomalous Phenomena. Apports, and the Mystery of Objects That materialize and Translocate
Keith Thompson
Across cultures and centuries, the same motifs recur—phantom figures guiding the lost, ancestors arriving in dreams, unearthly lights that seem to rearrange reality’s fabric. Far from fringe curiosities, such episodes demand recognition as part of the human record. Threaded throughout this book are Thompson’s own glimpses of the uncanny. The book opens onto a larger, empirically open model of reality where the extraordinary often lives just a breath from the ordinary.
Bear & Company

The Wild Scribe: Words That Emerge When Human and Earth Voices Entwine
Mary Reynolds Thompson
Presence, healing, and ecological stewardship: the author shows how to move into relationship with the land. Drawing on decades of experience in teaching eco-writing and poetry therapy, she provides ten themed sessions for inspiration that address topics such as grounding, seasonal awareness, and animal embodiment. Character sketches of plants and animals, haiku and haibun writing, and reflective exercises for processing solastalgia and climate grief deepen the experience.
Findhorn Press

The Power of Dreams in Later Life: Interpreting the Signs and Symbols
Harry R. Moody, Ph.D
With more than 100 case studies and personal accounts, Moody details how dreams reflect the key stages of aging. He explores midlife transitions, late-life depression, illness and caregiving, and the inner work of grief, forgiveness, and life review. Presenting a range of dream types, including recurring dreams, nightmares, and symbolic dreams, Moody explains their relevance to healing and self-understanding. He also provides tools for how to access the unconscious dimensions of your aging process and identify where change may be needed.
Park Street Press
good to discover
The Planet is up to Something
the NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman took a series of photographs capturing the nightside of Earth illuminated by moonlight. After the photographs were released to the public, a Redditor combined several of them to create a dynamic image.
good to know
Ibogaine
psychoactive | Mongabay | October 1
Gabon wants a fairer share in the boom of its native plant.
The munchies
psychoactive | ScienceDirect | October 1
Cannabis use frequency and appetite, eating behavior, and anthropometrics
Hotly debated
psychoactive | DoubleBlind | October 2
How psychedelics influence the brain an its functions.
Ketamine
psychoactive | The Guardian | October 2
Sexual harassment may go unnoticed.
Panacea
psychoactive | PsyPost | October 3
Psilocybin seems to help cure lingering Lyme disease symptoms.
Ultimate questions
psychoactive | DoubleBlind | October 3
The relationship between dying and tripping
Major depressve disorder
psychoactive | Translational Psychiatry | October 8
LSD treatment affects patients’ working memory-related brain function.
Data centers
eco | Bloomberg | October 9
Remote rural communities bear the cost of an uncertain future.
Chaos & order
psychoactive | Ars technica | October 10
A new look at brains transformed by psychedelics.
Panpsychism
science | Aeon | October 12
Is everything conscious?
Tripping
psychoactive | PsyPost | October 12
Initial brain entropy tracks later gains in insight and well-being.
Salvia divinorum
psychoactive | Psychedelic Press | October 15
The perennial changes perception, awareness, and one’s sense of reality.
Space-based solar energy
eco | Live Science | October 15
“We are fusion!” The race to harness the sun.
Infiltration
psychoactive | The Microdose | October 16
Oregon psilocybin centers under covert investigation
Cannabis
psychoactive | The Conversation | October 19
Twice as strong doesn’t equal twice as high.
Back in 1518
Dancing plague
psychoactive | Popular Science | October 20
Was it really caused by ergot contamination of rye bread?
Plasticity
psychoactive | PsyPost October 23
Brain activity reaches a more fractal, complex state under LSD.
Towards Approval of PAT
psychoactive | Psychedelic Alpha | October 23
Norway, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, and Estonia at the TAIP conference, 2026.
Psylocybin
psychoactive | DoubleBlind | October 26
Can mushrooms alleviate Parkinson’s disease?
Less visible
eco | The Conversation | October 27
Greener often means subtracting rather than adding.
good to meet
Plants of the Gods
Part 1 — Ayahuasca and Tobacco Shamanism: an Interview with Ethnobotanist Dr. Glenn Shepard
Transform Drug Policy Foundation
An independent, UK-based charity working nationally and internationally towards a just and effective system of legal regulation for all drugs.
DanceWize
Harm reduction and help for psychedelic, and/or spiritual emergencies at festivals and other peer meetings are a necessity wherever people get together in large numbers.


