Category: Editorial

goodnews may 2024

annual report 2023 – gaiamedia foundation

After a quiet start to the year with regular events in the gaiamedia lounge, such as THE  PSYCHEDELIC  SALON and the Psychedelic Integration Circle, a year full of events kicked off with Bicycle Day on April 19, the 80th anniversary of the discovery of LSD, and the 30th anniversary of our foundation, on 23 July.

The place of pride belongs to the annual Bike Ride organized by the gaiamedia Foundation on the occasion of Bicycle Day. A large group of members and sympathizers cycled along the historic route from Sandoz in Basel to the chemist’s home in Bottmingen, anologous to Albert Hofmann’s bicycle ride with his laboratory assistant Susi Ramstein. It was a colourful and fun event, followed by a drink in the gaiamedia lounge.

To mark the 80th anniversary of the discovery of LSD, two other major events were held in Basel under the title #LSD8∞0, supported by the gaiamedia Foundation in terms of ideas, personnel and funding. The scientific part, a symposium organized by the Swiss Medical Association for Psycholytic Therapy (SÄPT), was granted a deficit guarantee by the gaiamedia Foundation, which, thanks to a good financial start, could be rededicated to holding the holistic sister event at OstQuai in Basel, promoted by Eleusis Society, the Swiss Psychedelic Society.

Both events were filled to capacity and, with the contributions of numerous speakers, musicians and artists, their lectures, concerts, performances, works of art and happenings, covered a very broad spectrum in the field of psychedelics and LSD. #LSD8∞0 gave both experts and laypeople a deep insight into the diverse range of topics to which the gaiamedia Foundation is dedicated. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved for their commitment.

On 23 July, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the foundation with a party in the courtyard of the gaiamedia lounge. Numerous friends, members and patrons of our foundation attended. The event was accompanied by a fantastic live set by musician Alain Meyer.

In addition to the regular opening hours on Thursday afternoons, the gaiamedia lounge is available to members and patrons of the foundation at any time. They can use the gaiamedia lounge by arrangement for their own events such as lectures, film screenings or meetings of a charitable or commercial nature, for small gatherings or as a research and work space. The gaiamedia lounge is used by the Psychedelic Awareness & Research Association Basel (PARAB) as its regular venue.

Slight renovations have been carried out. The gaiamedia library – our unique collection of books, magazines and artifacts about psychedelics, consciousness, literature, ecology, the sixties and shamanism – has been expanded to around 3,500 titles and is now finally available as a reference library. The extensive cataloging of the collection is progressing and should reach the first milestone of “viewed and inventoried” in 2024. There is still the idea of developing a collaboration with the Bibliotheca Psychonautica.

gaiamedia goodnews is sent out monthly in German and English to around 5500 subscribers worldwide. The integration of gaiamedia goodnews  with the social media channels of the gaiamedia  Foundation and the highly popular gaiamedia  Foundation Basel YouTube channel, equipped with numerous videos, is in progress.

Susanne G. Seiler’s PSYCHEDELIC  SALON Basel, a sister event to the Salon of the same name at Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, takes place in the gaiamedia lounge on the third Thursday evening of every month and attracts a regular audience discussing current topics from science and research.

In December 2023, we found a new Managing Director in James Merron. James joined us after completing his post-doctorate on the “Relationship between Science, Technology and Society” at the University of Basel. He takes over from Jonas Hässig, who is now focusing on his own project. We would like to thank Jonas warmly for his work and wish him all the best.

A big thank you goes to our wonderful advisory board members Susanne G. Seiler and Jean-Michel Stoessel. Your energetic support gives the gaiamedia Foundation the momentum it needs.

There is a good working relationship between the Foundation Board members Marion Neumann, Laura Bättig, Alexander Suter and Kerim Seiler. Great projects and many events await you again in 2024 at Hochstrasse 70 in Basel. Come and visit us!

Kerim Seiler, Member of the gaiamedia Board<img src=”http://pl02.owen.prolitteris.ch/na/plzm.0f674b35-ddb9-4e57-84a8-6a8273ffa1de” height=”1″ width=”1″ border=”0″>

P.S. You’ll find us at the gaiamedia lounge, in the back yard of Hochstrasse 70 (behind Basel’s SBB station, tram stop Peter Merian), every Thursday afternoon from 14 – 18 h. Welcome!

goodnews april 2024 –bicycle day

bicycle day

Eighty-one years ago, on April 19 1943, Albert Hofmann and his laboratory assistant Susi Ramstein – the first woman to take LSD – cycled from Sandoz headquarters in the Basel Wettstein district to Bottmingen, the suburb where the chemist lived with his family. Hofmann had intentionally taken LSD for the first time about an hour earlier.

Since 2018, the Gaia Media Foundation has been inviting people to retrace the approximately four kilometer route he took with the help of young Susi, while recalling Albert Hofmann’s many spiritual adventures and Susi Ramstein’s courage as the first tripsitter.

We’ll meet on Friday, April 19 at the gaiamedia lounge from 4 p.m. onward, in the back yard of Hochstrasse 70 (see below). Leaving at 5 p.m. sharp for the Novartis Campus whence we’ll cycle to Bottmingen to see the house where Albert Hofmann lived, albeit only from the outside. From there, we return to the lounge around 6 p.m. for a Happy Hour with psychedelic music from the Sixties and Seventies as well as some snacks.

Non-locals can rent a bicycle here or here.

Those wishing to participate in the program of our partner, the Swiss Psychedelic Society – Eleusis – has organized for the occasion at OstQuai, in the former cargo port of Basel, near the German border, will leave the lounge around 7 p.m. The party includes a collective experience, a talking circle, and, from 8.30 p.m- onward, ecstatic dance as well as a concert. Everyone is welcome. Tickets can be purchased here.

We are counting on as many of you as possible. Please let us know if you’ll come along for the ride and for our Happy Hour so we know how many participants to count with. The Happy Hour finishes around 9 p.m. or when the last attendants will have left.

We are looking forward to being with you

Marion Neumann                                                                                  Susanne G. Seiler
Member of the Board                                                                            Editor
Gaia Media Foundation & Eleusis Society                                           gaiamedia goodnews

P.S. You’ll find us at the gaiamedia lounge, Hochstrasse 70 (behind Basel’s SBB station, tram stop Peter Merian), every Thursday afternoon from 14 – 18 h. Welcome!

goodnews april 2024 – editorial: bicycle day

Eighty-one years ago, on April 19 1943, Albert Hofmann and his laboratory assistant Susi Ramstein – the first woman to take LSD – cycled from Sandoz headquarters in the Basel Wettstein district to Bottmingen, the suburb where the chemist lived with his family. Hofmann had intentionally taken LSD for the first time about an hour earlier.

Since 2018, the Gaia Media Foundation has been inviting people to retrace the approximately four kilometer route he took with the help of young Susi, while recalling Albert Hofmann’s many spiritual adventures and Susi Ramstein’s courage as the first tripsitter.

We’ll meet on Friday, April 19 at the gaiamedia lounge from 4 p.m. onward, in the back yard of Hochstrasse 70 (see below). Leaving at 5 p.m. sharp for the Novartis Campus whence we’ll cycle to Bottmingen to see the house where Albert Hofmann lived, albeit only from the outside. From there, we return to the lounge around 6 p.m. for a Happy Hour with psychedelic music from the Sixties and Seventies as well as some snacks.

Non-locals can rent a bicycle here or here.

Those wishing to participate in the program of our partner, the Swiss Psychedelic Society – Eleusis – has organized for the occasion at OstQuai, in the former cargo port of Basel, near the German border, will leave the lounge around 7 p.m. The party includes a collective experience, a talking circle, and, from 8.30 p.m- onward, ecstatic dance as well as a concert. Everyone is welcome. Tickets can be purchased here.

We are counting on as many of you as possible. Please let us know if you’ll come along for the ride and for our Happy Hour so we know how many participants to count with. The Happy Hour finishes around 9 p.m. or when the last attendants will have left.

We are looking forward to being with you

Marion Neumann                                                                                  Susanne G. Seiler
Member of the Board                                                                            Editor
Gaia Media Foundation & Eleusis Society                                           gaiamedia goodnews

P.S. You’ll find us at the gaiamedia lounge, Hochstrasse 70 (behind Basel’s SBB station, tram stop Peter Merian), every Thursday afternoon from 14 – 18 h. Welcome!

transcendence and immanence

In the Sixties, among hippies, the talk was often of “transcending the bullshit”. Unfortunately, it remains immanent though there may be individual progress. The terms transcendence and immanence are grounded in religious philosophy. They refer to God being removed from his creation as opposed to being a part of it. On a colloquial level, people experience transcendence as going beyond their habitual state of consciousness. This is achieved through prayer, meditation, contemplation, dance, song, music, visions or psychedelics.

Immanence doesn’t necessitate any of this. If, like me, you are a pantheist, you believe that God or the absolute is an intrinsic part of all that is, and you don’t have to strive to be a part of It, Him, Her or Them. Accordingly, I see meditation and the like as measures of spiritual hygiene, which is certainly not wrong.

In the biblical parable of Moses and the burning bush (Ex 3,1– 4,17), the classical argument for transcendence is made when Moses first encounters God. He tells him to take his shoes off, since Moses is standing on holy ground. People like me argue that we’re always standing on holy ground.

Heavenly visions and advice from sources outside of us are not to be belittled. Immanence is universal, transcendence the vehicle that may take us to this realization. To transcend what ails us as a society, we need to reflect on what matters. The three most important issues are: Nature. Peace. Humanity. Nature refers to the stewardship of the creation we are entrusted with. Peace means the achievement of less war and strife all over the globe. Humanity is synonymous with compassion, to improve our mutual well-being on an individual and collective level.

I didn’t say it was easy. However, the painful beauty of our world deserves our best efforts.

Yours,
 Susanne G. Seiler

P.S. You’ll find us at the gaialounge, Hochstrasse 70 (behind Basel’s SBB station, tram stop Peter Merian), every Thursday afternoon from 14 – 18 h. Welcome!

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