december 2024 – editorial: tabs & blotters

Could the possession of small amounts of psychedelic substances such as psilocybin, LSD and DMT be legalized in the same way the possession of cannabis and hashish were decriminalized in Switzerland?

“Anyone who prepares only a small amount of a narcotic for their own consumption […] is not liable to prosecution.10 grams of a narcotic drug of the cannabis effect type shall be regarded as a small quantity.” (Art. 19b)

This momentous sentence amended the Narcotics Act in 2017. Last year, it was also decided that the police may no longer confiscate such quantities. But let’s start from the beginning.

When a pothead was caught with small amounts of cannabis (0.5 grams) and hashish (0.1 grams) in Basel some years ago, proceedings were initiated. The case was dropped, but he was fined 300 francs for procedural cost. He refused to accept the verdict and took it to the Federal Supreme Court, leading to the surprising decision. Since then, municipal pilot projects have set things in motion for full legalization.

To many people, the fact that you are allowed to possess but not consume weed or hash is not obvious, because why else would you have it? But from a legal point of view, it makes sense, because an act can only be punishable if it is carried out
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Psychologist Stephan Fundinger, journalist Claude Weiss and information technician Michael Good now want to use the case of cannabis as a precedent to implement the same regulation for small amounts of psychedelics. Because MDMA does not fall into this category, it is excluded for the time being.

They are on the lookout for people who have been picked up by the police for possession of such small amounts: as they were leaving a party, at the Zürich Street Parade or purely by chance. Stephan Fundinger and Claude Weill are old acquaintances. They have been guests at The Psychedelic Salon, both in Basel and in Zürich. You can get in touch with them through us. Of course, your details will be treated confidentially. However, it should have occurred relatively recently. We would be delighted if we could help this interesting approach achieve a breakthrough. It seems a good way to move psychedelics out of the criminal corner for people who use them other than therapeutically.

Please tell your friends about it. We need people who want to pursue the matter with enthusiasm.

Wishing you all the best for the holiday season and a hopefully better New Year,

Yours
Susanne G. Seiler

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!

october 2024 – editorial

vague news

There are three kinds of news, just as there are three kinds of people: good, bad, and indifferent. In any profession, about 15% of people excel, 15% underperform, and 70% are mediocre. While the bad may stand out, mediocrity is harder to spot. We hope to rely on the best professionals – doctors, electricians, teachers – but that doesn’t always work out as planned.

The same goes for the news. Some stories lift our spirits – medical breakthroughs, acts of kindness, peaceful resolutions. Other reports cover wars, disasters, and injustices. Fake news, which is often misleading and negative, also falls into this category, but thankfully, many can spot the lies. Then, there’s vague news: insufficient information that leaves us in the dark. It’s not necessarily bad, but it’s incomplete, leading us to believe we’ve in the know when we aren’t.

Gossip is one form of vague news—rumors about celebrities, politicians, or royalty, often unverifiable and irrelevant to our lives. Propaganda also fits here, telling us what to think without offering detailed or balanced information. Manuals or product descriptions, leaving us just as confused after reading them, can give us that same sense of frustration. Even when dealing with institutions, we often encounter vague, unclear communication.

If 70% of the news is vague, where does that leave us? How can we determine if something is true, fake, or indifferent? In this information age, we are bombarded with endless details, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Perhaps the answer lies in leading a life where we’re not glued to screens, consumed by things we cannot influence. It’s not wrong to care or get involved, but we shouldn’t let ourselves be bogged down by information we don’t truly need.

Wishing you a peaceful and unburdened start to the colder months.
Yours,
Susanne G. Seiler

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!

september 24 – editorial

tell me the truth!

When I ask my six-year-old granddaughter to tell me the truth, it isn’t always clear if her answer is fiction or fact. Unfortunately, this kind of ambiguity has become widespread. But I’m not here to talk about fake news. I want to tackle a more mysterious and existential question: Is there such a thing as THE TRUTH? Many people like to think so.

The classical view holds that truth is what corresponds to reality. That would be a perfect answer if there weren’t so many disagreements about what “reality” actually is and what we’re comparing our ideas against. Another perspective considers coherence: something is true if it fits within a context — like saying, “This house is well-built.” If the design is top-notch, the materials are of high quality, and the builders did their job well, then it stands to reason that the result should be a solid building.

The pragmatic view of truth argues that if something works, then the ideas behind it are likely true. Aeronautics provide a good example of this. Then we step onto a slippery slope — the idea that truth is relative to social and cultural contexts. Are Western women hussies because they bare their heads, and more, in public? Is chocolate ice cream the best because it’s my favourite? Many suggest there is no objective truth, that all “facts” are coloured by our viewpoints. The sun kept on revolving around the Earth.

As for THE TRUTH, I’d argue it doesn’t exist, or that we all hold a tiny shard of it. Yet many — including psychonauts — believe in an underlying reality that can be known objectively. It’s true that many report similar experiences when it comes to encounters in the otherworld, or hyperspace. Most of us have experienced things that are not so easy to explain within the context of ordinary reality. The real problem begins when different groups start claiming ownership of the one and only – beatific – truth.

Truly yours,
Susanne G. Seiler

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

goodnews july 2024 – editorial

the role of evil in the world

Last weekend I got involved in a discussion about vaccinations and coercive measures. It was about “us” versus “them”. I don’t belive in this categorizaton, nor do I believe in the supremacy of evil, whatever form it takes.

Why does evil exist? In theological terms, it’s about learning to discern and grow morally so that good finally prevails. In Taoism, on the other hand, yin and yang are considered complementary as the embodiment of the light and dark principles. As existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre said: “The confrontation with evil forces the individual to come to terms with the absurdity of existence and to find his own meaning.” Hegel assumes that the conflict between good and evil determines the progress of history and the development of human consciousness. Postmodern philosophy, on the other hand, believes that moral considerations are relative and culturally conditioned.

Carl. Jung calls evil our shadow and sees it as an external manifestation of unconscious inner conflicts. Some sociologists argue that the concept of evil serves to strengthen social norms and the cohesion of a society. Evil is also often projected onto individuals or groups as scapegoats. From an evolutionary perspective, it is possible that evil had an adaptive function. That aggression and competition were important for our survival.

ChatGTP says: “Your view that every person embodies both good and evil and that there is no absolute ‘us’ and ‘them’ is supported by various psychological, philosophical, sociological and literary perspectives. This understanding fosters empathy, self-awareness and a more nuanced approach to human interactions and moral judgements. It encourages us to look beyond simplistic pigeonholes and recognise the common humanity and complexity of each individual.”

Nobody is in control – that could be the problem!

Yours sincerely,
Susanne Seiler

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 june 2024 – spirits

The psychedelic community overwhelmingly believes in spirits – both good and bad, whereby it is thought that positive entities outweigh negative beings six to one.

Of course there are also many who don’t believe in anything outside of themselves, as well as those who are not sure. Are spirits real, or are they a figment of our imagination? Our visions and dreams testify to the rich history and mysterious dimension of our minds. Spirits are often a patr of it, especially on psychedelics. Should we be frightened? Fascinated? Indifferent? Is it wishful thinking? Madness?

We distinguish human, vegetal and elemental spirits. They are not firm; their bodies are made up of spiritual energy. They show themselves to us under many guises, shifting shape for us to better see and comprehend them. They feed us, and they feed on us. Six to one? They live in a dimension that doesn’t cross ours easily anymore since our world is full of things now. Even so, everything has a spirit, man-made objects included, and it is up to us to recognize spirit in matter and in the ethereal. For monotheists, there’s nothing but one spirit – called God, Allah, Yahweh. Except for the hierarchy of angels, sometimes intimidating but basically benevolent. For the Abrahamic religions, all other sprits are bad news.

Yet spirits are present in all cultures. Some have more power than others. That may frighten some people. But at the end of the day, they take form in relation to us, in destructive or constructive ways. When they are among themselves, they are pure energy. And now that we are spending more time outdoors and in nature again, we also have more opportunities to contact them if we wish and feel comfortable doing so.

Spiritually Yours,
Susanne G. Seiler

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 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

Non-locals can rent a bicycle here or here.

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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vague news

tell me the truth!

the role of evil in the world

annual report 2023 – gaiamedia foundation

bicycle day

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