It's coming up to that time where APS-Sydney is once again delighted to initiate the celebration of Huxley's seminal Doors of Perception experience on Sunday May 23rd with a day devoted to psychedelic Cactus. Rather than covering all psychoactive cacti, this year we are choosing to focus on celebrating all things San Pedro/Huachuma in keeping with the more prevalent Australian species.

We will be screening the Aubrey Marcus’ film Huachuma directed by Mitch Schultz. The film is a 45 minute excursion deep into the heart of the Peruvian rainforest to experience the magic of the 3000 year old plant medicine: Huachuma. Distilled in the lost tradition from the San Pedro cactus by the last master Huachumero, Don Howard Lawler, the film follows Aubrey Marcus and a group of friends in a moving meditation that reveals the true transformative power of this sacred plant biotechnology.

Mike Jay will join us once again in a pre-recorded interview with Sydney Chapter Lead, Jef Baker about his recent book 'Mescaline: A Global History of The First Psychedelic' which is a definitive history of mescaline that explores its mind-altering effects across cultures, from ancient America to western modernity and soon to be released on paperback. Following from our broad ranging conversation for last years inaugural Cactus Day, this time we focus exclusively on San Pedro/Huachuma and its ancient ceremonial use in South America most notably at the temple of Chavin De Huantar. We also cover the traditions, customs and rituals of Huachuma culture, the Western discovery of San Pedro and the cultural implications and consequences for the Indigenous people and preservation of these customs to this day.

We are also privileged to have a live cactus workshop presented by Tony Davey which will be a hand-ons demonstration of how to cultivate Trichocereus cacti from tip-cuttings, trunks and seed. Tony is a long standing member and moderator of the Shaman Australis forum and other online communities as wells an APS volunteer who, from an early age has had a passion for nature and growing plants.
Born and raised on a rural farm, he had the skills to nurture plants from an early age. After migrating to Australia in the nineties he found the perfect climate to grow Trichocereus cactus and in the years since, has been an active and dedicated part of the cactus community since, spreading the genetics of many plants amongst friends and strangers alike. Tony will demonstrate the basics of cactus cultivation using different methods and answer any questions the community may have about starting their collection or enhancing their existing gardens. Tony’s talk will inevitably reveal how every cactus tells a story, not just about its genetics, but its path to the grower, connection to the cactus community through collective sharing and our greater relationship to to the land they’re grow on.