My 6-day retreat kicked off on a Saturday morning. The only other option was a 12-day retreat, which wasn’t possible on account of work. About eight of us joined the 12-day group halfway through, making a group of about two dozen souls. They hailed from all over, but mostly North America even if they were […]

The Venue A number of places in Central and South America offer plant medicine retreats. I wanted to find one close to me, and sure enough, Gaia Sagrada was a very well-regarded retreat about an hour from Cuenca. It was much more expensive than my San Pedro workshop but also included a lot more. I

TRIGGER WARNING: This blog series concerns non-addictive psychoactive substances which, despite being present in nature and/or in our own bodies, are judged by the inestimable US government to be Schedule 1 controlled substances. If that makes them “bad” in your view, I would strongly advise that you don’t read any of this. Just know that,

The cave-in wasn’t as bad as Geddy feared. The blaster fire had dislodged a chunk of the tunnel’s roof but it hadn’t collapsed completely. Though it did completely fill the tunnel, Denk’s light poked back at them through a tiny slit near the top of the rubble. Relief flooded his body. “Ingo? Oz? Boy, am

After writing Ship Show, I decided the Reassembly series needed at least one book packed with weird aliens. Having (quite unintentionally) planted the seeds for that with the introduction of the ranse in book 1 and the oblique reference to the Myadan Zoo (colloquially referred to as the Xeno Xoo), I dove in. For the

The rock held, and Voprot swung them across the gap. Geddy’s feet settled on the edge of the far tunnel, and he grabbed Oz’s outstretched hand. She pulled him into her as Voprot landed beside him and gave another flick of the whip to release it from the ceiling. Meanwhile, blaster fire strong enough to

It happened so fast. No more than five seconds passed between Jel spotting the light to Denk’s screen filling with debris. Everyone in the gatehouse froze, and for a time, nobody spoke. “Voprot go.” “Denk, do you read me? What just happened?” Ingo asked, holding up his open palms. “The Nads brought it down on

“Are you sure about this?” Geddy asked. Denk had donned his father’s old warden uniform. They were red, he explained, because it was believed that the crypsids couldn’t distinguish the color, making it a layer of visual camouflage on top of QP, the chemical one. Either it added a few years to his appearance or

Like everything else in Randhra, the Ministry chambers were carved out of solid rock. It was a circular amphitheater tucked into a corner of the cavern not far from the entrance and accessed by a single door. Representatives from all eleven cities were there, and the bulk had arrived early. Minister Napthar had invited the

Not only had the Durandians excavated the impressively large cavern, but virtually every structure in the city was hewn from the same igneous rock. The Junts’ dwelling was up six flights of tiny stairs that Voprot, coming up the rear, could easily hop from landing to landing. Geddy took three at a time. Four families