Dr. Larry Norris: The Octopus of Integration

“We will be integrating this life until we leave this life.” Larry Norris, PhD is the co-founder of Decriminalize Nature, which began in Oakland, CA in 2019 and has sprouted across the US. DN-related policy has now passed in seven cities nationwide with at least three more cities looking to pass before the end of the year. He is also the co-founder of Entheogenic Research Integration and Education (ERIE), a nonprofit organization that offers education and integration support for those interested in entheogens. His doctoral research focuses on ayahuasca experiences and integration, as well as expanding integration concepts beyond the psychotherapeutic paradigm. He believes it is an unalienable right to have one’s own relationship with Nature, and encourages empowering grassroots communities to build local and culturally relevant support structures related to entheogens. In this conversation, we cover: “This is all one big integration to bring back to where our soul lives.” The death and dismemberment experience vs. the death and rebirth experience. Meaning-making in these ethereal psychedelic experiences. Dr. Norris’s tale of integrating an Ayahuasca ceremony. Dr. Fatemi’s most powerful trip and the decades of integration that have worked on her. How our cultural psychedelic script is growing to include conversation on integration. Symbolic latency. The non-linear timeline of integration.