Congratulations, Cosmic Sister Emerging Voices Award (CS EVA) winner Laurel Madeline Silberman (@artemisia.luna)!

Laurel is completing her BA in Contemplative Psychology and Sacred Ecology at Naropa University (@naropau) in Boulder, CO. She completed a two-year program in Clinical Herbalism at the Self-Heal School of Herbal Studies and Healing (@selfhealschool) in San Diego, CA. She is weaving her passion for plant medicines, her love of song and dance, and her dedication to tending and living in harmony with this Earth and all of its inhabitants into a vision for a more ecological and beautiful future.

“Psychedelics deliver me to the place of stillness within that is eternally aware, non-judgmental, connected to all living beings, and imbued with unconditional love,” she says. “These medicines are expansion medicines that help me move from my small self to my ecological self.”

Laurel is a co-facilitator and organizer for the Naropa Alliance for Psychedelic Studies (NAPS / Instagram: @naropaalliance), an alliance that supports psychedelic literacy and community through education and dialogue about the historical and current convergence of psychedelics with psychology, sustainability, spirituality, social justice, and science.

Laurel is researching the connection between plant medicines and resolving patterns of addictive behavior. “Psychedelics are unique in that they can bring us to the root causes of addiction,” she says, “meaning they have the capacity to facilitate resolution at the deepest level possible.” She is a passionate advocate for the dignity of people who use drugs, for decriminalizing all drugs, and for the life-saving value of harm reduction.

Laurel sees our individual healing and wholeness as interdependent with the health and wholeness of the Earth. She believes that active reciprocity with the Earth and with the Indigenous communities stewarding this Earth is vital to the sustainability and integrity of the broader psychedelic movement.

Laurel knows that there is earth-based wisdom in each of our ancestral stories waiting to be called upon, recognized, and remembered into being. She has found increasing richness in connecting to the spiritual practices of her Jewish ancestry and with plants familiar to her European lineages.

In partnership with MAPS Canada’s Examining the Psychedelic Renaissance, Season 2, the CS EVA increases visibility for talented women in psychedelics and cannabis who work tirelessly in behind-the-scenes roles, as well as newcomers who bring unique voice and talent to the community and/or who shine in spotlight positions.

Photo by Melodee Solomon (@melodee_solomon).

#NaropaAllianceforPsychedelicStudies #ancestormedicine #Jewish #ContemplativePsychology #SacredEcology #NaropaUniversity #Psychology #Sacred #Ecology #wholeness #reciprocity #PsychedelicFeminism #CosmicSister #MAPSCanada #ZoeHelene #wildernesswithin #women #wilderness #wildlife #psychedelic #plantspirit #sacredplant #entheogen #womensupportingwomen #nature #plantmedicine #earth #womeninpsychedelics