Shamans of the Global Village
An exploration of how traditional healers and Western practitioners in various countries use psychotropic plants—such as ayahuasca, iboga, peyote, and salvia divinorum.
Episodes
Doctor Octavio Rettig is the focus of the first episode. He is a medical surgeon from the University of Guadalajara specializing in treating addictions. He has been working for over 15 years with traditional medicinal plants recognized as sacred plants or power plants within Mesoamerican cultures. He is a spokesman for the message of the councils of elders of indigenous communities in northern Mexico. He has been entrusted by the Seri tribe to communicate their message and spread their traditions and understanding. Dr. Rettig’s sessions incorporate ancient healing chants with the experience of the Sonoran Desert Toad (which contains 5-MeO-DMT). He has worked with the toad medicine for over seven years, during which he has given over 3,500 sessions treating serious cases of addiction to strong synthetic drugs like crystal meth (methamphetamine), and crack cocaine, achieving a high success rate with his patients, providing them with a new way of understanding life. Dr. Rettig's book the “Toad of Dawn: 5-MEO-DMT and the Rise of Cosmic Consciousness” is published by and can be found at Divine Arts Media ( http://www.divineartsmedia.com/ ). With a foreword by our own Rak Razam. It’s the dramatic story of how he, a Mexican doctor with a crack cocaine addiction, came to heal himself by employing the ancient “treasure” almost forgotten for centuries — The Bufo Alvarius (Sonoran Desert) Toad.
