Lucy Wyatt: 'Psychedelics, Cities and a Question of Origins’

We assume that cities evolved out of a farming experiment at the end of the Ice Age 7000 years ago. What if that isn’t so? What if the whole concept of civilization can be seen as the result of secret visionary experiences of an elite priesthood who used certain substances to facilitate astral travel and access the basic principles of cities? This talk will explore the evidence for suggesting that it is time for shamanism to 'come out of the jungle' and be acknowledged in its true context as a possible sophisticated stimulus for the design of original ancient cities.

Lucy Wyatt is an independent researcher and writer with an MA in European Studies from the University of Sussex. In 2010 she published Approaching Chaos - could an ancient archetype save 21st century civilisation? (O Books, 2010) which proposes that cities appeared not from a farming experiment but from a ‘shamanically’ accessed blueprint. She has given talks at alternative events and festivals such as Secret Garden Party and Green Gathering, and has run the 'Eternal Knowledge Festival' for two years. She is now working on an eco-conversion project in Somerset.