Women's Visionary Council

The Women’s Visionary Council (WVC) is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that presents cutting edge information about investigations into non-ordinary forms of consciousness.

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Schedule for 11th Annual Women's Visionary Congress

Hello friends. We look forward to you joining us for the 2019 Women’s Visionary Congress. This year’s gathering features another group of groundbreaking presenters and performers. Here’s the presentation schedule. Tickets are still available for both the entire weekend and also for each day of the event. You can find more information about the gathering and the speakers here. See you there!

Full pass and single day tickets are available for purchase.

WVC 2019 Schedule

Friday, June 14, 2019

5:00 pm | Doors Open

6:00 pm - 6:30 pm | Welcome - WVC Board and Emerita

6:30 pm - 6:45 pm | Cat Ho/Full Circle Tea House - Greetings from the Oakland-based tea collective serving Women's Congress participants.

6:45 pm - 7:15 pm | Corrina Gould - Spokesperson for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan/Ohlone opens the 2019 Women’s Visionary Congress with a land acknowledgement.

7:15 pm - 8:00 pm | Maya Blow - Herbalist, classical homeopath, and organic farmer. Founder and director of the Soul Flower Farm School of Earth Medicine for Herbal Studies and Permaculture Design. "Growing & Creating Your Herbal Apothecary"

8:00 pm - 8:45 pm | Ismail Ali - Policy & Advocacy Counsel for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).  “When the World is Just: Psychedelic Science after Prohibition”

8:45 pm - 9:30 pm | Close - Annie Oak - Activist, event producer, and co-founder of the WVC. Introductions to sponsors, volunteers, speakers, and vendors. Close and goodnight.

Saturday, June 15, 2019

9:00 am - 9:30 am | Welcome/Maria Mangini - Family nurse midwife, researcher, and WVC board member.

9:30 am - 10:15 am | Sunshine Lencho  - Cannabis legal advisor and co-founder of Supernova Women.

9:45 am - 10:30 am | Ifetayo Harvey - Marketing Coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance and co-founder of the People of Color in Psychedelics Coalition. “The Importance of POC Only Spaces"

10:30 am - 11:15 am | Joy Moore - Food activist, educator, and member of the Berkeley Food Policy Council.

11:15 am - 12:00 pm | Jane Straight - Ethnobotanist and Grandmother. “Plants As Solace For The Soul”

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | Buffet lunch provided by Chef Emma Sanchez - Educator and owner of the catering and event production company Chef Dilemma.

1:00 pm - 1:45 pm | Mulhercatu with Tania Abdul - Mulhercatu comes from "mulher" meaning women and "maracatu” an Afro-Brazilian music and dance form - performed by the women of Maracatu Pacífico of Oakland, California.

1:45 pm - 2:30 pm | Eleonor Molner - Psychotherapist, researcher and Director of the Women’s Visionary Congress Canada. “Legal and Ethical Issues in Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy”

2:30 pm - 3:15 pm | Christine Stenquist - Medical cannabis patient and founder of the Utah-based nonprofit TRUCE, Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education.

3:15 pm - 4:00 pm | Madalyn McElwain - Lawyer, activist, and Deputy Director of DanceSafe which promotes health and safety within the nightlife and electronic music community. “From Underground to Mainstream: How Drug Checking has Become a Vital Tool to Combat the Consequences of the War on Drugs”

4:00 pm - 4:45 pm | Scott Bodarky - Researcher and author. “Unraveling Opium”

5:00 pm - 5:45 pm | Ann Shulgin - Lay therapist and co-author of the books PiHKAL and TiHKAL.

5:45 pm - 6:15 pm | Annie Oak - “Thoughts on community risk reduction and conflict resolution.”

6:15 pm - 6:30 pm | Close/Danielle Schumacher Founder of the THC Staffing Group and WVC board member.

8:30 - 10:30 pm | Jennifer Dumpert - Liminal dream researcher and founder of the Oneironauticum an international dream group that works with oneirogens - any substance, practice, or experience that promotes or enhances dream states. An Oneironauticum will be held during this time. Presentation: “Dreamhacking: Consciousness Exploration and Dream Experimentation”

Sunday, June 16

9:00 am - 9:30 am | Welcome/Open Danielle Schumacher

9:30 am - 10:00 am | Jennifer Dumpert - Dream Sharing with WVC participants and the Oneironauticum.

10:00 am - 10:45 am | Raquel Bennett - Psychologist and a ketamine specialist. “Ketamine for Depression and Spiritual Exploration”

10:45 am - 11:30 am | Elise Szabo - Movement Building Fellow with Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP). "Investing in Intergenerational Wisdom”

11:30 am - 12:45 pm | Lanese Martin - Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of The Hood Incubator, director of political strategy, base-building, community organizing, and policy advocacy.

12:45 pm - 1:15 pm | Close/WVC Board and Emerita

The 2019 Women’s Congress will take place at the Omni Commons in Oakland, CA from June 14-16. Contact [email protected] for more information. We look forward to seeing you there.

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Valeria Zeitlin Harris McCarroll | The Shadow of Modern Psychedelic Work

In March of this year, a popular U.S. magazine published an article titled "The Psychedelic Miracle". No longer confined to the recesses of academic journals, psychedelic research is experiencing a...

Valeria Zeitlin Harris McCarroll's presentation from the International Conference on Transpersonal Psychology in October offers a critical examination of the current psychedelic movement. Ms. Zeitlin Harris McCarroll is a practicing Marriage and Family Therapist in the San Francisco Bay Area and a PhD candidate at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

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Mary Cosimano, M.S.W., spoke at Psychedelic Science 2017 on "Love and Connection in Psilocybin-Facilitated Research Studies." Ms. Cosimano is currently with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She has served as study guide and research coordinator for the psilocybin studies for over 16 years.

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Make a donation to WVC - support our events, scholarship program, and website.

For this #GivingTuesday, please take a moment to donate to WVC to help us reach our modest goal of $3000 to help us cover program expenses and fund scholarships to our gatherings. WVC continues to offer safe spaces where women can come together for mutual support, education and inspiration on essential issues such as cognitive liberty, risk reduction skills, safety, and self defense for psychonauts. We hope that you will join us to make sure we have a place at the table and that our voices are heard. Now more than ever we need YOU. Click the link to make a donation—A gift of any size will help.

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If You’re Planning for Your Death, You Have More Options Than Ever Before

Americans are pushing the boundaries of how to memorialize their loved ones and dispose of their remains.

Interesting article on alternatives that Americans are choosing to honor their loved ones after death.

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"Alien Ascension" by artist Martina Hoffmann is available in limited edition giclee print in our webstore. A portion of all sales go to WVC to support our gatherings and allow us to offer grants to artists and fund scholarships for events. 

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The Shadow of Underground Entheogenic Use: Interview with Eleonora Molnar - Psychedelic Times

Entheogens such as the potent psychedelic jungle brew ayahuasca have enchanted people all over the globe, leading thousands of seekers to travel to exotic locales to experience healing ceremonies in a traditional setting, and just as many others to seek it out in underground ceremonies in the cities where they live. As we know from …

Eleonora Molnar of WVC Canada speaks about her recent talk at the International Transpersonal Conference in Prague on “Problematic Behaviours in North American Entheogenic Ceremonies" in this interview with Psychedelic Times. 

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Canning Class & Dinner – November 18th – Grass Valley, CA

Come learn to can as our wise grandmothers did and celebrate the season with a COOKING AND CANNING CLASS at Cybele Farm in Grass Valley

Today is the last day to register for this weekend's event! Please register tonight by midnight to secure your place. Visionary chef Emma Sanchez will then teach us to make sauerkraut and can applesauce and pickled beets. We will end the class with a group dinner featuring dishes we will prepare during the class. Everyone will go home with cans of sauerkraut, applesauce and pickled beets, perfect for Thanksgiving tables and holiday gifts. We look forward to spending the day with you!

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Canning Class & Dinner – November 18th – Grass Valley, CA

Come learn to can as our wise grandmothers did and celebrate the season with a COOKING AND CANNING CLASS at Cybele Farm in Grass Valley

Registration to our upcoming Home Cooking and Canning Workshop in Grass Valley will be open until this Wednesday at midnight! Join us as we celebrate seasonal foods and our connection to the Earth and her bounty. We will begin the day with our workshop with visionary chef Emma Sanchez, where we will learn to make sauerkraut and can applesauce and pickled beets. We will end the class with a group dinner featuring dishes we will prepare during the class: zuppa (Italian vegetable stew), salad, fresh bread, and apple crumble. Everyone will go home with cans of sauerkraut, applesauce and pickled beets, perfect for Thanksgiving tables and holiday gifts. Register by clicking the link!

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Stag Queen Limited Edition Giclee Print on Canvas

Limited Giclee Print on Canvas or Paper featuring Stag Queen by Visionary Artist Martina Hoffmann.

"Stag Queen" by artist Martina Hoffmann is available in limited edition giclee print in our webstore. A portion of all sales go to WVC to support our gatherings and allow us to offer grants to artists and fund scholarships for events.

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Canning Class & Dinner – November 18th – Grass Valley, CA

Come learn to can as our wise grandmothers did and celebrate the season with a COOKING AND CANNING CLASS at Cybele Farm in Grass Valley

Visionary chef Emma Sanchez will speak about traditional food preservation, reducing food waste, and transforming our food system from 1-1:30 at our upcoming cooking and canning class November 18 in Grass Valley, CA. She will then teach us to make sauerkraut and can applesauce and pickled beets. We will end the class with a group dinner featuring dishes we will prepare during the class. Everyone will go home with cans of sauerkraut, applesauce and pickled beets, perfect for Thanksgiving tables and holiday gifts. Register by clicking the link, and please share with friends!

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Check out Building Equity in Cannabis by Social Good Fund!

Join Harborside, the Drug Policy Alliance and the Hood Incubator for an exciting afternoon centered around food & the politics of cannabis policy at EVB (1740 Telegraph Ave in Oakland, CA) on Saturday, November 11 from 2pm-5pm. 

Featured speakers include Laura Thomas, Deputy State Director of Drug Policy Alliance, Lanese Martin, Political Director of The Hood Incubator, Graham Drake, District Representative, and Andrew DeAngelo, Co-Founder of Harborside Health Center. Chef Charleen Cabaay, local chef and winner of The Food Network's Chopped will be serving hors d'oeuvres from 2pm-3pm.

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Horizons 2017: NICHOLAS BYRON POWERS, Ph.D "Black Masks, Rainbow Bodies: Race and Psychedelics"

Nicholas Byron Powers, Ph.D. Poet, journalist, and Associate Professor of English, SUNY Old Westbury Horizons: Perspectives on Psychedelics is an annual…

"Black Masks, Rainbow Bodies: Race and Psychedelics" talk at Horizons 2017 by Nicholas Byron Powers, Associate Professor of English, SUNY Old Westbury. 

"Psychedelics is a 'white thing'. It is a common idea. Many people of color view 'tripping' as an effete practice of the privileged that the oppressed cannot afford. The sentiment is mirrored by the near invisibility of race as a topic in official, often all white, psychedelic conferences. Against white silence and black suspicion, more youth of color, some affluent and integrated are experimenting with psychotropics. Using literature, history and personal testimony, we can map how psychedelics have been interpreted by Black America. What did Malcolm X say about it? Or modern day Afro Futurists? Can the promise of ego dissolution work when black ego defenses are needed to withstand racism in America? Does the black experience re-frame as hypocritical, the grandiose, Utopian claims of the psychedelic movement? Or does it free people of color to embrace a radical humanism, where the spirit arcs across the sky of history like a rainbow?"

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Cannabis-Enhanced Nature Rituals with Ecologist, Kirra Swenerton

Join ecologist and ritualist Kirra Swenerton for a guided journey into nature, including an introduction to the land, grounding meditation and ritual incorporation of Cannabis at Redwood Regional Park November 4 at 12pm. Check out the event for more information!

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Come learn to can as our wise grandmothers did and celebrate the season with a COOKING AND CANNING CLASS at Cybele Farm in Grass Valley

On November 18th, WVC will host a cooking and canning class at Cybele Farm in Grass Valley, CA where we will celebrate seasonal foods and our connection to the Earth and her bounty. We will begin the day with our workshop with visionary chef Emma Sanchez, where we will learn to make sauerkraut and can applesauce and pickled beets. We will end the class with a group dinner featuring dishes we will prepare during the class: zuppa (Italian vegetable stew), salad, fresh bread, and apple crumble. Everyone will go home with cans of sauerkraut, applesauce and pickled beets, perfect for Thanksgiving tables and holiday gifts. Register by clicking the link--We will close registration on November 16th so be sure to register in the next two weeks!!

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Horizons 2016: ALICIA DANFORTH, Ph.D. "Exploring MDMA-Assisted Therapy as a Social Adaptability Catalyst for Autistic Adults"

Horizons: Perspectives on Psychedelics is an annual forum that examines the role of psychedelics in science, healing, culture and spirituality. Learn more at horizonsnyc.org. Alicia…

Alicia Danforth, PhD's talk at Horizons 2016 explores insights on how working with Autistic Adults and recognizing neurodiversity in clinical research has challenged best practice standards for set and setting in psychedelic research in general.

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Who Is Cannabis? | Kathleen Harrison, M.A.

Homo sapiens, and all the Homo species that preceded us, or cohabited with us for a part of our history, are in fact far younger than are the plants that...

An excerpted section by Kathleen Harrison from Cannabis and Spirituality: An Explorer’s Guide to an Ancient Plant Spirit Ally edited by Stephen Gray via @Chacruna.net: "Cannabis has been a character in this same human drama for at least the past ten thousand years, and very likely much longer. She, the genus Cannabis, has been seen and felt as a being, or a deity, in multiple cultures. I say she, because both historically and right now in Western culture, that is the gender that so many of us experience when we engage with Cannabis..." Read more about the relationship between humans and cannabis by clicking the link!