Psychedelic Symposium

A Day of Psychedelic Perspectives

An annualgathering exploring psychedelics through science, story, culture, and lived experience.

How do psychedelics shape the way weunderstand ourselves and the world around us? What can we learn from theresearch, traditions, rituals, and storiesthat surround them? And how might places like Hastings growthoughtful, safe, and connected psychedelic culturetogether?

Psychedelic Perspectivesbrings together a rare mix of practitioners, ritualists, activists, and integration specialists, each offering a distinct lens on psychedelic experience spanning science and psychology, ancestral lineages, embodied practice, and community care.

Expectthoughtful talks, conversational panels, space for questions, and gentle invitations to reflect on your own relationship to insight, healing, and connection.

This is an accessible,community-minded gatheringfor anyonecurious about psychedelicswhether you're completely new, activelyintegrating an experience, oralready working within a related field. Designed to be welcoming and down-to-earth, it offers something both for first-timers and for those with years of experience who are still curious, still learning, and still asking good questions.

TO PURCHASE TICKETS PLEASE VIST: dandelion.events/e/n53ug OR Scan the QR code on the flyer in the listing

What to Expect

Expect a rich, thoughtful day of talks, conversational panels, open Q&A, and reflective moments that invite you to consider your own relationship to insight, healing, and connection.

This is thefirst gathering of its kind in Hastings,bringing togetherlocal voicesandrespected visiting speakersto explore psychedelics in a way that is grounded, nuanced, and rooted in community. It'sa chance to be part of something new: a day of shared inquiry that feels both intimate and expansive, connected to place while in conversation with widercultural, scientific, and ancestral perspectives.

Across the day, we'll explore psychedelics from multiple angles, including scientific and psychological perspectives; ancestral, ritual, and lineage-based traditions (including iboga and Bwiti); politics, policy, harm reduction, and access; sexuality, intimacy, embodiment, and relational practice; and integration, somatics, and community care.

Alongside the talks and panels, the space will host a small selection of local makers and community stalls, inviting moments to browse, connect, and support creative, ethical projects rooted in the local area. The venue will also feature art installations byAlex Hatjouliis, whose work explores perception, symbolism, and altered ways of seeing, subtly woven through the programme and the space itself.

The programme will weave together talks, panel discussions, Q&A, and reflective moments throughout the day. A detailed schedule will be shared with ticketholders closer to the event.

Doors open at 9am, with sessions running from 9.30am to 5.30pm. There will be regular breaks, time to eat, and space to rest and connect with others. Session timings will be released in early February.

TO PURCHASE TICKETS PLEASE VIST: dandelion.events/e/n53ug OR Scan the QR code on the flyer in the listing

Who Is This For?

This gathering is open to anyone aged 18+ who is curious about psychedelics whether you're completely new, actively integrating a past experience, or deeply experienced in this field.

It's designed to be accessible, welcoming, and grounded. Experienced practitioners, therapists, researchers, and facilitators can also expect to encounter fresh perspectives, thoughtful challenge, and new ways of thinking alongside the chance to connect with others working at the edges of this evolving field.

SPEAKERS

Julian Vayne

Julianis one of Britain's most respected psychedelic thinkers and ritual practitioners, with over forty years immersed in magic, meditation, and entheogenic ceremony. A leading voice in contemporary occultism andco-organiser of Breaking Convention,Julian bridges deep tradition with modern psychedelic culture.

He is the acclaimed author of many works, including the celebratedGetting Higher and his newest book, Trip Sitting. Julian teaches internationally, mentors practitioners, and leads ceremony informed by chaos magic, tantra, and earth based spirituality. His work invites curiosity, creativity, and grounded exploration, offering a rare blend of scholarship, lived experience, and visionary insight

Tara Austin

Tarais one of the most energetic and creative voices pushing forsafe, legal access to psilocybin in the UK. She co founded PAR (theCampaign for Psilocybin Access Rights) in 2021 and has since helped spark national conversations through petitions, public campaigns and imaginative outreach, all grounded in her belief that psilocybin has genuine healing potential.

Her work aims to make this medicine available to people who could benefit from it, within a safe and regulated framework.Alongside her advocacy, Tara is a Partner in Ogilvy Consulting's Behavioural Science Practice and host of Nudgestock, where she brings together psychology, creativity and social change.

Sarah Janes

Sarahruns workshops and events as Dream Mysteries and isco-founder of Dream Palace Athens, where she curated a 10-day artist residency, lecture series, workshops, and performances in 2023. Her work explores dreaming as a visionary practice, drawing on ancient incubation traditions, pilgrimage, and ritual approaches to insight and healing.

She hascollaborated with Rupert Sheldrake and the British Pilgrimage Trustto revive dream incubation at sacred sites across the UK. Sarah currently leads retreats in ancient Mediterranean incubation sanctuaries and is based between the UK, Istanbul, and Archaia Epidavros in the Peloponnese, living along a historic pilgrimage route to the healing temples of Asklepios.

Her research situates dreaming alongside other initiatory states such as the Eleusinian Mysteries, within a wider psychedelic lineage of consciousness exploration, where meaning arises through ritual, symbol, and altered perception.

Sharon Fox

Sharonis a paramedic with the Scottish Ambulance Service and a recently appointed Green Champion ambassador, supporting sustainability and exploring complementary and nature based approaches to healing. She is also an ambassador forHeroic Hearts UK, supporting work around trauma recovery for military veterans.

She has a strong interest in mental health and wellbeing and holds aprofessional certificate in Psychedelics, Altered States and Transpersonal Psychology from the ALEF Trust, completed under the guidance of Dr David Luke. Sharon is particularly committed to raising awareness and supporting research into the potential role of psychedelics and altered states in supporting emergency workers, with the aim of improving wellbeing, resilience, and quality of care.

Alongside her clinical work, Sharon has spent over 25 years as a professional tattooist, bringing creativity, presence, and deep listening into her practice.

Dr. Feona Attwood

Feona is a writer and researcher whose work explores how people make sense of sex, intimacy and identity in contemporary culture. She edits the journals Sexualities, Journal of Gender Studies and Porn Studies, and is known for opening up conversations that are thoughtful, gentle and deeply human. With over three decades of experience in gender and sexuality studies, she brings valuable insight into questions of embodiment, vulnerability and meaning, themes that sit alongside many psychedelic experiences. Her work helps widen the conversation beyond substances, placing psychedelic inquiry within the broader terrain of relationships, culture and lived experience

Rohan Narse

Rohan is a guide and facilitator who works at the thresholds- places where uncertainty, transition and endings can become openings for clarity, depth and renewal. A former investment banker, he left that world behind to devote himself to inner work, grief tending and earth based spirituality. He is the co-founder of Shining Darkness, a sanctuary for grief and communal healing.Initiated into the Bwiti tradition in Gabon in 2018, Rohan returns each year to study with his spiritual guide Okomo Minko. He also accompanies others who feel called to meet iboga at its source.

Claire Cordell

Claire is aPsychedelic Practitioner and Integration Coachwho supports people through times of change and into a deeper connection with themselves. Her 13 years in local community leadership within the not-for-profit sector, together with her own transformative experiences, made her increasingly curious about what truly supports healing, connection and wellbeing. Claire trained as a Psychedelic Practitioner withSynthesis Institute, and Alef Trustand continues her studies withinGrof Legacy Training. Sheco-founded Hastings' first psychedelic integration circle in 2024and is passionate about psychedelic integration, transpersonal development and harm and communities. Claire is also the co curator ofPsychedelic Perspectives.

Dr Liz Greenaway

Liz is a CharteredClinical Psychologistand facilitator working at the intersection of psyche, somatics, and emergent leadership. Based in Hastings, she co-runs a thrivingcommunity psychedelic integrationgroupand is on faculty with the Institute for Conversational Leadership (David Whyte). Liz's work weaves Internal Family Systems, systemic practice, and ritual to support people returning to their inner ground after transformative experiences. Having completed training inpsychedelic-assisted therapy with PsyEdu, she brings a grounded, relational approach to altered-state integration. She is also thecreator of Six Chambers, a women's leadership journeyfor the post-patriarchal era, centring depth, embodiment, and humane connection.Website:www.sixchambers.uk

YOUR HOSTS

Freesia Bassett

With a background in community arts, youth work and festival production, Freesia likes to bring people together in imaginative and authentic ways, especially those often overlooked or excluded from mainstream spaces.

She curates The Psychedelic Society's gatherings in Hastings, celebrating the town's creative spirit while opening new conversations about consciousness and community. Freesia also leads SisterWood, a nature-based programme for girls, and explores consciousness through Reiki and sound practice, weaving together art, nature and embodied awareness.

Psychedelics have been among her greatest teachers, informing her inquiry into connection with nature and self, and how we might honour the lineages that hold these understandings. She is studying for an MSc in Mind, Medicine & Culture: Psychedelics at the University of Exeter, examining how altered states of consciousness shape creativity, connection and collective understanding. She's passionate about collaboration, open dialogue and shared learning.

Claire Cordell

As co-host of Hastings' first psychedelic conference, Claire is excited to open up conversations, explore what research and history tell us so far, and invite the local community into a thoughtful dialogue about how psychedelics might support wellbeing, connection, and creative growth.

She hopes the event will offer a space for curiosity and shared learning. At the heart of her work is a simple intention: to help people feel more connected to themselves and each other, and to trust their own inner healing intelligence.