101: Miriam Volat - The RiverStyx Foundation, Ecology, & Indigenous Wisdom

The Sacred Speaks

Interview begins @ 4:37 Join your host John Price as he welcomes Miriam Volat, the co-director of The RiverStyx Foundation, co-director of the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund, and Executive Director of IPCI. Together, they engage in an eye-opening discussion that bridges the gap between ecology, indigenous traditions, and the Sacred. Episode Overview In this episode, we kick things off by learning about The RiverStyx Foundation, discussing its mission and vision for a more connected world. Miriam shares her extensive background in ecology, with a special focus on soil science. She reveals how her work in ecology has been a gateway to explore indigenous traditions, particularly entheogenic healing practices. Miriam argues that a deeper, more direct connection with the Sacred can serve as a catalyst to rekindle our relationship with our immediate environment. Key Points • Ecology as a Lens: Miriam explains how her expertise in soil and ecology serves as a unique lens to appreciate and investigate indigenous practices. • The Disconnect: We discuss the alarming separation people experience from their communities, the Earth, and the cultural touchstones that help define them. The absence of methodologies for navigating traumas exacerbates this disconnection. • Rethinking Extractive Models: Miriam and John scrutinize modern, extractive approaches to culture, community, and the Earth, highlighting their unsustainability and the damage they've done. • Colonialism's Impact: A look into how colonialism rejects the importance of context in understanding our environment, history, and relationships. • Cultural Lineage and Connection: Miriam emphasizes the importance of embracing your cultural roots, being aware of your environment, and valuing the connections you currently possess. • Consumerism vs Community: Both guests concur on the suffering caused when our inherent need for community and culture is supplanted by consumerism and symptom management. • Intellectual Property and Healing: The episode challenges the concept of patenting natural compounds, molecules, and healing processes, arguing that these should be communal rather than proprietary. • Death and Compostable Toilets: Borrowing from her background in ecology, Miriam discusses death and environmentally sustainable practices, including compostable toilets. • Sacred Medicines and Responsibility: The conversation wraps up with a discussion on how these sacred medicines are not only rites but also responsibilities that make us more aware of what we bring into the world. Bio: NON-PROFIT DIRECTOR Miriam Volat M.S. Co-Director of Riverstyx Foundation & Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund, Executive Director of IPCI, is an educator, organizer, facilitator and ecologist with a passion for soils and nutrient cycles. She works Nationally and Internationally to increase health in all systems. She is dedicated to the biocultural conservation of Peyote and other sacred medicines supported by the IMC Fund, and works in any way she can to ensure the conservation of these medicines for Indigenous communities and their precious ways of life. As a mom, she is fortunate her daughter, Cora, also supports her work. https://www.riverstyxfoundation.org https://imc.fund https://www.ipci.life Website for The Sacred Speaks: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com WATCH: YouTube for The Sacred Speaks https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOAuksnpfht1udHWUVEO7Rg Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ @thesacredspeaks Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesacredspeaks/ Brought to you by: https://www.thecenterforhas.com Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com