The Elder's Psychedelic Inquiry Circle is EPIC!

Older Psychonauts Find A Vital and Expansive Community in Canada

Artwork by Lauren Meyer/Painter Dancer

As we age, many of us dream of finding the connection, stimulation and mutual support in a community of like-minded people. For older psychonauts in the current legal environment in the US, finding one’s tribe can be particularly challenging. But Canada has always been more progressive in this regard¹.

So I was delighted to hear from Kenneth about his involvement in EPIC - The Elder’s Psychedelic Inquiry Circle - on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

Recently turned 69, Kenneth is a composer and retired professor of media art at Simon Fraser University. Since he was a teenager, he explained, psychedelic experiences have been an important part of his life.

When I think about my own relationship with the medicines, it was always a private, underground presence. It was shared with a few other people who valued and respected it. But you didn’t advertise it publicly because you’d be branded as an eccentric. I knew in the core of my being that the value of this was real, so I thought, okay, just be quiet about it…. So it really feels good now to be able to come out and speak openly about it.

Kenneth lived in mainland British Columbia until 2023, but recently moved to Victoria on Vancouver Island.

When we were ready to move, I said to my partner, I have an objective. I want to find a community of people our age or thereabouts who have an interest in psychedelic experiences in a deep and meaningful respect. I started casting about on the Meetup groups and that’s how I came across EPIC in Victoria.

We went to the first meeting, and it was wonderful. There were people who had experienced psychedelics back in the counterculture days, but there were also those who hadn’t and wanted to know more. So there was a real sense of sharing what we knew and trying to help people modify their expectations - give them healthy warnings on risks, suggest best practices, and direct them towards resources.

The group meets every two weeks in a space offered by a store that sells supplements. On a good night, 15-20 people may show up. Kenneth guesses that most members are in their 50-60s. For the last two years, he has been serving the group as an occasional co-facilitator.

Overall, it’s pretty informal but informative. In addition to the face-to-face meetings we have a Facebook group that extends further afield. We’ve also had shared movie nights, attended lecture presentations on psychedelics here in Victoria, as well as playing with the idea of starting a book club.

We start the meetings with a very simple, brief guided meditation to help people get centered so we can have a focused conversation. Then one of the facilitators manages the conversation during which questions are asked and answered and experiences are shared.

Last year, we started defining a topic for each meeting and used that to bring a focus to the group. We ask what the members are interested in and take a poll. Then one of the co-facilitators does some research and brings in resources and leads the dialog within the group.

One of the most relevant topics was death and dying. We had two sessions in a row on that. These were very rich discussions for our group of elders, some of whom may have been dealing with end of life issues, either themselves or with loved ones.

And how’s the group dealing with that?

Well, we try to keep the therapeutic process out of our meetings. That is simply beyond our scope. There are some therapists who attend the meetings pretty regularly. They bring that perspective forward with some authority. But we try to avoid therapizing. We try not to engage in people’s inner work that should be done with a professional. But beyond therapy there are many sources of wisdom on these issues that can be drawn from the philosophical and spiritual traditions, not to mention the personal experiences many of us have had and share.

We also talk about the different medicines. And there are a lot of options, which can be found here online. They’re pure, tested, and from what appear to, and have proven themselves to be, reputable vendors, and they’ve been around for some years now. There is also a community facility where one can and should get their medicines tested for purity.

What kind of issues have arisen for you as a co-facilitator?

As with any social gathering, group dynamics can be a challenge. About a year ago we had an issue where some people were interrupting and not leaving space for others to talk. We could see that there were some people who wanted to speak but were a little more shy and not able to participate. So we as facilitators had a dialog amongst ourselves and ended up talking to the people involved. It was kind of hard, and somebody ended up leaving the group. But we needed to preserve the integrity of the community as a welcoming and safe place.

Do you ever journey together as a group?

The closest thing we come to that are the field trips that we do once or twice every year. We’ll meet in a park for a picnic or go out to some nearby beautiful place in nature. And participants can, if they want, microdose or take something at a level low enough that will enhance the sense of community and togetherness, but not enough to bring on a spiritual emergency. Also, some of our members have sat for each other in support of deeper journeys.

Kenneth adds:

I recently had a very challenging experience with mescaline in which I had a lot of grief to work through. After the worst of that passed, I had some important insights. I realized that the people who know how to do this best are in the Native American Church. They meet in a teepee in a circle as a community with support. And I realized that the difficulty of my experience could have been better assisted in the context of having a community there to support me. It was another lesson in the value of community!

These medicine experiences are so powerful for helping us remember things that are really important and profound. Especially around our inter-connectedness. The beauty of the EPIC community is that we can discuss and integrate those insights as a group. And that in itself is an affirmation that we are all connected…

1. For one example, see my interview with Dr. Pamela Kryskow of Vancouver’s Roots to Thrive Psychedelic Assisted Therapy program.