Cardea is a new organization founded by thought leaders in both the psychedelic space and psychological recovery, and composed of psychotherapists and ceremonialists, vibrational composers, artists and experts in personal growth. Their aim is to help folks seeking recovery from deep and entrenched psychological anguish and from behaviors that are out of control, as well as those who want a more awakened life and expanded sense of existence. They’ve just opened a ketamine space in New York and are doing retreats with psilocybin in Jamaica. Additionally, Cardea is partnering with OnPoint NYC, a Harlem-based community organization, to provide free holistic psychedelic care for people experiencing homelessness, active drug users, sex workers and the formerly incarcerated. For this month’s edition of Cardea’s residency at Nowadays, John MacLean, sound director and space holder ceremonialist at Cardea, will be giving a talk. John MacLean, aka Juan MacLean / The Juan MacLean, is a ceremonial facilitator who has studied extensively both in the Amazon jungle of Peru and also various western contemporary modalities concerning the intersection of consciousness, sound and healing. He is also a multi- instrumentalist, Dj, and producer of electronic music, with an interest in exploring and questioning issues around recreational use of psychedelics and the ways in which, if any, the container of a club settings might resemble traditional ceremonies that involved repetitive rhythmic music as a way of entering into a trance state for healing and communal bonding. John will speak to his experience and journey of awakening that was initiated over 25 years ago by the spiritual emergency of opiate addiction, and subsequent recovery through various meditative techniques and ceremonial psychedelic use. He will also speak to issues of cultural appropriation, cultural extraction, and the ongoing struggle to find a respectful and healing container for these ancient psychedelic technologies in the current context of Capitalism in which they are reemerging into the mainstream. He will explore issues around club culture and the entertainment industry in general and whether or not these experiences and ‘products’ are tools of healing and transformation, or simply ways of assuaging existential anxiety in order to keep a broken system running smoothly. He often refers to the Krishnamurti quote “It is no