WHAT ARE THE PARABLE FOUNDATION & SECRET WILDERNESS?
After decades as “drugs,” psychedelics reemerge as medicines. If they are, we need it.
Psychedelic therapy could be more than another tool. It could be a new thing altogether.
Not symptom management.
Not subscription treatment.
A cure.
Of course, other cultures have used psychedelics for thousands of years. They made their determinations long ago. But these substances are relatively new to Western medicine. & our understanding was further hamstrung by 50 years of widespread prohibition.
So the West — which needs to know what psychedelic therapy is so badly — doesn’t.
The Parable Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to helping answer this question.1
Our mission is changing the future of mental health by telling the whole story on psychedelic therapy.2 Our means is helping others share their experiences as honestly as humanly possible with whomever they might help.
We’re starting with Secret Wilderness.
Secret Wilderness is a podcast that interviews people who’ve used psychedelics therapeutically.
It is in-depth, anonymous, and remarkably honest.
We believe this format will help tell the whole story on psychedelic therapy.
Here’s why:
Depth. The storyteller needs space to “go there.” They’ll be given ample time to recall their experiences & write them down in detail. When sharing, they’ll be given ample time was well. The interviewers — through respect, acceptance, & fearless curiosity — will help. & the episodes will convey that depth faithfully.
Anonymity. The storyteller needs space from reputation. This could mean masking their voice if requested. No reputational risk means the freedom to say whatever they need to say. Instead of using labels like “the shadow,” they can now describe it. What did they see, think, feel? What is their darkness?
Honesty. The storyteller needs space from narratives. If there isn’t healing or psychedelics don’t look good, it doesn’t matter. The Parable Foundation isn’t about psychedelic advocacy, and neither is Secret Wilderness. Instead, the focus is helping people share the truth of their experience to help whomever it can help.
And we hope helps many.
We hope it helps people understand what psychedelic therapy is really like, what the dangers are, & what the potential is. We hope it illuminates our inner lives. We hope it helps people feel less ashamed — a little less alone.
If this adventure sounds worthwhile, join us by subscribing to The Parable Foundation Substack.3
The first three episodes premiere next week.
& you’ll get a new episode every two weeks after that.
The psyche is a maze.
A secret wilderness we all must brave.
Don’t journey alone.
The Parable Foundation
There are so many people trying to help answer this question in different ways. This is just how we will try to help.
When we use the term psychedelic therapy, it’s the broadest possible definition. It encompasses everything from Amazonian ceremonies to an afternoon on a friend’s couch. While this breadth has downsides, we believe it represents how people use psychedelics to get better in the wild. All the people interviewed have taken psychedelics with therapeutic intent, but not all the experiences described are.
The Parable Foundation subscribers get all our content, including Secret Wilderness. We hope to increase publishing frequency over time, but this is the start.