Cultivating Ecstasy with Bill Pfeiffer (4K Reboot)

Summary

Psychologist Jeffrey Mishlove talks with Bill Pfeiffer, author of 'Wild Earth, Wild Soul: A Manual for an Ecstatic Culture', about how humanity might avoid self-destruction by reclaiming an ancient, earth-honoring way of life. Pfeiffer describes a 2002 night in Siberia when a Tuvan shaman named Moonheart woke him telepathically through his dreams and sent him outside to see his spirit guides. The two discuss vision quests, ceremonial psychedelic use, cultural appreciation versus appropriation, reincarnation, and the claim that ecstasy is a revolutionary force for change.

Key takeaways

• 1Bill Pfeiffer wrote 'Wild Earth, Wild Soul: A Manual for an Ecstatic Culture' and leads 10-day Wild Earth Intensives in nature.
• 2Pfeiffer says Terence McKenna told him after a lecture, 'It's all about love, Bill,' and cites McKenna's 'archaic revival' as a major influence.
• 3Pfeiffer claims that in 2002 the Tuvan shaman Moonheart woke him telepathically at 5 a.m. while she slept and sent him outside, where he saw his spirit guides 'in living color'; she then led a fire ceremony for a village of about 150 people.
• 4He did formal shamanic training with John Perkins, author of 'Touching the Jaguar', and names Joanna Macy, Stanislav Grof and Navajo teacher Leon Secatero as influences.
• 5Pfeiffer advocates group, ceremonial use of magic mushrooms as a 'necessary tool' and calls himself a 'shamanic guide' rather than a shaman.
• 6Mishlove suggests he may have lived thousands of human and non-human lifetimes, possibly on other planets; he also cites George Leonard's book 'Education and Ecstasy' and the Hopi prophecy of a coming 'purification'.

Glossary terms

Source

Transcript excerpt

I ended up sleeping uh in in a in a small uh a small little Siberian house uh in separate beds with her and her si and her and her sister and um at 5 in the morning she woke me up with her mind. She was sleeping. I felt her talk to me in my dreams and then wake me up and and I have never experienced anything like this before after she instructed me to go outside and I would see the remainder my existing and the remainder of my spirit guides in kind of in living color. Um, and that's exactly what I what happened. It was a c it was the understatement is revoly and exalting. >> Keep watching to learn more. New thinking aloud is presented by the California Institute for Human Science, a fully accredited university offering distant learning graduate degrees that focus on mind, body, and spirit. the topics that we cover here. We are particularly excited to announce new degrees emphasizing parasychology and the paranormal. Visit their website at cihs.edu. The new thinking aloud magazine issue 10 on UFOs and UAP is now ready for free download. And you can also order beautiful printed copies. Go to newthinkingaloud.org. Book four in the new thinking aloud dialogue series is Charles T. Tart, 70 years of exploring consciousness and parasychology. Now available on Amazon. Thinking Aloud. Conversations on the leading edge of knowledge and discovery with psychologist Jeffrey Michionlo. Hello and welcome. I'm Jeffrey Michionlo. Today we'll be exploring possibilities for an ecstatic culture. My guest is Bill Feifer. He is the author of Wild Earth, Wild Soul, a manual for ecstatic culture. For many years, he has been leading Wild Nature Intensives. And now, I'll switch over to the internet interview. Welcome, Bill.…

Excerpt from New Thinking Allowed, Oct 6, 2026. Rights remain with the original creators. Hear the full episode at the source.