Mind Meld 22 | Slaying Your Demons and Becoming a Medicine with Dr. Octavio Rettig and Alexander Ward

Doctor Octavio Rettig Hinosoja is an addiction expert and author of The Toad of Dawn, the story of Ocatavio’s battle with crack cocaine addiction and how he came to heal himself using a forgotten ancient “treasure” ­— Bufo alvarius (the Sonoran Desert toad).

Alexander Ward is a U.K.-based artist, traveler and psychonautic adventurer. His latest work, Ayahuasca Jungle Visions (a fantastically whimsical coloring book), is out now via Divine Arts Media.

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Whether you’re  in a rock-bottom pit of depression, existing in a state of pure cosmic bliss or just feeling “meh,” this conversation is going to speak to you. Not just because this is a show comprised of talking, but because the story of Dr. Octavio Rettig is a heroic tale of challenge, adventure and redemption that will stir the soul of any sentient being. He battled vice, addiction and temptation in a very serious way. In fact, he may not have survived at all if not for the help of what he calls “toad medicine.” 

The hugely talented Alexander Ward is an artist who has worked on a number of incredible projects. His latest work, Ayahuasca Jungle Visions, is a trippy, beautiful coloring book filled with jaguars, shamans, fairies, jungle plants and all sorts of other whimsical fun. 

Musings in this mind meld –

• Addiction and substance abuse and Octavio’s personal battle
• Every day battles and how to overcome them
• Learning to recognize cultural constructs we take for granted as “reality”
• Octavio’s initial breakthrough experiences with entheogens 
• Plants of the Gods by Albert Hofmann and Richard Evans Schultes 
• Destructive behavior as a misguided way of seeking love and attention 
• Does all true healing come from within?
• Non-dualistic consciousness experiences 
• All techniques (mediation, yoga, psychedelics) are ways to reach your buried inner- intelligence 
• Addiction and substance abuse as manifestations of a broken society
• How to cope when your craft becomes a source of pain and you’re no longer enjoying it
• Medicines turn you into a medicine eventually 
• Toad effigies throughout ancient iconography, a hint that the ancients used toad medicine? (5-MeO-DMT)

Check out this fantastic Vice special about Ovtavio’s exploits.