It's back to Aurduin this week with chapters 16 and 17 from The Alchemist and the Eagle, "The Grand Lucidium" and "Desire." We get our first look at how the Jolao rule through theatrical cruelty and get a behind-the-scenes look at their secretive alchemical practices that keep the empire running in chapter 16, and in 17 we learn more about the fractures in the facade of the "Ruling Hand" of the Jolao and how the "Thumb" of Jao is losing influence as he embarks upon a path driven by desire.

In this episode I'm sharing the audio of a video I created on the topic of 5-MeO-DMT reactivations. I'm sharing this here as an example of the content of my upcoming 5-MeO-DMT Integration Specialist Training course with Mindscape Institute where we comprehensively cover the phenomenology of both the direct experience of 5-MeO-DMT as well as the ongoing energetic processes and events (such as reactivations) that occur subsequently. Enrollment is now open for the spring term course which starts on March 4th. Visit www.martinball.net or www.nondualentheogenicintegration.com for more details, or just reach out.

To kick off the first episode of 2026 and my 19th year of podcasting, my guest is recent Ph.D. recipient, Azul DelGrasso, who wrote his dissertation at the California Institute of Integral Studies about 5-MeO-DMT. We had a lengthy conversation about it a few months ago to help him celebrate being perhaps the first person in the world to earn his Ph.D. by writing about 5-MeO-DMT.

Also on the 5 front, I announce the dates for the next offering of my 5-MeO-DMT Integration Specialist Training course with Mindscape Institute, which starts on March 4th. Enrollment is now open - feel free to contact me for details.