#529 – The Grimoire – Secret Teachings Esoteric Audiobook Club and Library | Global Launch Party
August 12, 2026
A wide-ranging conversation about identity, therapy, psychedelics, and artificial intelligence. He shares how his own origin story shaped his understanding of narrative agency, self-knowledge, and the limits of expert systems. The discussion also digs into the promise and risks of combining EMDR, ketamine, MDMA, psilocybin, and AI in therapeutic work.
MARK A. MICHAELS, a writer and conceptual artist. Mark’s work examines fundamental paradigm dilemmas in both traditional psychotherapy and contemporary psychedelic therapy. In his forthcoming preprint, BINARIES, MULTITUDES, AND BEYOND, Mark focuses the lens on his own journey and uses narrative analysis and critique to explore how authority, expertise, and healing are currently defined.
Key topics
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In this episode, Mark Michaels explains why he calls himself an “uncontrolled experiment” and how being conceived through artificial insemination shaped his worldview.
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The conversation covers the secrecy and social shame around sperm donation, infertility, and the long-term effects of not knowing one’s biological origins.
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Mark describes the eight-year process of uncovering his biological father through research and DNA testing, and how that discovery changed his sense of self.
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He connects that origin story to his interest in identity, narrative agency, psychotherapy, and the promises and limits of science.
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Mark discusses his early exposure to therapy as a child and his teenage experimentation with LSD, including an early bad trip and later renewed interest in psychedelics.
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The episode centers on his recent treatment program combining EMDR, ketamine, MDMA, psilocybin, and AI-assisted reflection after a severe post-divorce mental health crisis.
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Mark argues that ketamine-assisted EMDR can accelerate therapeutic work by making clients more open and reducing psychological defenses.
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He is sharply critical of therapy culture when it becomes passive, overly rigid, or unwilling to share power with clients.
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The conversation examines the shortcomings of therapist training, especially when practitioners cling to one modality and fail to support client-led exploration.
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Mark and the hosts discuss the “wild west” state of psychedelic therapy, including concerns about over-medicalization, bad actors, and unregulated practice.
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The AI section focuses on both usefulness and danger, including hallucinated facts, false confidence, “kissing my butt” responses, and the risk of reinforcing poor psychological ideas.
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Mark explains that AI is best used as a high-speed organizer and drafting tool, but only if the user already has enough subject knowledge to challenge errors.
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The episode closes with Mark encouraging people in crisis to get help, evaluate whether therapy is actually working, and seek support rather than enduring alone.
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Timestamps
00:00 – Mark Michaels introduction and the intersection of psychotherapy, psychedelics, and AI
02:06 – Why he calls himself an “uncontrolled experiment”
03:11 – How commercial sperm donation worked in the 1950s and 1960s
05:08 – The secrecy around donor insemination and the lack of research on its effects
06:07 – Searching for his biological father and the role of DNA testing
08:40 – Genealogical bewilderment and how his origin story shaped his identity
10:06 – Why he feels uniquely positioned to think about AI and artificial reproduction
11:35 – Early therapy, teenage LSD use, and returning to psychedelics later in life
12:42 – The family crisis that pushed him to investigate his origins
14:33 – The emotional impact of learning the truth about his conception
17:01 – Shame, infertility, and the cultural pressure to become a parent
18:48 – How his background informs his preprint on binaries, multitudes, and beyond
20:19 – Building a treatment protocol with EMDR, ketamine, MDMA, and psilocybin
22:56 – Suicidal ideation, post-divorce crisis, and the need for a different intervention
24:21 – Using recordings and AI transcripts as part of the therapeutic process
25:23 – Reclaiming narrative agency after a decade of stress and distortion
27:05 – Problems with therapy when the therapist refuses to adapt or share power
29:37 – Training gaps and the limits of single-modality thinking in therapy
33:13 – Why intensive therapy may be more effective and cost-efficient than weekly sessions
34:38 – SSRIs, suicidal ideation, and Mark’s experience with Prozac and stimulants
37:42 – Concerns about over-regulating or over-medicalizing psychedelic therapy
39:23 – His current ketamine practice as a creative, spiritual, and therapeutic tool
40:18 – Sweat lodges, ceremonial practice, and cultural context
41:18 – Plastic shamans and the long history of spiritual tourism
44:07 – Similarities across indigenous traditions and why they do not mean the same worldview
45:35 – Brain structure, recurring symbols, and the limits of universal explanations
47:56 – AI as a psychological tool and the problem of overly agreeable responses
49:41 – How AI absorbs watered-down pop psychology
50:47 – Hallucinations, invented citations, and the danger of trusting AI blindly
53:44 – What AI is genuinely good at: organizing large amounts of material
54:42 – Why Mark wrote the paper now and what he hopes it sparks
55:43 – Advice for people in crisis: get help and reassess therapy if it is not working
56:22 – Why ketamine can function as a rapid antidepressant stopgap
58:01 – What’s next: peer review, the MFA program, and more writing
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