TLDR: MOSAIC S2E3 is set for September 25 at The Redwood Theatre. It's weird, it's legendary, and it's ours. This episode dives headfirst into satire, psychedelics, and the joy of calling bullshit with a grin. Salon_4 hits July 29 and spots are moving fast. New science backs what the mystics knew - tripping rewires the soul. Plus, last call to join the Canadian Psychedelic Summit in one of the most stunning places on Earth.

If you eat mushrooms, there’s a specific moment when the world tilts, just slightly, and then…you see it. The absurdity of it all. You see not the bug but the feature. Your job title. All your fancy things. The minor inconveniences and gnarly truths you ignore. The way we’ve all silently agreed to certain rules just to avoid chaos, uncertainty, and that immutable feeling that its all a big joke really. We’re made of stardust but are also a bunch of monkeys hustling on a giant rock hurling through infinite space. Psychedelics take you outside yourself, put you on top of a mountain, and show you the underbelly of reality.

Satire and comedy, when punching up and done craftily, can do the same thing. It doesn’t offer solutions. It mocks the idea that sometimes, there’s no fixing anything. There are no solutions. It exposes how broken systems are held together by performance and PR. And it does it in a way that slips past your defenses.

You laugh, then you realize you’re the one being roasted. And it’s perfect.

Srdja Popovic is the pioneer of “Laughtivism“ or the “strategic use of humour and mocking by social nonviolent movements in order to undermine the authority of an opponent, build credibility, break fear and apathy and reach target audiences“. It’s like that time John Oliver started his own church called Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption just to prove how absurdly easy it is to become a tax-exempt-orange-skinned-super-preacher with a private jet. He literally registered the HBO studio as holy ground and opened a toll-free number for donations.

Srdja was a Serbian activist who formed the Otpor! movement in 1998 to overthrow the murderous Slobodan Milosevic. Srdja and his friends, facing the brutality of the brutal Milosevic regime, rolled a rusty barrel into the heart of Belgrade. On it was a cartoonish face of the dictator with a sign that said “Smash his face for a dinar.” A bat beside it. No slogans, no protest chants.

People lined up to take a swing. Parents encouraged their kids. And when the police arrived? They arrested the barrel. The photo hit the papers. The spell of fear cracked. That’s the power of satire, it doesn’t argue with power, it humiliates it.

Satire, meet system. Psychedelics aren’t far off…the sacred, the suspicious, and the surreal all live in the same neighbourhood. Both psychedelics and satire are invitations to stop pretending. To see the game and maybe even to stop playing it.

So why are we talking about satire and laughing your ass off? Because you’ll see it woven deep into MOSAIC S2E3 September 25th. Make sure to subscribe to the MOSAIC calendar and cipher to be the first to know!

MOSAIC S2E3 lands September 25 at The Redwood Theatre, a century-old vaudeville house turned community-powered arts sanctuary at Gerrard and Greenwood. This place has lived many lives from a cinema, to a warehouse, to an underground circus. And now The Redwood Theatre stands as one of the most eclectic and inclusive venues in the city.

Women-owned, queer-friendly, vegetarian-only and zero-waste venue, wheelchair accessible, and steeped in creative grit. All the feel-good things. The Redwood is exactly the kind of space MOSAIC was meant to grow into: independent, legacy-rich, and built for gathering weird, beautiful humans to make something unforgettable.

So mark your calendar. September 25. The Redwood. Let’s make some noise. Make sure to subscribe to the MOSAIC calendar and cipher to be the first to know!

Salon_3 sold out in under an hour (whoa!) so we’re doing it again this month. We’re still holding it at À Toi, the speakeasy disguised as a 1920s hotel which is very fitting because historically, salons weren’t just social. In 17th century Paris and across the Arab world, salons and coffeehouses created space for the conversations that weren’t allowed elsewhere. Artists, mystics, poets, and philosophers gathered around tables to exchange ideas, challenge power, and make culture together.

Salon topics move through culture, psychedelics, and consciousness, but the real magic is what happens between the prompts.

Spots are limited to keep things intimate. Family-style dinner included (sponsored generously as always by Nikean Foundation), curated always with care and maximum (respectful) fuckery.

Reserve your spot: July 29th @ À Toi 7-9 pm.

This August, the Canadian Psychedelic Summit returns for its fourth year on the ancestral lands of the Klahoose, Tla’amin, and Homalco Nations.

Hollyhock, where the Summit takes place, is perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean, sometimes called Esalen North, and it lives up to the name. The food comes from the garden. The waters glow with bioluminescent algae. One night you’ll walk into the ocean under moonlight, move your arms, and watch your body light up like you’re draped in Christmas lights. Its quite spectacular.

And then there’s the circle. This is one of the only psychedelic gatherings truly led by Indigenous voices, rooted in land-based learning and relational ethics, not hype or hustle. The full MOSAIC team — Raad Seraj, Sumit “Chacchu” Bhatia, and Kowsheek Mahmood — will be there. This gathering has shaped us, year after year, and we want to invite yall to clean up, grow up, and show up together. Apply here and join us.

No website. No ads. No culty group chat. Just good people, doing real shit. If you believe in what we’re building, help us keep it strange, sacred, and sustainable.

_{DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.}