Rachel Kann

Rachel Kann

TEDx Poet Rachel Kann is a modern-day mystic: irreverently reverent and exuberantly human.

She’s a Write Club Los Angeles champ and resident writer for Hevria. Her poetry has been featured on Morning Becomes Eclectic on NPR and as The Weather on the podcast phenomenon, Welcome to Night Vale.

Rachel has performed her poetry with artists and leaders such as daKAH Hip Hop Orchestra, Marianne Williamson, Sage Francis, Saul Williams, and Rahzel, at venues such as Disney Concert Hall, Royce Hall, The Broad Stage, The San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, and the Vans Warped Tour, as well as spiritual and sacred spaces like Jewlicious Fest X aboard The Queen Mary, Agape Spiritual Center and Sinai Temple.

Accolades include the James Kirkwood Fiction Awards (short story), Writer’s Digest Short-Short Story Awards (micro-fiction), 4 The Camera Film Festival and Landlocked Film Festival (music video) LA Weekly Awards (best supporting actress) Backstage West Garland Awards Critic’s Picks (best supporting actress) and both the audio and video award for the International Slam Idol (poetry).

She is also a shamanic apprentice, dancer, teacher and DJ. Her work in all fields remains the same: to set people free and help them feel outrageous love.

Visit her at rachelkann.com.


Panel Discussions:

Plant Teachers and Entheogenic Learning
Moderator: Rachel Kann

While much of the interest in the potential benefits of entheogenic plants, fungi and other psychedelic substances has been on their healing or therapeutic properties, this panel will focus on the potential of these substances in learning and education. In indigenous cultures it is commonly believed that one can learn from spirit “teachers” within the plants or mushrooms. With the advent of psychedelic drug use in the modern era, it was claimed that substances such as LSD, psilocybin or mescaline could enhance cognition, stimulate creativity and expand one’s mind. We will explore how there may be educational benefits to the entheogenic or psychedelic experience, and how these kinds of learning might be integrated into modern concepts of knowledge and understanding.

Panelists: Cvita Mamic, Kenneth Tupper, PhD, Sitaramaya Sita
Moderator: Rachel Kann

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