Foretaste Nº 15
Foretaste Nº 15
An occasional newsletter as a deep dive into the minds, habits, obsessions, affairs, and influences of our friends and fam.
Together & Stef
It took a while since last issue - sorry for that - and for some reason our Monthly Recap slipped through it as well, but here we are: Issue 15 of our Foretaste. This time with Stef Spijkermans, aka Wingman, aka Prima Materia, aka jack_nl. As with many of the Together& members our first connect with Stef goes back to 10/15 years. Early Another Something time, in the Another Shop era, and then into Something blocks (those who know know) that turned out to become premium tickets for bigger universe exploration journeys. Our roads crossed on multiple moments and levels, and when one of us fell down the mushroom rabbit hole it happened to be the one where Stef was living, and we were full circle again. So, without further ado:
Currently
Dividing my focus across 3 realms;
First realm is WINGMAN, which in essence is my consultancy work, which embodies a certain philosophy of what I want to do in this lifetime.
I’ve quite a broad background in “marketing” and worked as a researcher and strategist for many years in both Amsterdam and London. Mainly for consumer insight and brand strategy agencies that have a focus on more lifestyle oriented brands. This type of work is something I still do on a project basis.
But I love the (deep) human side of life as well, and truly appreciate connecting on a more personal level with people.
From these interactions quite some interesting projects manifest, or I naturally become part of someone’s journey, for example in creating/consulting with their own project or brand. Hence becoming the wingman, a tendency I’ve basically been pursuing most of my life.
The second realm is Mushrooms.
This complete story is way too extensive to fully write down, but the mushroom basically came on my path while I was in the (cliché) depression phase of my life. However, this was not a psychedelic mushroom, but a purely medicinal one, named Lion’s Mane. The Lion’s Mane extractions (tinctures) did such great things for me, but at the same time triggered so much resistance on how these brands were going about… I wanted to do it differently.
So I took baby steps in understanding this wondrous mushroom; reading the literature, learning how to cultivate it and eventually make extractions and medicinal tinctures.
This birthed a project/brand named PRIMA MATERIA, which is my journey in alchemy & mushrooms, where I currently offer my own medicinal mushroom tinctures, extracted from Lion’s Mane.
Through the lens of WINGMAN, there are actually quite some other mushroom related projects growing…
However, the one I like to share with you is basically a research project which I do together with Matthijs Diederiks.
This research project is called “Follow the Mushroom”, which currently has the form of a podcast on Spotify.
Here, Matthijs and myself explore the so called “Psychedelic Renaissance”, but equally investigate the overall massive wave/paradigm shift that the mushroom is bringing about. Interviewing diverse experts, which represent the full spectrum of mushrooms and their miraculous applications. Think; psychedelics, healthcare, technology, philosophy, architecture, fashion and so on.
My third realm is basically my personal and creative interests and expressions.
I’ve been into photography for many years now, and I love to capture moments with my (t)rusty old Nikon FM2. I share these online and occasionally sell a picture.
Equally, matters like Philosophy intrigue me deeply, so I like to explore what great minds from the West and East say about the world and this mysterious thing called life.
Currently reading
A Conversation with Luis Barragán - Alejandro Ramirez Ugarte
Ethics - Benedict de Spinoza
Mushroom, Myth & Mithras - Ruck, Hoffman, Celdrán
The Incal - Moebius & Jodorowsky
Aion - Carl Jung
Noumenautics: Metaphysics - Meta-Ethics - Psychedelics - Peter Sjöstedt-H.
Currently watching
The lectures of philosopher Pierre Grimes on YouTube, this man seems to be my next rabbit hole. Equally, it goes nicely hand in hand with YouTube addiction… 😅
Currently listening
My completely random playlist(s) of music on Spotify… but actually I mostly listen to techno and whatever electronics I could envision me playing during a set.
I used to dj some time ago, so I still approach listing to music as if I would prepare a dj set. Having certain tracks, sense how they would work together and creating a certain atmosphere.
But to share at least something, this is one of my all time favorite tracks. By the very genius Matthew Herbert aka Wishmountain.
Currently eating
A tosti.
Currently drinking
Coffee at my local coffee place, Back 2 Black, a.k.a. my second home.
Currently obsessed about
Mushrooms… and the complete fractal multitude of angles you can tumble down rabbit holes with them.
A current example: the mushroom’s quintessential role in most (all..?!) spiritual teachings/religions, and how they played the undiscussed, yet fundamental birth of our modern Western world; including major segments like Art & Philosophy.
Equally, how the mushroom, and the overall 'psychedelic' experience, have been the main source of inspiration and insight for many of the greatest minds of our Western human civilization. People like Parmenides, Plato, Socrates, Kant, Spinoza, Jung, Nietzsche, Einstein, Bohm, Tesla, Huxley, Feynman, Sheldrake, Abraham, McKenna, Alpert, Watts, Grimes, Ruck, Sjöstedt-Hughes … to name a few.
Currently distracted by
Motorcycles & Mushrooms… 😅
Currently trying to avoid
Shallowness, ignorance and negativity.
Currently frightened by
I’m currently working on two big and ambitious projects, which are personally mind-blowing for me.
However, I could see myself as “naive” and “romantic” in thinking that I would be able to pull something off like that. So they frighten me on a deeper level…
Yet, the idea frightens me as well to let these projects pass…
Only to later realise I was completely able to do it, and hence I will regret, for the rest of my life, that I haven’t pursued these. Life’s simple paradox of fear basically.
Currently transcended by
Nature and intuition.
Currently fulfilled with
The potential of Nature’s most advanced technology; mushrooms.
Thank you! 🍄
—
Thank you Stef!
Quick highlights from the Slacks (in no particular order):
This Is Your Mind on Plants by Michael Pollan, via Joachim
DJ Snake - Disco Maghreb, via Saba
Crimes of the Future, via Joakim
Namecore is the trend that unifies all trends, via Joachim
Swoosh, via Len
The Libraryman Award, via Jordi
Trippin World Guides, via Joachim
Tertulia the new book recommendation app, via Joakim
Hurs, a women-centric newsletter/platform, via Katerina
How Long Gone with Carsten Höller, via Chris
WITI The Summer Reads Edition, via Joachim
Computers and Creativity, via Daniël
Versions of Modern Performance by Horsegirl, via Joachim
Hope you enjoyed this one - And as always, let’s get Together soon on Slack & IRL!
PS. There are enough bots and ghosts in our lives. We’ve always seen Together&, human and alive, so please enjoy, participate, share and forward this. And we'd love to see you in Slack to discuss things often. If you know people who should join, let us know!