Skip to content
The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe Joe Rogan Experience

Joe Rogan Experience #2385 - Rick Strassman

Rick Strassman, MD, is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. He is the author of several books, the most recent of which is 2024's "My Altered States: A Doctor's Extraordinary Account of Trauma, Psychedelics, and Spiritual Growth." https://www.rickstrassman.com Buy 1 Get 1 Free Trucker Hat with code ROGAN at https://happydad.com Visit https://WildPastures.com/rogan today to get 20% off for life, plus $15 off your first box.

Rick StrassmanguestJoe RoganhostGuest (unidentified third person, likely producer/assistant)guest
Sep 26, 20253h 9mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. 0:00 – 15:00

    (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast,…

    1. RS

      (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience.

    2. JR

      Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (instrumental music)

    3. RS

      So this is a book I wrote 11 years ago.

    4. JR

      Oh, okay.

    5. RS

      The DMT and the Zohar Prophecy.

    6. JR

      I haven't gotten that one before.

    7. RS

      Yeah. It compares ... Well, let's see, are we gonna ...

    8. JR

      Yeah, just get a little closer to the mic. We're up.

    9. RS

      Yeah.

    10. JR

      We're rolling.

    11. RS

      Yeah, it compares the, it compares the DMT state to the state of prophecy in the Hebrew Bible.

    12. JR

      Do you think they're the same thing?

    13. RS

      Well, the phenomenology is pretty similar. Like, if you read chapter one of Ezekiel, there's, um, flames and there's angels and there's wings and there's eyes on the back of wings.

    14. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    15. RS

      And there's roaring sound and, uh, blue ice above the person, he flies through space.

    16. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    17. RS

      Yeah.

    18. JR

      Yeah.

    19. RS

      Quite, quite psychedelic.

    20. JR

      Yeah, wheel within a wheel.

    21. RS

      Right.

    22. JR

      Like, the, the des- description of the things that people ... Usually, they try to say that it's some sort of a UAP.

    23. RS

      Right.

    24. JR

      That's a, that's the common thing that people like to say, right?

    25. RS

      (inhales deeply) Uh, well, it could be.

    26. JR

      Which also might be connected.

    27. RS

      (clears throat) It could be a DMT vision, though.

    28. JR

      Oh, easily.

    29. RS

      Yeah.

    30. JR

      Well, d- you know the guys out of Jerusalem that think that the whole burning bush thing was DMT.

  2. 15:00 – 30:00

    Well, it's the reason…

    1. JR

    2. RS

      Well, it's the reason for the flood, you know-

    3. JR

      Right.

    4. RS

      ... and all that. Yeah, yeah.

    5. JR

      Yeah.

    6. RS

      Uh, so yeah, things just got so bad, God said, "I changed my mind."

    7. JR

      (laughs)

    8. RS

      (laughs) And he brings the flood.

    9. JR

      It's like, the further you go back, the crazier the story gets.

    10. RS

      Uh, I know. Well, the Book of Enoch was written maybe 120, 125 BCE. Uh, you know, so it's pretty old. But some of the stories that originate, or that ... You know, the, the origination of some of the stories in the Hebrew Bible, uh, go back, you know, 10,000 years perhaps.

    11. JR

      Wow. Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall 10,000 years ago, to go, "What were you guys writing down?"

    12. RS

      Mm-hmm.

    13. JR

      What was ... What really happened?

    14. RS

      What really happened? Well, I mean-

    15. JR

      'Cause it seems like for sure something happened.

    16. RS

      Uh, what?

    17. JR

      Well, whatever the whole Jesus Christ thing was, it seems like that was a real event.

    18. RS

      Right, as opposed to the flood.

    19. JR

      The flood seems like a real event too. Don't, don't you think the flood was a real event?

    20. RS

      What about ... Let's see.

    21. JR

      I think the flood was the Younger Dryas impact. I think likely. Obviously, I don't know what I'm talking about. But my, my inclination is to believe guys like Randall Carlson, 'cause it's a very compelling narrative. Like, what he's saying is, we pass through a comet storm. It happens these, this particular time every year, and there's been times in history where we've been hit. And it's very likely that this time period, this Younger Dryas impact time period, that could have been the end of whatever civilization existed at the time, and what we are is a rebuilding of it.

    22. RS

      Mm-hmm.

    23. JR

      We just f- kind of forgot about it. And it doesn't make sense that you could forget, like, how they built the pyramids.

    24. RS

      Mm-hmm.

    25. JR

      But they did. Like, you know ... (laughs) It's, it, it seems like there was h- really advanced people-

    26. RS

      Mm-hmm.

    27. JR

      ... at one point in time.

    28. RS

      Yeah.

    29. JR

      Something t- horrible happened, and then it took a while for people to bounce back. And we are ... We're, we're the, the direct linear progression of the people, like, from Mesopotamia and Iraq and all that. That's, that's us now, but before that, there was probably something really wild.

    30. RS

      Yeah. W- well, if you look at the text's description of, uh, the generations from Adam to Noah, you know, w- what civilization was like-

  3. 30:00 – 45:00

    I think clothes might…

    1. RS

      And then after eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, uh, then they were embarrassed and tried to hide, made themselves, uh, you know, tree-like, uh, coverings or from, uh...... s- um, you know, coverings from the leaves of large trees. Um, yeah, you know, so you look at it as if it were happening. There was Adam, then there's Eve, there's the- f- uh, there's the serpent that speaks. And th- th- well, that's the- the chapters I was looking at very carefully the last, uh, month or so, um, uh, was, is what happens early on with Adam and Eve. It's a really very straight- straightforward, doesn't take much thinking really to, uh, you know, put a, uh, you know, together in a way that makes sense.

    2. JR

      I think clothes might have been a cheat code for people not just to escape cold weather, but also to keep from just constantly having sex. 'Cause people are stupid and they- (laughs) they-

    3. RS

      (laughs)

    4. JR

      ... they need like some layers of clothes that they have to take off of each other. They can't be just wandering around naked all the time. People would be just like chimps. That would be ridiculous.

    5. RS

      Ye-

    6. JR

      You can't do that.

    7. RS

      Yeah. Uh.

    8. JR

      So we needed clothes-

    9. RS

      Yes.

    10. JR

      ... in order to advance as society.

    11. RS

      Oh, but- but can't you take off clothes whenever you want?

    12. JR

      Yeah, you can.

    13. RS

      Yeah.

    14. JR

      Yeah, but it's like you- you decide. Like, "I don't wanna feel that good. I don't wanna be out there in the air. I don't wanna be brushing up against naked people." We all made that decision a long, long time ago, I think.

    15. RS

      Mm-hmm.

    16. JR

      When people became civilized, they realized like, "If we don't cover ourselves up, you know, then too- people are too gross. They'll just be having sex with each other everywhere."

    17. RS

      Yeah.

    18. JR

      You gotta get things done. You wanna keep a society moving?

    19. RS

      Right.

    20. JR

      Wear some clothes.

    21. RS

      Wear clothes. Well, that story could originate or that m- you know, that, uh, way of looking at things could originate, you know, fro- uh, with- with Adam and Eve.

    22. JR

      Totally makes sense.

    23. RS

      Yeah.

    24. JR

      It also makes sense like in an, uh, a- an intelligent hominid emerging would start to realize that, "Oh my god, self-awareness. Look at my boobs-"

    25. RS

      Mm-hmm.

    26. JR

      "... look at my dick. This is crazy."

    27. RS

      Yeah.

    28. JR

      "Can't believe I'm out here naked," (laughs) you know?

    29. RS

      Right.

    30. JR

      'Cause it's kind of becoming self-aware as opposed to like a chimpanzee. And as time would go on, it would become more self-aware. And if it happened over a l- a relatively short period of time and it can kind of have memories of the past-

  4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

    Okay. …

    1. RS

      uh, ostra- ostracization, yeah, and return, a, a triumphant return. Yeah, and then you're gradually replacing people with other people that are loyal, you know, to the person. Uh, yeah. It's, uh, it is quite similar.

    2. JR

      Okay.

    3. RS

      Oh, yeah, uh, uh, and murders too. There were, there were murders, the burning down of the parliament, those things, kinds of things.

    4. JR

      What murders are you referring to?

    5. RS

      Uh, there were two assassinations, one in, I think, uh, early '20s, one in the '30s, late '30s perhaps, after the Nazis took over.

    6. JR

      Oh, I thought you were talking about current assassinations.

    7. RS

      No, no, back in the '20s and '30s.

    8. JR

      Oh, okay.

    9. RS

      Yeah. That really riled up the populous.

    10. JR

      Oosh.

    11. RS

      Yeah.

    12. JR

      Why is the, why is there these, these scary patterns?

    13. RS

      Yeah.

    14. JR

      Always just a r-... It's the same kind of thing. There's always someone at the top. We, that we... No one can ever figure out any form of government that everybody accepts other than, like, one ruler (laughs) -

    15. RS

      Mm-hmm.

    16. JR

      ... one president, one king.

    17. RS

      Yeah.

    18. JR

      It's kind of weird.

    19. RS

      Um, are you familiar with the book St. Peter's Snow? It was written in the '30s before LSD was discovered.

    20. JR

      No.

    21. RS

      It's about, uh, it, it's, it's, it's, you know, fictional, uh, book. It's a s- it's a great story. But, but it's about a compound, like LSD, that the governor serves all the people in the province to see, you know, for them to have a spiritual experience.

    22. JR

      Whoa.

    23. RS

      Yeah. And, and instead they turn on him and kill him-

    24. JR

      (laughs)

    25. RS

      ... while they're tripping. (laughs)

    26. JR

      (laughs)

    27. RS

      It doesn't work out the way he hoped-

    28. JR

      (laughs)

    29. RS

      ... at, at all. (laughs)

    30. JR

      That's hilarious. That's hilarious.

  5. 1:00:00 – 1:15:00

    Yeah. Well, you know,…

    1. JR

      is?

    2. RS

      Yeah. Well, you know, the watchers aren't, you know, stated at, uh, aren't stated discretely or explicitly in the Hebrew Bible. Th- but it could be just, you know, the angels, because they never sleep. That's one of their qualities is they never sleep, so they're called watchers.

    3. JR

      Mm.

    4. RS

      Yeah. And what happened, like the Nephilim, uh, you know, um, here comes the, the role of that three-letter root system, is the Nephilim-

    5. JR

      (coughs)

    6. RS

      It comes from a Hebrew root, nafal, to fall, or to be brought down. Uh, so the Nephilim fell. Uh, that's one way to, uh, understand them. Yeah. And then they were the giants, right?

    7. JR

      Yes.

    8. RS

      Yeah.

    9. JR

      They were the giants that consumed everything.

    10. RS

      Yeah.

    11. JR

      And, and ate their own flesh, and they sound really bad. (laughs)

    12. RS

      Uh, well, I, I think, you know, that what was going on, at least, uh, y- if you're looking at the text anyway, as explanation, it was because of them. Uh, the world was just getting terrible. It was full of violence. Uh, so, y- you know, God reconsidered having created man in the first place. But Noah was simple or com- or pure, righteous in that way, and was allowed to survive.

    13. JR

      So, what do you think they were describing when they were talking about the Nephilim, when they were talking about them as giants? You think that's just a bad interpretation?

    14. RS

      Uh, well, they may have been giants, y- you know, physically. Um, yeah, I do think they were giants. Yeah.

    15. JR

      They, like, they even had an actual description of how tall they were-

    16. RS

      (sighs) Yeah.

    17. JR

      ... by some measurement.

    18. RS

      Yeah.

    19. JR

      Right? There was some-

    20. RS

      The g-

    21. JR

      ... ancient measurement.

    22. RS

      Yeah, that's, that's probably in, in Enoch. It's not, you know, this is, isn't, you know, narrated, uh, any specifics about the giants. Th- that they were men of renown. They were powerful.

    23. JR

      'cause this is the thing. There's always... One of the most fun internet rabbit holes to go down is, uh, are they hiding evidence that giants existed? You know, like, 30-foot tall men that lived in the mountains. And there's always been weird stories of giants all throughout history, and there's people who've supposedly discovered giant bones, and then they stored 'em in the basement of some famous museum, and they won't let anybody have access to 'em. It's kind of fascinating.

    24. RS

      Yeah, I-

    25. JR

      'Cause they do exist. Like, those stories exist in history, but you meant- you wonder, like, is it n- just a really big person, like that mountain guy from the Game of Thrones, you know, like a, an actual human being who's just really, extraordinarily big? Or is it a different thing? Is it a, a giant human being?

    26. RS

      Mm-hmm. Well, they're giants. Yeah. Th- I mean, it, it depends on your perspective. Like, I'm trying to look at, or understand anyw- anyway, you know, the giants, uh, as they're described in Hebrew Bible, or, or else, you know, by implication in the Book of Enoch. You know, there were men of re- that there were giants, men of renown, and then, uh, the earth became corrupt.

    27. JR

      And they consumed everything. Yeah.

    28. RS

      Oh, oh, yeah, yeah. Th- that's in the Book of Enoch.

    29. JR

      So, the problem is if, like, if you're looking at the l- least charitable version of human beings in 2025, there's a lot of examples (laughs) that you could point to and go, "Well, that sounds... Guys, that sounds a lot like us."

    30. RS

      Well, there may be another... Well, there won't be a flood that destroys all mankind.

  6. 1:15:00 – 1:28:41

    Mm-hmm. …

    1. JR

      uh, science came from Harvard.

    2. RS

      Mm-hmm.

    3. JR

      That's where the study came from. I mean, the, the, he, he's not making things up and these people are, like, on TikTok, they're pregnant women taking Tylenol.

    4. RS

      Yeah, I take a lot... Well, I, I mean, if it weren't for, you know, for Tylenol, I wouldn't be here today.

    5. JR

      For real? (laughs)

    6. RS

      Well, I, I mean, I do find it quite helpful. Yeah.

    7. JR

      Yeah?

    8. RS

      Yeah, yeah, for, you know, for injuries. As, as you get older, as a lot of people get older-

    9. JR

      Mm-hmm.

    10. RS

      ... you know, there's pain.

    11. JR

      It's a acetaminophen, though, right?

    12. RS

      Yeah, it's acetaminophen.

    13. JR

      Which is really toxic, isn't it?

    14. RS

      Well, if you take too much it can cause-

    15. JR

      So, that's what it is? It's like a dose thing?

    16. RS

      Mm-hmm.

    17. JR

      So, one is fine.

    18. RS

      One's fine. You know, four is fine-

    19. JR

      Okay.

    20. RS

      ... probably. Uh, after f- four years, uh, you know, can upset your stomach, little, you know, liver toxicity is p- possible. You know, but if you stay within normal limits, seems to be fine.

    21. JR

      So-

    22. RS

      At least for myself.

    23. JR

      For you.

    24. RS

      And, a- a- well, and also in, in general, there haven't been recalls for, you know...

    25. JR

      And what do you take it for, if you're gonna take it?

    26. RS

      Uh, pain.

    27. JR

      What kind of pain you getting then?

    28. RS

      F- feet. You know, uh, I had hernia repair a while back.

    29. JR

      Oh.

    30. RS

      Yeah.

Episode duration: 3:09:29

Install uListen for AI-powered chat & search across the full episode — Get Full Transcript

Transcript of episode qxj8M4ewjS0

Get more out of YouTube videos.

High quality summaries for YouTube videos. Accurate transcripts to search & find moments. Powered by ChatGPT & Claude AI.

Add to Chrome