Margaret Gaida, PhD

Margaret Gaida, PhD is a historian of science specializing in the transmission of astrological and occult knowledge between the medieval Islamic world and Latin Europe. She holds a PhD in the History of Science and teaches at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Her academic work centers on cross-cultural knowledge exchange, visual and material culture, and the occult foundations of modern scientific thought.

Since 2021, Margaret has also worked as a psychedelic guide and integration facilitator, combining scholarly insight with deep psychospiritual attunement. She is the co-creator of Cartographies of Consciousness, a digital humanities and research initiative that maps experiential states—ranging from dreams and mystical visions to psychedelic journeys—across cultures, languages, and time periods. The project draws from archives, first-person narratives, and symbolic representations to uncover patterns in human consciousness and expand the boundaries of what counts as knowledge.