8 Psychedelics You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of
Welcome to the Psychedelic Blog. I write about the Impact of Psychedelics on Grieving, Relationships, Culture & Death. This week, I explore 8 obscure Psychedelics—from love potions to lunch-break DMT, here’s what’s hiding beyond Psilocybin & MDMA.
“The shaman’s pharmacy holds compounds modern science still can’t explain.” — Wade Davis
The Other Side of the Psychedelic Map
Forget Mushrooms—Samadhi, Jurema, and other hidden medicines await.
Think you know Psychedelics? Think again.
While Ayahuasca, Psilocybin, and LSD dominate the conversation, there’s a hidden tier of sacred substances most people have never heard of—let alone tried. These medicines aren’t for the casual explorer. They’re raw, rare, and often come with no roadmap. But for those called, they offer access to radically different states of consciousness.
These are the deep cuts—the wild allies at the edges of the Psychedelic pantheon.
1. Samadhi (Visionary Harmala + DMT Blend)
The Ayahuasca-like brew most people haven’t heard of.
Described as a visionary medicine combining harmalas with DMT-rich plants, Samadhi offers a smoother, more heart-centered alternative to Ayahuasca. Ceremonies tend to emphasize silence, stillness, and emotional depth over purge & chaos.
I’ve communed with Samadhi twice. The first journey was harrowing but gave way to the sharpest clarity I’ve ever felt the next morning. The second was peaceful & blissful—I remember merging into sacred geometry, not just witnessing it like with high-dose Psilocybin, but becoming part of it.
One of the most fascinating Psychedelic experiences I’ve ever had also happened during a Samadhi journey. I found myself soaring through a distant dimension—desert-like but synthetic, with a texture like early ‘90s video game graphics. Think Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. Each time I thought of someone I felt unsure about, the realm shook violently, like a plane hitting turbulence, pushing me toward purging. But when I thought of someone I loved, the world calmed instantly. Smooth skies. The message was crystal clear: Samadhi was showing me who to release and who to hold close.
Some believe we should only commune with plants native to the land we’re in. Samadhi is made from plants local to Mexico, which felt aligned—I was on sacred ground, taking in sacred medicine.
2. Jurema (Mimosa Hostilis)
The lost sacrament of northeastern Brazil.
Long before Ayahuasca became a global phenomenon, indigenous groups in northeastern Brazil were brewing Jurema—a fast-acting, DMT-rich root bark known for its vivid visions and emotional intensity. When paired with an MAOI, the experience deepens, but intriguingly, Jurema often works on its own—activating orally in ways science still struggles to explain. Some say its spirit feels wilder, more rebellious than Ayahuasca.
In 2023, neurobiologist Andrew Gallimore brewed Jurema at home and was struck by its potency & brevity. The trip hit hard, ended fast, and left an impression—leading him to nickname it the “Businessman’s Ayahuasca.” A powerful journey without the all-night commitment, it’s the Psychedelic equivalent of a hit-it-and-quit-it lunch break vision quest.
3. Kambo (Phyllomedusa bicolor secretion)
The purge before the portal.
Technically not Psychedelic, but often treated as a spiritual detox. Extracted from the Phyllomedusa bicolor frog, Kambo triggers a fierce physical purge, followed by clarity, resilience, and emotional reset. It’s warrior medicine—raw, ancient, and not for tourists.
Full Disclosure—I will never commune with Kambo. Since it's customary to work with Kambo prior to Bufo, I’ve seen it done at several Bufo ceremonies I’ve attended—and frankly, it’s gross. There’s purging, and then there’s deliberately making your body violently sick. Maybe there’s benefit to that, maybe not—but shitting into a bowl and then vomiting for hours is a hard pass for me.
Beyond the drama of the purge, there are real risks: dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, fainting, seizures, anaphylactic shock, and in rare cases, cardiac arrest. Kambo is a powerful secretion with bioactive peptides that mess with blood pressure and the nervous system. It’s not a gentle medicine.
We all have our limits. Kambo exists well outside of mine.
4. Chaliponga (Diplopterys cabrerana)
The dark cousin of Chacruna.
Used in certain Amazonian Ayahuasca brews, Chaliponga contains both DMT & 5-MeO-DMT—making it a potent double punch. While Chacruna lifts the veil between worlds with a light touch, Chaliponga rips it open. The visuals lean more cosmic than terrestrial, more alien than ancestral. Think black holes over jungle vines, alien entities instead of forest spirits.
Where Chacruna opens the jungle, Chaliponga opens the void. It’s known for producing intense, sometimes terrifying experiences—deep dives into the subconscious, shadow realms, and non-human intelligences. This is not the plant for beginners or casual curiosity. It’s for those ready to surrender fully and confront the unknown.
Some shamans reserve Chaliponga brews for specific nights or initiates—when the work requires not just healing, but a complete unmaking.
5. Syrian Rue (Peganum harmala)
The underestimated gatekeeper.
A potent natural MAOI, Syrian Rue is often used to activate the oral effects of DMT-containing plants—functioning much like the harmalas in Ayahuasca. But it’s more than just an assistant. On its own, Syrian Rue is a psychoactive teacher in its own right, capable of producing vivid closed-eye visuals, deep emotional processing, and even dreamlike states that linger for days.
The experience can be meditative or disorienting, depending on set & setting. Some report encounters with guiding presences or archetypal symbols. Others find it acts more as an amplifier of whatever is already present—emotionally, mentally, spiritually.
It’s also significantly more accessible and legal than most Psychedelics on this list, which has made it a favorite among DIY psychonauts and experimental brewers. But don’t be fooled by its humble status—Syrian Rue can open doors you may not be ready to walk through, especially when combined with other substances.
In the right dose and with reverence, it becomes less of a sidekick and more of a portal.
6. Yopo (Anadenanthera peregrina)
Snorted like a warrior, seen like a mystic.
Used for centuries by Indigenous tribes across the Orinoco basin, Yopo is more than just a Psychedelic. It’s a ritual ordeal. The seeds are roasted, ground into a fine powder, and forcefully blown into the nose through a long pipe—often by another person. The burn is immediate. The purge is likely. The visions come fast & hard.
Yopo contains a complex cocktail of psychoactive compounds—bufotenine, DMT, and 5-MeO-DMT among them. The result? A full-spectrum Psychedelic encounter that can range from beautiful to terrifying, often accompanied by intense physical reactions: vomiting, shaking, or a complete loss of bodily control.
But within that storm lies access to spirit realms, ancestral wisdom, and encounters with powerful entities. This is not a party drug—it’s a sacrament. A challenge. A rite of passage.
Best approached with guidance, reverence, and a warrior’s heart.
7. Toloache (Datura spp.)
Drunk for love, remembered with regret.
Toloache, also known as Datura, is a member of the nightshade family—and one of the most dangerous psychoactive plants on Earth. Revered and feared in equal measure, it’s been used for centuries in folk magic, shamanic rituals, and witchcraft across the Americas. Unlike tryptamines, Datura’s active alkaloids—scopolamine, atropine, and hyoscyamine—don’t induce colorful geometry or gentle ego death. They tear the veil entirely. Full-blown deliriant hallucinations, complete disconnection from reality, and long-lasting psychological aftershocks are common. This isn’t a heart-opening medicine. It’s a spellcasting plant. A plant of shadow, not light. And when misused, the consequences aren’t just unpleasant—they’re spiritually devastating.
I once heard the story of a couple that traveled to the Amazon and took part in a Toloache ceremony. The shaman running the ceremony used the plant to cast a spell on the woman. She fell in ‘love’ with him (or so she thought). Her boyfriend left. She stayed behind in the jungle, completely under the influence—not just of the plant, but of the man who gave it to her.
Months later, she finally made it out. But she struggled to regain her mind for years. She went through multiple treatments just to feel grounded again. And even now, years later, if she takes as much as a small dose of mushrooms, she’s launched right back into the jungle. Like the spirit of Toloache never fully let go.
In Western circles, we love to talk about healing. But in many Indigenous traditions, these plants were never strictly about healing. They were tools of power. Used in spiritual warfare. To cast spells against rival shamans. For protection. And yes—for manipulation; including sexual seduction.
Toloache was often used for love spells—to make someone “fall madly in love.” But these aren’t cute, harmless games. This is energetic coercion. And the karmic price is steep.
8. MDA (Sassafras / 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine)
MDMA’s trippier, wilder ancestor.
If MDMA is the warm hug that melts your heart, MDA is the wild dance that launches you into the stars. First synthesized in the early 20th century and historically linked to the sassafras plant, MDA predates MDMA and offers a distinctly more Psychedelic experience.
While both compounds fall under the umbrella of empathogens or entactogens, MDA veers deeper into the visionary. Think less heart-to-heart talk, more third-eye fireworks. Closed-eye visuals are common. Time dilation, body euphoria, and bursts of cosmic insight are on the menu. It’s often described as a hybrid between MDMA & LSD—entactogenic with a hallucinogenic edge.
It also lasts longer, hits harder, and has more potential for overstimulation or emotional overwhelm if you’re not prepared. MDA isn’t just for cuddling on the couch—it’s for dancing with your shadow and flirting with the infinite. A bit less polished. A bit more primal.
In the right dose and context, it can feel like MDMA with wings.
The Future Is Hidden in the Past
We’re just scratching the surface.
As AI & LiDAR technology evolve, we’re entering a new era of discovery—not just in laboratories, but in the deepest jungles on Earth. Entire ancient cities have already been revealed beneath the canopy of the Amazon, and with each new scan, we get closer to uncovering lost rituals, forgotten ceremonies, and plants that haven’t seen the light of day in centuries. Psychedelics we’ve never heard of. Practices that predate modern religion. Medicines used not just for healing, but for initiation, warfare, sex, magic, and death rites.
These tools—AI pattern recognition, machine learning, drone mapping—will do what conquistadors and anthropologists never could: listen without imposing. See without destroying. And in doing so, they may help us remember what we were never supposed to forget.
The next wave of Psychedelic insight won’t just come from pharmaceutical labs or Silicon Valley startups. It’ll come from the jungle. From the dirt. From a buried past whispering through roots and ruins.
The question is—will we be ready to receive it?
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Maybe it’s something you’ve written about, but the kambo thing has me wondering about the poison aspect. Similar to panther amanitas, there is a branch of psychedelics where it starts to verge over into me thinking, ok you just fucking poisoned yourself and now your brain is doing crazy shit. I understand the principle of “the dose makes the poison”, and I don’t think there’s a clear line where it switches over. But often the physical reactions are called “purging” and talked about in a spiritual context, but at what point are the physical consequences so severe that you sort of shift and say, ok, you’re just violently ill, not because of some psychic reason, but because you legit just poisoned yourself? Sorry for the ramble. Excellent article as always.
Toloache (Datura spp.) " the spirit of the plant never lets go." This is the spiritual side of plant medicine. The remembrance that plants are a conscious living, breathing spirit. Teaching this, over and over again, cannot be understated. Knowing you are forming a "relationship" with that spirit, if only temporarily, is completely overlooked by the scientific community. This is the most overlooked aspect of "exploring" entheogens. I have explored several things on this list; however, I did so with deep reverence, a pocket full of education, and 50 years of wisdom.