Love this! Can't over-state how incredibly powerful and connective these experiences have been with friends, my life partner, even people I don't know! Going through these journeys together just brings people closer bc you strip away the BS and talk about what really matters.
They really do change how we interact with the people in our lives. It's amazing when you think deeply about the fact that a plant, a fungus or the venom of a toad can change how we show up in the world.
I agree that we need these pathways to invite in heart opening and a break down of the ego and patterns that keep us in defense, violence, projection, and judgment. I am all for using a range of tools as long as people do the deeper work of healing the trauma and relational wounds as they open up their perceptions with the substances. I lead sound journeys that work to reshape the nervous system out of defense and take people into deep subconscious explorations. I have to remind clients that the tool just opens you up...the deeper work related to the way their operate in relationship is also part of the journey. Thank you for doing your part to shift the collective.
Appreciate you sharing this! I love what you’re doing with sound journeys and the reminder that these tools are just openings, not the whole path.
Where I diverge from the mainstream narrative is in how much airtime trauma gets in the Psychedelic space. It’s important, but I also think these medicines are just as much about joy, creativity, intimacy & collective imagination. If we just focus exclusively on healing we end up with an inwardly focused culture...which is what we have now. Trauma work is one doorway, not the whole house.
I wonder how much widespread use might tame, or amplify, the raging narcissism society is displaying since the invention of social media, and the astounding rate of identity disorders we are seeing today? It would be lovely if mushrooms could dissolve the egos feeding this maniacal movement, rather than potentially increasing it. I think if one has a reasonably high EQ to begin with, we experience a heightened sense of inner-connectivity, a peaceful oneness with nature and all of creation, but if one has a low EQ, it may potentially feed megalomania, making some feel that they ARE gods, or God, (which I have personally witnessed in those with underlying mental illness such as schizophrenia.) I’ve heard many say that mushrooms don’t give us what we want, they give us what we need, so perhaps in the correct setting, with the correct framing, it may dissolve those false portrayals of self and heal the fragile souls hiding behind those masks. But with the sharp rise of this phenomena in society in recent decades, I am curious about the potential effects of widespread use. It may be my own ego at work, but whenever the veil is lifted for me, I feel I can easily see behind the masks that people wear, and I find their inauthenticity repulsive, not something I want to be connected to or be a part of. This increases my desire to pull away from people and draw closer to nature, to the Creator, increasing my awareness of oneness with the universe while also making it unappealing to connect with most other people, whom I perceive as merely actors (and a good number as outright malevolent.) Perhaps if I didn’t take heroic doses I could simply enjoy the beauty of all that is, but I sought out this medicine to help navigate profound grief and loss. I wasn’t looking for “a good time,” I was looking for guidance through an existential crises. And it gave me that. But also left me with the aftertaste of the inauthenticity or malevolence of much of society, which ultimately I find repulsive. It has increased my desire to become something of a hermit, though like all humans I still long for genuine fellowship and community. Just not with inauthentic or demented people. Which is why I wonder if widespread use would create more harmony within society or merely widen the gap between those with a high EQ and those who are lacking in that regard.
I share your curiosity...Psychedelics don’t guarantee humility, they magnify what’s already there. For some, that’s deeper compassion; for others, it can inflate ego.
The real challenge is less about the medicine itself, and more about the collective framing & integration we build around it.
Very worthwhile article, Andrew. It's a rather woo-woo topic to some. The caveats are as important as the potential benefits, but it's an idea whose time to at least ponder the communal uses of these medicines (a term I use cautiously) may be here. It's an old idea, and one still practiced in some insular societies to this day.
Love this! Can't over-state how incredibly powerful and connective these experiences have been with friends, my life partner, even people I don't know! Going through these journeys together just brings people closer bc you strip away the BS and talk about what really matters.
100%.
They really do change how we interact with the people in our lives. It's amazing when you think deeply about the fact that a plant, a fungus or the venom of a toad can change how we show up in the world.
Interesting but stucked in a country ,🇨🇵, where psychedics are just forbidden .
Hopefully that changes!
I agree that we need these pathways to invite in heart opening and a break down of the ego and patterns that keep us in defense, violence, projection, and judgment. I am all for using a range of tools as long as people do the deeper work of healing the trauma and relational wounds as they open up their perceptions with the substances. I lead sound journeys that work to reshape the nervous system out of defense and take people into deep subconscious explorations. I have to remind clients that the tool just opens you up...the deeper work related to the way their operate in relationship is also part of the journey. Thank you for doing your part to shift the collective.
Appreciate you sharing this! I love what you’re doing with sound journeys and the reminder that these tools are just openings, not the whole path.
Where I diverge from the mainstream narrative is in how much airtime trauma gets in the Psychedelic space. It’s important, but I also think these medicines are just as much about joy, creativity, intimacy & collective imagination. If we just focus exclusively on healing we end up with an inwardly focused culture...which is what we have now. Trauma work is one doorway, not the whole house.
yes...totally agree!
I wonder how much widespread use might tame, or amplify, the raging narcissism society is displaying since the invention of social media, and the astounding rate of identity disorders we are seeing today? It would be lovely if mushrooms could dissolve the egos feeding this maniacal movement, rather than potentially increasing it. I think if one has a reasonably high EQ to begin with, we experience a heightened sense of inner-connectivity, a peaceful oneness with nature and all of creation, but if one has a low EQ, it may potentially feed megalomania, making some feel that they ARE gods, or God, (which I have personally witnessed in those with underlying mental illness such as schizophrenia.) I’ve heard many say that mushrooms don’t give us what we want, they give us what we need, so perhaps in the correct setting, with the correct framing, it may dissolve those false portrayals of self and heal the fragile souls hiding behind those masks. But with the sharp rise of this phenomena in society in recent decades, I am curious about the potential effects of widespread use. It may be my own ego at work, but whenever the veil is lifted for me, I feel I can easily see behind the masks that people wear, and I find their inauthenticity repulsive, not something I want to be connected to or be a part of. This increases my desire to pull away from people and draw closer to nature, to the Creator, increasing my awareness of oneness with the universe while also making it unappealing to connect with most other people, whom I perceive as merely actors (and a good number as outright malevolent.) Perhaps if I didn’t take heroic doses I could simply enjoy the beauty of all that is, but I sought out this medicine to help navigate profound grief and loss. I wasn’t looking for “a good time,” I was looking for guidance through an existential crises. And it gave me that. But also left me with the aftertaste of the inauthenticity or malevolence of much of society, which ultimately I find repulsive. It has increased my desire to become something of a hermit, though like all humans I still long for genuine fellowship and community. Just not with inauthentic or demented people. Which is why I wonder if widespread use would create more harmony within society or merely widen the gap between those with a high EQ and those who are lacking in that regard.
Beautifully put.
I share your curiosity...Psychedelics don’t guarantee humility, they magnify what’s already there. For some, that’s deeper compassion; for others, it can inflate ego.
The real challenge is less about the medicine itself, and more about the collective framing & integration we build around it.
Hey Andrew,
I’ve really enjoyed your work and blog. Is there a way to connect to ask you questions?
Hey Benjamin - thank you!
Absolutely, I messaged you.
Very worthwhile article, Andrew. It's a rather woo-woo topic to some. The caveats are as important as the potential benefits, but it's an idea whose time to at least ponder the communal uses of these medicines (a term I use cautiously) may be here. It's an old idea, and one still practiced in some insular societies to this day.
Thanks, Darrell.
Very well said. I align with all of this.
Thanks for sharing!