Psilocybin is the active ingredient in psychoactive mushrooms found in Mexico, South America, and the southern and northwest regions of the United States. Some cultures like the Aztecs used the “divine mushroom” as part of their spiritual and traditional celebrations and rituals. Statues and other representatives of what appear to be mushrooms that have been found in Mayan and Aztec ruins in Central America. Some historians believe that magic mushrooms may have been used as far back as 9000 B.C. in North African indigenous cultures, based on representations in rock paintings.

Psilocybin is considered to be an entheogen. Entheogens are hallucinogens and psychedelics that are naturally occurring and chemically manufactured substances originating from plants or certain species, and are used as tools for greater self-awareness and healing, and spiritual connectedness and clarity in life. They are known to have great power over the ego, allowing detachment from identifications and labels; shattering self-delusion; exposing false beliefs; and revealing areas of one’s personality that are not serving the individual in their relationships and life, promoting immediate self-awareness and self-growth. 

Psilocybin increases brain connectivity, allowing for increased communication between different regions, resetting the brain to a balanced and healthy state, when used properly. It affects the brain’s prefrontal cortex, part of the brain that regulates abstract thinking, thought analysis, and plays a key role in mood and perception.

Modern neuroscience has revealed how psilocybin interacts with serotonin receptors in the brain, producing a range of consciousness-altering effects. Recent studies demonstrate psilocybin’s potential to increase a person’s sense of wellbeing and, because of its novel mechanism of 5-HT_2A serotonin receptor agonism, it is being explored for therapeutic treatment of mood and anxiety disorders. 

Psilocybin therapy treatments for those suffering from anxiety and depression are showing great results. Studies conducted on patients suffering from depression, with brain imaging, reveal changes in brain activity that are associated with marked and lasting reductions in depressive symptoms and participants reported benefits lasting months after the treatment.

What to Expect

The ceremony takes place inside, where you will be laying down with your eyes closed and wearing an eye mask for the duration of the experience (4-6 hours). You will not be going outside or leaving the space for the duration of the journey, as it may not be safe and distracts you from going inside yourself.

We will be providing the music with a speaker and a crafted playlist for a creative journey. 

Group Journeys

There will be music playing in the space shared by all (no need to bring your headphones or playlists) for the duration of the journey. The playlist has been crafted for the most beneficial ways to navigate the journey throughout its different phases. 

The support provided is by 2-3 guides or facilitators (depending on group size) who are fully present to provide assistance during the journey. 

Participants are not allowed to go outside or leave the group space for the duration of the journey as it is not safe and distracts you from going deep into the experience. We are mostly concerned with safety and supporting your journey in the most beneficial ways.

Since it’s a group setting, it’s important to be considerate with others and sensitive to the group’s space. Maintain respect and awareness while also allowing yourself to surrender to your journey.

The Journey

An experience on a high dose of psilocybin mushrooms (3–5 gms) includes increased intensity of emotional experiences, increased introspection, and altered psychological functioning in the form of “hypnagogic experiences” similar to a dreaming state—a transitory state between wakefulness and sleep.

Perceptual changes such as visuals, synesthesia, emotional shifts, and a distorted sense of time are all characteristic of a psilocybin experience as well. These effects are typically felt an hour or so after orally ingesting a dose. 

You will begin to notice changes in your visual perception, such as halos around lights and objects, and geometric patterns when your eyes are closed. 

Your thoughts and emotions will also begin to change. It’s not uncommon to have a sense of openness to thoughts and feelings that you tend to avoid in your everyday life. A sense of wonder and delight with the world around you, the people in your life, and your thoughts is also quite common, along with a sense of peace and connection with the world. 

You may experience strong emotions, both good and bad. Try not to resist these feelings, but rather let them run their course. Many who do report strong negative emotions also report a simultaneous sense of calm acceptance and detachment, especially if they remind themselves that the emotions are temporary. 

It’s at this higher dose that you can expect to have a mystical experience, which may include: 

• A sense of interconnectedness or oneness (the feeling of being everything) 
• Strong likelihood of ego dissolution 
• The feeling of gaining hidden knowledge 
• Communication with beings and entities 
• Ineffability (being unable to accurately describe the experience) 
• Timelessness, existing for eternity or an eternal present. 
• The feeling of being in an infinite void 

Possible Side-effects of Plant Medicine Ingestion:

• Nausea
• Vomiting 
• Visual distortions
• Euphoria
• Decreased need for sleep
• Anxiety
• Confusion
• Overwhelming emotion
• Increase in body temperature
• Headache
• Lightheadedness
• Paranoia
• Fear

CONTRAINDICATIONS: 

Anyone dealing with psychological problems or mood disorders such as panic disorder, bipolar disorder or high levels of anxiety should not do this plant medicine ceremony since it might worsen their condition. 

Psychological distress or experiencing a ‘bad trip’ can be an adverse effect reported when ingesting this plant medicine.

It is contraindicated for those with a history of psychosis, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, borderline personality, acute PTSD, C-PTSD and those who suffer from panic attacks, psychotic episodes, dissociative anger and rage, and other mental health disorders.

Preparation

Entheogenic medicines are powerful substances that come with a purpose; they initiate an awakening to higher perspectives and allow a deep cleaning of the psyche, followed by a connection to the true self and one’s greater life purpose. Every experience is unique every time for everyone. It feels like the medicines have a sentience or consciousness working with the person to produce the kind of experience that a person needs to heal in their life at that very moment. 

As you prepare for your experience the following are important to consider: 

• Drop the expectations 
• Define and clarify your intention
• Prepare for discomfort 
• Develop a curious-observer mindset

The benefits of taking psilocybin are vast and cannot be known until a person tries a psychedelic. Benefits can materialize during the experience, or in the integration phase following the experience. No experience is like any other experience; hence the benefits will always differ. 

Things that tend to improve the quality of these experiences and the amount of benefit, payoff, and reward taken from them are: intentions, trust and optimism, having a good attitude, self-love, mindfulness, presence, determination, authentic conversations with the self, leaning into and letting go, cleansing and detoxing prior with strong nutritional follow-up, self-care, and a variety of integration activities over a period of time after. 

Navigating 

• Follow your breath 
• Listen to the music, and let yourself be carried by it. 
• Do a body scan 
• Open your eyes and look around the room 
• Hold an image in mind of someone you love 
• Hold a crystal, stone or significant object. 
• Affirmations or mantra, reassure yourself that you’re ok, everything is fine. 
• Ask for support 

Tips to Maximize Your Experience 

• Focus on your breath; place your awareness in your breath. The only way out is through. 
• Allow your experience: release the need to control the experience, relax the mind, become curious about what you are experiencing. 
• Go inward: let go of the outside world, close your eyes and explore your inner self. 
• Observe areas of resistance: notice when you get caught up on something, a judgment, a fear, anger, etc. focus on your body and release the tension. 
• Have compassion for yourself: leave behind self-judgment, let go of thinking how you should be, or whether ‘you’re doing it right’, practice being where you are, just how it is at that moment. 
• Say YES: lean in to the experiences that you encounter, including the difficult ones. 
• Trust that you’re safe: trust that you are where you intended to be, having the experience that you need to have. 
• Stay in your process: after your experience continues, journaling, meditating, observing what insights come up. 
• Don’t touch your phone for a few days (2-3 days). Try to keep social media to a minimum.