Throughout history, humans have turned to sacred tools to shift awareness: ritual, breath, stillness, and sound. But among these technologies of the sacred, few have been as potent, or as controversial, as psychedelics.
In both traditional and clinical settings, psychedelic substances have been used to induce non-ordinary states of consciousness that foster healing, insight, and transformation. While practices like meditation or breathwork often rely on personal rhythm and repetition over time, psychedelics act as catalysts, compressing what might otherwise take months of therapeutic work into a matter of hours. They can open the psyche in powerful ways, unveiling unconscious material, loosening rigid patterns, and allowing new ways of being to emerge.
The word psychedelic itself comes from Greek – psyche, meaning “mind” or “soul,” and delos, meaning “to make visible.” And that’s exactly what these substances seem to do: they make the hidden parts of ourselves visible. They bring forth what has been buried, suppressed, or forgotten in order to process, resolve, and ultimately integrate.
From ancient shamanic rituals to contemporary clinical trials, psychedelics have long been used as tools for transformation. Indigenous traditions around the world have used plant medicines like ayahuasca, peyote, and iboga in ceremonial contexts, viewing them not as drugs, but as sacred guides to deeper truths and spiritual healing.
In the West, psychedelic research began in earnest in the mid-20th century. Early studies with LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline revealed the power of these substances to enhance creativity, alleviate anxiety and depression, and support individuals facing terminal illness. At their best, these experiences created space for people to reconnect with their core selves, release long-held emotional pain, and develop new insight into their lives.
The golden era of psychedelic research was brief, however, as cultural backlash and political fear led to widespread criminalization and the halt of scientific exploration. But in recent years, we’ve seen a resurgence; a psychedelic renaissance driven by promising studies on the therapeutic potential of substances like psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, and ketamine.
Today, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is showing extraordinary promise. When used with intention, preparation, and integration, psychedelics appear to activate what Michael Mithoefer calls the “inner healing intelligence” – a deep, innate capacity for psychological and spiritual healing. They help us to access the grief, shame, fear, or trauma that often live just beneath the surface of our everyday awareness, shaping our lives in unseen ways.
Through this research and my own lived experience, I’ve come to understand these states not as distortions of reality, but as expansions of it. They allow us to step outside our everyday awareness and touch something deeper, more whole. In my own journey, these states have helped me begin to see my true self. For so long, I defined myself solely as the human ‘me’ walking the earth, full of fear, grief, and shame. I have held onto those feelings, mistaking them for who I was. However, in expansive moments of consciousness, I have come to understand that I am so much more.
I am expansive. I am love.
I have seen how my soul radiates far beyond the limits of my physical body, connected to everything around me. I am no longer the fear and pain that I once held so tightly, but rather a vessel of love, interwoven with all of life. Such experiences have been truly transformational, allowing for a shift in perspective and in my interactions with the world. They’ve altered the way I see myself and the way in which I move through the world.
Psychedelic experiences don’t always show you something new; more often, they reveal what was already within. Sometimes that’s pain, waiting to be felt. Sometimes its insight, whispering beneath the noise. And sometimes, it’s a part of yourself you didn’t realize you’d forgotten.
While psychedelics are not magic bullets – and they are certainly not for everyone – they can offer a powerful mirror. When held with care and intention, they reflect back what needs to be seen, felt, and healed. They offer us a glimpse at our true potential, our true self.
It’s not just about what rises to the surface. The real healing happens when what emerges is met with compassion, understanding, and support, when it’s held in a space that allows for reprocessing, release, and integration.
They are not the path themselves, but they can help us remember that the path was within us all along.
These experiences, whether held in memory or still unfolding, invite us to keep listening inward. Even without the use of psychedelics, we all carry the capacity to tune into what’s beneath the surface. Sometimes all it takes is a question asked with honesty and openness.
So this week I invite you to reflect: If I saw myself not as a problem to fix, but as a vessel of love and possibility, how would that shit the way I move through the world? Whatever comes up, trust that its part of your unfolding.
References
Grof, S. (2019). The way of the psychonaut: Encyclopedia for inner journeys (Volume One).MAPS.
Mithoefer, M. (2013). MDMA-assissted psychotherapy: How different is it from other psychotherapy? In R. Doblin & B.Burge (Eds.), Manifesting minds: A review of psychedelics in science, medicine, sex, and spirituality (pp. 125-135). MAPS.
Otso, D. (2006). Altered states: Buddhism and psychedelic spirituality in America. Columbia University Press.
Pollan, M. (2018). How to change your mind: What the new science of psychedelics teaches us about consciousness, dying, addiction, depression, and transcendence. Penguin Press.
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