Table of Contents
Anyone who has nosedived deep enough into a psychedelic journey will tell you how otherworldly the experience can be. But are these alien states of consciousness the simple effect of chemicals misfiring in the brain, or are they something else entirely?
After experiencing some profound phenomena such as a kundalini awakening, rebirth, and astral projection, I set off to learn the true nature of these mystical substances. This path led me to work alongside Ayahuasca shamans in the Ecuadorian Andes for six months, and my knowledge of these sacred plants expanded rapidly.
Never again can I see psychedelics as drugs. These ancestral medicines are spirits that connect us with other realms of existence. These spirits are healers, and by ingesting a sacred plant, you connect with the spirit of that plant.ย Shamanic healers have possessed this knowledge for thousands of years, and our collective consciousness is just starting to loop back around to it.ย
As there is so much mystery surrounding the topic of psychedelic spirituality, here Iโm going to explain what this spiritual practice is from my understanding, and how you can leverage it if youโre on a growth journey too.
The Connection Between Psychedelics and Spirituality
Psychedelic spirituality refers to the use of psychedelics as a medium to explore consciousness. When people use psychedelics for nonrecreational intent – that is to learn, heal, and grow – they can be seen as spiritual tools.
The practice of psychedelic spirituality is based on the belief that psychedelics are gateways toย the spiritual realm, and thereโs a lot of profound knowledge we can access by going into these realms.
In other words, psychedelic spirituality is to leverage the use of psychedelic plants to connect more deeply with our soul nature.
Beyond the recreational trip, psychedelics have the potential to induce profound experiences. Thereโs a whole other world associated with the psychedelic experience, and these plants have been used all over the world for thousands of years to explore these mystical states of consciousness.
Even though we can tap into a deeper part of our consciousness via plant medicines, itโs worth mentioning that theyโre just one path for spiritual growth. People can go just as deep into these foreign states of consciousness via practices such as regular meditation or breathwork.
Using psychedelics for spiritual growth is the sledgehammer approach, and itโs certainly not for everyone. There is also a line between using psychedelics recreationally, to using them to heal, learn, and grow.
Why Do People Use Psychedelics for Spirituality?
There are many reasons why people use plant medicines within the context of spirituality. First off, plant medicines give you instant, tangible results compared to disciplinary practices such as meditation or yoga.
It can take years of dedicated meditation practice to even have visuals, let alone tap into energies, spirits, and otherworldly phenomena. Psychedelics are a fast track. Although not all psychedelic experiences are spiritual (of course, psychedelics affect your mind too), if you go deep enough into a psychedelic trip, youโre bound to start tapping into other sources of information.
By learning how to navigate these foreign realms of consciousness, thereโs a gold mine of wisdom that can be accessed via the intentional use of these medicines.
With that said, here are some reasons why people use psychedelics for spiritual growth.
- To heal from their wounds and traumas
- To gain insight and information about their life
- To learn more about the nature of their soul
- To learn more about the nature of our universe
- To communicate with spirits and entities
- To open their consciousness to new ideas and concepts
- To experience mystical phenomena such as chakra activation or kundalini awakening
- To explore their blocks and address what’s holding them back
- To activate spiritual gifts such as clairvoyance or mediumship
- To help erase the fear of death
- To become more at peace with life and oneself
- To energetically connect with loved ones
- To experience higher states of consciousness, including divine love and bliss
Is Psychedelic Spirituality a Recognized Religion?
Psychedelic spirituality is probably one of the oldest spiritual practices known to mankind, but it’s not a recognized religion. Spiritual practices incorporating the use of plant medicines (psychedelic substances) are particularly recognized within shamanic traditions in South America.
The spiritual usage of plant medicines via shamanism predates modern religions, so itโs not a new trend that will come and go. With shamanic traditions pushed underground due to the outcasting of psychedelics driven by modern religion (and then the war on drugs), weโre only recently seeing a resurgence of shamanic culture within the framework of Western society.
A huge amount of detail has been lost throughout this process. Still, Western society blows off the many claims regarding psychedelics as fictional, without really knowing anything about them.
Due to the now science-driven world we live in, many people deny the existence of anything beyond what modern science can prove. Of course, if youโre an atheist, the notion that psychedelics are gateways to other dimensions wonโt jam.
This is important to understand because psychedelics tap into a whole other realm of information that has been cloaked by pop culture, folklore, and fantasies. But the connection these substances have is real, and shamans are the pioneers of using these substances for this purpose.
The Dark Side of Psychedelic Spirituality
Thereโs a dark side to psychedelic spirituality that I need to address.
Spirituality is a way of life, not an act to make or a place to get to. People can get the wrong idea of psychedelic spirituality and treat it as a place they need to go, or a state of consciousness they need to achieve.
If you believe that you need a substance to experience spirituality, youโve got a backward view of what spirituality is. Some people become reliant on psychedelics to feel connected to the spirit but completely neglect the day-to-day acts. This is misguided at best and dangerous at worst.
When I was working in ceremonies, something I learned is that the shamans have a very strong connection with these plants, but they never need them. Spirituality happens outside of the ceremony space. Connecting with these spirits can be a big assistance for your spiritual growth and healing, but it should never be the entire focus.
On the other hand, people can be very inexperienced and go quite deep into these dimensions, which can be overwhelming.ย
Iโve met people who have had their minds scrambled because they werenโt ready for what the medicine showed them. Iโve met others who have had entities latch onto them because they didnโt know how to protect themselves. I have had entities attach themselves to me, too, despite being very familiar with the medicine space.
The reason I say this is because you donโt want to mess around with plant medicines if you donโt know what youโre doing. They do open you up energetically and expose you to all sorts of weird and wacky things out there.
This is why itโs always best to work with these medicines in a ceremonial setting facilitated by someone who is properly trained to work with these spirits. Poking your head into these dimensions without knowing what youโre doing can cause some serious damage.
Psychedelics Are Portals of Consciousness
Before getting into how psychedelics blast you into another dimension, we need to do a quick crash course on spirituality so that you have context.
Consciousness has layers, and you vicariously exist in multiple realms at once. Imagine existence is like an onion, and each dimension is like a layer of this onion. At the core of this onion is the source of consciousness itself, this is what we refer to as god.
Thereโs a whole lot more information around us than what you and I can perceive. Being intelligent monkeys, we can perceive the physical world with our primary senses, but weโre not quite there when it comes to perceiving these other dimensions (except for some spiritually evolved people).
The dimension of experience discovered through psychedelics is always there beneath the surface. Your soul is vicariously existing in it too and projecting a piece of itself into this dense hologram that we understand as life.
Other dimensional planes are energetic. They have no physical existence. This means theyโre timeless, formless, and ethereal realms. Each religion and spiritual belief has different interpretations of these realms, but they all agree on a fundamental truth, that โitโ exists.
The ego acts as a plug to reality, which keeps our feet on the ground. Iโm sure there are forces behind the scenes pulling strings in this dimension too, but typically, weโre bound to this realm until we die. After all, weโre here to have a human experience. If it was so easily transcended, then whatโs the point?
Imagine the object of spirituality as an alternate realm that has many different pathways leading into it. These pathways can be accessed through myriad disciplines such as meditation, yoga, fasting, and prayer. There is a barrier between the physical construct of your consciousness and the spiritual construct, but they are always tethered together.
The Relationship Between Psychedelics and the Ego
The ego acts as a plug to reality which keeps our feet on the ground and allows us to exist as an individual.
Think of your ego as your anchor to reality. When yourย ego begins to dissolve, your deeper spiritual nature starts shining through, and it becomes easier to perceive these other dimensions of experience.
Psychedelics dissolve your ego, which means you begin to lose your connection to the person you see yourself as today.
Iโm sure there are forces behind the scenes pulling strings in this dimension too, but typically, weโre bound to this realm until we die. After all, weโre here to have a human experience. If it was so easily transcended, then whatโs the point?
Accessing Other Realms via Psychedelics
Through psychedelic spirituality, you create an intersection point between physical reality and the spiritual dimension. You keep your feet on the ground and pop your head into the cosmic ocean, or in some cases, lose yourself in it completely.
Certain disciplines such as meditation can thin the veil, as these practices focus on presence, which also deteriorates the ego. Psychedelics are the sledgehammer approach. One path is like slipping into a warm bath over years of practice, the other is like plunging into an icy pool.
Without a mind or body, consciousness seeps through the mesh of reality like a yolk draining from a cracked egg. Your consciousness is immersed in a realm so profound that it strikes remarkable similarities with many spiritual doctrines and beliefs.
So we need to question, are psychedelics hotwiring the connection to spirituality that has been prevalent all over the world?
And thatโs the foundation of psychedelic spirituality: To believe that psychedelics can indeed bring you to the same dimension that all religions, indigenous, and spiritual beliefs point towards. That theyโre, in essence, a shortcut to the unknown.
Spiritual Experiences With Psychedelics
When youโre submerged completely into a new dimension of information, youโre essentially a drop in the ocean. You are nothing, with no ability to do anything, think, understand, or comprehend. You exist in a state of absolute presence which is induced through the death of ego.
Psychedelics open a gate to unimaginably complex dimensions of reality. If you venture deep enough into a psychedelic trip, it will tear apart reality right in front of your eyes. You are then lost in a realm that exists far beyond the extent of imagination.
As your human construct dismantles, you are likely to experience things such as sacred geometry and have access to experiences, sensations, and feelings on a whole new level.ย Psychedelics have an incredible ability to reset your mind, flush away the negativity, and irreversibly change your perception of life.
Psychedelic spirituality begs the question, can this experience just be credited to the mind? Surely, the human mind is not capable of simulating such powerful experiences that can completely change a personโs life. And if it is, then it just raises more questions.
Whether these states are credited to the mysteries of the mind, or whether weโre tapping into something else, it is well beyond our understanding. The experience itself is certainly real, despite what it is.
Using Psychedelics for Spiritual Exploration
There is a lot of ambiguity surrounding psychedelics, but itโs important to keep an open mind about what they can do.
Psychedelics are not recreational drugs. They are powerful spiritual tools that can send you into the deepest levels of reality and beyond. Psychedelic spirituality is about recognizing these plants as much more than what we typically give them credit for.
If youโre not on board, I understand. But let me ask you: What if itโs plausible that through the void of ego, we reconnect with the deeper nature of spirit? What if there exists a universal intelligence that extends through all layers of reality, including the one that weโre experiencing right now?
If we could learn to harness this information and navigate this realm of knowledge, you can only imagine what we could learn about the nature of reality.
Set Your Intention
One of the most important things to do when using psychedelics for spiritual growth is to set intentions. Your intentions act as a compass. If you donโt have a reason for taking the plant medicine, then why are you taking it in the first place?
If you want to explore your consciousness and become a better person, it starts by setting your intentions each time you take any plant medicine. Whether you intend to gain wisdom or insight about your life, to heal, communicate with spirits, or open up your consciousness, without intention, youโre just floundering.
Have a purpose for taking the plant medicine, and donโt treat them as a recreational substance.
Have Respect for the Spirit
One of the most important things you can do is to respect the plant medicine. This is a major common theme in the context of shamanism, and shamans tend to spend a lot of time praying to the spirits of the medicine before consuming it.
Keep in mind that these medicines are sentient spirits. If you have no respect for the medicine, you canโt expect to have a mindblowing experience. Likewise, youโre defeating the purpose. If you hold a great deal of respect for the medicine before taking it, pray to it, and perhaps leave an offering, this can drastically change the experience.
Iโve found in my journeys that Iโve often been blocked out when I didnโt do the prayers properly. Simply put, the spirits werenโt a fan, and I always got a dirty feeling, like I was being disrespectful. When I do the prayers wholeheartedly, thatโs when Iโm let into their world, and have some deeply profound experiences.
Create a Sacred Space
When and where you take the plant medicine makes a difference. If youโre taking a psychedelic while at a festival or with some friends, youโre not going to learn much from it.
If youโre using psychedelics for spiritual growth, itโs best to either take them in a ceremonial setting, or by yourself. If youโre inexperienced with plant medicines, I would suggest doing a few ceremonies before going into these realms solo.
I find itโs important to set aside the time and create the space to take the medicine. If youโre taking it while you feel rushed or your house is a mess, then youโre not giving the medicine the space it deserves. So put aside the time and create the space to have a proper session.
Have Restraint
Make sure you donโt fall into the trap of taking psychedelics too regularly or seeing them as the only path to spirituality. Most people find that the medicine tells them when theyโre starting to overdo it. If itโs becoming a habit or a compulsion, youโll likely get a sign that you need to stop for a while during one of the journeys.
But itโs best to be preemptive. I suggest that you don’t take plant medicine regularly and donโt mix them up with other substances. Have restraint and treat psychedelic exploration as a legitimate spiritual practice, and you will begin to view psychedelics in a very different way.