On spiritual psychedelics & “plant teachers” 🌈

Spiritual use of psychedelics, often called 'plant teachers', are gaining popularity as traditional (amber) cultural taboos break down. These substances have been used for shamanic purposes throughout human history and can lead to positive peak experiences and connection with the divine. I’m no expert, but I still wonder if people aren’t quite using them right—at least not yet in our (post-post)modern context. We need better cultural norms, support, and understanding of things like spiritual emergencies. We need more emphasis on endogenous transformative practices (like relatefulness) that support long term integration.

These “plant teachers” tend to break down one's sense of self or reality. Tearing down old structures is critical for growth, but then we've got to re-build. Construction is typically a lot harder than deconstruction. It requires discipline—like daily meditation, prayer, journaling, therapy, coaching, confession, etc. Maybe I’m a fuddy-duddy, but to me this suggests frequent use is unhelpful. I wonder if some people become dependent on the substance and see it as a shortcut, but end up never knowing how to get the benefits when they're sober.

Then there’s the challenge of cultural support. Even people in microcultures where psychedelics are more normalized aren’t totally isolated from their grandmas or insurance agents, who probably won’t bolster the insights or talk through the challenges from ayahuasca or ketamine therapy like they would with alcohol or tobacco. It’s changing, and I’m glad people are pushing that path forward. But I’m also glad that we teach conscious relating; that we can share being relateful with anyone, anywhere.

With love, Jordan