Spiritual medicines – psychedelics – are substances that (if used correctly) facilitate our spiritual awakening and inner healing. They allow us to go on a spiritual journey. A journey guide provides the guidance and atmosphere to maximize the spiritual and healing benefits of this medicine and reduce negative experiences. They act as midwifes to help people awaken their own inner healer and inner teacher.
In a 2006 Johns Hopkins University study, it was discovered (what many have known for thousands of years) that spiritual medicines, in this case, psilocybin, the active ingredient of magic mushrooms, can induce mystical experiences. These "mystical", "religious" or "spiritual" experiences were no different from the mystical experiences recorded throughout history. Further studies by the Johns Hopkins University, the Imperial College of London, and other institutions, discovered that psilocybin has a significant healing effect on depression, anxiety, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It enhances emotional intelligence and generally improves the quality of life. It is thought to “reset” the nervous system, increasing neuroplasticity (the ability of the nervous system to re-organize and heal) and neurogenesis (the ability to grow new neurons).
My working hypothesis is that these medicines create a condition in the nervous system that opens us to our spiritual source. They do not “create” mystical experiences or heal us merely by a biochemical process. It is our own spiritual energy that awakens and heals. Research supports this hypothesis: the deeper the mystical experience during a journey, the deeper and more lasting the healing and transformation.
An entertaining review of these medicines is given in Netflix’s documentary, How to Change Your Mind. Another documentary about mushrooms in general, including the psilocybin variety, is Fantastic Fungi.