In 2018, shortly after I wrote the first edition of Rooted in Purpose, my life was forever altered by one week in Mexico.
Then the world changed.
It is now three years since the beginning of the pandemic and the world looks very different. The pandemic changed the way most of us live and work. We learned how to go within and be with the person who we must learn to love the most, ourselves. We learned how to work and educate from home. We got comfortable being on video. We mastered how to respect personal space. We gained a whole new appreciation for human connection and what it feels like to lose that connection. We cultivated our capacity for feeling our deepest fears, especially around our own mortality. We learned to appreciate and reorganize our lives around what matters most. Systems fell apart and are still rebuilding. New technologies advanced as our capacity to create and imagine was born from having time and space to nurture possibility.
Not long after the release of Rooted, I decided it was time for me to connect with an even deeper layer of my own sense of life purpose. I wanted to commit myself to being of service and to making a positive impact on the lives of others and on behalf of the Earth. I needed to know if there was something else that I could offer that I wasn’t yet aware of.
I tossed around different ideas that included the Camino de Santiago in northwestern Spain and the Inca to Machu Picchu in Peru. After many signs and synchronicities, I ultimately decided to make a pilgrimage to my inner world by going to Mexico and working with an ayahuasquero, a shaman who leads ayahuasca ceremony.
Ayahuasca is a sacred plant medicine of the First Nations peoples from contemporary Peru, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador that is used for religious ritual and therapeutic purposes. It is in a group of plant medicines that are psychedelic, a class of uniquely powerful consciousness-shifting substances that provide revelation or even contact with the divine.
There are dozens of names given to these multifaceted compounds, with
"Psychedelics" or "Sacred Plant Medicines" or “Plant Medicine” or “Entheogens” being the most common.
The term entheogen, which translates to “bringing forth the divine within,” was a way to clearly describe the spiritual exploration of psychedelics.
These consciousness-expanding substances were part of the perennial traditions of shamanism and visionary journeying that cultures across the world have practiced since time immemorial.
It was through this experience that I was able to understand a deeper layer of my divine mission as well as the emotional growth I must be committed to.
Now, five years later, my life looks very different. As can happen when we open up a window of possibility, one thing converged with another, and my world opened up in ways I could never have imagined. This is the profound magic of a life on purpose!
When we look within ourselves with psilocybin, we discover that we do not have to look outward toward the futile promise of life that circles distant stars in order to still our cosmic loneliness. We should look within; the paths of the heart lead to nearby universes full of life and affection for humanity.
- Terence McKenna
There are many different types of psychedelics. While every psychedelic creates ‘psychedelic effects,’ each deserves its own classification, because of a unique characteristic it has.
Many psychedelic substances occur in the natural world. Different types of psychedelics can be found in a range of plants, mushrooms, toads, and mammals (including humans).
The use of naturally occurring psychedelics has a long and rich history, with psychedelics being used in a ceremonial way in Mayan and Aztec civilizations (e.g., psilocybin mushrooms), Native American culture (e.g., mescaline-containing cacti), and among Amazonian indigenous tribes (e.g., ayahuasca).
When natural psychedelics are used for healing and therapeutic purposes, they are commonly referred to as ‘plant medicines.’ On the other hand, psychedelics can also be synthetic (made via a chemical reaction) or semi-synthetic (made by a chemical process using a natural product).
Psilocybin is the primary chemical agent behind the psychedelic effects of mushrooms in the Fungi kingdom and the genus Psilocybe. It has been used for thousands of years, for ritual, religious, medicinal, and recreational reasons.
How long have humans been using psilocybin?
Mushrooms containing psilocybin are found across most ecological zones on all continents aside from Antarctica. Academics are working to provide the best estimate yet for when the first psilocybin mushrooms emerged. Unpublished research set to come out of Ohio State University and the University of Utah’s biology department may provide evidence suggesting they go back 75 million years ago – making them far older than homo sapiens.
Psilocybin mushrooms have been used by humans since the birth of civilization 12,000 years ago, and possibly were even used before then.
The earliest evidence of psilocybin mushroom use is a mural that was found in Northern Australia which depicts mushrooms and psychedelic illustrations. Archeologists have dated it back to 10,000 BCE. Rock paintings in Spain suggest magic mushrooms were around prehistoric people in Europe in 4,000 BCE.
In Ancient Egypt, mushrooms were regarded as plants of immortality, which were given to people by the god Osiris. Because of their unique taste, mushrooms were proclaimed as a food reserved only for Egyptian royalty. The earliest depictions of fungi in Ancient Egypt date to 4500 B.C., when ancient Egyptians produced many monuments with carvings of plants (many of which are psychedelic) on walls and within texts throughout Egypt. Temples with countless pillars, e.g., Philae temple, shaped like huge mushrooms with tall stems, umbrella caps, and mushroom engravings are distributed all over the country. Both ancient Egyptian crowns, white and triple, looked like they could have been inspired by the mushroom primordia.
Some scientists argue that it can be assumed humans have been consuming psilocybin since our brains developed and we became evolutionary distinct. Ethnobotanist and psychonaut Terence McKenna argued that psychedelic mushrooms may have expedited human evolution, by creating a state of hyperconnectivity between brain networks, doubling the size of human brains, enabling technological innovations, and sparking ideas like religion and language. (Terence and Dennis McKenna developed “The Stoned Ape Theory” in the 1970s.)
The ancient civilizations that most famously used psilocybin were in Central America. Indigenous artwork in Central America depicts mushrooms as a means of communicating with the gods.
In the Nahuatl language, which was used by Mayan and Aztec people, psilocybin mushrooms were called Teonanácatl, which translates to “flesh of the gods.” Aztec Mayan and Toltec religious myths frequently mention mushrooms, stating that they were given to their ancestors by the serpent god who created all life.
Because of this, psilocybin was used in religious and spiritual ceremonies for divination, healing, anesthetizing pain, and celebrations. Their use in Central and South America can be traced as far back as 1,500 BCE.
In 1955, Gordon Wasson and his wife Valeria Wasson, upon hearing about psilocybin mushrooms, traveled to Central America to learn more about them. Under the guidance of two local shamans, Don Aurelio and María Sabina, they tried psilocybin and were impressed by its profound effects.
Thanks to María Sabina, the ancestral medicine of the sacred mushrooms became known worldwide.
Wasson published their findings in Life magazine in 1957 (it was the cover story,) coining the term “magic mushrooms.” Young people from the U.S. began seeking out María Sabina and the mushrooms with numerous hippies, scientists, and other people visiting the remote isolated village of Huautla de Jimenez. Many 1960s celebrities, including Bob Dylan, John Lennon, and Keith Richards, were rumored to have visited María Sabina.
Sadly, the Life magazine article, “Seeking the Magic Mushroom,” opened a Pandora’s Box that would see, among other things, the birth of the American psychedelic counterculture, the defilement of the mushroom ritual, and ultimately, the banning of psilocybin across much of the world. The article also eventually led to Sabina’s ruin as Westerners came to her by the hundreds. As the Oaxacan community was besieged by Westerners wanting to experience the mushroom-induced hallucinations, the community blamed Sabina and ostracized her.
Wasson’s article inspired a Harvard professor named Timothy Leary to learn more about magic mushrooms and found the infamous “Harvard Psilocybin Project” with Dr. Richard Alpert.
In the 1960s psychedelics became an important symbol in the counterculture movement in the US and UK. Because of their rising popularity, and the disillusionment with “the system” that psychedelics caused, in 1968 the US federally banned psilocybin. 2 years later it was labeled as a Schedule 1 drug along with cannabis and LSD. Leveraging fears and fraudulent research, President Nixon passed the Controlled Substances Act in 1971 launching the extremely harmful War on Drugs.
Because of the ban, almost all research on the benefits of psilocybin for humans stopped. For thirty years, until the late 1990s, research on psilocybin was put on hold until The University of Zurich started conducting research in 1997. The study, which found that psilocybin increases brain activity, catalyzed research at other institutions. Research found that psilocybin not only increases brain activity but may also be effective at treating numerous psychological conditions and chronic pain.
These promising findings have led to a loosening of restrictions and the push for decriminalization and legalization across the country.
Enter the current psychedelic renaissance.
The psychedelic renaissance, a movement which has become increasingly relevant, refers to a new wave of research that promotes what has been described as a “paradigm shifter” for psychiatry, uncovering the therapeutic benefit of psychedelic substances. In addition to introducing new approaches to mental health care, experts suggest that the use of these medicines could help promote new modes of inquiry and help us address imminent social and political issues.
“An even bigger question is whether psychedelics might help us address the environmental crisis and how we think about our place in nature,” said journalist Michael Pollan in a 2022 docuseries based on his book, titled How to Change Your Mind.
In November 2020, the Psilocybin Program Initiative was on the ballot in Oregon and was approved. Oregon Measure 109 authorized the Oregon Health Authority to create a program for licensed service providers to administer psilocybin producing mushrooms to individuals 21 years of age or older. Colorado soon followed.
The current psychedelic renaissance is positioning psychedelic therapy, a clinical treatment for mental illness, as the primary narrative paving the pathway for the emergence and acceptance of psychedelic compounds into Western society. They are being ushered into the mainstream through a clinical frame of reference.
Classical psychedelic drugs – DMT, LSD, mescaline, psilocybin – work on the brain by binding strongly to specific serotonin receptors known as 5-HT2A receptors. Their action on these receptors is thought to result in the drugs’ hallucinogenic effects, as well as changes in perception and a sense of ego dissolution.
Psychedelics are also thought to dampen the “default mode network”, a system of interconnected brain regions that is active at unfocused, wakeful rest – such as daydreaming. The region is believed to be important in formulating our sense of self and can become too rigid when people experience anxiety and depression.
Interestingly, the percentage of people seeking psychedelic experiences or sacred plant medicine ceremonies to treat clinical depression is much smaller than those showing up for psycho-spiritual purposes.
Most people pursue a psychedelic experience because they want peace in their relationship, or they want to rediscover what they are passionate about, or because they are struggling to keep up with these changing times. What used to work for them is no longer working: something needs to change.
Why does this resurgence of psychedelics come at such an opportune moment?
Astrologically, we have entered a time of unprecedented growth, change, and evolution. On March 23, 2023, Pluto moved into revolutionary Aquarius. What does this mean for us and for the world? Our thoughts will increasingly attract what we need and create what we want. Our mind will open to new, refreshing possibilities.
Does what you’re thinking and doing matter?
What would you like to bring into your life?
What would you like to create for others, for the world?
Thinking will become nonlinear, and we will increasingly see the world in a holographic, 5th dimensional way. Infinite portals to new potentials will open and we will find ourselves thinking thoughts we never before considered possible. Thoughts, dreams, and visions will manifest more easily. The power of your thought to determine your new trajectory is at a zenith at this time. More than ever before in our lifetimes, we must trust in and not doubt ourselves. The work we did together in the first edition of Rooted laid the groundwork to prepare you for this time.
The last time that Pluto was in Aquarius was 1778 to 1798: a time in which the US Constitution, the French Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution began.
There will be powerful paradigm shift during this time from 2023 to 2044.*
· Redistribution of power from monolithic governments to individual communities; groups of individuals who form cooperative communities that support each other
· We will reach higher and dig deeper for the TRUTH
· New technologies will change the cadence of life – a rapidly accelerating pace of technological evolution and an increasing use of AI to perform everyday tasks.
· Greater electrification of the planet that will bring higher speeds of communication. Because the planet cannot sustain this electrification, we will max out the grid – interruptions in WIFI and electricity will cause us to find new and more natural ways of living a communicating–possibly using the power of telepathy
· Language will be more streamlined, efficient, and visually oriented (pictures rather than letters) to express more complex ideas
· New modes of transportation
· New financial mechanisms will open avenues to conduct commerce and will fuel small businesses that will fill the needs of the local community. People will spend millions of dollars to purchase one-of-a-kind non-fungible tokens that are electronic pictures that can serve as currency.
· New, creative, and evolutionary businesses will emerge.
· Melting of national boundaries and a series of rapidly changing governmental leaders; melting of ideological boundaries
· Power will eventually be redistributed to those who have not previously held power–to the people–which will demand us to grow our individual responsibility
· Rather than physical wars, we will see more information wars where who controls the airwaves may well control our hearts and minds.
· We are moving toward a time of greater individual autonomy and responsibility.
· Innovative approaches to the environment and gardening
· More unity and coherence as we recreate our world on a more conscious and evolved level. A maximum state of polarity will be reached, and opposites will turn into each other.
We are evolving and the world is changing, more quickly than we can individually comprehend.
The psychedelic experience itself is one of the best training grounds for learning the skillsets and mindsets needed to navigate accelerating times of change with wisdom and grace. They build neuroplasticity, teach us how to problem solve, deepen our relationships (especially with ourselves,) and help us understand our connection with the greater web of life.
I don’t believe in accidents. Right when we need it most to be more adaptable to our changing world and become clearer about our place in that world, the surge in psychedelic research and interest converges to assist us in freeing ourselves of the past and opening our minds to the future.
For those that are exploring a psycho-spiritual experience, including those that seeking an alternative for mental health and substance use issues, it’s important to note that there is a fundamentally different starting point beyond the clinical framework. This involves a more holistic approach that includes set and setting, preparation and integration that enhances human flourishing from a meta perspective and includes physical resilience, emotional wellbeing, spiritual thriving, and an other-than-human connection with nature, Planet Earth and the realms beyond.
This holistic psychedelic approach includes the work that was outlined in the first edition of Rooted in Purpose. These foundational pieces lay the groundwork that when integrated with sacred plant medicine, provide the potential for an accelerated blossoming in creativity, connection, resilience, and sense of purpose.
I am awed and grateful at how life continually conspires to support us on our journey. May yours be blessed with joy, connection, and fulfillment.
With love and gratitude,
Tricia
*Excerpted from Laurie A. Baum’s 2023 Astrological Predictions.