We were all saying our goodbye’s when a new friend asked me a question that would change the trajectory of my life:

Want a magic tootsie roll?

He (or someone he knew) cooked several grams of mushrooms into a large Tootsie Roll wrapped in some wax paper.

Up until this point in my life, I had avoided drugs like the golden boy I was. I grew up with DARE, went to the obligatory drug awareness days at my middle school, and had fully bought in to the idea that anything that changes how I think would inevitably land me in a ditch somewhere.

I was 24 years old by this point, and I’d started to learn enough about the world to understand that not everything I was told was true. Plus, I’d been the DD for so many friends over the years, and it seemed like plant medicine was a hell of a lot more interesting than alcohol.

So I said yes. He handed me a little package with the world’s smallest and most mind-blowing chocolate turd wrapped up and ready for my first-ever mind-expanding experience.

Why plant “medicine?”

After I got home and unpacked, I’d almost forgotten that I bought it. It sat in the fridge until I summoned the courage to take a very small bite, at which point… not much happened.

I felt a little euphoric, turned on some good music, and zoned out for awhile before going to bed. No existential crisis, no fear of landing in a gutter, just a deeper sense of relaxation—like my brain was getting a massage.

Years later, I would learn that I was microdosing: taking a small amount, almost imperceptible to my sober self. What was important to me was that I’d crossed the threshold. I’d had my first psychedelic experience!

It wasn’t until years later that I began to understand the real power of these plants and why they’re colloquially referred to as plant “medicine.”

The two states of our nervous systems

Generally speaking, our nervous system (the part of our body that’s made up of nerves and “thinking stuff”) operates in one of two states: sympathetic and parasympathetic, also known as “fight or flight” and “rest and digest,” respectively.

In today’s first-world culture, our jobs, phones, news stations, inboxes, and relationships are geared to keep us in the sympathetic, or “fight or flight,” state as often as possible.

The problem with this is that we haven’t evolved to stay in fight or flight for long periods of time. As humans evolved, we relied on fight or flight to help us escape danger, like if we’re running from a tiger. Our entire body tenses up, we become more focused, and cortisol (the stress hormone) floods our bloodstream.

In a tight squeeze, these are all very useful and potentially life-saving adjustments to our physiology. But if that switch isn’t flipped back to “rest and digest” quickly, our bodies remain tensed and stressed, leading to a huge range of health issues.

That’s where plant medicine and psychedelics come in.

Each one is different, from ayahuasca to mushrooms to mescaline (and many others), but they all have the same general method of action: turning up or down the volume of your nervous system so all that trapped stress can be released.

For example, if you experienced trauma as a child and never properly processed it, an MDMA journey can help you revisit that memory through a lens of love for self and others, which recodes the memory and allows you to fully process the grief or anger associated with what happened to you.

Ketamine works in a slightly different way. It’s a dissociative compound, which means that it disconnects you from your nervous system while allowing you to maintain a certain level of mental awareness. Going into a ketamine journey has the effect of neutralizing your feelings toward a pent-up issue that your conscious mind normally would banish you from fully accessing.

Natural vs. Synthetic

Generally speaking, psychedelic compounds created by nature are going to be healthier and more sustainable for long-term use. They’ve been part of our culture for tens of thousands (according to some researchers, hundreds of thousands of years).

The anthropological history of psychedelic use is rich, with evidence from archaeology, ancient texts, and indigenous traditions.

Prehistoric & Ancient Evidence

• Cave Art (10,000+ years ago) – Rock paintings in places like Spain and Algeria depict humanoid figures with mushrooms sprouting from their bodies, suggesting early psychedelic rituals.

• Göbekli Tepe (9,000 BCE) – Some researchers propose that this early temple in Turkey may have been used for psychoactive plant ceremonies.

• Shamanic Traditions (Prehistory–Present) – Indigenous cultures across the world have long used psychedelic plants in spiritual and healing ceremonies.

The image on the left above is a drawing of the cave painting on the right, found in Tassili, Algeria and dating back to 7000-5000 BC. The drawing is popularly known as the Tassili mushroom figure because of the pictured figure’s head resembling a mushroom. It’s among the growing arsenal of enthnomycological evidence from around the world demonstrating that psychedelics have been part of our culture for a long time.

Natural psychedelics are found in plants and animals around the world:

• The psycotria viridis plant is one of two ingredients in the widely popular ayahuasca brew and contains naturally-occuring DMT (dimethyltryptamine), the most powerful psychedelic substance known to man. DMT is also found in:

  • Mimosa hostilis (Jurema) – Root bark used in traditional Brazilian brews.

  • Acacia spp. (Many species, including Acacia confusa and Acacia maidenii) – Used in various indigenous rituals.

  • Anadenanthera peregrina (Yopo) & Anadenanthera colubrina (Cebil) – Seeds used in South American snuffs.

  • Desmodium gangeticum – Used in Ayurvedic medicine.

  • Virola spp. – Bark and resin contain DMT, used in shamanic snuffs.

• DMT is also found naturally occuring in some animals:

  • While less common than in plants, DMT has been found in various animals, including:

    • Mammals (Including Humans!)

      • DMT is naturally produced in small amounts in the human brain and body, possibly in the pineal gland (though this is debated).

      • It is also found in rat brains and other mammalian tissues.

    • Bufo Toads (5-MeO-DMT, Not N,N-DMT)

      • Incilius alvarius (formerly Bufo alvarius, the Sonoran Desert Toad) secretes 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenin in its venom.

    • Marine Life

      • Some sea sponges and certain bivalves contain trace amounts of DMT or related tryptamines.

• There are over 200 known species of mushrooms that contain psilocybin, the psychoactive compound responsible for their psychedelic effects. These mushrooms are found across multiple genera, with the most well-known being Psilocybe, but others include Gymnopilus, Panaeolus, Copelandia, Inocybe, and Pluteus.

• In total, there are over 50 naturally occurring psychedelic compounds found in plants, fungi, and animals.

Nature has been very clear with us: not only our survival, but our connection to the Earth is heavily reliant on our ability to heal our minds and keep them “clean.” The fact that our world is in the state that it is right now and we’ve outlawed these substances is just more proof of how vital these medicines are to a sustainable way of life.

Trying psychedelics for the first time

First things first: although I have opinions on the legal status of psychedelics, the fact remains the same that they are still illegal in most areas, and federally in the US.

My recommendation is to find a reputable church that specializes in plant medicine (also referred by these churches as entheogens) in order to have an introduction to the medicine and the sacred ceremonies in which they’re administered.

This is the very best way to ensure you are entering a safe environment with the right frame of mind—commonly known as set (mindset) and setting (immediate environment). These two factors, paired with a thoughtful intention for what you want to get out of the experience, will lay a strong foundation for a transformational experience, no matter what type of psychedelic you are using.

I do not recommend taking psychedelics on your own for the first time. Do your research and find someone you trust—you may want to ask around! If you don’t know where to start, we have conversations around the safe use of psychedelics inside The Brilliant Rebellion. I invite you to join us and educate yourself in this growing space.