Mushroom Ceremony
Mushroom Ceremony
I started micro dosing mushrooms about a year ago, i’d seen a lot of stuff online regarding it after speaking to friend about the benefits of consuming a little everyday.
I bought some online via a website based in Amsterdam that unsurprisingly didn’t turn up. I started trying to find friends that had any contacts and eventually I got hold of some in capsules that I took every morning. Were they working? did I feel anything?, I certainly didn’t feel anything and knew damn well that i’d have to be taking them for a good while to feel the benefits. Could I get some dried shrooms that grew in the UK and the answer to that question was a……… yes.
Thanks to my friend that put me in touch with the guy who sorted me out with some capsules.
I remember running out of the capsules so I thought it would be a good idea to try and micro dose the dried loose shrooms that I had. Question was how many would be a sensible amount so that they didn’t hit me for six so I could carry on with my day but enough of them to give me a happy pick me up? i’m no expert so I picked a number out of my head and I thought 8 liberty caps would be the right amount, I ate them (tasted awful as expected) and washed them down with water and forgot about them. I had a busy day ahead, I had to sign my house off that just finished its refit plus I had a film crew coming to my house to film an advert for a food brand so it was all systems go……… I was about to have a little surprise.
I arrived at my house to go through everything with the builder and as I waited in the kitchen for him to finish I stood there looking at my phone and all of a sudden every colour on the screen became super bright, everything came out of the phone in 3D. I thought my phone had updated software automatically and the new look iPhone had just launched. It was then it all started to click in my head, I looked up and realised my kitchen looked strange and I felt a little not “normal”.
Professor Pritchard got his shroom dose completely wrong and the realisation freaked me out. I had to try and hide it all from the builder, I got super paranoid and my anxiety was off the chart and I’m walking around my brand new house ok’ing all the work while at the same time trying to hold it all in plus worrying that as soon as the builder leaves the film crew will turn up and I have to try and film a food advert in the state I was in (laughter). Next thing I know Lemmy’s (my dog) barking at the door, the film crew turned up early so I’m in my house trying so hard to be “normal” in front of everyone which I obviously pulled off as I admitted to the film crew at the end of the day what i’d done and they said they didn’t notice.
Anyway, I spent the day feeling super strange but then you would considering it wasn’t expected but I also learnt that 8 liberty caps is far to much for a “Micro dose”. My “micro dosing” days were numbered, moving forward I decided I needed to do it with people who know what they’re doing.
I had a call from my friend, he told me that he went to this place to do an Iboga ceremony and that they were putting on a mushroom ceremony in the same place and would I like to come along. Of course I did, I jumped at the chance. He let me know how amazing his last visit was and it all sounded really positive.
The last time I sat with a shaman to do mushrooms was in Mexico while filming Sanchez gets high and what an amazing experience that was. Some of you might have watched the episode back in the day but if you didn’t we basically sat there with the shaman in this amazing shelter on top of a valley in Mexico took what they call ‘flesh of the gods’. The shaman went to work on us while we sat there waiting for the mushrooms to kick in while it pissed down outside. It was a beautiful experience and one I remember quite well.
Forward to well over a decade later and I was about to go for my second experience but this time it would be a ceremony with a few others participating in a barn but this time in the UK. Why you ask? well, for someone who has suffered with his mental health, depression, anxiety and addiction problems for many years and knowing that Mushrooms are beneficial for the healing process is the reason right there. I’ve been down the anti depression pharmaceuticals before and they made me worse looking back at the side effects I had from them so I wanted to take natural way of healing myself.
I was really looking forward to the ceremony although a little apprehensive. I drove to the destination and was greeted by the people who were going to be holding the space for us, they’re really nice dudes and made use feel very welcome and at ease which is what I needed. They had given us a list of things that we needed to do and bring with us for the ceremony beforehand so I had it all there ready to go. I had a notepad incase I needed to write anything down while I was under the influence of the medicine so that I didn’t forget, a pendant with a photo of Ciara (fiancé) and Lemmy in it. It was the same pendant I took on the boat with me while I rowed the Atlantic ocean so I had my two loved ones next to me at all times. I had my DryRobe and blanket with me just incase I got cold and a crystal for something to hold onto and rub if needed.
The setting is perfect, the place looks mega its calm and the barn has a fully open end facing trees and nature with no other buildings outside of the one that your in in sight. The only thing i could see was the compostable toilet shed which was there for us to use when needed. There’s a fire in the middle and around the fire are about 6 tree logs for seats and behind them are beds and pillows with a stick next to each bed. Just before the ceremony starts I’m called over to have this smoke blown over me from some steaming wood (like using burning sage) that’s been lit, apparently is to blowing away any bad energy.
You have a choice of how deep you want to go with the medicine and I decide to go for what they call the ‘hero’ dose which is a 5 gram dose. Not because I wanted to be hard or look at me its because I believe that if your gonna do something then do it properly. We are all different of course and what others chose to do is none of my business but if I only did a smaller dose and I didn’t get what I came for then id have to come again (not a bad thing to be honest) to get that thing that I was here to fix. Plus, if I was to go to a bad place mentally then I knew I was in the right place for that to happen with the right people to look after me and see me through it. We all then sit around the fire and get told how the ceremony’s going to work and we began to drink a cacao drink which is an acquired taste, bitter but I loved i. We then drank the mushroom juice which was blitzed up with water and lemon juice if I remember rightly then picked up a rock each and gave our intentions to the rock which we then placed in the fire and all went to our areas to wait for the medicine to take hold.
The music was turned on, I wrapped myself in my DryRobe to keep warm and lay on my back looking up to the ceiling, relaxing and taking everything in. It was such a perfect setting, I honestly felt so comfortable and it was the perfect place to be for what was about to happen. The music that was played worked with the medicine I found out later. The music worked with the trip and built just when the medicine got intense, it was crazy but more on that later.
I lay there for a good 30 mins and then I could feel it slowly starting to kick in, I felt the euphoria and my body warming up and then I closed my eyes (i forgot my eye mask) and it was then I realised it was all kicking off. I was getting the best aztec shapes in front of my eyes, so many amazing colours, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. I had a huge grin on my face I then opened my eyes and quickly realised it was far more fun with them closed, I didn’t want to clench my eyes closed as it was ruining the experience I just wanted to relax my eyes (this is where my eye mask would have come in handy) but if I did it let a bit of light which then woke me out of what I was seeing and feeling. The medicine was taking hold big time and I can’t really explain in words where my mind was at but lets just say I was in a very good place, I was switched off from the matrix and I was in another world happy and content and I just lay there feeling warm, in a right pickle but in a good way. My smile then went and I became very emotional and I could feel the tears running down my face. The wooden stick that we had next to our beds I told you about earlier was there for a reason. We were told that if things started to get a bit heavy then we were to grab the stick and send all that bad energy to the stick which will then be thrown into the fire and burnt. When I felt the tears coming on I grabbed it and started rubbing it until I was able to let go and carry on with the next stage of this trip.
I laid on my side and opened my eyes facing the opening of the barn to look at the trees and nature and all of it was magical. The leaves on the trees were fluttering in the breeze the clouds and sky were bright, fluffy and perfect and my sense of hearing was heightened, taking in the
incredible music, instruments being played along with singing by our hosts amazing voice. You have to remember that everyone in the room are all going on their own separate journeys, some sounded like they were struggling but like I said earlier its the right place for that to happen and it only means the medicine is doing its work. Those people were worked on and made to feel comfortable. Like anything in life, sometimes you have to go go through some darkness before you see the light on the other side.
I didn’t want to move, one because I wasn’t in the right state to walk and two I was happy where I was but my bladder had other ideas. I really needed to go for a piss but I had no option but to get up and use the toilet. It was hard work but I made it and carefully placed myself on the toilet for a slash and took myself back to my bed.
I had a tap on my shoulder and was asked if id like some rapè (smokeless tabacco indigenous to South America) which I agreed too and would help hopefully bring me deeper into my trip. It’s put on a bent wooden pipe and then gets blown up each nostril. It’s pretty uncomfortable but then its going to be isn’t it. I coughed and spluttered, wiped the brown mess off my face and laid back down and made myself comfortable again. I laid there contemplating life, there was a lot going on in my life and mind at the time, I looked at my mate in the distance who was lets just say having his own mission to deal with, I just wanted to get up and give him a hug but we were all told at the start to leave everyone alone and let them be in their own bubble until we gathered at the fire at the end.
After about 7 hours we were called back to the fire. I was still not all there and still wobbly on my feet but we all made it to the fire along with our sticks ready to let a lot of problems/hurt/worry/emotions and much more go into the flames. We all took it in turns to speak about our experiences with the medicine and after we’d shared it with the group we then threw our sticks into the fire. The ceremony was closed and it was time to have some food. We were provided with some amazing cooked food and proceeded to sit and eat while talking about what we’d just been through. I was reminded for a good few hours later of things that i’d seen and experienced. I waited until all of the effects wore off and made my way home to go and rest. I was advised that after having such a big dose of the medicine I should go home, relax and rest for a few days but unfortunately I had work the following morning so I was back at it the following day. On the Monday I felt really empty so phoned up our host and they assured me that all will be ok which it was, I just needed to rest.
What an experience it was and I would highly recommend it to anyone. I enjoyed it so much I went a few months later. At around that time I was doing a lot of work on myself mentally and physically. I’m forever in the search of many things mentally and by putting the time, effort and trying these alternative methods in the hope they help on my journey.
I know the answer to my general health and wellbeing and that’s consistent training followed by a clean diet and plenty of water but when you get an injury, in my case coming off my bike in Spain set me right back but shit happens and that’s life.
I got a call from my friend that was with me at the mushroom ceremony and he gave me the heads up that one of 2 Iboga shamans was putting on a ceremony (location I can’t disclose) and would I like to go?
I agreed and I looked forward to my next encounter with the spiritual world.
I will be posting about my Iboga experience here next week. I hope you enjoyed my write up on my mushroom experience.
If you’re looking into doing it yourselves please seek professional advice and do not ever take them alone. Always do it as part of a ceremony with professionals to get the most out of your experience.
Peas & Broccoli
Pritch
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