On the path of connecting with psychedelic medicines
It’s a cold mid-winter morning. I am reflecting on the huge interest we are now seeing about psychedelic medicines and psychedelic assisted-therapy, asking myself, ” what does this hype echo in our collective mind?”. The myth of Erysichthon, king of Thessaly, showed up in my mind, and I read it again. Erysichthon was cursed by Demeter to insatiable hunger after he cut down a big and beautiful tree in her sacred grove to use the wood for his own benefit. No matter how much food Erysichthon consumed after being cursed, he was ever hungry and kept buying more and more food, until he exhausted all his resources. He finished his life alone, in poverty, eating his own flesh.
Reading the tale of Erysichthon, I notice a weight dropping in my chest as the words sank in. Feelings of unease, dread, aloneness, and sadness become alive in my chest. It is a familiar feeling which comes to me when I get clearly aware of the society I, we, evolve in. A society of never-ending consumerism, bettering, performing, and comparing. Most of us are running after the thing or method that will fix us, so we can be the constantly happy, actualized, thriving being we are supposedly able to become if we were to try hard enough. No matter how much we consume, whether it is successes, results, therapy, or material stuff, it seems like we are still hungry. How disconnected, isolated, stressed, groundless it makes us all feel. Alone, buried in our stuff and things to do, lost in a virtual and disembodied space, we are not well. And, on this winter morning, I’m pondering: finding our way out of this is not simple. I then instinctively look at the trees outside my window. The sun is covering the blanket of snow with little ice stars and a chickadee lands on a branch of a small tree. The heaviness in my chest lifts. I feel less alone, held by nature. And it feels enough, complete, for the time being. I get a sense that what we might be hungry for is connections. We need to feel connected with ourselves, other people, nature, and the spiritual. In this moment, I am thankful for the journeys I engaged in to re- connect, and my commitment to nourish that connectedness.
I believe the promise held by psychedelic medicines is, in part, responding to our shared need for authentic, meaningful, safe and respectful connections with ourselves, other sentient beings, nature and the spiritual realm. Yet, psychedelic medicines and psychedelic-assisted therapy seem to have struck our collective imagination more as a promise of a quick fix for our suffering, a fast track to happiness and growth. For a society with levels of psychological suffering as high as ours, there is no wonder why it is such.This perspective, as appealing as it might be, invites a few words of caution. The idea that these medicines are a way to get cured, and quickly, is misleading. It is even paradoxical since the people who legally have access to psychedelic medicines here in Canada are people navigating with severe, long-lasting and incapacitating mental health problems that resisted conventional (and sometimes quite intrusive) treatments. For these people, numerous “treatment failures” and intense suffering may make the promise of psychedelic medicines even more shinier, and the hope of finally getting some significant and long-lasting relief may feel like the last life-line to cling to. It makes sense. So it does for many, many of us who are feeling in our soul, body and heart the weight of this disconnected life. Still, this is only part of a complex story.
Psychedelic-assisted therapy is not a cure, it is a process.
It is an adventure, an unfolding journey toward re- connecting to ourselves, others, nature, and the spiritual realm in a lucid, kind, loving, respectful way. Journeying with psychedelic medicines with an intention to discover, grow and heal is not, in my perspective, about fixing something that is broken in us, or making our “machine” more efficient, more perfect. Nor is it about forever getting rid of our suffering. Psychedelic medicines can be powerful allies helping us to heal and learn to walk on the path of our life with more freedom and ease. They can show us a way to develop our relationships with ourselves, our complexity and all parts of us (yes, all of them, the nice and messy ones) that are showing up in our experience to help us deal with life. Psychedelic medicines may be opening doors (sometimes blasting the whole house open) to help us be “in relationship with” in a different way. With these new ways of being, perceiving, connecting available to us for a moment, we may experience and learn not only with our mind, but with our body, our heart, our soul. These experiences may be deeply informative, transformative, and healing. They may be unsettling, curious, terribly boring, bizarre, awe-inspiring yet elusive, just plain weird, or so much more. They are a step, albeit possibly a major one, providing a new vantage point from which to continue our journey toward cultivating our well-being. We may need a lot of preparation before engaging in these experiences, to be ready to navigate what the medicine has to offer. We may need a lot of time after our experience to harvest, process, experiment and care for the fruit of it. When we say a lot of preparation and time, think weeks, months, even years.
This process is not happening in vase clos, in isolation. Our social environment can play a particularly beautiful role in facilitating this process. Being accompanied by a trusted (and well trained) therapist or guide on our journey with psychedelic medicines can be immensely helpful. Within a supportive relationship, our exploration with altered-states of consciousness may be safer. The presence of a heart-felt attuned support may help us deepen our experience, so more can possibly be harvested from it. After our medicine session, having a relational space in which to revisit, care for, and make sense of our experiences can be key to lasting changes. This part of the path, the “letting it unfold and keeping it alive after”, is as important, if not more, than the insights we may, or may not, have during the medicine sessions. Not being alone during this time can be of great support.
We’ve circled back to connection. Psychedelics are one of the paths, not the only one for sure, on which we can explore a way out of our disconnected, fast-paced, competitive space to a place of well-being, kindness and connection. And, I truly believe that this type of change catalyzed by psychedelics can be even more meaningful when it happens within a community where we feel safe and respected. May this community be a relationship with a therapist, guide or any human being that we can deeply trust, or a bond with an animal we care for, a relationship with Nature, or a resonance with a spiritual entity or world. By learning to trust, rest and give back positively within this relational space, we can care for our need to not be alone, to belong and be seen. Being part of this community, we can receive and give back. The necessity of a community is also true for people who chose to humbly take on the role, for a moment, of being the person who accompanies someone else in their journey. Being part of a community of other like-hearted people is essential in offering safe and ethical healing space to the people under our care. Within a community of trusted fellows we can keep on learning, offer and receive much needed care and support. From this place, we can stay humble, aware and caring. I believe that no one in this position of immense privilege needs to, should, do this alone.
As someone being guided, and someone choosing to offer support to other people journeying on their path, I am happy to have found Refuge. A place where we, humans, can connect around our commitment to healing and growth. It is inspiring to be part of a community where professionals gather around our desire to be of service to others. A space that could not exist without all of us who are searching for connection, freedom to be and happiness. Belonging to this community makes a difference.
I’ll leave you with some words that are still resonating with me: psychedelic assisted-journeys are a catalyst for connection; connections are a catalyst for healing with psychedelic experiences.
Looking forward in meeting you on the path.
Karine St-Jean is a psychologist and Founding Member of Refuge
