*This post is for informational purposes only, reflecting the experience of the author and does not condone or encourage any illegal activity*
Safe and well-integrated use of Psychedelics can be transformative for many reasons.
For me the most profound thing they offered me was a direct experience of the mystical.
Like many people I grew up in a sort of religion fatigued post Catholic Ireland.
My sense of spirituality was limited; for me it was either be a rational atheistic person or go to mass on a Sunday and be gullible, cold and traditional.
Nothing conveyed by traditional religion seamed real to me, it was all dogma and wishful thinking.
By the time of my first Ayahuasca session I had shifted somewhat on that stance.
I had some pieces of the puzzle from books, cacao work and mindfulness, but I wasn't seeing the whole picture - but something kept me curious.
Some of the magic of psychedelics it seems is that they switch off the part of the brain known as the Default Mode Network.
This DMN is the part of the brain theorised to be responsible for the Egoic Self. Yogis, Gurus and Meditators have been shutting down this part of the mind for years.
But the extraordinary thing with psychedelics (see Robin Carhart-Harris research) is that it seems we can temporarily turn off this part of ourselves and when this is turned off our separateness turns off too.
For me, an "I" still persisted even though "me" was gone. This enabled me for the first time to experience the "I" behind the self: The Spiritual Self.
This ineffable and indescribable mystical experience catalysed a transformation in my life.
All the books suddenly made sense, as my world view was turned upside down over a week.
The very nature of these experiences are indescribable in words and concepts and I will not be able to convey what it entailed, but in my heart I changed.
Spirituality finally made sense to me because I had a direct experience of myself as spirit.
It was like before I was studying for the drivers theory test but had never ever been in a car. After being behind the veil the theory made sense.
End of part one.