Psilocybin: A Dirt Cheap Life-Changing Compound. Take It Once and Never Need It Again?
“Psilocybin represents a mental health revolution.” ~ Michael Pollan How To Change Your Mind
Approaching the Doorway to Psilocybin: Part 2
UPDATE: What started as a series about the benefits of psilocybin, turned into a story that strikes at the heart of America (our biggest problems) and what we believe ourselves to be.
If we are to remain role models and leaders of the free world, America must reinvent and we must take responsibility for our physical and mental health individually and as a collective.
***What I say in this article, I am sharing for the first time with careful consideration, but also a healthy dose of FAM!, WTF are we doing???
Photo: My girlfriend Tatiani and I at the beach in San Diego around Christmas 2022. We enjoy going out in nature and studying/teaching cutting-edge leadership skills. She sometimes acts as my sounding board for sharing controversial ideas like what I share with you here today.
Are you ready for the paradigm shift?
The world is about to change in a big big way and it has almost nothing to do with technology or drugs and surgery. The revolution (like all good ones) is growing right under our feet, dirt cheap.
As a long-time leader of executive teams, I’ve grown concerned about the state of the American way of life and our working culture. Statistically, people are sicker now than they were three years ago, but can we turn the tide?
IMAGINE (just for a minute) a world where your well-being isn’t subject to an expensive and for-profit-driven “health care” system.
Before you put me in a “socialist” box and cancel me, you should know I’m a firm believer in the free-market system, but (as a student of history and politics) things don’t look so good right now for a few reasons that you should be aware of.
Why should you listen to me?
At the age of 22, I built my first e-commerce store (2006.) I soon had it churning out $60,000/mo. I’ve since led startup and growth initiatives for almost 200 companies around the world.
My life changed forever.
Since then, I’ve essentially made my living installing simple business automations that make a measurable difference to the top and bottom lines.
This skill has allowed me to live like others can’t thanks in large part to those around me who support my vision.
These days, I set my own price, I enjoy the projects I work on and the people I work with.
In many ways, this story starts with the homeless, the sick the sad, and the depressed.
How can we as a society be any better than the lowest of us?
I don’t see this as a nice idea, I see it as a matter of physics and the dynamics of our collective consciousness.
What can or should we do for them?
In many ways, the fate of our nation rests in the hands of those who are fortunate enough to get up and go to work every day. Those with a passion or skill that pays the bills.
Now after working with hundreds of leaders in dozens of categories over the last 18+ years, I’m convinced we must evolve our idea of what it means to be an effective leader in the world today.
I call it: “Doing big business in an increasingly sensitive world.”
For all the benefits of living in a free market economy, it’s become obvious to me that a profit-driven society begins to show its shortcomings around two main areas. Health care & food which is directly connected to mental health and homelessness.
Look no further than the American obesity epidemic combined with the meteoric rise in preventable lifestyle diseases.
Life expectancy is on the decline in the US at the time of my writing and the big killers are all lifestyle-induced preventable factors. Ref: Generations 2022
“It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society” ~ Krishnamurti
History shows that all great empires collapse from within.
Is there hope? Can we turn the tide?
I’m confident we can and here is why:
A vibrantly healthy society may seem like a distant, utopian dream, but many scientists and psychonauts (those who regularly explore the realms and states of being brought on by psychedelics) argue that psilocybin, a natural plant medicine compound, has the potential to make this dream a reality in our lifetime.
Is psilocybin truly capable of delivering on that promise?
In part one of this series, Beyond Trip, How Psilocybin Is Revolutionizing Mental Health, we talked about how addiction and unresolved trauma can impact our psyche and hold us back in life.
Today we’re going to dive DEEP and take a closer look at how psilocybin may work as a means to overcome mental roadblocks and psychological barriers that keep millions of us locked in addictive and self-destructive feedback loops.
DISCLAIMER WARNING: Do not believe anything in this article to be true. I encourage you to seek, experiment, ask good questions, and arrive at your own conclusions.
Psilocybin: A safe, natural, effective, and affordable method for breaking self-destructive habits?
According to a growing body of research, psilocybin has the potential to offer a cost-effective alternative to several lab-derived medications, making affordable mental health care accessible to individuals worldwide. Ref: Johns Hopkins 2022
Escaping a Cyclical Existence
I’m not here to say psilocybin is a cure-all, but anyone who has taken a sufficient dose knows that it has a way of helping us identify where our emotions and energy are “stuck” within our psyche (and possibly our bodies?)
There is a common understanding in holistic medicine that emotions, trauma (stuck emotions), and the like become “stuck” in the body. Stuck or suppressed emotions and energy in the body will seek to express themselves in some form (often disease, damage, self-sabotage, injury, etc.)
The idea then is to move, purge or release the energy stuck in the system by whatever means is most safe, effective, and accessible.
I think it’s fair to say this is exactly what traditional therapists do (or attempt to do.)
How can a fungus act as a silent counselor inside our bodies?
Scientist Paul Stamets recently said on a podcast that “psilocybin provided me more psychotherapy in one afternoon than I received in ten years of talk therapy.”
Where do you experience stuck, repressed or less-than-satisfying emotions?
These stuck emotions often manifest as guilt, anger, blame, habits, or addictions that can lead to illness, numbness, and dissatisfaction in various parts of our lives.
Are you eager to transcend generational limitations, or do you know someone who is?
Living in a chronically compromised way (which may have been normal for your family or community) is not the default baseline for what you can be and how you can live. *This one took me lots of years of healing and searching to personally realize.
I am living proof that you can move from a depression-ridden and compromised existence toward a satisfied abundant and healthy life.
Only if it were that simple. (addressing the root)
It’s tempting to deny our character defects and put up a chipper (everything is fine) face to everyone around us.
However, I now realize that living that way only creates further traumas and disconnects in our lives indefinitely.
Delaying our dreams and progress indefinitely.
A Few Common Overcompensation Strategies Include:
- Justifying chronic long work hours
- Justifying chronic lack of sleep
- Consuming too much caffeine, nicotine, cannabis, alcohol, or other drugs.
- Eating to “feel better” instead of eating to nourish your body
- People pleasing of all sorts (this is a big one)
- Saying “yes,” when you really mean “no,” or “not yet”
- Putting off exercise and healthy habits yet another day/week/month/year
- Tolerating abusive or less-than-satisfying relationships (because it’s what you’ve always known)
- Self-sabotage of all types
Healing and doing “shadow work” might be “uncomfy,” but it is very high-leverage.
If you’re reading this and you are thinking you don’t have any “stuck” emotions or energy holding you back, I urge you to dive deeper into that thought.
It could be denial hiding an opportunity for your growth and increased life satisfaction.
Are you working on projects you like, making the money you want with people you care about?
Do you feel abundant in all areas of your life?
If the answer to those questions is no, you might have some “tuning up” to do.
We all have some tuning up to do.
Are you willing to give yourself permission to enter a space of healing, freedom, growth, and joy?
Have you bought into a limited belief that life must be difficult and that you must suffer and endure heavy sacrifices to deserve what you want?
Are you sure that’s a paradigm that serves you?
Are you willing to consider that if you want things in your life to change, it helps to start by considering changing things in your life?
Breaking Down Cultural Programming and Discovering Your Worth
So, the life-changing question that more and more people are asking:
Is psilocybin therapy right for me?
Yes, there are legality and health considerations, however, because of their relative safety and increasing decriminalization, those factors are easily handled once you decide personally if you want to take the step. (more on this later)
What is taking psilocybin like?
I will spare you the inadequate descriptions of the ineffable colorful doorways of perception that the “plant medicine intelligence of psilocybin” makes available to all in a dirt-cheap, non habit forming way.
PHOTO: Inner Circle CEO Matt Ritchey and I on a magic mushroom hike in Joshua Tree, CA around 2018
At its essence, I would say Psilocybin helps us recognize that there is much more to existence. Much more to our lives than we were made aware of (in our “cultural programming.)
As a natural “teacher,” psilocybin has helped me realize that we all really matter, but not any one thing, circumstance, situation, or event matters that much.
Alas, this too shall pass and you were meant for great things.
Considering "Cosmic Consciousness" and Freedom
Despite being someone who grew up attending a hell fire Christian church (with all the dogmatic stories that go with it), I never truly grasped the concept of spirituality and religion until I had my first psilocybin experience.
During and after that six-hour psilocybin induced odyssey into what I can only explain as a “temporary state of expanded high bandwidth perception,” I felt like I understood what the enlightened sages across time have attempted to teach us.
Before psilocybin, Christ’s teachings on oneness, lightness and intention-based healing seemed more like clever ploys to gather church donations than the collection of valuable insights it is.
Psilocybin helped me perceive a vista of “conscious intelligence” that I feel represents the greater reality we all inhabit. An energetic reality that we are all eternally part of.
In a world with rent due and kids to feed, we must seek our truth while managing a bank account and I now realize that’s okay and even….fun!
A person who is connected to these deeper truths is more powerful than ten who are not. Therefore living and acting in alignment with our highest truths becomes the work.
A New World Awaits (If You Can Take It)
Can You Embrace the Cosmic Joke?
Take a moment to breathe deeply and appreciate the amusing nature of our existence. You are here. You are that which exists, that which is able to originate, focus, and direct energy.
We ARE in control, and yet just barely. 🙂
Who is in control?
To me, (after psilocybin) it feels like there is a conscious and benevolent creator, but…just barely.
Where is this god we pray to and beg to and talk about on Sunday?
The god people believe they need a middleman for.
Why it is always a he?
Do we still think it’s a dude with a beard? #skydaddy
Now, after psilocybin, in some strange way, I respect your belief (no matter what it is) because I now see all truths as true, but I also realize some truths are truer than others.
We appear to live in a reality that will support and echo your belief in a vengeful sky-daddy that loves some and judges others. And yet, I know with personal certainty that the further away that I move from that paradigm, the more loving, enjoyable and rewarding my life has become.
I am now convinced a greater truth exists. A truth that transcends all man-made belief systems.
That eternal truth is this:
We are free beyond measure.
The problem is, if you don’t trust yourself, that concept can be a terrifying proposition. Specifically for those who struggle with addiction which is all about a lack of self-trust and self-respect.
What do you choose to believe?
“We are so free we can choose bondage.” ~ Esther Hicks
I now think that’s why people make up religions and dogmatic systems, but ultimately all these systems do is create degrees of separation between you, your community, and (most of all) your creative connection to all that is.
This is not an anti-religion post, but I now see why MANY people struggle specifically with Christianity and the evangelical urge.
Especially in the presence of the dark-age relic the King James Version of the Bible (which informs more of today’s leaders than most people realize.)
Don’t get me wrong, the bible is a compelling library of human history, but the idea that we can literally interpret the King James version into today’s world has informed barbaric policy in war and government for too long.
Do not confuse Christianity with Evangelicalism
True Christianity as understood and written by the gnostics and the Greeks is potent and uplifting. In comparison, what King James created was a guilt-driven narrative used to control his subjects.
All I’m saying is, we have to be smarter than the “herd mentality” and we must rise above groupthink on all levels of life.
Decoding The "Language of God" With Psilocybin
After taking psilocybin, I’m no longer concerned about where I go after I die because I know this isn’t the end and we can scarcely imagine what happens next because I don’t think we need to.
When the belief in a vengeful sky daddy (who might send you to hell if you don’t jump through certain hoops) begins to evaporate from your mind, I believe Jesus’s true teaching begins to become clear, especially if you read direct translations of the ancient greek from the oldest scrolls uncovered in the last 150 years.
If we want a shot at understanding what Jesus actually said and meant, start there. I think you will find it enlightening, to say the least.
***Did you know the word “hell” is not actually in any original texts of what later would become the KJV bible?
The original words were three primarily:
- Hebrew: “Sheol” or a place of still darkness that lies after death.
- Aramaic: “Gehenna” which was the trash dump of Jerusalem where the lepers and undesirables frequented approx. 30AD.
- Greek: “Aeon” which means a long cycle of time.
were translated into English as “hell” or eternal separation from god.
In other words, these three words all got lumped into one dark-age re-translation.
Alas, we live in the age of information which happens to not leave very much room for the middleman. That said, if we are to transcend the limiting and fear-based stories of our past we must see them for what they are.
At best, people throughout history doing their best to translate obscure but significant historical information from one generation to the next, and at worst a corrupt hand influencing popular books of the time to manipulate and suppress vast amounts of people.
Paraphrasing JC and his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is within you and you can perform these and greater miracles.”
Don’t get me started on the devil. How else can people control you unless they get you to believe in something scary that has power over you?
Besides, where is this devil so many speak of?
The further I move my life towards an agnostic level of joy, gratitude, and service to others, the less all of these religious totems and trinkets matter, and the better my life becomes.
I say this with humility but also with a lack of fear for any deity who people believe claims to be somewhere waiting to cast judgment or deploy a trap.
Living guarded and afraid of any given cultural boogeyman is not the same as being vigilant, respectful, and aware of your own power to create and destroy.
After 39 orbits, I’m convinced the only fear that ever lives and manifests in our lives are the fears we hold in our own hearts. Life simply acts as a mirror for what is on the inside.
Most of us have inherited various forms of superstition that we get to scrub away from our third eye and our hearts. In other words, sometimes having the hell scared out of you can be very uplifting and empowering. 🙂
Who is your devil?
The left, the right, the socialists, the Christians, the atheist, lucifer?
I suggest it’s far more fruitful to prepare for and spend your time knowing how to respectfully and safely handle people with poor mental health, aggressive/ignorant conduct, and polarized beliefs and boogeymen in their heads.
if you want war and a fight, you’ll find one every time.
You’ll use phrases like “us vs. them” and “those assholes over there.”
With the help of psilocybin, I now understand the universe is arranged via harmony, resonance, and vibration. In other words, if you are getting fights, battles, and struggles you must be putting that out on some level.
What do you believe you have to fight?
As leaders, the most persistent demon you will face in this age is an angry citizen that knows their rights.
What about the planet? Let’s not forget about the people who think the Earth might fly out of orbit at any moment. Whatever the calamity or apocalypse, the army of “hopeless scientists” who snort short-sighted climate models each morning and try to convince others they are right are an interesting breed indeed.
Have you considered that the earth is a conscious participant in our evolution and wants to support us, if we would seek to learn her ways? Hey now, slow down Kyle what are you trying to say, that the earth loves us as much as any sky daddy does?
Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.
It is now hilarious to me (although perhaps a little tragic) that large groups of people are taught to fear nature’s pharmacy AND the people who curate the wisdom of nature. Look no further than the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
Hopefully, those days are behind us. Nobody is above natural law and we all reap what we sew.
True laws can’t be broken. What we put out is what we get back.
Life is a mirror and blame is a toxic substance.
One last thought to put the devil in his place for good.
On this planet, if you want to see the face of evil, look what happens when you combine humans and too much alcohol.
You don’t need to summon demons or wait for the fiery pit to open up. We can create hell just as well for ourselves. No skydaddy or devil is needed.
If you find yourself nervous about these things on any sort of regular basis, I suggest you turn off the scary movies, turn off the conspiracy theories and draw a circle around you, your home, and what you can ACTUALLY control.
All else is masturbation and projection.
For many of us, we unconsciously project our fears and beliefs onto the world so we don’t have to look within and own our shit, our true power and our direct connection to all that is.
#dontlimitgod
More than anything, the “truth” (that I believe psilocybin helps us realize) is that we are all eternal souls enjoying a temporary ride in a human body. A ride in a body that is unique on all of planet Earth.
All of this on a beautiful planet that is unique in all of the cosmos. That’s a really special thing if you ask me.
Most of all, you are not here by accident.
In other words, if you are here, you matter to the whole, or you wouldn’t be here.
To think otherwise is actually rooted in arrogance. To believe that you exist, but without a purpose (or without unconditional love) is a fallacy perpetuated by those who rely on your fear to keep you in line serving their agenda.
Instead of what makes you happy and fills you up.
Whose agenda have you bought into? It usually starts with what you inherited from your parents and community.
Religion, politics, race, gender, etc. These are all bias-laden concepts we must transcend, or suffering will be the order of your life and you will most likely call it fate.
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” ~ Carl Jung
There is god, there is government and there is humanity. Everything else is interpretation.
Is this the end of the line for sky daddy?
Can we collectively put to bed the idea that a vengeful sky daddy put us here?
A sky daddy who gives us 60-80 years (if we are lucky) to figure this game out, AND if you don’t do the “Jesus-blood-ritual-thing” then you are subject to an eternity in hell?
Who wrote that story? Dark-age scribes. That’s who.
That is not unconditional love, that’s a pirate’s bargain at best. The more you sit and think about it, the more absurd it becomes.
You can either believe we live in a realm and a creator of conditional love or you can follow a distorted projection of an outdated belief system. I’m not sure there is much room in the middle any longer.
Some of you might laugh about all of this but do not underestimate the number of people who are still operating under an evangelical program and how that influences their decision-making in leadership, etc.
Are you waiting for a savior?
The very idea that someone “out there” can save you is one of the most disempowering beliefs there is.
Growing up where I did, I watched lots of relatives sit on their asses and waste away, delaying their dreams because Jesus was probably coming back soon and the world was going to hell in a handbasket. So why try? Better to dig down and store food in the basement.
This is not much different from the college professor who poisons the minds of students with inconclusive climate data to serve their pessimistic bias about their belief which is probably more likely a reflection of how they feel about themselves, the girl who didn’t love them, and the university to didn’t accept them.
None of this however means god is dead. Quite the opposite. However, we’ve finally put the prime creative force (that we are all part) of in a more rightful place.
This includes prayer or spirituality.
Post psilocybin, I feel more strongly than ever that there are spiritual dimensions that respond to our thoughts and prayers.
To me, none of this negates the idea of Christ being a worthy role model and someone for science and humanity to study and emulate.
Before the mushroom, I truly thought all of this was likely bullshit. A Story made up for some to feel better, and for others to control.
After the mushroom, I perceive that our five primary senses only perceive a narrow slice of reality.
I like to think of Jesus as a one-in-a-billion savant who had unusual insights about how our physical world works that we scarcely understand even to this day.
If you study Hindu and Tibetan traditions you will see they maintain a handful of stories of very wise and loving men who could perform very similar acts that Jesus did.
Why are we so uncomfortable with self-healing, light as a language, and ultimate personal responsibility? Have you ever heard of Reiki? *look it up.
JESUS???…”The only son of god and your only chance at a shot in heaven if you perform the blood and bread ritual?” #Get-the-fug-outta-here.
Either way, Jesus remains my homeboy and my compass for what humanity is capable of. I know we can heal ourselves and we can have a direct, empowered, and personal connection with our creator.
Most of all, I know that our dreams and desires are given uniquely to us for them to be lived out, experienced, and enjoyed.
Do you think Steve Jobs will be remembered in 2,000 years? It is unwise to dismiss the Christian grassroots movement that was so powerful it disrupted the residing global superpower so sufficiently that within 300 years of Jesus’s lifetime, Roman Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity as fact and the state religion.
The same goes for the Hebrew lineage and accurate translation of their documents. *Not that it is without bias. Evidence is beginning to circulate that the true Hebrew story going all the way back to King Solomon may have been significantly altered for political gain.
Either way, if you want a good life, you still don’t have to look much further than the ten commandments.
Don’t get me started on atheists. Atheism by definition is the most unscientific hypothesis you can maintain. Agnostic? Yes, that makes sense, but in my experience, hard-line atheists have usually been subject to the policies and principles of bible-thumping hell-fire Christians so sufficiently, they are doing their best to get as far away from that flavor of skydaddy as they can.
“I ain’t here to argue about his facial features. Or here to convert atheists into believers. I’m just saying the way school need teachers the way Kathie Lee needed Regis that’s the way I need Jesus.” ~ Kayne West
Who would have thought that the fruiting body of a humble mycelial network could contain ideas and keys to the best-kept secrets of our existence? Dirt cheap and right under our feet.
Do we simply swallow what we have been taught and told, or should we question what we believe?
As for me, I won’t let any idea live in my head unless I’ve tested it out for myself first.
To my friends and family that ask me about plant medicine and what psilocybin offers:
To me, psilocybin is a gateway to the remembrance of a timeless truth. A truth that many sages have attempted to teach us. yes, many can get there without drugs too. I couldn’t. At least not nearly as much as I can now that I’ve explored that bridge to higher levels of thinking and existence.
An existence beyond the constraints of cyclical suffering. A recognition that we are empowered creators, made in the image of all.
Free to choose, but also bound to the consequences of our choices.
I believe to transcend our current limitations culturally, we must “connect the dots” between the actions we take and the results we are creating without the need to blame others for what we are experiencing in our lives.
This is the “30-second miracle” that will change everything in your life and you certainly don’t need any drug to realize and practice this truth in your life.
Do you feel empowered, or compromised?
The human race is a giant puzzle and we each contain a key. All religions, creeds, and lineages. We all fit together perfectly if we would only zoom out and see our common heritage.
Ask any geneticist and they will tell you with certainty that every human alive originates from the same mother who lived in southern Africa 200,000 years ago.
We are literally all from the same family and share very common roots.
Where do you fit into the human puzzle?
If you often feel disempowered, less than valuable, or like you aren’t sure why you are here, I invite you to explore the powerful and benevolent “teacher” that the mushroom kingdom has offered humanity since time immemorial.
I’m not even suggesting you take it personally. You can start by studying those that have.
You’ll know what to do from there.
Above all else, if you are asking my opinion, a relatively brief encounter with psilocybin reminds us to re-engage in life with a renewed sense of purpose, fully aware that we are significant, cherished, and supported beings, often beyond our comprehension.
Beyond the Devil You Know: Exiting Your Cave Of Shadows
Psilocybin may not be suitable for everyone and is only appropriate at specific times (set and setting) in an individual’s journey.
However, as mentioned in this article, I believe that around 90% of the suffering, addiction, conflict, and poor decision-making on our planet are self-inflicted. The main cause is our unwillingness to admit when we are wrong, and thus seek to gain knowledge and broaden our perspectives to correct our ways.
Trust your journey, own your shit, and exercise courage in all that you do.
Please don’t take my word for it. Treat your life like the grand experiment that it is.
If you would like a reference for exploring what type of healing and insight a psilocybin journey can make available for you or a loved one – check this out.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this post is based on my personal experience with psilocybin. It is intended for harm reduction and not as medical advice. While research into the therapeutic uses of psilocybin is ongoing, it is important to note that the substance can also pose risks and potential adverse effects. Before trying psilocybin or any other substance, it is important to seek professional advice from a trusted healthcare provider to determine what is appropriate for you.
This is a business and networking blog, but we can only do as well professionally as we feel about ourselves personally. So here is to the best version of yourself that you can imagine. Hold that idea of yourself in your mind long enough and it will take from in your life.
“Hold the vision, trust the process.”
Is Inner Circle Right For You?
Kyle Dammann
Kyle Dammann is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, team builder, and automation expert. After a family member fell into a life-threatening addiction to prescription medication and his own experiences with plant medicine, he decided to dedicate his time and skills to legitimizing and accelerating the birth of the plant medicine industry. Kyle believes that access to nature’s pharmacy is a fundamental human right and that all adults should have safe, reliable access to these proven and safe compounds.
