Enter a room and notice the scent of wood. Palo santo, a unique bark that stems from the tropical forest of Ecuador, burns brightly. A statue of a dark-skinned African woman sits in the center, sea shells dangling from her body. A facilitator begins the psychedelic mushroom ceremony with music and prayer.
Amanda De Luz, a vice-president of operations at an automotive company by day, is wearing a white shawl and loose-fitting dress. Shes here at a healing center in the heart of Los Angeles with about 10 other Black mothers and women of color, who regularly gather together to take psilocybin mushrooms.
While it may seem unconventional, the mothers believe taking mushrooms has helped them become better parents, deal with stress and anxiety and heal from racial trauma.
I think Black people need psychedelics. Being a Black person, Ive realized a lot of the traumas I have are intergenerational, said Destiny Rok, a 27-year-old stay-at-home mom. This community is really important because these are women who are not afraid to push the boundaries that have been set in place by non-Black people.
The group originally connected through the Instagram account The Ancestor Project, a Bipoc-run account that encourages holistic healing, and met in person at the California Psychedelic Conference in May. The community began with 15 and has grown to nearly 45 members, and their first ceremony took place in late June this year.
Rok was introduced to the community at the conference. The following month, the women participated in a 24-hour ceremony at a healing center in Los Angeles. Participants brought journals, crystals, feathers, family photos, and flowers. The ceremony took place in one large room, but separate rooms with mats and pillows were available. The ceremony began with prayer and intention setting. Most ceremonies last over six hours and end with a plant-based meal. After participants sleep, breakfast is offered in the morning, and the ceremony is closed with prayer and any final thoughts.
Rok said she had been taking psychedelic mushrooms for 10 years. The mother of four described how her own mom had been short tempered and impatient. Rok said her mother had given up on her easily and yelled at her frequently. She had started to behave similarly when her first child arrived. Mushrooms had become her saving grace after her second child was born, but not everyone was supportive of her microdosing.
In some Black communities, using mushrooms and other psychedelics can be frowned upon, experts say. But this group of mothers sees themselves as bucking a trend.
Drugs have been racialized in the US since the early 20th century. Cocaine was an over-the-counter medicine for 50 or 60 years then it became racialized when Black people started using it, said Dr Jason Ruiz, an American studies associate professor and department chair at the University of Notre Dame. When white people use drugs, those media forms tend to frame white people as the victims of the drug rather than the perpetrators of the drug. Black and brown people get framed as the villains in how we narrate the war on drugs.
Sunumi Jackson, an entheogen educator, wants to change the thinking: Mushrooms have no race, she said.
Jackson, 25, is a member of Village of Mothers, an organization dedicated to birth education. On a typical day, she said, she consumes .1 to .2 grams of mushrooms. She primarily uses mushrooms to decrease symptoms of depression. Jackson believes that microdosing should be used to address intergenerational trauma.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), found that 5.3 million African Americans above the age of 18 had a mental illness in 2020.
Were experiencing this differently than a white woman would because we have a different set of traumas, Jackson said. The war on drugs caused the Black community to have a fear towards substances. Because of that fear, we have avoided potential things that could help us, like mushrooms.
Like many women in the Los Angeles-based microdosing community, Mikaela De la myco, 27, initially thought that mushrooms were for white hippies. The mother of a two-and-a-half-year-old first tried mushrooms when a roommate offered some to her in college. She ate 2 grams and knew she had discovered a new way of living.
De la myco started regularly microdosing mushrooms seven years ago. Her first mushroom trip inspired her to look into the positive effects of using mushrooms. De la myco is not on a strict microdosing regimen, and usually participates during celebrations and gatherings with other parents. The more time she spent with what she calls the mushroom, the less shame she felt for microdosing as a Black mother. De la myco believes taking mushrooms has helped her connect with her roots.
Allow Instagram content?
This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'.
Having a relationship with mushrooms contributes to Black joy, she said. It breaks chains of systemic trauma. There is happiness to be found when you know who you are. Especially with Black people who have been so divorced from where we are from.
Psilocybin, the psychoactive chemical found in psychedelic mushrooms, has been found to produce feelings of euphoria and serenity. For example, last year a study in the New England Journal of Medicine compared the effects of escitalopram (Lexapro) to those of psychedelic mushrooms. Although escitalopram is an antidepressant with no psychedelic properties, the trial did not show a major difference between psilocybin and escitalopram in terms of antidepressant effects.
Studies have shown that microdosing can contribute to better overall mental health and help people struggling with alcohol. In 2020, an international survey in the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that 79% of participants felt improvements in their mental health after microdosing.
According to a study in Frontiers of Epidemiology on racial trends in hallucinogen consumption, African Americans are less likely to use psychedelics compared with other racial groups. Many African Americans fear western medicine due to the history of experimentation on Black people.
African Americans are a part of the patient population in mental health that have concerns about being experimented on, said Thomas Hughes, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and founder of the Cube mental health services. People still have this concern that they are being studied. The American government pumped a lot of drugs into communities and used the money to fund a war. Having knowledge of our government doing things like that is not something a group of people forgets. He believes trauma from instances like the Tuskegee experiment has passed down from generation to generation.
Despite the fact that mushrooms are being used to decrease symptoms of depression, its easy to forget that there are risks that come with consuming psychedelic mushrooms.
Experimenting with psychedelics poses major risks including hallucinogen persisting perception disorder, in which an individual has prolonged visual hallucinations after previous psychedelic use. Psychedelic use can also cause panic attacks, increased anxiety and nausea.
Despite the risks, these mothers hope to use mushrooms to combat deep-seated trauma.
I think its really important that Black mothers do this healing work because they can find liberation, and a freedom that is not allowed to us in our day-to-day lives. It gives Black women their power back. It reminded me that Im allowed to be seen and heard, said De Luz.
Jackson expressed similar sentiments.
When we make one change in the direction to heal ourselves, we can shift the direction that our legacy is going in, she said.
See original here:
The Black mothers finding freedom in mushrooms: They give us our power back - The Guardian
- Review: Tripping on Utopia Complicates the History of Psychedelics - AOL - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Psychedelics Are Going Mainstream. Investing in Them Hasn't. - The Wall Street Journal - January 7th, 2024 [January 7th, 2024]
- Another Study Shows African Psychedelic Plant Ibogaine Treats Traumatic Brain Injury in Vets With 'Dramatic' Results - Good News Network - January 7th, 2024 [January 7th, 2024]
- Massachusetts Lawmakers Will Be Forced To Consider Psychedelics Legalization Measure That Activists Petitioned ... - Marijuana Moment - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- VA to begin researching psychedelics as treatment option for veterans - Government Executive - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- VA Is Funding New Research On Psychedelics' Benefits For Veterans With PTSD And Depression - Marijuana Moment - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- VA ramps up study of psychedelic to treat PTSD - The American Legion - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Scientists predict DMT trip from cardiac activity - Big Think - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- If psychedelics heal, how do they do it? | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - pnas.org - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Psychedelics for acquired brain injury: a review of molecular mechanisms and therapeutic potential | Molecular ... - Nature.com - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- U.S. Rep. Correa supports using psychedelics to treat veterans with PTSD - New Santa Ana - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- DEA Confirms That Psychedelic Mushroom Spores Are Federally Legal Prior To Germination - Marijuana Moment - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Psychedelics for Psych Conditions Made Their Mark in 2023 - Medpage Today - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- 2023: A Good Trip Around the Sun for Psychedelics - The National Law Review - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Understanding the Role of the FDA in Advancing Psychedelic Therapy - Medriva - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- MAPS PBC Closes $100m Series A, Rebrands to Lykos Therapeutics - Psychedelic Alpha - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Closing the innovation gap: Advancing psychedelic therapy and medicines in EU mental health care - Open Access Government - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- The Austin Chronic: SXSW Is High on Psychedelics, as Cannabis Programming Wanes - Austin Chronicle - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- This Forgotten Psychedelic Could Revolutionize Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment - Inverse - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- A 'milestone' for psychedelics: Pentagon directed to study alternative treatments for veterans - Washington Times - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Psychedelic Drugs Are Rushing Towards Approval for Therapy. Here's What's Next - Singularity Hub - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- The top 8 psychedelic books you need to read | GreenState - GreenState - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Lykos Therapeutics Secures $100M in Series A Funding, Rebrands from MAPS PBC - Green Market Report - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- DEA Calls For Even More THC, Psilocybin And DMT To Be Produced For Research In 2024 - Marijuana Moment - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Here's What You Missed in Cannabis, Psychedelics This Week - TipRanks.com - TipRanks - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- You're not tripping: State and local leaders give psychedelics another chance - Route Fifty - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Are Consciousness-Expanding Psychedelics Like Psilocybin More Effective Than Prozac, Zoloft, Xanax, and Other ... - Nautilus - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- RFK, Ramaswamy And Williamson Push Psychedelics Reform On Presidential Campaign Trail - Marijuana Moment - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- Peyote is the darling of the psychedelics renaissance. Indigenous users say it co-opts a sacred way of life - The Guardian US - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- USask researchers explore untold history of psychedelics - News - University of Saskatchewan - USask News - December 22nd, 2023 [December 22nd, 2023]
- California Governor Says Psychedelics Have 'Profound' Healing Potential, But He's Undecided On Legalization Bill As ... - Marijuana Moment - September 25th, 2023 [September 25th, 2023]
- As psychedelic-assisted therapy grows, so does interest from a new group: chaplains - NPR - September 25th, 2023 [September 25th, 2023]
- This Maine City Moves Unanimously On Decriminalizing Psychedelics: Focus On Public Health - Benzinga - September 25th, 2023 [September 25th, 2023]
- Tech Leaders Are Finding Balance Through Microdosing Psychedelics - The Dales Report - September 25th, 2023 [September 25th, 2023]
- Chronic Pain Can Be Treated by Psychedelics, Survey Suggests - Psychedelic Spotlight - September 25th, 2023 [September 25th, 2023]
- Insights Into the First Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Guidelines With ... - Psychedelic Spotlight - September 25th, 2023 [September 25th, 2023]
- Living with long-term cancer is depressing. Texas doctors say psychedelics could help - The Hill - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- Couples Are Doing MDMA and Ketamine Therapy To Save Their Relationships - VICE - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- The Way People Are Using Psychedelics Is Changing Amid Reform ... - Marijuana Moment - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- [WATCH] Turn on, tune in, legalise: Could psychedelics be next in ... - MaltaToday - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- Will Psychedelics Be Rescheduled After FDA Approval? - Harris Bricken - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- The Psychedelic Preparedness Scale: A Tool to Optimize Trip ... - Filter - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- How to Test Psychedelics for Adulterants with Testing Kits - Psychedelic Spotlight - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- Cannabis Science Conference to debut in Providence, R.I., with ... - GlobeNewswire - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- New Speaker Rivas weighs in on psychedelics, housing and health care worker minimum wage - Yahoo News - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- TDR's Top 5 Psychedelic Developments For The Week Of July 10 - The Dales Report - July 19th, 2023 [July 19th, 2023]
- Psychedelic Treatment with Psilocybin Relieves Major Depression, Study ... - February 20th, 2023 [February 20th, 2023]
- Johns Hopkins Launches Center For Psychedelic Research - February 20th, 2023 [February 20th, 2023]
- Psilocybin Treatment for Major Depression Effective for Up to a Year ... - February 20th, 2023 [February 20th, 2023]
- Inside the Johns Hopkins Psilocybin Playlist - Hopkins Medicine - February 20th, 2023 [February 20th, 2023]
- Research Story Tip: Psychedelic Drug Psilocybin Tamps Down Brains Ego ... - February 20th, 2023 [February 20th, 2023]
- Psychedelics: Risks, benefits, and more - Medical News Today - February 18th, 2023 [February 18th, 2023]
- Psychedelic Drug Effects, Side Effects & Dangers - January 25th, 2023 [January 25th, 2023]
- Psychedelics Decriminalization Project In Berkeley, Cal Includes ... - January 6th, 2023 [January 6th, 2023]
- Ancient mummified child was drugged with psychedelics before ritual ... - December 14th, 2022 [December 14th, 2022]
- The therapeutic potential of psychedelics - Science - December 14th, 2022 [December 14th, 2022]
- Changing Lives with Psychedelics: How Connecticut researchers are using magic mushrooms to help people overcome depression, OCD - WTNH.com - November 19th, 2022 [November 19th, 2022]
- Penis Envy Mushroom | Legal Psychedelics | Magic Mushroom - November 7th, 2022 [November 7th, 2022]
- Psychedelics. Discussing natural and synthetic friends. Science, News ... - November 5th, 2022 [November 5th, 2022]
- The Harms of Psychedelics Need to Be Put Into Context - WIRED - November 5th, 2022 [November 5th, 2022]
- Packers' Aaron Rodgers says psychedelics led to his back-to-back MVP ... - October 28th, 2022 [October 28th, 2022]
- With Promise of Legalization, Psychedelic Companies Joust Over Future Profits - The New York Times - October 25th, 2022 [October 25th, 2022]
- How do psychedelics work? This brain region may explain their effects - PBS - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Why is the American right suddenly so interested in psychedelic drugs? - The Guardian - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Can Psychedelics Cure? Science Is on the Verge of Finding Out - Newsweek - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Large national survey suggests that the use of psychedelics is not associated with lifetime cancer development - PsyPost - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- This Pharma Company Just Scored Another Psychedelics Patent And Set Its Sights On 70 More - Small Pharma - Benzinga - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- What Made the Mushrooms Magic: Psychedelic Study Explores the Odd Evolution of Mind-Altering Fungi - The Debrief - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Psychedelics And Wellness: The Healing Company Buys PepsiCo-Backed Superfoods Company - (HLCO) - Benzinga - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- What's on the Colorado ballot? Housing, psychedelics, school meals, alcohol, taxes and more | FOX31 Denver - FOX 31 Denver - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- DoseConnect to Sponsor the Tech Stage at Wonderland Miami by Microdose - Benzinga - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- What Is Going on With Bright Minds (DRUG) Stock Today? - InvestorPlace - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Psychedelics May Ease Fear of Death and Dying - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- TDR's Top 5 Psychedelic Developments For The Week Of October 10 - The Dales Report - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- DEA Wants To Boost Production Of Cannabis & Psychedelics For Research In 2023 - Benzinga - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Talk set to explore psychedelics and mental health - Reading Today - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Silo Wellness Closes Acquisition of Dyscovry Science and Its Psilocybin Pharmaceutical Biosynthesis and Research Portfolio - Yahoo Finance - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- How does psilocybin rewire the brain? - Open Access Government - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- HYTN Awarded Controlled Drugs and Substances Dealers License Allowing for Production and Sale of Psilocybin - Yahoo Finance - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- The Healing Company acquires leading superfoods business, Your Super, and lands $150M credit facility to expand community of brands - Yahoo Finance - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]