Intentions for a Guided Mushroom Journey in an Indigenous Village

Prequel to a journey through the mind in the hills of Oaxaca, Mexico

A mural in San Jose del Pacifico, Oaxaca, Mexico (another town where visitors come to take mushrooms.) Image by author.

Yesterday was Yom Kippur. It was my first time fasting and ‘celebrating’ the holiday, which is about reflection and atonement.

I don’t like fasting. It’s really hard. You have this persistent feeling of discomfort that comes from being hungry, but you don’t do anything to try to stop it, like we normally do when we feel uncomfortable. In this way we learn to sit with discomfort without turning away.

This weekend will likely be my first psychedelic trip, and I’m nervous. I’ve micro-dosed but never tripped before. Generally, I prefer to preside over my mind with as strong a grip as possible, and anything that might involve relinquishing control over myself and my experience is not usually my jam.

As a total control freak, I’m expecting there to be some degree of discomfort involved. Like on Yom Kippur I’m prepared to try my very best to sit with that discomfort without turning away.

But this won’t be just any psychedelic trip. I’ll be accompanied by one of my closest friends and by a western spiritual counselor/mushrooms guide, and we’ll travel 6 hours around hairpin turns in the mountains of Oaxaca to the village most…