Shamanic journeying is a form of meditation that induces a light trance, in which state it’s possible to “journey” to a non-ordinary reality — basically, to induce a slightly altered state. It’s a primary practice for a lot of shamanic practitioners and there are various methods for it in different…

Guess the most common Google search term related to my website? According to the handy stats report I get from Google, it’s ayahuasca, or variations of it: “ayahuasca retreat near me,” “ayahuasca shaman,” and so on. I don’t know how the little man in my computer works, but he often…

Musing on ayahuasca a few weeks ago, I had a funny thought that if more people did plant medicine or had big shamanic experiences, nobody’d watch Fox News anymore. So I made a graphic and posted it to my socials.

Why does the apocalypse always seem so joyless? My guy and I were watching the first episode of “The Last of Us” yesterday and we noticed that all the apocalypse shows we’ve ever seen are kind of the same. The tone is so hard to sit through: impending dread and…

(CW: 9/11, mental health issues) I’m describing here what worked for me and hoping that you or someone you know might benefit. It’s not medical advice. Please discern what’s right for you. I moved to New York City a very starry eyed 23 year old in 2000. Less than a…

What I learned about sadness from an African ritualist — I’m excited to talk about grief. I know it’s weird and contradictory but stay with me. Whether we don’t want to burden anyone or we can’t find the words or the appropriate time or safe enough place, or we think they just won’t get it — so many of us…

And losing our minds just a little bit — One of my teachers once shared a story about spending time in South America with elders. He had taken copious notes about everything, pages and pages of quotes, descriptions, and things to remember. One day, his mentor picked up his notebook and flipped through it. “Oh,” he said. “That’s all…

Seeking esoteric answers to normal, messy questions — When I was seven, I had to have my first blood test. A few seconds into the draw, I fainted, and for years after that, I was terrified of needles. At some point, my mom spoke with a psychic about my phobia, who said that I likely had a past-life…

All that separates me from my neighbors is a line of blacktop driveway. I hear them get in and out of the car, I know when they have friends over or do some gardening or their kid has a tantrum. I mean, not to be creepy about it — I…