For weeks before leaving the US to go to Mexico, I had been getting a strong call from Spirit to work with psilocybin mushrooms for helping others. I had not felt called by such a powerful plant teacher since my work with Ayahuasca, more than fifteen years before. I was not even sure that it was something I wanted to do. However, I have learned to listen when the Universe sends a message this loud and clear. But if I was going to, I wanted to approach it from the most respectful way possible.

I told my guides that if that’s what Spirit wanted me to do then I would but only under two conditions: 1) That I am led to be in ceremony with a medicine woman of the culture it comes from and 2) That she (as a representative of her culture) gives me permission to lead the ceremonies. I was following previous guidance to work with medicine women only, and not men for a while, but I knew no one to go to about this.

The connection would have to happen organically.

I am in absolute awe of how perfectly and quickly the universe lined this up. Within a few days of being in Oaxaca City I spoke with only one person about this calling, a woman who had just come from the mountains in the area where the mushrooms grew. She said that it was mushroom season there now and that they could be picked fresh from the forest. How auspicious! She told me about a medicine woman who had done a te mescal (ceremonial sauna) for her, thinking that there might be a connection there for me. I followed the lead and booked two nights at the Air BnB in San Antonio, Oaxaca.

Since I am not new to this plant teacher, I had already been preparing for the ceremony for several days, just in case the opportunity presented itself. I was the only one staying on the property at that time. Knowing that a te mescal may not have been an option, I requested it anyway. When I arrived, late in the afternoon it was ready to go and was waiting for me. I instinctively felt that I had landed in the right place.

The next day I spoke with Mari, the manager, about the possibility of doing a mushroom ceremony with a medicine woman. She told me that her mother, Marcella, who had done the te mescal for me, was a Zapoteco Curandera (Zapotec Medicine Woman), who led these ceremonies. However, she said that it was impossible to set up a ceremony on such short notice. Mari said that there was a lot I had needed to do to prepare for this ceremony and that it was difficult to find the maestro mushrooms in the forest on such short notice.

Assuming I had missed my chance, I then asked to speak with her mother through a Spanish interpreter, to find out how to better prepare if I came back in the future. It was important to me to not make any assumptions and to be respectful of her culture and the plant medicine.

Through our interpreter, I explained to Marcella, that I had been guided there, to where the mushrooms grew, and had been preparing for the possibility of doing ceremony for a few days. I said that I did not want to do them on my own, as most westerners did when they came there, because it was important to me to respect her culture and this sacred plant teacher in the best way possible. I related that I was being called to sit in ceremony with a medicine woman of the lineage and to get her perspective on what the universe was guiding me to do. I said that I knew it may not happen this time but that I wanted to be prepared if I came back.

During our meeting, Marcella told me that someone had brought her fresh hongo sagrados (psilocybin mushrooms) from the forest the day before and that all though she had not been planning to be in ceremony that night, sometimes she is called to be at a moments’ notice. She said that now was one of those times and that if I wanted to, we could start the ceremony in an hour and a half. I could not believe what I was hearing! I truly was not expecting anything! Then, realizing how perfectly things had aligned, I of course said, “Yes!” to the opportunity.

After our meeting the translator told me that all of the medicine people leading ceremonies in the area were men and that Marcella was the only woman. Marcella also said that it was highly unusual for her do a private ceremony and that usually she did them for groups. All of this information was even more confirmation for me that I had been divinely guided to her.

The mushroom ceremony that night was very special, quite gentle. Even though Marcella and I did not speak each other’s language, we connected deeply. I remember feeling like she was a sister to me and that we had known each other for a very long time. She was only six years older than me. I felt so much love from her and the medicine and I knew that they were supporting me in moving forward to offer the ceremony for others seeking healing. Using only my eyes and heart to communicate with her, I returned the love as deeply as she shared it with me.

 

The next day the interpreter spoke for us, confirming what I had intuited the night before, that I was indeed supposed to work with the sacred mushrooms to help others and that Marcella supported me in this.

Los hongos sagrados are a powerful modality that I can now offer those seeking deeper healing. At this time my guidance is that I will do this ceremony for no more than two or three people at a time. Guiding it is not something that I will take lightly. It will be given the respect it deserves, as are all of the ceremonies I lead and the traditions that they come from.

 

Despite not being fully sure that it was what I wanted to do, I am so glad that I listened and followed the call to work with mushrooms. Whenever, I have done that I have been guided to be where I needed to be and with whom. Over the years I have learned that when the universe asks something of me, I have to pay attention. A calling that strong is not to be ignored. The best thing to do is to just trust and go with it.