Before working with Adam, I had never used a drug in my life. I had never smoked marijuana. I had never even consumed alcohol.

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So when I made the decision to have my first psilocybin experience, I was incredibly nervous. I was stepping into completely unknown territory, and in the weeks leading up to the journey, I experienced a lot of fear and anxiety about what might happen.

That is where Adam’s support began.

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Long before I ever consumed the mushrooms, Adam spent time preparing me for the experience. He patiently walked me through what I might encounter, answered my questions, helped calm my fears, and explained that I didn’t need to control the journey. He also helped me begin thinking deeply about my intentions—what I wanted to understand about myself, what I wanted to release, and what kind of person I wanted to become.

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By the time the day arrived, I was still nervous, but underneath that nervousness was trust.

What happened next became one of the most profound and meaningful experiences of my life.

Within what felt like only minutes after the psilocybin began taking effect, I found myself entering a place that I can only describe as the Cosmic Lobby.

It felt timeless. Ancient. Almost as though I had entered a space that had always existed but that I had simply never been able to see before.

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And there, in this Cosmic Lobby, I encountered what appeared to me as an ancient female presence—a kind of timeless curator or guide.

She began taking me through extraordinary visions and experiences. I traveled through what felt like different rooms, dimensions, memories, and moments in time. I was shown experiences from my past and things about my present, and I even experienced what felt like glimpses of possible futures.

Some moments were beautiful. Some were overwhelming. Some were almost impossible to describe with ordinary language. Yet throughout everything I experienced internally, there was one constant in the physical world: Adam was there.

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Even while I felt as though my consciousness was traveling somewhere unimaginably far away, I knew I was safe. I knew someone was watching over me. I knew I could surrender because there was someone there whom I trusted. I felt completely held and supported.

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But I eventually learned that the journey itself was only the beginning.

When the experience ended, I was left with an enormous collection of visions, emotions, symbols, questions, and insights. Some made immediate sense. Others didn’t. Adam helped me begin putting those pieces together.

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In the hours, days, weeks, and months following my journey, he continued helping me explore what I had experienced. Rather than telling me what my visions were supposed to mean, he helped me discover what they meant to me. That process of making meaning has become one of the most valuable parts of this entire experience. Since that journey, I have felt different. I had previously struggled with periods of anxiety, depression, negative thinking, and difficulty seeing a positive future for myself. In the time following my psilocybin experience, I personally experienced a significant lessening of those feelings.

There has been an afterglow that has extended far beyond the day of the journey.

 

I find myself thinking differently. I feel more creative. More optimistic. More curious. More connected.

I understand there are scientific theories and emerging research around psilocybin, brain-network activity, neuroplasticity, and patterns associated with the brain’s default mode network. I can’t tell you exactly what happened neurologically inside my brain.

What I can tell you is what it felt like.

It felt as though some of the repetitive patterns of negative thinking that had kept me trapped for years suddenly loosened their grip. It felt as though new pathways opened and I was able to imagine my life differently.

Most importantly, I began seeing myself differently.

Since that experience, I have found myself falling more deeply in love with who I am.

I look forward to my life.

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That is also why the mission of the Church of the Sacred Mushroom means so much to me.

I believe in creating a community where these ancient mushrooms are treated with reverence and approached through spirituality, intention, connection, and responsible practice. I am incredibly proud to call myself one of the early members of this congregation.

I openly share my experience with people who ask because it had such a profound impact on my life. I would never tell another person that their journey will look like mine or promise them a particular outcome. Every human being and every experience is different.

But I can tell them what happened to me.

I entered frightened and uncertain.

I encountered something more beautiful and mysterious than I could have imagined.

And I returned with a deeper love for myself, a greater appreciation for being alive, and a completely different relationship with my future.

I am profoundly grateful to Adam for the preparation, patience, love, presence, and integration he brought to my experience. And I am grateful to the Church of the Sacred Mushroom for creating a community where experiences like mine can be approached as something sacred.

I came to this work having never touched a drug in my life.

I walked away believing I had encountered something ancient, intelligent, mysterious, and deeply meaningful.

The journey may have lasted only hours.

But in many ways, I feel like I am still traveling through it.

And perhaps I will be for the rest of my life.”

— D.S.