Be Aware of the Psychedelic Trickster

Psychedelics have ancient roots in healing, spiritual connection, and cultivating love. Unfortunately, psychedelics also have a connection to violence, cults, and abuse. With renewed interest in the use of psychedelics in US society, it is important to understand something I’ll call the psychedelic trickster. The trickster archetype appears in cultural stories throughout the world and has a variety of forms and purposes. The trickster appears to play tricks, be foolish or cunning, make a person laugh, and ultimately teach a lesson. The psychedelic trickster can appear during a trip in many ways, positive and negative. Maybe it will make predictions about your life, or tell you to quit the job that has been making you miserable or give up a bad habit. The psychedelic trickster may protect your ego in assuring you that you are always in the right even when you are not, or maybe convince you that you should be a shaman and serve others medicine despite your lack of training. The psychedelic trickster may assure you that it is a good idea to paint yourself as a Viking and storm the capital in the name of sacred healing.

Scientific research into psychedelics has found enhanced suggestibility with LSD and that psilocybin can increase the personality domain of openness. This helps catalyze some of the positive effects of psychedelics in healing trauma as well as negative harmful effects ungrounded in reality. The psychedelic trickster will play on the vulnerable psychedelic state of openness and suggestibility, making the potential for us be fooled by the suggestibility of harmful patterns, thoughts, and ego. It is up to us to parse trickery that may arise with integration, self reflection, and doing our own psychological work outside the psychedelic state.

Psychedelics allow us to feel open, they give us insight and can be a catalyst for major life transformations. Yet, psychedelics offer an experience filled with imagery, archetypes, tricks, and illusions that often need to be uncovered to reveal a deeper meaning. Integration and self-reflection with the aid of mindfulness and a trusted practitioner is the safest way to weave the benefits of the psychedelic experience into our lives. Psychedelics bring us into far-out states of consciousness, and we must ground those states back into the bodies and connect back to the earthly world so we can create a meaningful life that honors the sacredness and potential that these medicines can have in our lives and in making the world a more equitable and peaceful place.

Here I am in front of Mt. Meeker, CO. Getting outside and being in nature is a great way to connect back to a grounded state!