to promote.” And yet, as we’ve talked, now over the course of three years,
it’s become clear that he too feels that many of us, and not just those
dealing with cancer or depression or addiction, stand to benefit from
these remarkable molecules and, even more, from the spiritual
experiences to which he believes—indeed, his research has demonstrated
—they can open a door.
“We’re all dealing with death,” as he told me the first time we met.
“This is far too valuable to limit to sick people.” A careful man, mindful of
the political land mines that may yet lie ahead, Griffiths amended that
last sentence just slightly, recast it in the future tense: “This will be far too
valuable to limit to sick people.”
• • •
I, FOR ONE, sincerely hope that the kinds of experiences I’ve had on
psychedelics will not be limited to sick people and will someday become
more widely available. Does that mean I think these drugs should simply
be legalized? Not exactly. It is true I had a very positive experience using
psilocybin “recreationally”—on my own, that is, without the support of a
guide—and for some people this might be fine. But sooner or later, it
seems, everyone has a trip for which “bad” is far too pallid a modifier. I
would hate to be alone when that happens. For me, working one-on-one
with an experienced guide in a safe place removed from my everyday life
turned out to be the ideal way to explore psychedelics. Yet there are other
ways to structure the psychedelic journey—to provide a safe container for
its potentially overwhelming energies. Ayahuasca and peyote are typically
used in a group, with the leader, often but not necessarily a shaman,
acting in a supervisory role and helping people to navigate and interpret
their experiences. But whether individually or in a group, the presence of
someone with training and experience who can “hold the space”—to use
that hoary New Age locution—is more meaningful and comforting than I
would have imagined.
Not only did my guides create a setting in which I felt safe enough to
surrender to the psychedelic experience, but they also helped me to make
sense of it afterward. Just as important, they helped me to see there was
something here worth making sense of. This is by no means self-evident.