About this episode
For millennia, humans have turned to psychedelic plants to expand perception and access realms beyond ordinary consciousness. This episode follows that lineage, from Indigenous ayahuasca ceremonies in the Amazon to the secret rituals of ancient Greece, revealing how these substances once served as powerful spiritual technologies. We begin with the extraordinary story of Don José Rubio, the Colombian elder who used ayahuasca visions to help locate four missing children in the jungle, and we hear from author Brian Muraresku, whose research suggests that the foundations of Western spirituality, like other belief systems around the globe, may have been influenced by psychedelic sacraments. We then turn to the modern moment, where psychedelics are reemerging as tools for healing. Marine Corps veteran Juliana Mercer describes how guided sessions with ayahuasca and psilocybin helped her process decades of trauma, while Yale researcher Dr. Ben Kelmendi explains how these substances open windows of neuroplasticity that can transform mental health when nothing else has worked. Throughout, a deeper theme emerges: psychedelics don’t just heal. They reconnect us to an ancient way of knowing, one that blurs the boundary between medicine and the mystical, and invites us to remember what humanity once understood. Thank you to our Sponsors! Visit Schedule35.co and use code “TAPES” for 15% off your order. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code TAPES at https://www.oneskin.co/TAPES #oneskinpod Visit Quince.com/tapes for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Visit happymammoth.com and use code TAPES to get 15% off your entire first order. Save 20% Off Honeylove by going to honeylove.com/TAPES ! #honeylovepod. Get 40% off your entire order at Lolablankets.com by using code TAPES at checkout. Experience the world’s #1 blanket with Lola Blankets. Visit Progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance. Visit Graza.co/TAPES and use TAPES to get 10% off your order. Use code TAPES at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a Free Cool Gloss with your first purchase! #JonesRoadBeauty #ad Visit Tonetoday.com and use my code TAPES to get 20% off your first order. Visit FactorMeals.com/TAPES50OFF and use code TAPES50OFF to get 50% off your first box, plus Free Breakfast for 1 Year. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .