Shamanic healing and mushrooms have been inextricably tied together for centuries. As healers know, mushrooms can possess incredible powers that help the body and the mind. Known for their dark spores, these mushrooms thrive in meadows and woods of the subtropics and tropics and have been used for different purposes since. These are no ordinary mushrooms but contain specific compounds, namely psilocybin that is converted to psilocin.” Mushrooms are the above-ground “fruit” of a much larger organism that lives underground. The subterranean part can spread under huge tracts of land, and can be thousands of years old. Many of the ancients believed that because the organism is so old, it has accumulated wisdom which can be passed to humans via the fruit.”

Psychedelic Mushrooms

Over the centuries, mushrooms containing these specific properties have been used for rituals and sacred practices. For shamans, these mushrooms have played a pivotal role in communion, divination and most importantly, healing. Shamanic healing with mushrooms is a spiritual experience that helps increase well-being while allowing a person to become more open to the world around them and have more meaningful interactions with the world. Although these practices have endured over centuries, there is growing scientific evidence to support the powerful healing that mushrooms are able to accomplish.  More than one academic researcher has concluded that ancient Celtic area was home to a magic mushroom religion, it make perfect sense that the Indo-Europeans used psychedelic mushrooms in their ritual shamanic ceremonies of healing.  Shamanic Healing rituals were lost In Victorian times, a new puritan mood and ‘respectability’ came to the forefront. This new outlook ran counter to many of the old ways and Indo-European countries were suddenly a highly-conservative society, and lived by a right-wing, church-prescribed doctrine, which then filtered to the Americas. Traditions such as using magic mushrooms in ceremonies were scorned as uncivilized, and traditions were lost. Those rituals have been re-birthed or similar rituals are used today for Shamans’ holding ceremony. 

Shamanic Healing

As studies conducted by Johns Hopkins University reinforces, there is a real basis in why shamans use mushrooms as a tool for healing. More specifically, shamanic healing with mushrooms can be used for a variety of physical and mental conditions. The compounds within these mushrooms are particularly useful in treating mental and emotional disorders, such as depression and anxiety on a long-term basis. It has also been used with people who have terminal illnesses and are closer to the end of their life to help them cope and live the remainder of their life with openness and happiness. 

Healing the Mind and Soul

Shamanic healing with mushrooms is a balance between the physical and the mental, crossing the boundaries between each to create a healing process that is sacred and treats the whole body. In fact, the role of shamanic healing in emotional and mental disorders has been gaining more attention, as it provides a natural alternative that seeks to help in the long-term, without the extreme side effects of pharmaceutical medicine. Mushrooms can play an important role in helping those coping with emotional and mental trauma.  No one has died from magic mushrooms, lost their mind, or gone insane.  There is no such thing as a “bad” trip.  Bad experience, are a direct result of a poor shaman or facilitator.    

The healing process with mushrooms allows a person to experience their darkest and happiest moments simultaneously, to confront what they cannot see but have repressed and to find new ways to move forward, while being lovingly care for by Universal love.  None of us are willing for less level of healing and venerability without this. More and more evidence shows that mushrooms can play an important role in helping people manage their condition, and bring about long-term change. 

For shamanic healing with psychedelic mushrooms to be effective, an open mind is important. There are many negative emotions and thoughts that might come into play, but it is important to cast these aside and take the experience for what it is. Psychedelic mushrooms  have been part of native cultures for centuries and remain so in many areas of the world. Properly used, they offer a one-step guide to enlightenment and connection with intuition as well as the soul and the Divine.

There is a real impact in this practice and a reason that these healing methods have survived over centuries and continue to be used. These are only a few examples of the impact that mushrooms can have if used in the correct context. Shamanic healing is about identifying not only the physical problems one might experience but also the underlying mental condition that might be contributing to the problem. It is a healing experience for the whole body, rather than a single part.