For what separates that which is seen from that which isn’t; the human perception. And when the binds of perception are freed, we see life for what it is; infinite.

Fractal geometry; only recently discovered, is a field of mathematics that studies the iterative steps used to make objects that are similar, irrespective of the scale of view. Two outstanding features of fractals are how closely they resemble objects in nature, and can also be imputed with randomness.

Psychedelic mushrooms also known as magic mushrooms have been long associated with the mysterious ceremonies of the ancient Celts. Known to induce vivid hallucinations, these plants were used as portals to transcend natural human perception and thought, in a ritual they called ‘enlightenment’ or ‘gaining insight’.

What is consciousness and reality? What is our connection to our world around us?  How does fractal geometry play a role in this? Is there more than is perceived?

In the rest of this article, we answer some of these questions and see how ‘hallucinations’ and fractals are not just tricks of the mind or geometrically derived shapes, but visions of the infiniteness of life and our connection to the world and the universe around us.

The ‘Reality’ of Things and Consciousness

As humans, our sense of self and existence, and as being different from another, is generated in the brain. According to neurologist Anil Seth, ‘‘the brain hallucinates consciousness’’. So, what we perceive as our ‘normal’ lives in a world, are functions of the brain.

When the human falls asleep, the brain pauses its ‘conscious’ function; so even though still alive, your sense of space, time, and consciousness are halted; hence, the feeling of not being able to track time when we wake up. When many of us; humans, perceive the same environment together, we take it as ‘reality’. Ultimately, what we say is real is what we can perceive.

There have, however, been times when the normal brain functions have been altered to thin the boundaries of one’s sense of self, even if slightly; like hallucinations or communications with other beings when tripping on a drug, when we fall in love, etc.

When the natural human perception is disrupted, a higher dimension is revealed, temporarily. A thinning of the barrier that separates the physical and the spiritual, to reveal a dimension that is not subject to time and space, as in sleep. All Shamans’ believe that this spiritual realm is the “real” reality. 

The Ego and ‘Real’ Reality

As children, our minds were open to infinite possibilities. Anything could be real, and this impacted what we saw. This openness of mind; a necessary condition for enlightenment in the ancient Celtic culture, allowed many of us as children to see ‘imaginary’ friends, beasts, shapes, and spirits.

But then came the human ego. The concept of the ‘generally accepted’ idea, as the reality of things, was conditioned into us as we grew up. Parents and guardians taught us not to see these things. Our true eyes were veiled, and we gave preference to that which is physically perceivable.

We were taught that we are just temporary specks in an indifferent universe; how to care for just ourselves and those we love; how others can be dangerous.

As a learned behavior, the unseen spiritual dimension faded from view. That which in our childhood innocence was readily available became clouded by our ego and ‘realistic’ adult mind. We also want to give a logical and scientific explanation for everything.

The ego is the mind’s guard against vulnerability, and is the defence mechanism against people who may want to exploit us. It is what defines personal boundaries and separates you from another.

Fractal Geometry; Life and Its Diversity

In elementary school, many of us learned about basic, uniform shapes and the rules involved when forming them. Circles, rectangles, spheres, polygons and etc. all had general equations that could be used to completely describe them.

In real life, however, we find that most things don’t seem to follow this orderly, uniform shapes, but are rather completely random and undeterminable. Or so it was until Benoit Mandelbrot discovered fractal geometry.

A fractal is created when a simple equation is imputed into a computer, and the results are looped infinitely. This creates an infinitely complex pattern that is self-similar on any scale.  There is basically nothing more random than a fractal, but it is fascinating to note how they model real phenomenon in life and nature, to levels of extreme accuracy.

They can be used to represent the littlest of things like cell arrangements in the human body, to grander phenomenon like the positioning of bodies in our entire galaxy. Life and natural phenomena are fractal. They sit on the border between chaos and order, and also between dimensions.

Psychedelic Mushrooms; Transcended Perception and Fractals

The actions of psychedelic mushrooms on the human brain, consciousness, and perception as a whole, are outstanding. We won’t go into details but will consider fractal geometry in this section.

People who sit in Shamanic Journey and Spiritual Healing on psychedelic mushrooms report seeing complex patterns of dimensional limitlessness, that seemed to be identical and intertwined irrespective of how deeply they looked at them; fractals. The little is a part and identical to the whole; representing the interconnectedness and infiniteness of life. This is NOT a hallucination. 

Our brain is not just forming these images, we are now  just able to see what has always been there.   Research has shown that the psychedelic experience actually creates a hyper-connected brain, bringing normally dormant networks to life, and puts the default mode network (DMN) to sleep temporarily.

Considering that our consciousness is actually a brain function, these new networks create an alternate consciousness and reality; one of transcended perception. Everything we see on a psilocybin trip has always been there. Fractals are formulas of nature itself, and represent the oneness of the universe as a whole; we did not come to the world, we came out of it.

A major effect of psychedelic experience has been described as dissolution of the ego. The different perspective formed is usually revolutionary in a person’s life. You are made to see that you are truly not ‘alone’ but are an intricate part of a grander whole, and are connected to others and nature itself. This can come as a realization or as an actual message from a being, in your transcended state. The initial level of open-mindedness you had a child that was necessary to perceive these ‘otherworldly’ things, is what the psychedelic mushroom helps you restore, temporarily.

Neurochemistry has been the prevalent way by which nature communicates with us. Through these mushrooms, it is trying to correct our learned flaws, and preach our oneness with one another, and the universe as a whole; the understanding that we ourselves as humans are not a single entity, but are a combination of trillions of cells working in perfect harmony.

Best-selling author, Michael Pollan describes his psychedelic trip:

‘I remember my legs feeling rubbery as if sinking into the ground. My senses were heightened and I suddenly realized that there was so much activity going on in the meadow. Dragonflies were bustling about with their pollination activities, and the scented air felt so thick, it had to be forded.

The leaves in the window of my writing house were the most beautiful I had ever seen, and they were emitting a green glow. I also suddenly realized their action of turning the photons of sunlight into solid matter. However, I could also feel the leaves looking at me, with overwhelming curiosity and benevolence.

Out in the field, I was no longer the alien spectator who watched from a distance but was an integral part of this ecosystem and shared the energy that flowed through it. And I, for the first time since I can remember, did this: I myself, am identical with nature’.

The effect of psychedelic mushrooms classified as ‘hallucination’ is ultimately wrong; it is rather, a revelation.

Fractal patterns we see when on psychedelic healing ceremonies are nature’s illustrations of the beauty, encompassing, infinite potential, and dimensionless quality of love and unity. The oneness of us all encompasses physical barriers like time and space, and feelings of love between two people can remain, irrespective of the distance between them.

When we look at objects, we see them in their true states; infinite. Bright spots of energy flow are looped and branch infinitely to the fractal’s core, depicting the never-ending cycle of life. All have been; all are; all will always be.

Fractals combine the physical with the spiritual; similarity in all directions and scale of view, growing larger and smaller simultaneously. Any kind of system can be a represented as a fractal; from abstract ideas like time to physical objects.

What Mushrooms hold for the Future

Psychedelic mushrooms have held mystery and while their use has been stigmatized for the past decades, they are beginning to draw the attention of the science and health community.

Fractals are common visions for people who trip on psychedelic mushrooms and hold the formula that runs the dynamics of life and existence itself. They are visual representations of the oneness and infiniteness of all life.

Research into fractal geometry, coupled with the use of psychedelic mushrooms threatens our former understanding of life, consciousness, and human evolution. They hold the key to designing highly efficient, less environmentally harmful systems and structures, by mimicking the base code of nature itself.

As a first-time spiritual quest seeker, visions of fractals can mean infinitely different things to you, but it’s advised that you seek the help of a guide or shaman before you begin your transcendent experience.

P.S. The above picture I how the air and universe every time I have had a psychedelic experience~