Psychedelic Stories

Kat Draconis grew up in a religious household as one of five children. She did well in school and lived her faith, as expected by her parents. Kat and I met after she finished her sophomore year of college, just as I returned home from my church mission. We fell in love and married quickly. Several days after graduating college, Kat gave birth to our oldest child and we settled into family life.

Kat describes her experience stepping away from her religion and shares the details of several psychedelic experiences in which she witnessed the awakening of an inner sexual dragon, encountered her father in a dark setting, and relived the death of our toddler son. She also shares an experience in which she died and was reborn as a phoenix.

Clint Kyles was born and raised in southwest Arkansas, where he lives to this day. Clint comes from a hard-working, blue-collar Christian family. Growing up, he attended a small congregational Baptist church every week, whether he wanted to or not.

As a teenager, Clint began experimenting with alcohol and then cannabis. When Clint and his friends became interested in trying mushrooms, one of his friends ordered a mushroom identification book through an interlibrary loan to help them find some mushrooms in the area. In Clint’s first mushroom experience, he was able to step outside his ego and observe his shy and introverted nature. The experience served as a turning point in his life and Clint began working to improve his social skills.

Clint’s mushroom experience also showed him the universe was far larger than he could have imagined. He found himself thirsting for a knowledge of God and he began studying the Bible with sincerity. Clint began dating his now wife the day he graduated high school and he set aside psychedelics for many years as he focused on his career and raising his family.

Clint’s interest in psychedelics was renewed in recent years after beginning to listen to podcasts on the subject. Clint describes a more recent psilocybin experience in which he was transported to a void and received an important personal message from God through angels.

Clint is the host of The Psychedelic Christian Podcast, where he interviews guests about their personal experiences with psychedelics, many of which have been positive and spiritual in nature, while others highlight the risks associated with the use of psychedelics.

Links:

The Psychedelic Christian Podcast

Avi Wijaya was born into a conservative Muslim family in Indonesia. Avi's father worked as a government official, providing economic security for their family. Avi began attending a Catholic university at the age of 16. His school had a culture of open debate about topics like the economy, social issues, and even religion. Avi became agnostic and eventually atheist.

Avi and his wife married just before the lockdowns in 2020 and experienced a devastating miscarriage in 2021. Around the same time, Avi had a number of paranormal experiences that caused him concern. His Muslim friends advised him to read the Qur'an and pray. A Buddhist friend also suggested he begin a meditation practice. Avi tried both and he had a number of interesting experiences while meditating. Avi began reading about things like near-death experiences and eventually came across the ayahuasca subreddit. He then arranged to participate in an ayahuasca ceremony while visiting family in The Netherlands, despite his family's concerns.

During his ayahuasca experience, Avi was transported to other realms where he embarked on a cosmic journey, interacting with entities and deceased loved ones, learning valuable lessons he took back with him to Indonesia.

One summer while Todd Hill was home from college, he answered his parent's front door to find police officers. They let Todd know he was under arrest for sexual assault. Todd was in shock, wracking his brain, trying to think of who could have accused him of sexual assault. Todd's family bailed him out of jail, but he faced an 18-month-long legal battle to prove his innocence. Todd's innocence was proven and the charges were dropped, but the experience sewed seeds of anger deep inside him. Todd married young and began drinking while he was in the military after college. In his late twenties, he began drinking heavily and by the end of his first marriage, he was an alcoholic.

Todd has had a love of airplanes and flying his entire life and works as a pilot for a major airline. His current wife introduced him to psychedelics while they were dating and Todd describes one occasion where he combined mushrooms, breathwork, and ketosis, resulting in a powerful experience that caused him to reevaluate his relationship with alcohol and make positive life changes. We also discuss Todd's experiences with practices like lucid dreaming and his use of LSD, cannabis, and MDMA and their impact on his life.

Episode Links:

Be Here Now
A book by Ram Dass

Miracle of Love
A book by Ram Dass

Lucid Dreaming Made Easy
A book by Charlie Morley

Wim Hof YouTube Channel
Wim Hof's guided breathwork videos

Sarah Maxfield grew up in the 1970s and had some psychedelic experiences as a teenager that were recreational in nature. Her parents were loving but married young and dealt with their own challenges, making it difficult for them to be emotionally available for her as a child. Sarah spent decades in therapy but continued to experience anxiety and depression. She began learning about trauma where she gained an interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics.

Sarah began ketamine-assisted therapy where she recognized how much fear had been a limiting force in her life. Recently, Sarah also participated in a psilocybin-assisted therapy session where she felt a connection to her ancestors and experienced a spiritual rebirth. Psychedelics haven't been a magic bullet for Sarah but they have allowed her to make positive life changes, releasing her from the depression and fear that held her back for so long.

Links:

The Body Keeps the Score
A book by Bessel van der Kolk

Complex PTSD
A book by Pete Walker

No Bad Parts
A book by Richard Schwartz

In my first solo episode, I describe a recent five-gram golden teacher mushroom trip of mine prior to undergoing spine fusion surgery. I felt both intense anger and intense love during the experience. I also discuss some of my bad experiences with Ambien, both in my past and during my recent post-surgery hospital stay.

Robert Stark is an author and lifelong Alaskan. As a boy, his mother became friends with a group of psychics and healers. Robert and his brother attended psychic workshops with their mother, where his brother displayed natural psychic abilities, until one reading predicted a tragic event, upsetting his mother, and ending their relationship with the psychic community.

As a teenager, Robert moved to a small town where he struggled with addictions he developed. Immediately after high school, he joined the United States Army and parachuted into Iraq in March of 2003, during the U.S. invasion. Robert discusses the realities of war he documented in his book Warflower, including the recurring nightmares he had long after returning from Iraq. He shares how different psychedelic substances have affected him, whether it be in the form of addiction, tapping into creative abilities, or connecting with loved ones.

Robert and his wife Savanna live off-grid on a homestead in Happy Valley, Alaska, where they own a farm and are raising their family.

The purpose of the podcast is to entertain and educate. Please consult a physician and your local laws before trying anything mentioned in this episode. Please also understand that you may not hold us liable for relying on any information contained in the podcast or on our website.

Links:

Secret Garden Alaska
Secret Garden Alaska is Robert and Savanna's website where you can purchase Robert's book Warflower, Savanna's handmade jewelry, products from their farm, and follow their blog.

The Stark family loves handwritten letters. You can send Robert a letter or contact him on one of his social media accounts listed below:

Robert Stark
PO BOX 986

Anchor Point, AK 99556

Robert's Facebook

Robert's Instagram

Sabba Nazhand was born in Tehran, Iran in the middle of the Iran-Iraq War. His mother delivered him two months early and the family doctor advised he needed a blood transfusion. Sabba's father had to say goodbye to Sabba's mother and sister and drive Sabba across the country for the blood transfusion that saved his life.

Sabba's family eventually fled from Iran to Greece, where they were able to get sponsorship from a Christian community that helped them immigrate to the United States. Sabba describes his upbringing in an immigrant family and how his interest in psychedelics developed. He shares several experiences, including one in which he took three successive hits of 5-MeO-DMT, blasting him into the universe, shattered into a billion pieces, where he watched the creation of the universe, leaving him forever changed. 

Sabba's psychedelic experiences motivated him to take his professional experience in the software industry to the psychedelic space, where he advises early-stage companies. Sabba is the Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Mission Club, an education and investment platform in the psychedelic ecosystem. He is also a business advisor and founding member of Retreat-Microdose, a platform providing content, community, connection, and coaching. He's also a Go-to-Market advisor for Wavepaths, a tool that facilitates live, personalized music experiences for therapeutic and personal use. I've included links to these companies in the show notes if you're interested in learning more.

The purpose of the podcast is to entertain and educate. Please consult a physician and your local laws before trying anything mentioned in this episode. Please also understand that you may not hold us liable for relying on any information contained in the podcast or on our website.

Links:

Wavepaths
Wavepaths is a tool that facilitates live, unique, personalized music experiences for therapeutic and personal use.​

Retreat Microdose
Retreat is a microdosing platform providing content, community, connection, and coaching to psychedelic newcomers.

Savanna Stark grew up in a devout Catholic home, where her family sat in the front row at church each week. However, her parents divorced when she was a teen, often using her and her sisters to get back at each other. When she turned 18, Savanna smoked weed, ate mushrooms, and drank alcohol all in one night. Savanna pushed the idea of God away and started drinking heavily. She eventually got sober, started doing yoga, and began studying spirituality and metaphysics.

One of the metaphysics schools Savanna was using for her studies was looking for volunteers in South America. She applied with them to be a yoga teacher and let them know she would get enough hours to become certified. They let her know she didn't even need to be certified because it was in a foreign country.

Before leaving for South America, Savanna learned about ayahuasca and watched a documentary about DMT. She wondered if she might meet someone she could have an ayahuasca experience with while on her trip. When she arrived at the retreat center, her journey took an unexpected twist. Savanna describes the numerous ayahuasca and San Pedro ceremonies she participated in during her time in South America, and the lessons she brought home with her.

The purpose of the podcast is to entertain and educate. Please consult a physician and your local laws before trying anything mentioned in this episode. Please also understand that you may not hold us liable for relying on any information contained in the podcast or on our website.

Jason Bishop began questioning his religious beliefs after his sister passed away. He eventually left religion and became a hardcore atheist for a time. Jason's curiosity about the nature of the universe, reality, and consciousness led him to consume numerous books, podcasts, and YouTube videos in his quest for answers. His research led him to seek out experiences with psychedelic substances. He's had experiences with marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms. Jason describes how under the influence of psilocybin, he experienced the oneness with the universe he learned about in his research.

The purpose of the podcast is to entertain and educate. Please consult a physician and your local laws before trying anything mentioned in this episode. Please also understand that you may not hold us liable for relying on any information contained in the podcast or on our website.