The Psychedelic Frontier

This week, we are honored to feature one of Mary’s teachers, Brittany Jade Wilson, as a guest columnist. Her Eco-Sensual Trauma-Informed Herbalism and Advocacy Training has been an invaluable resource for psychedelic practitioners and a key source for Mary’s own knowledge of herbal allies and the plant kingdom.

Q: I have been taking psychedelics, mostly mushrooms and mostly solo, for the last decade. I discovered how much relief they provided for my anxiety and self-critical ruminations. I can’t afford expensive retreats, so everything I know about their use and effects has come from books, documentaries, and friends. Recently, I learned about combining mushrooms with cacao, which I tried last weekend, and wow—it changed everything! It was the most comfortable, deep, and expansive experience I’ve ever had. Now, I’m curious about what else I can include in my “medicine bag” to support, enhance, or manage the side effects of psychedelics. Can you point me in the right direction?

A: Thank you for your question. It’s exciting to know that you are exploring the many joys of interacting with synergetic blends of herbal medicines.

Cacao, for example, has been known to boost serotonin and oxytocin levels in your body. When your levels of serotonin and oxytocin are flowing in abundance it can be easier for your body to process the hormonal dips, canyons, or undulations throughout the psychedelic experience, and integration thereof.

Many traditional cultures of humans have practiced the art of combining members of the Plant Nations (herbal allies) along with the ingestion of certain psychedelic plants. These traditional herbal recipes and or dietas do not generally stop or begin when the prime psychedelic experience is occurring.

In fact, it has long been commonplace to ingest cacao or other complimentary members of the Plant Nations throughout the days and weeks preceding and following the psychedelic experience in order to create an easeful and successful integration period, in all regards.

The combination of cacao with psychedelic plants, specifically psychedelic mushrooms, has been practiced within the context of ceremonial and celebratory settings for countless generations among various indigenous nations within what is now known as Central America, South America, and Africa. It is due to their hard earned and kept practices that we now have access to such ethnobotanical practices.

Intriguingly, it could be that other combinations of herbal allies such as your ancestors have long known could react even more effectively for your specific DNA. Some such options could include combining your psychedelic mushrooms with the ingestion of Lion’s Mane Mushroom (NGF for neuroplasticity), rosemary (rosmarinic acid for clarifying and healing the mind/memories), motherwort (has been known to support the nervous and hormonal systems), culinary sage (sagernic acid for cognitive function), and rhodiola (serotonin support). Please remember to ingest the complementary herbal allies both before and after the ingestion of the psychedelic mushrooms, in order to open the way, as well as to integrate the experiences.

As you have wisely noted, long-term low dose ingestion of psychedelic mushrooms – particularly when ingested in combination with other plants who support hormone balancing and neuroplasticity – has been known to heal through the regeneration of our brain and body systems. It is important to note that the nations of human beings who have preserved the indigenous technologies of microdosing and other plant diet invariably practice the ingestion of psychedelic and other plants within community ceremonial or celebratory contexts.

When relating with combinations of plants, let us also remember the crucial role that engaging in healthy physical practices throughout the psychedelic experience plays in growing new healthy pathways in our brains. Microdosing mushrooms as though they’re a happy pill without putting the experiences into physical action can at times further cement unhealthy patterns or loops into our brain, rather than healing or creating new ones.

One of my favorite physically cathartic practices, which combines wonderfully with psychedelic experiences, is making and pouring a plant, or flower bath. Just the process of harvesting the plants for the bath can be so cathartic. Many people find it beneficial to sing to and/or silently meditate along with the flower bath while it’s steeping in the sun or moonlight. When we then pour the flower bath over our heads and feet, it’s a way to include vibrational qualities of a plethora of herbal allies that are complementary to the psychedelic experience in various ways.

This article appears in Source Weekly June 26, 2025.