February 27, 2026

The Ancient Intent of Altered States

We often talk about psychedelics today through the lens of self-improvement, mental health or personal therapy. But if we look back at the ancient shamanistic perspective, psychedelics weren’t about the…

The Spiritual Tool of the Ancients

Archaeological evidence from the Hopewell culture (dating as far back as A.D. 220) suggests that substances like tobacco and hallucinogenic fungi weren’t used for recreation. They were technologies for communication. To the Hopewell, psilocybin facilitated Altered States of Consciousness (ASCs) to help the soul travel to the “Otherworld.”

Similarly, the Ojibway people recognized the power of the mushroom. These weren’t just “natural substances”; they were keys to a half-world where the veil between the physical and the spiritual thinned.

The Shift from Happenstance to Intention

In our modern waking state, we tend to dismiss the spirit world or entities as “not real.” We are okay with the illusion. For most of us, an altered state—be it a lucid dream or a moment of intoxication—happens by happenstance.

But for the ancient mind, these states were intentional.

A Tool of Power and Connection

Psychedelics are not all about you. While many partake with a personal reward in mind, they remain an opportunity for those wanting to communicate and heal on a spiritual level.

The ancients viewed psilocybin as a tool of power and connection. In a world that often feels disconnected and purely material, perhaps the real value of these substances isn’t in finding ourselves, but in reconnecting with the “upperworld” and “lowerworld” that our ancestors knew so well.

What do you think? Are we losing the spiritual “why” in the modern psychedelic movement?