This story stopped me in my tracks. Shawn Ryan former Navy SEAL and host of The Shawn Ryan Show has spoken openly about psychedelics before. Some of his previous experiences were positive. He described them as healing. But according to Shawn, his most recent experience was completely different. He says he experienced what he believed was hell. He described overwhelming fear and what he perceived as demonic entities. And according to Shawn, the experience didn’t simply end when the psychedelic wore off. After returning home, he says disturbing things began happening. He described terrifying recurring dreams involving his family, strange physical sensations, objects apparently falling or flying from walls, smoke alarms repeatedly activating and other experiences that he interpreted as spiritual manifestations. Then he revealed something extraordinary: He says he has undergone FOUR exorcisms/deliverance sessions with two different priests and that the experiences continued. Whatever you believe about the supernatural explanation, Shawn appears genuinely shaken by what happened. And his conclusion? He doesn’t want to enter that psychedelic realm again. That deserves a conversation. 🍄 “BUT PSYCHEDELICS CAN BE HEALING…” Yes. There is legitimate scientific research investigating psychedelic-assisted therapy for conditions including depression and PTSD, usually involving carefully screened participants, controlled doses and professional supervision. But there’s another side that doesn’t receive nearly as much glamorous attention. A psychedelic experience can also become terrifying. People can experience panic, paranoia, loss of their normal sense of reality, disturbing hallucinations and profound changes in perception. In uncommon cases, psychological disturbances can persist beyond the actual drug experience. And then there is the question science cannot currently answer: What exactly are people experiencing? Are the “beings,” worlds and presences reported during psychedelic states entirely generated by the brain? Are they archetypes emerging from the subconscious? Or, as some spiritual traditions and experiencers believe, does dramatically altering consciousness somehow allow perception of something normally inaccessible to us? We don’t know. And that’s exactly why I wouldn’t casually play with it. I wouldn’t state that Shawn literally “brought entities home,” because we have no way of establishing that. But I also wouldn’t dismiss the seriousness of what he says happened simply because his interpretation is spiritual. There is a huge difference between saying: “Psychedelics can produce extraordinary experiences.” and assuming: “Therefore every extraordinary experience they produce must be safe or healing.” Healing for one person does not guarantee healing for another. And even a beautiful experience yesterday doesn’t guarantee the next journey will be beautiful. Shawn himself appears to have learned exactly that. Maybe what he encountered came entirely from within his own mind. Maybe he understands it correctly within his spiritual beliefs. But when someone who previously regarded psychedelic experiences positively comes back saying essentially, “I went somewhere I never want to visit again,” I think that’s worth hearing. Some doors may be easier to open than to close. What do you believe? Can psychedelics simply change what the brain creates or could they change what consciousness is capable of perceiving? #psychedelics #energy #spirituality #awareness #awakening