Topic starter 19 August 2020 11:01
Truffle ceremony or psilocybin therapy?
In trip therapy, we utilize individual truffle ceremonies as psilocybin therapy. The two are closely related. The biggest difference between therapy under the influence of psilocybin-containing truffles and a truffle ceremony alone is the personal preparation and the fact that the truffle ceremony initially resembles talk therapy. The client's goal plays a major role in the approach.
Customer Stijn's goal
With Stijn's permission, we may share his information without his last name. After booking a psiloflora ceremony at location Psychedelic Loft in Schiedam, I asked Stijn what his goal was.
I want to approach it as spirituality: self-development.
From this answer, I gathered that the main goal was not necessarily therapy, and I suggested exploring the meaning of spirituality. I asked whether Samadhi fit his worldview.
Thanks for the movie link, I just watched the first part with great interest!
The day of the ceremony
On the day of the ceremony, before we began, we first had a good conversation about spirituality, reality, and perception, among other things. After Stijn was ready to take the psychedelics (psiloflora), we continued talking until the effects of the psilocybin peaked. This was followed by a long period of introspection. While grounding, we resumed our conversation about the experiences and the human desire to understand everything.
Therapy after all?
Although the approach seemed primarily spiritual and experiential, as you will read further on, this session actually worked therapeutically to a greater extent. This happens frequently and often makes a truffle ceremony even more valuable.
After the ceremony
In the days following the ceremony, we had email contact regarding the impact of the session, and these are the beautifully worded answers.
Ask: How was your sleep, and what were you able to write down about the session?
I slept well, not much (only about four hours), but it was enough and it was nice to leave Schiedam at dawn.
I haven't made any notes yet, but wanted to do so here 🙂
So in the beginning, there were the typical hallucinations, the start of the trip! When I lay down on the couch afterwards with my eyes closed, it became very intense, mentally and emotionally very deep (heavy), and also physically. My body often had small jerks, I was sometimes very hot and sweated a lot, and had a lot of pain in my stomach (nausea) and my heart. Mentally and emotionally, it was a fierce rollercoaster as well. But in between, there were also moments of insight and acceptance of a whole lot of things. So, although during the experience the overwhelming feeling was that I couldn't let go, afterwards it turned out that an enormous amount had actually been let go 🙂
The conversations with you afterwards were also very enlightening; I learned a lot and left illusions behind.
Immediately after you left, I had to find my way a bit. But after half an hour, I was fine and found my peace and contentment (serotonin, aaah). It took a very long time to fall asleep, but in hindsight, it turned out I didn't actually need much sleep.
Now I feel more grounded in myself, peaceful and calm, with more self-acceptance. As far as I'm concerned, mission accomplished!
So thank you very much as well for guiding the ceremony. I will definitely tell a few friends about it. Maybe there will be a sequel. Maybe not. I don't know, but it is probably written down somewhere what it will be 😉
The day after the previous message, a follow-up response arrived:
I remembered even more details and have described them below. It provides important nuances and different emphases.
I woke up nice and early again this morning. I feel my body, mind, and emotions more deeply, and everything feels more relaxed. So, if possible, I am even more satisfied with the result today!
The new version of the story:
When I lay down on the couch with my eyes closed, the hallucinations that I had initially seen on the external visual level now continued on the internal level. I saw all kinds of shapes and colors that often changed at a very rapid pace and sometimes moved very slowly or disappeared. So there weren't really any classic thoughts anymore; I was no longer thinking in sentences and words, but merely observing an enormous, indescribable visual spectacle. At one point you asked me if I understood what was happening, to which I replied that I didn't. I wasn't concerned with that either: I was simply observing it all, like a spectator in the theater. That was quite enjoyable, but also very intense. The music played a role in this as well. At one point the music became very abstract (at least, I think so) and became almost nothing but tones, pulsations, and vibrations. That continued on the visual level too: once—and I think the music stopped for a moment then—there were no visual stimuli and I was simply looking into a black void. When the pulsations of the music began, visual sensations also emerged, for example, like Lego blocks moving through the space. Here, then, there was indeed a feeling that what I heard was very strongly in accordance with what I saw; auditory and visual stimuli flowed into one another.
At a certain point, my body started reacting very strongly. It felt like a powerful cleansing was taking place, as if my body wanted to throw out a whole lot of stress. I felt a lot of fatigue being expelled, and sometimes my body would twitch a little, as if the tension in my muscles was being pushed out. I was also sweating profusely, exactly as if I were in a sweat lodge. But that also felt like toxins were being sweated out. I also felt a lot of pain in my stomach and often felt nauseous. (I had also been having a lot of stomach trouble lately, with acid reflux. So now there was probably just a lot of cleansing going on.) And tremendous pain in my heart; sometimes it was so bad that I feared I would have a heart attack and die. On top of that, I thought that would be really awful for Marcel, so I hoped it wouldn't happen. Because of that, I might also have gotten the feeling that I couldn't let go properly. Although a whole lot was actually being let go during this whole process. Mentally and emotionally, it was also very intense at the time; it was a real rollercoaster, and a lot was let go. In between, however, there were moments of insight and acceptance of who I am. The latter was also accompanied by strong feelings for my father and mother, who also accepted me more as I am. Music played a role here too; at the end, for example, there was a piece of music where a woman sang classical music. That felt very comforting, as if I were being placed in the warm arms of my friends who loved me and cared for me.
At the beginning of that intense period, you had told me that it was good to go inward, and so I continued to do so, even though it was very intense. But I still had the feeling that something good was happening, and that was clear afterwards, because I felt how calm and relaxed I had become.
There was also the occasional feeling of dying and being reborn, although that was more of a feeling than an actual visual or sensory experience. Something of that lingered afterwards as well: the feeling of being able (or forced) to start my life over again. Everything could take a new turn, and it all depends on my choices. Making decisions isn't really my strong suit, so at a certain point, I was really struggling with that: what should I do now? Even about simple things like which bed should I lie in, should I eat now, should I make dinner now, should I take a shower? But after a while, it became clear to me that something always happens: at some point, I am lying in a certain bed, there is food, and time to shower. Things happen as they are supposed to happen, and it is easier now to just deal with it.
Conclusion
Stijn surrendered completely to the experience, and it is precisely that surrender that leads to the most beautiful results. Letting life happen as it should can bring us so much. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Stijn immensely for his trust and for his willingness to share his story.
