Hi Reader, 🍄 Raves, Ceremonies & Psychedelic Healing Can a rave heal your childhood trauma? Might seem like a strange question, but science is starting to say... yes. A recently published 2025 study tracked 85 people with rough childhoods. They took psychedelics in two settings: traditional ceremonies and modern raves. No therapist’s couch or clipboard. Both groups showed significant drops in trauma symptoms and shame, as well as stronger feelings of connection. The improvements lasted...
8 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, ☀️ Happy Summer Solstice! Have a wonderful longest day of the year! 🍄 The Set That Saved The Trip Last weekend I went to Manchester for Outbreak Festival; an independent music festival built on hardcore punk and chaos. While Outbreak started as a hardcore punk festival, it’s grown over the years and now there's all kinds of other genres too. Even still, pretty much at any given time, there’s still a hardcore band on stage somewhere and someone swinging fists in a pit. On the...
18 days ago • 2 min read
🍄 Your ears are a portal Hi Reader, Have you ever considered that one of the keys to unlocking deeper psychedelic experiences might simply be… listening? Listening goes beyond just hearing. It's an intentional, mindful act that can transform your psychedelic journeys. It can bring you back to the present moment and amplify the depth of your experiences. When we truly tune in, we can can change the level of our awareness. This can result in making emotions clearer, insights sharper, and...
26 days ago • 2 min read
🍄 What’s your entrance music? Hi Reader, If you were a wrestler, what would your entrance music be? A friend asked this question in a group chat recently and I loved it. It’s a fun one to think about, and I’ve been asking people ever since. See, it’s gotta be a track that gets you hyped. Makes you feel strong, ready, fired up. Cause that's how you wanna be feeling when you're heading down to the ring to lay some smack down. I even made a little playlist of my favourite entrance music tracks...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
🍄 Self-care or self-sabotage? Hi Reader, I was recently looking at a model of psychedelic integration from the MAPS Integration Station, and one thing caught my eye, this idea of self-care vs self-challenging. Synthesized Model of Integration- Bathje, Majeski, & Kudowor (2022) We know self-care is important. We know that we need gentleness with ourselves. Especially right after intense journeys. But sometimes the idea of 'self-care' can also be a mask. A way to justify laziness. A way to...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome to this week's Maps of the Mind Newsletter... 🍄 First Steps To Psychedelics The biggest barrier to positive psychedelic experiences isn't the substances themselves, but a lack of informed guidance. While this newsletter often explores topics for the seasoned psychonaut already on the path, today's newsletter focuses on providing the essential foundation: the first steps into psychedelics. Entering the world of psychedelics can feel overwhelming, but thoughtful first steps...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome to this week's Maps of the Mind Newsletter... 🍄 인연 (Inyeon): Threads of Connection Some people enter your life for a moment and stay with you forever. A glance, a sentence, a strange moment of timing.Something brings you together, and somehow, in some way, they stay with you. There’s a word for that in Korean: 인연 - Inyeon Inyeon means something like fateful connection. It refers to the invisible threads that tie people together. The sense of meaningful encounters. A scroll...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
🍄 The Let Me Theory Hi Reader, After last week’s Let Them newsletter, a few of you wrote back and let me know that the idea resonated with you. The idea was simple but deep: Let other people make their choices and live their lives, and stop making it your job or responsibility to manage or control what they are doing. I mentioned the book that inspired the newsletter, The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins. Turns out the book is actually in two parts. Let Them, and... Let Me. Let Them is about...
2 months ago • 2 min read
🍄 The Let Them Theory Hi Reader, I was walking past Waterstones the other day when I spotted a book in the window called The Let Them Theory. The title caught my attention. It reminded me of a psychedelic journey I had some years ago, one that gave me a message so clear I couldn’t ignore it. The message was: It’s time to stop being around this person. It was as clear as day, a 'directive' from the mushroom (and/or my wisest self), as we sometimes receive them. Simply put, the person was...
2 months ago • 2 min read