Advice of the Plants

A Psychonaut’s Guide to Healing. Thirty thousand words on what the medicines showed me about myself, written over years of ceremony.

I did not plan to write a book. The medicines did not ask me to write one either. But after years of sitting in ceremony, the notes kept piling up: what I felt, what I feared, what the vine showed me about my own story, and how little of it I had understood before.

This book is that notebook, shaped into a journey. It moves from my first cup of ayahuasca through the dieta, the fear, the surrender, the nights with San Pedro in the mountains, and the long walk back into ordinary life. It is honest about the hard parts, because the hard parts are where the medicine lives.

It is written for the person who is curious but afraid, and for the person who has already sat and is trying to make sense of it. If that is you, this book is for you.

Part One - The Frame

Why I’m Writing This
Who This Book Is For
What’s in This Book
What Is Healing?
Do We Need Healing?

Part Two - Why We Are Wounded

How We Develop
Outer Woke vs. Inner Woke
The Hollywood and Hero Trap
Don’t Shame Your Ego
The Humble Trap
The Hippie Trap
Science Can Lead Us Astray
The Mind and the Emotions

Part Three - The Work

Basic Safety and Feeling Safe
Do You Need a Shaman?
Diet and Preparation
The Power of the Plants
Setting Your Intention
Grounding
Somatic Focusing
Breathwork
Fear Is Not a Boundary
The Only Way Out Is Through
Fusion vs. Fission
When Change Knocks on Your Door
A Note on Activism in the Circle

Part Four - Coming Home

The Phases of Healing
Trauma Is Your Teacher
Transitioning from Altered States
Establishing Daily Sober Practices
Appreciating Past Experiences
The Closing Word

Core Breath