When to share about your mystical experiences
As we dive into our medicine healing journeys, I often get the question, “With whom, and when is it appropriate to share your medicine experience with others?”
I get this question a lot and it’s a good one! After such a profound and life changing event, it’s normal to want to call all of your friends and family members and divulge every last detail. For many, their first ceremony can be one of the most important moments in their entire life. It seems counterintuitive to keep it all to themselves, especially when their downloads could help others on their own journey. While communication with others about one’s medicine journey is a deeply personal decision, I’ve included some reflections below to ponder:
1. The sacred nature of this work: I was told long ago by my first spiritual teacher that there are some insights we receive that just shouldn’t be shared – God, Nature, Universe, Cosmic (pick your personal word here) downloads where there’s a deep understanding within that the information shouldn’t be shared, and that doing so would decrease its magnitude. I’ve had several of those moments and it’s important to contain them within and continue to hold that knowledge as part of your beingness. With our limited means of communicating through language, the other person couldn’t possibly understand the depth or nature of the experience. I call those God moments – a transmission that is ours and ours alone.
2. Trust and Openness: Choose to share with people you truly trust and feel comfortable with – especially people who have done or are currently doing this kind of work, as they’ll truly “get it.” Sharing personal experiences, especially those involving sacred medicines, can be a vulnerable act. Ensure that the person you are sharing this with is trustworthy and non-judgmental. Gauge how open you think they are to this work and proceed with caution if they are more close minded.
3. Timing: You may want to wait until you’ve had time to reflect on your experiences and integrate any insights or lessons gained from them before sharing with others. A good rule of thumb is to wait on any really big discussion or conversations till one month after the ceremony. For instance, maybe the medicine told you to sell your home and get a divorce! You may want to really settle into this decision before sitting down with your husband to have this conversation.
4. Intent and Purpose: Before you divulge all of your innermost material, consider your reasons for sharing. Are you doing it to educate, inform, or raise awareness about the benefits of these sacred medicines? Or are you simply sharing to receive support, get a reflection or hope for further insight? Understanding your intent can guide your decision.
5. Context: The context in which you share your experiences matters. Are you discussing this in a casual conversation, a therapeutic setting, a support group, or a public forum? Different contexts may require different levels of discretion. It’s usually best to digest this first with your Guide or within a therapeutic container to help make sense of your experience before sharing it more broadly with others.
6. Personal Readiness: Make sure you are personally ready to discuss your experiences. Sharing can be emotionally taxing, so be prepared for potential reactions and questions. This can especially be the case if you share on forums such as social media, where people have a lot of opinions (I don’t recommend this!). Make sure you are grounded in your own truth and have enough resources and energy to field whatever may come your way.
7. Respecting Privacy: It’s really important to respect the privacy of others who may have been involved in your experiences. This could include the information of your Guide, content that came up within your journey about someone, or material that someone shared within a group ceremony. Make sure not to share their personal information or experiences without their consent.
8. Stigma: Unfortunately people need to recognize that there is still a stigma associated with sacred medicines. Be prepared for potential judgment, misunderstanding, or criticism from those who have negative views on the subject. Again, point number 2 is important – only share with people you trust and who you perceive to be open minded.
9. Legal and Safety Considerations: It’s important to be aware of the legal status of sacred medicines in your geographic area. Sharing your experiences could potentially have legal consequences, depending on the substance and your location. It’s also important to ensure that you and the person you are entrusting with this information are in a safe and controlled environment when discussing these experiences.
I hope this was helpful in outlining some key factors that I consider when deciding to share about my own personal experiences. It’s a deeply personal call and I hope this list makes you ponder your motivations along with some potential consequences. My hope is that someday soon this work will be more part of mainstream culture and spoken about at family dinner tables. However, it is still up to you how personal you want to go with your most intimate moments. Sometimes the most fruitful thing you can do is keep this newfound wisdom and magic to yourself.
