šŸ’§ Has the psychedelic hype bubble burst? The latest setback for legal psychedelic therapy

PLUS, aliens might be real. And here.

Welcome back to The Drop In, DoubleBlindā€™s newsletter serving up psychedelics news, culture, events, and knowledge straight to your inbox.

Todayā€™s featured story is about the ā€œMe Tooā€ movement catching up with the Santo Daime ayahuasca church. If youā€™re unfamiliar, Santo Daime is a syncretic spiritual tradition that originated in the Amazon region of Brazil in the early 20th century. It blends elements of Christianity with Indigenous shamanism and has received an exemption from the Controlled Substances Act to conduct ayahuasca ceremonies legally in the US. You can read the story by Jules Evans below!

Todayā€™s newsletter is packed with timely stories, including one about the layoffs and restructuring happening at Compass Pathways.

You also still have time to sign up for our free workshop on working with Amanita muscaria for the Winter Solstice. Itā€™s hosted by the inimitable Ash Ritter ā€” you donā€™t want to miss it. Learn more here!

Trip long and prosper šŸ–– ,

Mary CarreĆ³n
Senior Editor

Together With North Spore

Lord of the Fungus: Level-Up Your Mushroom Grow Game

What do you get someone who has already tasted the dank power of cultivating your own mushrooms?

One room to grow them all!

The BoomRoom is a self-contained, fully automated mushroom fruiting and incubation chamberā€“ā€“the ultimate lab for your favorite myco-nerd. It gives you optimal control of humidity, CO2 levels, fresh air exchange, and spore filtration.

Itā€™s 5 whole shelves of fungal glory! It gives you the space to experiment with all the strains, species, and substrates youā€™ve always dreamed of. 

(Homemade penis-envy-lionā€™s-mane-cordyceps-turkey tail chocolates anyone? Or maybe a ghost-shiitake-pesto patĆ©?)

And who knows, mushrooms are booming right nowā€¦ maybe it could even be the first step towards a lucrative side hustle. 

Some mushrooms, for example, sell for ~$10/g. That's $4500 per pound. If you conservatively got a half pound per shelf, with 5 shelves, thatā€™s $11.5k for each harvest, every 6-8 weeks šŸ¤”

Use the code DOUBLEBLIND10 to save 10% at checkout! (the code works for the whole site, so feel free to shop around! They have cultivation resources for all skill levels)

Santo Daime's MeToo Moment

A lawsuit in Brazil, decades of earlier incidents, and wider questions about safety in psychedelic churches.

Santo Daime is an ayahuasca religion from Brazil. It was founded in the 1930s after a rubber tapper had a vision of the Virgin Mary. Itā€™s a syncretic fusion of Christianity, African spiritism, and indigenous ayahuasca shamanism. It has rapidly grown around the world in the last decade, but now, a senior leader in Brazil is facing multiple sexual assault accusations. 

Itā€™s sparking essential conversations about safety, accountability, and healing beyond just Santo Daime and within the global Aya movement.

According to Jonathan Goldman, founder of a Santo Daime church in Oregon:

"Basically, the MeToo movement is belatedly catching up with the Daime world. Paulo Roberto is not the only male leader or member of a Daime church being outed as a predator. We are collectively in a moment of reckoning that has been a long time in coming. "

On the one hand, itā€™s another blow to the psychedelic movement, already reeling from the FDAā€™s denial of MDMA therapy. On the other, itā€™s a critical reminder of the work needed to ensure sacred spaces remain safe and aligned with the values of respect, integrity, and mutual care that plant medicine teaches. Read the full feature story here.

Our Latest

Has the psychedelic hype bubble burst? Compass Pathways announced major layoffs, delays in psilocybin trials, and a sharp stock plunge amid losses. When the FDA denied MDMA-assisted therapy earlier this year, the shockwaves throughout the psych-delic industry were immediate and apparent. What does this mean for the future of psychedelic therapy? Get the inside scoop here.

& More Must-Reads

Get The Magazine

Get the worldā€™s most psychedelic magazine AND support independent journalism

Issue No. 12 of DoubleBlindā€™s print magazine is now shipping! And itā€™s just in time for the cozy winter days of drinking tea and reading.

Get the best of independent psychedelic journalism, photography, and more delivered right to your doorstep.

Learn with Us

šŸŒ‘ The darkest night of the year is just around the cornerā€”a perfect opportunity for taking a fiercely compassionate look at the darker sides of ourselves. According to the great psychologist Carl Jung, oneā€™s Shadow is the key to the greatest gifts and the unfolding of our highest potentials. Hereā€™s how to get started.


šŸŒ¼ Known as ā€œthe flower of paradiseā€, khat contains a natural stimulant often branded as ā€œbath saltsā€ to get around regulations. Get the full scoop on this East African plantā€™s unlikely entanglement in the War on Drugs, terrorist organizations, and more. 


šŸ• Magic mushrooms can be a bit of an ā€œacquired tasteā€. From smoothies to pizza, here are some of our favorite ways to keep your tummy and tastebuds happy.

DoubleBlind Digs

Here are todayā€™s recommendations to help you live more psychedelicallyā€¦ 

  1. Small, consistent effort often makes the biggest shifts in life. Join this 30-day kanna microdosing journey with our friends at KA! According to them, 86% of people who take KA! consistently for ā€“30 days experience noticeable shifts in their mood, sense of calm, empathy, sleep, focus, and energy levels. It runs from Jan 19 - Feb 16th. Join the Journey here.

  2. Do you serve people as a psychedelic facilitator, guide, or coach? Check out this free client-attraction masterclass for psychedelic facilitators on Dec 13th.

  3. Want to cultivate a deeper relationship with fungi? Or maybe just a gift for a mushroom nerd in your life? This mycologist-written Mushroom Cultivation Journal transforms the complex process of growing mushrooms into an accessible, intentional, and reflective process.

Together With Allies Botanicals

Botanical Support for the 4 Phases of a Psychedelic Experience

Alliesā€™ Journey Collection offers 4 precisely formulated tinctures for each phase of a healthy psychedelic experience: Centering, Grounding, Integrating, and Sustaining. Alliesā€™ organic tinctures keep you balanced and open so you can focus on the magic.

Latest Youtube Video

The term ā€œheroic doseā€ was originally coined by legendary ethnobotanist and mouthpiece-of-the-mushroom Terrance McKenna. But what exactly is it? And why would you do it? Taking a heroic dose is a big decision and should not be done lightly. In this video, we cover everything you need to know about taking a gigantic dose of psychedelic mushrooms.

Around the Web

  • Decompress from holiday stress with these surprisingly psychedelic time-lapse videos of flowers exposed to fire, ice, and ink.

  • MAPS just launched the ultimate psychedelic playlist project called ā€œMusic is The Bridge,ā€ with curated playlists from some of the most iconic psychedelic musicians and producers (including one from MAPS president Rick Doblin). Check it out here.

  • Aliens are a recurring theme in psychedelia. Now, in a series of wild congressional hearings, Pentagon insiders have essentially claimed aliens are real, and they are here. The last paragraph of this declassified document ends with ā€œbe not afraidā€ ā€”the exact words used by angels appearing to humans in The Bible šŸ˜³

How was today's Drop In?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

šŸ’Œ If you loved this email, forward it to a psychonaut in your life.