🔮 More Mystical = Deeper Healing

👋 Welcome

Hi friends!

As July winds down, this week’s stories hit closer to the core: eating disorders, OCD, retreat safety, and the politics of access. Psychedelics aren't just disrupting mental health, they're rewriting the manual on suffering, healing, and who gets to participate.

It’s a week that asks more than it answers, but if you’re into hard questions, cautious hope, and the occasional policy curveball, you’re in the right place.

🔝 Weekly Highlights

• 🍽️ New hope for eating disorders through psychedelics and cannabis
  Emerging research points to psychedelics and cannabis as potential tools in treating eating disorders by modulating brain circuits tied to appetite, mood, and emotional regulation. Read more
  

• 🧠 One small dose for man, one big win for OCD
  A 10mg psilocybin session significantly eased OCD symptoms - proof that even low doses pack a neurochemical punch. Study here
  

• 🌿 What you need to know to find a safe & ethical psychedelic retreat
  Finding a safe psychedelic retreat is a jungle. This comprehensive guide has the machete. Navigate wisely
  

• 🗳️ Gov. Newsom supports psychedelics, but is wary of late-stage capitalism
  California’s governor backs therapy expansion but fears the corporate trip could go sideways. Fun Fact: Newsom vetoed a 2023 bill that included broad decriminalization. Watch the Shawn Ryan interview

🧬 Quick Hits

RESEARCH 🔬

• 🍽️ Psychedelics on the menu — Psychedelics alter hunger and mood signals in the hypothalamus. Read on
  

• 🧠 Cognitive tests miss the mark — Psilocybin might seem to impair thinking, but maybe it’s the tests that are tripping. Explore the paradox

POLICY 🏛️

• 📜 Czech Republic legalizes medical psilocybin — President Petr Pavel signed the bill. Shroom boom incoming. Details here
  

• 🧬 Montana says “yes” to experimental substances — Their new centers could approve treatments based on Phase I data alone. Full scoop

BUSINESS 📈

• 🚀 ATAI surges with promising depression trial — The biotech unicorn hit a mid-stage win in psychedelic drug development. Market watch
  

• 📉 Oregon sees decline in facilitator licenses — Q2 saw fewer facilitator applications and approvals. Track the trends

CULTURE 🎭

• 📣 Psychedelics PR problem? — When it comes to access, it's often who’s talking, not what they say. Check it out
  

• 🍄 Fungi are intelligent, but are they conscious? — New research sparks debate on whether mushrooms can learn, remember, and make decisions. Some call it science. Others call it a stretch. Read more

🌈 Main Features

1. ✨ Can Mystical Experiences Predict Who Psilocybin Will Help Most?

A growing body of research says yes. In a new study on treatment-resistant depression, participants who had intense mystical experiences during their psilocybin sessions - think ego dissolution, emotional breakthrough, and deep interconnectedness - reported the strongest clinical improvements weeks later.

These are more than just side effects. Researchers believe the depth of the experience may be central to the healing process, helping patients break rigid patterns of thought and connect to a renewed sense of self or purpose. It’s pushing clinicians to rethink preparation and integration - not just dosing protocols, but how to support someone in surrendering to the unknown.

👉 See the research

2. 🌀 Do Stronger Doses Unlock Stronger Meaning?

Researchers analyzing both clinical trials and naturalistic reports found a clear pattern: higher psychedelic doses are linked to stronger increases in life meaning, purpose, and psychological well-being. Whether in a lab or the wild, people who took more reported deeper shifts in perspective that stuck around.

But more isn’t always better - it’s just different. Higher doses bring more emotional intensity and often, more challenge. That’s why integration is everything. The study highlights the importance of having support in place, especially as higher-dose experiences gain traction in therapeutic and ceremonial settings. Psychedelics can shake your world - but with the right scaffolding, they can also rebuild it.

👉 Read the study

💡 Honorable Mention

📣 The conversation is changing - and fast!

A new editorial in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs traces how the psychedelic narrative is evolving - from fringe subcultures to clinical science, and from personal healing to collective responsibility.

It’s not just what’s being said, but where it’s being said. A 2025 analysis of over 600,000 Reddit posts found that psychedelics are now discussed more positively than alcohol or even cannabis. Once whispered in secrecy, these conversations are now happening out loud - and online.

As more voices join the dialogue, therapists, policy makers, biotech execs, Reddit users, and trauma survivors, the challenge is keeping the narrative rooted in equity, context, and care.

👉 Read the editorial

🎁 Psychedelic Utility Belt

• 📊 Who’s shaping the trip? — Meet the movers, shakers, and changemakers in the Most Influential People in Psychedelics. See the list
  

• 🧳 Take LSD like a pro — A no-nonsense guide to having a good, safe LSD trip. Read now

👋 Signoff

I want to end on this note.

The conversation around psychedelics is growing — fast. More people are coming forward and publicly sharing their stories, their struggles, their healing. And many are doing it with a clear purpose: to make this space safer, more accessible, and grounded in care.

We’re entering a new era. One where responsible use is finally taking center stage. And this conversation? It’s only going to get louder, wider, and more vital.

Thanks for being part of this growing movement!

As we push for access, understanding, and real change, remember: the most profound journeys often start with something simple — being kind.

To yourself.

And to each other.

✅ No one can stop you from seeing what’s delivered directly to your email. 

You’re already subscribed - congratulations!

You beat the algorithm 😉 

Thank you for joining us as we continue to navigate this ever-changing landscape.

P.S. Explore what they don’t want you to see - check us out on X (Twitter) and Instagram, and dive deeper into all things psychedelic on our website. 🌐✨