Sharing this story because a) I think it's good for noobs to be aware that even drugs largely viewed as "safe" by many practitioners can lead to death in rare cases and b) I want to highlight how dangerous it can be to put your life in the hands of a grifter.

Be very careful when choosing a shaman - many who claim to be such are just con artists with no concern for your well-being and safety.

The woman who died had "sought out magic mushrooms as an alternative treatment for anxiety and, in the hours after ingesting the substance, went into cardiac arrest and needed resuscitation at home. She was taken to hospital, where she died a short time later."

As the article notes, "deaths caused by magic mushrooms are rare and occur mostly due to traumatic accidents or self-injury while under the influence of the drug" but it also mentions that a 2024 National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre study did find that some deaths were caused by an apparent acute toxic reaction after psilocin ingestion.

It's not clear why this woman died (a formal inquest is about to begin) but it IS clear that her shaman withheld information and didn't mention to paramedics that she'd ingested mushrooms.

I find that outrageous. When someone is experiencing an acute medical crisis, you give the paramedics/hospital all the information you have so people can do their jobs. This dude was just saving his own skin.

Unfortunately, these kinds of unscrupulous pracitioners are not rare in spiritual spaces.

Be safe out there, everyone.

edit: A retrospective study of the characteristics and toxicology of cases of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)- and psilocybin-related death in Australia https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.16518

No one is claiming these outcomes are a common occurrence, but let's not make silly statements like 'it's impossible'.

It’s July! We’re pinning a fresh Death Anxiety Megathread here at the top of the board. This will stay up all month long so anyone who needs a place to talk about death dread, panic, or the big questions can always find it.

Resources

Some death anxiety resources are located here in our wiki (which is still under construction, so bear with us!)

Some death anxiety journal prompts to try:

If you’re the kind of person who connects through symbol, inner landscape or ancestral reflection, these prompts may resonate.

• What part of me believes I must understand death before I’m allowed to feel peaceful?
• Where am I already half absent from my life because I’m afraid of losing it?
• If my death anxiety had an age, how old would it be?

Don’t worry about making it poetic or insightful. Just start and follow where it leads. 💜

Somatic self-regulation tools

The following aren’t affirmations or thought exercises. They’re body-based ways to regulate your nervous system when death anxiety starts to take over. They work well for anyone living with heightened sensitivity.

• Sit or lie down and press your palms together firmly. Notice the pressure, warmth, and pulse between them. Let that pulse remind you that life is moving through you.
• Slowly trace the outline of your own hand with a finger. As you do, breathe in on the upward stroke, and breathe out on the downward stroke.

These aren’t magickal cures, but they are tools. Use them when you can. The more you do, the better and faster they tend to work.

This thread is open to all death anxiety experiences, whether you’re panicking about nothingness, stuck in existential dread, or just freaked out by the fact that - whatever this is - isn’t forever.

We’ll try to carry it together.

♥︎ Sibbie

Welcome to our July Grief Support Megathread. We’ve created this support space for things that feel too heavy to hold alone, are too hard to say out loud, or feel 'too small' to make a full post about.

Your grief doesn’t have to be new and it doesn’t have to be for a person, it might also be for a pet, life change, etc. You don’t have to explain it, you don’t have to make it make sense and you're not limited by how often you can post here. If it hurts, it matters and you’re welcome in this space.

Resources

Some grief support resources are located here in our wiki (which is still under construction, so bear with us!)

Journal prompts for grief

These prompts aren’t here to solve grief or make it smaller. They’re invitations to sit alongside it in whatever form it’s taking today. Write, draw, or let them just float in your mind...whatever feels possible.

• Who was I before this grief, and who am I becoming now?
• How can I honor this grief without letting it erase me?
• What did this person (pet, relationship, etc.) teach me?

There’s no 'good' way to answer. Simply showing up is enough.

Somatic support for grief

Grief often hides in the body - in the breath, in the spine, in the weight of the shoulders. These small practices can help:

• Press your hand lightly to the center of your chest. With each breath, imagine a small light expanding behind your palm. No pressure to feel better, just observing.
• Wrap a blanket or shawl around your shoulders and imagine it as an embrace from someone who has loved you deeply. Breathe into that warmth for awhile.
• Let your shoulders rise toward your ears, then exhale and let them drop completely. Feel gravity doing part of the work for you.

These aren’t meant to 'fix' grief, they’re just ways to remind your body it doesn’t have to hold everything at once.

This thread is for whoever needs it today. Write a single word, tell a story, post a song lyric, or just be quietly present. We see you.

♥︎ Sibbie

When her mother passed after battling Alzheimer’s, Suzanne Simard turned to the forest and her research into how trees support one another to help process her grief.

Siberian rock art has been studied for decades, but it has rarely been linked to the diverse and rich cultural histories of the people who made it. However, a recent study published in Time and Mind argues that images of shamans may link back to initiation rituals, in which novices are sent into the heart of the mountains.

https://sciencex.com/news/2026-06-shamans-link-siberian-rites.html

This is a few years old but the photos are stunning and it's still a good read.

Inspired by the work of Phillips and Pereira, Lanfranchi completed this project with the Asháninka people of Apiwtxa as an example of how ancestral knowledge and modernity can coexist in harmony: a true model for a sustainable future

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jun/04/the-forest-knows-the-amazon-village-with-a-message-for-the-world-a-photo-essay

Written for an Australian audience, but a great breakdown for anyone to read.

Members of MAHKU live in a remote area of the Amazon and use ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic brew, to create paintings that represent their traditional songs. They have exhibited their work in cities such as Venice, Paris, and São Paulo, yet their culture remains undervalued in Brazil.

Art made with ayahuasca

All of MAHKU’s drawings and paintings represent their traditional songs. They create the art after drinking ayahuasca, an infusion prepared with plants from the Amazon. It has hallucinogenic properties, and the Huni Kuin people also use it for rituals and healing.

https://theworld.org/stories/2026/02/26/how-a-brazilian-indigenous-group-uses-art-to-fight-for-survival