The 2022 Netflix docu-series, “How to Change Your Mind,” based on Michael Pollan’s book has been getting rave and rabid reviews on social media. Have you started watching it yet?

While I have formerly avoided controversy, lately I’ve found myself commenting and sharing my thoughts openly on social media — along with some very controversial views.

I would prefer to see more diverse voice and faces in this documentary (the whitewashing of psychedelics is tedious!) I’m grateful that his book and the series are opening up minds to the healing power of sacred medicines and their synthesized allies.

But…

“We can’t start history of psychedelics in the ‘60s in the Americas; that needs to stop. We [indigenous people] used this medicine before Jesus Christ walked this Earth.” – Lisa M. Macias Red Bear

One of my main gripes with this series and the book, is that Michael Pollan has profited and become one of the most popular spokespersons for sacred medicines that have belonged to indigenous people for thousands of years without giving them sufficient credit.

His book missed a lot of opportunities to highlight and honor the indigenous wisdom keepers who have served sacred medicine in healing ceremonies for millennia— which the Netflix series addresses somewhat.

Here, Pollan is shown with ceremony leader and wisdom keeper, Erika Gagnon.

Now for another controversial point: Is it possible that sacred plants and fungi are using the patriarchy to proliferate?

Many people demonize the white bodied people who are appropriating and exploiting indigenous people and their land to benefit from ayahuasca, peyote, iboga, kambo and bufo.

Playing devil’s advocate for a moment… I wonder if cis-het white men, like Michael Pollan, Time Ferris, and Joe Rogan, are also being used by the plants, cacti, fungi, and frogs to help usher in the elevation of consciousness.

I’m not saying that there is not a reckoning due for white people’s behavior — there absolutely needs to be more respect, honor, and recognition of women, indigenous wisdom keepers, and BIPOC. Reparations would also be high on my list of anti-racist actions we need to see.

I’m grateful that the people of the global majority are fired up and are not taking the colonial, capitalist exploitation sitting down. We are standing up and speaking up.

Could this be what these sacred allies wanted all along?

Psychedelics have helped me to reclaim my sovereignty and become more authentic in my self-expression. I have healed from a lifetime of PTSD and childhood trauma thanks to ayahuasca and psilocybin mushrooms. And this is one reason why I decided to add this to my healing practice.

It was while sitting in ceremony with the master plant, ayahuasca, I was able to release fear around success and wealth. And adopting a healthy perspective around wealth is something I’m sharing with others now, too.