Double Blind #11

It is a challenging moment in human history. What does this have to do with psychedelics? Again and again, we find in research and anecdotal reports that the most profound psychedelic experiences often illuminate the connectivity of all things, from the plants and fungi to the global village of humans who we will never meet—and whose stories we may never hear. As we contend with what’s unfolding before us, inevitably, grief and overwhelm emerge. It’s easier to turn away. But widely-accepted wisdom in the psychedelic world—from curanderos serving plant medicines ceremonially to underground therapists—is that the only way out is through. In this issue, we center voices that are looking into the heart of the darkness, and offering tools—cultivated over generations—for finding that way through. As always, our 11th edition also seeks to embrace play, mysticism, and whimsy—we go into a vast underground network of caves in the Ecuadorian Amazon rumored to contain evidence of an advanced civilization lost to history and under the sea where there’s, allegedly, more than one type of fish that makes people trip. Like the human experience, the psychedelic experience often encompasses a spectrum of feeling—and we hope the magazine reflects that, as you embark on a journey throughout its pages.