Psychedelic Work

The earth has entered a new epoch – one defined by significant shifts in our consciousness. Massive changes are underway, and they’re unrelenting. They must be. Life as we have known it is not sustainable. For those awakened to this evolutionary shift, you’re likely tracking this with a curious and open heart. For those not yet aware, this can be a time of great angst, even fear, because all that we have known, is ending. There is no resisting this…these are the heaves and groans of a dying paradigm.

What’s required…
is a great and deep healing that focuses squarely on how we relate to ourselves, to the feminine, to society, and to the natural world.

The map
To assist us, many ancient and novel practices are being employed, perhaps re-created, and certainly resurrected. Psychedelic medicines are one such guide. They are designed, it seems, for these very times.
These incredible plant allies show us where we have work to do. They take us in hand, as we descend into the underworld of our psyche and (learn to) explore with curiosity and courage, “what’s there”? They help to shift and even mend the wounds that we carry, often revealing where we’re stuck, and connecting us with shadow parts that have carried the burden of our injuries. This is a wholing process.
Through this work, we learn how to shift our perspectives and open our defended hearts once more. We learn to soften, to surrender, to cry, to laugh, and to love… to love our fragmented self back into wholeness. And sometimes, these sacred plant medicines guide us into mystical realms where we touch the grace that is this life, and we remember that love is all that matters. And we are sustained.

The practice
Indigenous peoples have worked with sacred plant medicines for centuries. “Magic” mushrooms, Cannabis Sativa, Ayahuasca, Peyote, Ibogaine, 5Meo-DMT…all are given to us by the natural world. They are potent healers and teachers, and they deserve respect. Native cultures have always understood this. Their reverence for these plant allies long ago birthed the unique and ancient practices that define plant ceremonies – events that we now understand to be sacred vessels for journeying into realms of deep healing and consciousness expansion. To desacralize this practice risks diluting our connection to the spirit of the plant – and its the essence of the plant that makes it so potent.

The Centre for Medicinal Mindfulness (CMM) in Boulder, Colorado understands this. Their adoption of a transpersonal and alchemical approach to this work has birthed a sacred practice that is deeply ceremonial and  non-appropriating. In 2022 I completed training with CMM, becoming a Credentialed Sitter and Guide in July 2023. For more information on the Centre for Medicinal Mindfulness and their training program, see: https://medicinalmindfulness.org/.
I now work with Cannabis as a legal psychedelic. When used mindfully, with clear intentions (set) and in the safe container of a ceremonial space (setting), Cannabis can be a potent somatic psychedelic with capacity to release deeply held trauma from the fascia in the body.
My work as a sitter and guide is supported by a background in transpersonal psychology, Transformational Coaching, shadow work, mindfulness meditation, compassion cultivation, Hakomi, energy practices, and most recently, potent explorations involving the divine feminine and dark goddess.  These have been ideal primers for this work.

The offerings
ONE:
Psychedelic Cannabis Circles are offered through Neuma: The Centre for Social Wellness, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada where I co-sit and co-facilitate both virtual and in-person circles. 
See https://neumacentre.com/classes/ for Sampler experiences.
See https://neumacentre.com/4-day for 4-day Group Psychedelic Experience.
See https://neumacentre.com/foundations/ for a psychedelic foundations course. 

TWO:
A Cannabis Circle (CC) is provided as an integration element of The 9 Gates Project.
See https://express.adobe.com/page/PI9DlQKMkXvwG/ for The 9 Gates Project.
See https://express.adobe.com/page/0OjvF9Ien3Ji6/ for the Crystal Gate Cannabis Circle.

THREE:
One-on-one sessions are also available. Please email denise.n.fuhr@gmail.com to explore this option.
As other medicine options come online, offerings may expand. To date, training with Therapsil (Canada) has initiated the process of working with psilocybin as a medicine for end-of-life-care. This option is not currently available for bookings.

NOTE: All participants are required to bring their own medicine to the journey experience. Details are reviewed during the intake process.

The Medicine
Reframing Cannabis
Cannabis Sativa has been a maligned medicine for decades. Instigated by the “war on drugs”, she became stigmatized despite centuries of use as a potent healing agent. The work of Daniel McQueen at the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness is serving to dispel this fallacy. Through the efforts of this organization, Cannabis is returning to her rightful place as a sacred somatic plant medicine.
For those with a history of recreational Cannabis use, working with the spirit of Cannabis Sativa in a ceremonial context tends to transform how the medicine is received. The openings can be profound, with even the most seasoned user often surprised by the potency and capacity of Cannabis for deep healing. For more details on the benefits of Cannabis see “Is cannabis a psychedelic?” written by Emma Stone of Leafly: https://www.leafly.com/learn/psychedelics/is-weed-a-psychedelic

Sitting and Guiding: The basics
What is Psychedelic Sitter?
A sitter is someone who stays in contact with another person’s process while they are fully immersed in their journey, ensuring safety and holding space. As a sitter, I’ve been trained to use my nervous system to help co-regulate journey space for travelers, remaining grounded, calm, and resilient throughout the session.

What is a Psychedelic Guide?
Guide work by contrast, involves helping someone go deeper into their experience and so, more engagement can be expected during the journey. A sitter allows what’s emerging, to emerge. A guide helps the traveler to do something they wouldn’t do without support. This is achieved through use of a specific skillset that serves to deepen and enhance the experience.