Shabbat Sha-room: How I Rediscovered The The Jewish Sabbath Through Psychedelics
Shabbat never meant much to me until I discovered a University research-inspired protocol for consuming magic mushrooms. Now, on Friday nights, I consume a medium-sized dose of psychedelics, close my eyes, listen to a special music soundtrack and engage in an intensely therapeutic reflection of the past week. Struggles in my personal relationships and business dealings manifest in wildly immersive daydreams; I fight, fly, and climb my way through fantastic scenarios, which resolve as insightful breakthroughs about how to better myself.
In other words, I’ve found that magic mushrooms are an indispensable tool for honoring the Sabbath’s call to personal reflection.
Now, to be clear, all of this would have sounded incredibly bizarre to me just a few years ago. Drug-ridden religious ceremonies were the opposite of everything I valued. I’m a proudly urbanized, agnostic, workaholic health nut. I regarded nearly all mind-altering drugs as dangerous; I thought structured religion was antiquated; and, I found the idea of doing nothing on Friday very stressful — I rejuvenated by basking in all of the energetic experiences of cosmopolitan life.
So, to explain the rationale for my spiritual 180, let me briefly explain the experience, the science and the protocol.
The Experience
I’ve done a wide variety of psychedelics. Acid makes me curious about everything, while Ecstasy makes me unconditionally loving.
But, magic mushrooms are my choice of drug for Shabbat because it helps me process the past week with gratitude and forgiveness.
Almost every episode, ‘shrooms reveal why I should feel a profound appreciation for everyone meaningful in my life, especially those who annoy, bore or challenge me.
As an example*, on a recent week-long tour of Israel, for the Sabbath, my group visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem, arguably the holiest place on earth for Jews. Normally a rockus place, Shabbat at the Wall is inescapably chaotic, as tourists and orthodox Jews are literally shoved together, shoulder-to-shoulder, through security checkpoints into an open-air plaza facing the remains of the ancient Temple, as they line up to place prayers on pieces of paper nestled in the ancient cracks.
Ordinarily, I would have looked down with unhinged disgust as I watched the idiocy of my fellow brothers and sisters pray over what I once regarded as a simple pile of rocks. I had been wrestling with religion the entire week prior and, yet, that night, things were different — I felt no disdain for religion.
I closed my eyes and saw a vision of the destroyed Temple being rebuilt as told in ancient lore — not by a divine entity, but literally by the scraps of paper being placed in the Wall, each prayer gradually constructing the very physical foundation of what Jews would call the next Temple. I felt, through this collective yearning, we are constructing the long-awaited messianic paradise, not as a single world-changing moment, but incrementally.
I felt an almost overwhelming gratitude for how religion pushed humans to hope for something greater than themselves.
That is, each time that I dose, the empathic powers of psilocybin reveal a newfound appreciation for humanity and the people in my life.
So, why does it work?
The Science
In just a few years, psychedelic-assisted therapy has gone from fringe idea to a priority of the American Food And Drug Administration (FDA), which has fast-tracked it for legalization as a rare “breakthrough” treatment, after randomized studies found that a single guided session with ecstasy or psilocybin could dramatically reduce mental illness in patients suffering from severe depression and PTSD.
It's not fully understood why psychedelics are so effective, but one hypothesis is that unlike traditional pharmaceutical antidepressants that mute emotions, psychedelics supercharge them. Brain scans reveal that psychedelics strengthen connections in an emotional center of the brain, the Amygdala.
Personally speaking, psychedelics force me to deal with the thoughts I’ve been skillfully avoiding all week in extraordinarily vivid ways, but, every time, I feel unusual strength in the very moments I confront the manifestations of my greatest challenges.
Even though they are effective in a few sessions, doing psychedelics with almost weekly frequency worried me. I began to research the possible long-term effects of frequent use and found that psilocybin appears to be unlike almost any other drug humans consume. Neurologically, humans cannot seem to feel the effects more than a few times every 7–14 days. Consume mushrooms more than about twice a week and they simply don’t work without a break.
And, here’s the fascinating part: our brains never tolerate to magic mushrooms and they appear to stimulate neuronal growth. A lifetime of careful psilocybin use never gets less intense, as the brain appears to be more connected with extended therapeutic use.
Evidently, this is why I can do moderate doses regularly on Fridays and feel more refreshed each time.
The Protocol
To be sure, this is not haphazard drug use; the mushrooms are carefully measured for a dose that is between 1/3rd to 2/3rds of a normal recreational dose (0.5–1 gram of dried mushrooms).
There are no hallucinations. I dose around sundown and — just as it starts to kick in — I listen to music with earphones and meditate with my eyes closed for about 30–60 minutes. The Johns Hopkins music playlist for psychedelic therapy is available here. I also like to listen to Tibetan bowl music or experience a full live sound bath when they’re available.
If done in a group, everyone doses at the same time and meditates silently to themselves for about 30 to 60 minutes.
And, one more absolutely crucial piece of advice that university researchers give to patients, as described by author Michael Pollan: do not suppress bad thoughts or unpleasant emotions. Embrace them as a friend with valuable advice. Embracing difficult thoughts can make all the difference between a bad trip and a good one. I used to be terrified of bad trips and then I learned that, with the right approach, even a rare brutally grotesque and disturbing trip, can be profoundly insightful.
Afterward, I like to journal and then it’s time for group sharing (sometimes I do this alone, other times I do it with friends). From there, the group may part ways, decide to go out dancing, or continue talking into the night.
Now, I want to be very clear: psilocybin is very risky. I was taught by professional underground guides. It is a skill that I am still mastering after years of practice.
But, for me, all that work has paid off; I was brought back to a Jewish practice with a greater appreciation than I ever imagined.
*Note: just because a location is described, it does not mean I did drugs there. Sometimes, I can experience psychedelic episodes sober. As a matter of legality, I do not detail the times or locations of use.
