Joanna Steinhardt is a freelance writer and senior editor at Ayin Press.
The first time I heard about the plant spirit of iboga, it was from a man named Barry, who told me she appeared in different forms to different people: sometimes old and maternal, sometimes young and vibrant, usually of African descent. “Mother Iboga,” he called her. And I figured he would know: Barry ran a psychedelic retrea...
The strongest version of this narrative is its exploration of the tension between scientific and spiritual explanations for psychedelic entity encounters. Steinhardt’s personal account grounds the discussion in lived experience, while the inclusion of scientific research and Indigenous perspectives provides a balanced framework. The article avoids oversimplification, acknowledging the complexity of these encounters and the limitations of both scientific and cultural interpretations. It also high...