I Felt Like 'Laying In A Puddle Of Light,' Mormon Bishop & Ex GOP Rep. Talks About His Ayahuasca Journey

As more and more public figures share their experience with certain psychedelics such as ayahuasca, people are becoming more open to embracing entheogens, and changes are starting to happen in the regulatory sense as well.

On the heels of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers revealing ayahuasca helped him achieve the “best season of his life” and to “unconditionally love” himself, comes Brad Daw, a Mormon bishop and an ex-Republican representative for Utah, sharing his story on psychedelics writes Marijuana Moment. 

During an interview on the Rex Show podcast, Daw talked about his “amazing” ayahuasca journey in Costa Rica, which helped him “feel the spirit,” and reaffirm his faith. 

What Is Ayahuasca & What Is It Used For

For those who don’t know ayahuasca is a South American (pan-Amazonian) ceremonial hallucinogenic brew from the Amazon basin, traditionally used both socially and as ceremonial spiritual medicine among the indigenous people, and in the recent period in Western culture. The brew contains a powerful hallucinogen DMT causing altered states of consciousness, including visual hallucinations and altered perceptions of reality.

When taken under appropriate guidance by an experienced shaman, it is said that ayahuasca can help people who are dealing with all sources of mental health problems.

‘Laying In A Puddle Of Light’

During an ayahuasca ceremony, Daw said, that he experienced an “overwhelming feeling of peace,” at times feeling like laying weightless “in a puddle of light.” Bishop, however, noted that the ayahuasca journey isn’t all magnificent all the time, as you first have to deal with a physical reaction to it; the brew usually induces vomiting and diarrhea. Once, you pass through it, that’s when “uplifting” things can start to happen.

For Daw, this was a “positive experience,” but as he explained at the beginning, not everyone has it like that. For some people, ayahuasca can bring a negative experience, but fortunately, it doesn’t have any long consequences, it ends there when the brew’s effects fade out.

At the end of his psychedelic journey, Daw said he felt gratitude to God, who “would keep finding ways to help his children,” and when he saw the light and was in “this bright place,” he knew that was God.

The host Rex and Daw emphasized the importance of having faith to be able to experience ayahuasca, saying that “you can’t do this medicine and not recognize there’s a higher power.” Daw, also shared an example of a “staunched atheist” who went over for the ceremony, and during it said he talked to God. After it, he became a believer and changed many things in his life.

More experiences like this, and support from public figures provide a much-needed push for further psychedelic-related regulation initiatives. When it comes to Utah, a few months ago, the state governor Spencer Cox (R) signed a psychedelic and mental health bill that would create a Mental Illness Psychotherapy Drug Task Force to study and make recommendations on the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs.

“Why would [psychedelics] not have a place in the church if we believe in using the best medicine that science has available?” Daw said on the podcast.

Interestingly though, while the bishop supports psychedelics use, his views on cannabis are not so open. On the one hand, he said that he went from skeptic to being a medical marijuana advocate, but, on the other, he still opposes recreational cannabis use.

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