THE SHADOW SIDE OF THE PSYCHEDELIC RENAISSANCE
INTRONAUT PERSPECTIVE
Fake Shamans, Spiritual Exploitation, and the Hijacking of Sacred Medicine
Ivan Rados - November 3. 2025
In an era of global awakening, where humanity stands at a crossroads between entrenched control and reclaimed sovereignty, the resurgence of psychedelic medicine—once guarded as a sacred portal to divine consciousness—has morphed into a chaotic wildfire. What was intended as a God-given tool for addressing deep emotional wounds, expanding perception, and fostering the soul connection to Source has been twisted into a vehicle for exploitation, harm, and even spiritual predation. This article delves into the alarming rise of self-proclaimed “shamans” and spiritual healers worldwide, exploring how this trend is often doing more damage than good, uncovering the darker forces that may be orchestrating it from unseen realms, and exposing the critical erosion of Internet integrity that fuels this deception.
A Sacred Legacy Betrayed: From Ancient Secrets to Modern Misuse
Psychedelic substances, often referred to as “spirit plant medicine,” have roots stretching back millennia in indigenous traditions, where they were used in tightly controlled rituals to facilitate healing, spiritual communion, and communal harmony. These practices were not casual; they demanded reverence, preparation, and guidance from Shamans attuned to the subtle energies involved. However, the 1960s marked a pivotal rupture. The counterculture movement, fueled by figures like Timothy Leary, popularized psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin, but this “introduction to global awareness” came without the necessary cultural or spiritual safeguards.
Behind the scenes, darker influences were at play. Declassified documents reveal secret government programs, such as the CIA’s MKUltra, which experimented with psychedelics not for enlightenment but for mind control, creating “super soldiers” and manipulating human consciousness. This unethical experimentation desacralized these medicines, stripping them of their spiritual essence and turning them into tools of psychological warfare. What began as a whisper of liberation became a roar of commodification, opening the floodgates for widespread access without wisdom. Today, this legacy manifests as a “wild west” of psychedelic use, where anyone can claim expertise, leading to a proliferation of retreats, ceremonies, and online “healing” services that prioritize profit over purity.
The Blooming of “Shamans”: A Trend Fueled by Illusion and Internet Deception
In recent years, the psychedelic movement has exploded, with a surge in so-called shamans emerging faster than the mushrooms they often administer. Global trends show a booming interest in psychedelic therapies, retreats, and “spiritual tourism,” which has become a hub for unregulated treatments. A landscape analysis of psychedelic retreat organizations highlights how this resurgence has led to increased adult use, but often without oversight, resulting in exploitation of vulnerable seekers.
The Internet has become the primary accelerator of this illusion. Social media platforms, influencer marketing, and algorithmic echo chambers amplify inauthentic expertise at an unprecedented scale. A single viral post or polished Instagram reel—complete with filtered ayahuasca visions, crystal grids, and performative vulnerability—can catapult an untrained individual into “shaman” status overnight. Internet integrity is collapsing under the weight of curated personas: shaved heads, plastic mala beads, and claims of “ancient lineage” that trace back not to indigenous elders, but to a weekend retreat in Bali or a $99 online certification.
Many of these self-appointed healers lack genuine training or personal healing. They don the trappings of spirituality to project authority, but beneath the facade lies unaddressed trauma, mental instability, or outright opportunism. As one observer notes on social media, “there’s a lot of fake shamans out there that have accidentally killed people by dosing way too high,” urging caution and thorough reviews before participating.
The authenticity crisis is not just aesthetic—it’s developmental and spiritual. Lana’s decades of psychology and psychotherapeutic expertise in early childhood development and attachment injuries reveal a clear pattern: many of these “shamans” are reenacting unresolved relational wounds. Individuals with disorganized attachment—often stemming from early neglect, abandonment, or inconsistent caregiving—gravitate toward spiritual authority roles as a compensatory mechanism. They seek to “hold space” for others because they were never safely held themselves. Without deep psychotherapeutic integration, these wounds become projected onto participants, turning ceremonies into unconscious reenactments of trauma rather than healing.
From one perspective, I’ve been contemplating this phenomenon deeply, trying to understand the motives of those in control—the entities that seek to keep people trapped in a distorted, false reality where light is used to manipulate and control consciousness. It’s a dangerous game of illusion and deception, now supercharged by digital platforms that reward spectacle over substance.
The Harms: From Psychological Wounds to Spiritual Predation
The consequences are dire. Clients arrive at our doorsteps traumatized, diagnosed with psychosis, paranoia, schizophrenia, or other disorders after botched ceremonies. Prolonged adverse effects from repeated psychedelics use, for instance, have been documented in cases where untrained facilitators push boundaries without safety nets. Unregulated psychedelic use has led to harm and even death, as investigated in hubs like Cape Town. Social media echoes these warnings: tales of “energy harvesting” through sexual manipulation in ceremonies, or influencers exposing cult-like recruitment involving drugs and coercion.
This isn’t mere incompetence; it’s a deeper crisis. The desacralization of psychedelics constitutes spiritual abuse, severing the medicines from their sacred context and inviting exploitation. I can describe it as “soul harvesting” aligns with ancient concepts of Archons—forces from invisible realms that feed on human suffering, using light as a lure for control.
Lana’s clinical lens reveals how attachment ruptures in facilitators manifest as boundary violations, emotional flooding, or narcissistic containment during ceremonies. Participants, already vulnerable, absorb these projections—leading to dissociation, psychotic breaks, or spiritual bypassing that masks deeper pathology. My work in nondual spirituality, meditation, and consciousness elevation complements this: true healing occurs at the middle point—where psychological integration meets transcendent awareness. This is not the polarized “light vs. dark” narrative sold online, but a nodualistic approach that honors the integration of shadow and light, human and divine, without collapsing into egoic inflation or spiritual dissociation.
Our Combined Path: 80 Years of Authentic Healing
From our perspective as seasoned healers with over 80 years of combined experience—rooted in this lifetime and past ones dedicated to shamanism and consciousness work—we’ve witnessed this firsthand. Lana and I have guided thousands through disease, disconnection, and inner darkness.
Lana’s foundation lies in depth psychotherapy, attachment theory, and developmental trauma resolution. She understands that secure attachment is the prerequisite for safe psychedelic exploration—without it, the medicine amplifies fragmentation rather than wholeness. Her work reveals how early relational injuries create “inner child archetypes” that untrained facilitators unconsciously activate in group settings, leading to retraumatization.
My path is rooted in nondual meditation, energy work, and consciousness elevation—guiding beings to the middle point: the still center where duality dissolves, and true sovereignty emerges. This is not the flashy “ascension” marketed online, but a grounded, embodied awakening that integrates the human nervous system with cosmic intelligence. Together, we’ve developed the Middle Point Intronaut Framework—a synthesis of attachment-informed psychotherapy and nondual spiritual practice—that prepares individuals for sacred medicine through rigorous inner work, not performative rituals.
In our Intronaut ceremonies, we’ve welcomed volunteers from all walks—accountants, lawyers, everyday seekers—to assist in group sessions of 30-40 people. These helpers, drawn to the work for their own healing, contribute meaningfully, even if imperfect. Yet, we’ve seen some venture out unprepared, running their own ceremonies without resolving their emotional wounds or attachments. Borderline personalities, bipolar individuals, and those with psychotic tendencies are now facilitating experiences, leaving participants more fractured than before—precisely because they bypassed the middle point of integration.
The Larger Spiritual Crisis: Hijacking Awakening for Profit, Power, and Digital Control
At its core, this phenomenon is a shadow movement masquerading as enlightenment. Psychedelic therapies hold promise for addressing spiritual imbalances, fears, and traumas, but when hijacked, they become tools for manipulation. Entities seeking to maintain a distorted reality exploit the trend, turning sacred medicine into a commodity for “Arco power”—a perversion where trauma is amplified rather than healed.
The Internet’s role cannot be overstated. Algorithms reward emotional intensity, not depth. A facilitator who triggers a dramatic “dark night of the soul” gets more engagement than one who facilitates quiet integration. This creates a feedback loop of trauma porn, where suffering is aestheticized, and healing is reduced to a highlight reel. Authenticity expertise—earned through decades of personal work, mentorship, and service—is drowned out by digital noise.
We’ve contemplated this deeply: the motives of controlling forces, using deception to thwart true liberation. It’s a game where volunteers with pure intentions falter, and damaged individuals damage others, all under the guise of healing—all amplified by a system that profits from division, not unity.
Shining Light on the Path Forward: Reclaiming Integrity in the Digital Age
The true essence of psychedelic medicine is sacred: a portal for transformation, not a trend for ego or exploitation. To protect seekers, we must:
• Demand Internet integrity: Verify lineage, training, and client outcomes. Support platforms that prioritize transparency over virality.
• Center attachment-aware preparation: No ceremony without psychological safety. Early wounds must be mapped and integrated first.
• Embrace the middle point: True healing is nodualistic—honoring the human and the divine without bypassing either.
• Honor reciprocity: Compensate, collaborate, and learn—never extract.
In reclaiming our divinity, we reject the shadows, choosing sovereignty over suppression. The path is narrow, but it is real.
Ivan Rados
November 3. 2025
www.intronaut.com