I won’t pretend to be one of those North American hippies who is searching for the psychedelic transcendence of an aboriginal shaman. The closest I came was my teenage mushroom phase, and that crashed and burned a long time ago, probably because I was searching for oblivion, not wisdom. But I am fascinated with the traditional process of connection to the universe, and the plants that make that connection possible. I do believe that there are doorways in the human mind that can only be opened through the use of certain substances, ones that close the door to one reality as they open the door to another. Photographer Swiatoslaw Wojtkowiak travels around the world capturing these moments of mental transition and spiritual healing with reverence and respect, and his photos are magical. He documents his and others’ journey to better understand shamanism and its global forms. Take a look at some ancient sacred practices still alive in the modern world, and see more and read his stories on his blog.
