Life after sh*t the Moon Said
Sh*t The Moon Said is the nonfiction chronicle of my business partner and close personal friend Gerard Powell’s life changing experience with plant medicine, and how it led to us founding Rythmia Life Advancement Center in Costa Rica. The book familiarizes readers with the concepts of plant medicine and soul separation, as well as giving an example of the type of transformation that plant medicine can provide.
Gerry’s book does a great job of sharing the difficult and intimate details of who he was and how plant medicine helped him create the man that he is today. But Sh*t the Moon Said doesn’t even mention that between Gerry’s first plant medicine ceremony and the founding of Rythmia, Gerry convinced yourstruly to head down to Costa Rica to undergo my own ceremony.
At first the idea of me using plant medicine didn’t make any sense, it was like having a prescription without any diagnosis. But at this point in my life, I couldn’t possibly imagine where I would be without plant medicine.
Before he left for his first trip to Costa Rica I was working with Gerry, trying all sorts of different things, none of it was working. So when he told me he was going to Costa Rica to do plant medicine I didn’t expect it to stick, but only because I had spent five years treating Gerry and seeing him progress by leaps and bounds before hitting the strip club to do some drugs. But I told him, “Go for it, try anything.”
So, as those of you who read Sh*t the Moon Said know that this is when the trajectory of Gerry’s life completely changed. Gerry’s ceremony revealed to him things he had never realized about himself, he overcame traumas and lifelong heartache that he had repressed to the point he had no memory of them.
Gerry was nervous when he came back because he didn’t know how to interact with normal people anymore, he was almost a completely different person. When I first saw him he just looked healthier, no drugs on his clothes or bimbos in eyesight.
I told him what I felt, “It did not work. You’ll be back to your screwed up self in days.” It had been five years, I’d gotten used to his unique cycle of being healthy and then suddenly unhealthy. But I saw him again in Malibu a few days later and he still just looked different. He told me “Guess what? You’re going down there.”
I immediately refused, why would I need to go to Costa Rica to do Plant Medicine. I wasn’t an addict, I wasn’t an asshole, and I had already been through the sixty-five sessions of required therapy for my doctorate, in general I had my life together. I told him, “I’m fine, I don’t need plant medicine.
But Gerry let me know, “You’re on the payroll, you’re going.”
So I was on my way, and I was frightened. I did not know what to expect, I had never done psychedelics. I was not a huge drinker or smoker, I just was not a drug guy. I am a doctor, I didn’t see the advantage to altering my perception. While people would party in college, I would study. It was definitely not my scene, very far from my comfort zone.
But the ceremony was life changing, following my experience I didn’t know how to feel. It was almost like all of my studying and degrees were useless, I had just undergone a decade of therapy in a single night. My entire worldview was changed, I immediately understood the therapeutic and spiritual potential of plant medicine.
It was on that trip, over the next few days, that Gerry and I decided we needed to create a place where it was safe for people to come and experience plant medicine and be provided proper aftercare. This place would need medical professionals, healthy meals, trained shamans, and all the comforts we are accustomed to in America. Definitely a pool, you can’t have a transformational retreat without a pool.
It isn’t impossible to have a spiritual experience outside of a five star retreat, I personally believe plant medicine could change your life in an igloo without a blanket. The experience itself isn’t entirely about your environment, but before and after administration of the plant medicine, the rest of the week you’ll need to spend in Costa Rica should be in an environment that helps facilitate positive change.
Rythmia is the product of two separate life changing experiences, Gerry and I both knew that plant medicine was something that needed to be shared with those who need it. Most importantly plant medicine needs to be administered in a safe environment with an experienced shaman and comprehensive aftercare.