Episode 72: Jesus was a Mushroom

In this profound and nuanced episode, I chatted with Brian Recker, a former pastor turned spiritual guide, to explore the intersection of Christianity and psychedelics and whether Jesus would mind if you took mushrooms.

Brian's story starts with a hard line: until 2020, he didn't use any "drugs". He was too indoctrinated, too convinced that substances were evil portals to demonic spirits. What Brian has spent the last few years unwinding is the fear-based Christianity he was raised in, the version where God is an authoritarian punisher, where you're born worthy of damnation, where hell is real and God could choose to torture you for eternity. He's written a book about it called Hellbent: How the Fear of Hell Holds Christians Back from a Spirituality of Love. And he's using his platform to help others deconstruct from the shame-based theology that has kept Christianity in the hands of authoritarians and Christian nationalists for far too long.

We explored the difference between Jesus's actual teaching (which was radical, boundary-breaking, table-flipping love) and what's been done to his message by people wielding religion as a tool of control. We discussed how mushrooms have helped Brian recover a vision of God as connection itself as love, as described in the Bible, rather than as a distant authority figure keeping a ledger of your sins. He talks about how psilocybin strips away the shallow layers of daily life and forces you into depths you normally avoid, making it almost impossible to maintain fear-based beliefs about God.

And his message to anyone afraid that God will punish them for exploring consciousness? There's no biblical basis for that fear. The prohibition on drugs is a way of controlling and demonizing otherness, a mechanism to keep people within the bounds of what religious structures enforce.

This episode is for Christians wrestling with their faith, for people who love Jesus but hate what Christianity has become, for those wondering if spirituality and psychedelics can coexist, and for anyone who needs to hear that deconstruction isn't failure, it's often the pathway to a faith that's actually rooted in love instead of terror.

The overwhelming sense that emerges from Brian's work with mushrooms, and the gnosis he wants to leave you with: it's all going to be okay. And maybe we need that reminder now more than ever.

Listener discretion is advised: This podcast discusses sensitive topics related to trauma, abuse, addiction and psychedelic therapy, which may be sensitive or triggering for some listeners. I encourage listeners to engage mindfully and take care of themselves throughout the conversation.

Connect with Bijou

IG:⁠ ⁠@mushroommamasita⁠⁠

Website:⁠ ⁠mushroommamasita.com⁠

Connect with Brian:

https://www.brianrecker.com/

https://www.instagram.com/berecker

Get his book https://www.brianrecker.com/home#hellbent