Where There Is Smoke

Encounters in the Psychedelic Ecosystem

In Psychedelic Science 2025: A Firsthand Report, Carl Teichrib explores the sweeping scope and spiritual ambition of the world’s largest psychedelic conference, hosted by MAPS in Denver. With over 8,000 attendees and 700+ speakers, PS2025 highlighted a growing global movement—uniting scientists, politicians, therapists, artists, and religious thinkers under the banner of psychedelic transformation. Teichrib examines not only the drugs and their effects, but the cultural and theological implications, including entity encounters, the rise of psychedelic churches, and shifting Christian attitudes toward altered states. Far from fringe, this movement is increasingly mainstream, with state-level decriminalization, international advocacy, and calls to integrate psychedelics into medicine, spirituality, and governance. Yet beneath the optimism lies a deeper question: how should the Christian church respond to a movement that challenges traditional faith with mystical experience and a syncretistic worldview? Read the full analysis on Carl’s Substack.