Nisan - See Yourself
I’ve been meditating on my conversation with Marc Aixalà a few months back on our podcast, especially about his hesitation in trying to provide a set definition of the term ‘integration’ but rather favoring a set of metaphors which speak to each individual at various stages of their post-journey meaning-making process. This type of archetypal exploration and internalization is a major theme in all over Jewish spiritual traditions, especially in many modern Hasidic contexts. What if we began to explore applying a mytho-poetic approach Jewish psychedelic integration practice?
So we read every year at the very beginning of our Pesach Haggadah “In every generation, a person should see themselves as though they themselves went out of Egypt.” This ancient entreaty is (ideally) made manifest in myriad ways for both the individual and those sitting together at the seder throughout the night on intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and embodied levels. As I have written about previously, the Piacezner Rebbe took this a step even farther and taught his hasidim to not only imagine being newly freed slaves, but to fully visualize themselves as having traveled all the way back/forward to the Garden of Eden, sharing a seder with the angels. After the chag, there may be whispers or traces of the effect of this type of technique—a practitioner may or may not go continue to apply that experience to their daily existence. But, in the case of a psychedelic journey, what if we were to move to explicitly map our experience onto Jewish imagery or sacred memories, whether our direct experiences had any Jewish content in them or not? Like Marc argues for working with metaphors, sacred memories may allow people to translate complex, ineffable, or overwhelming experiences into familiar and relatable concepts. This can facilitate deeper understanding, emotional processing, and integration into daily life. By framing insights through symbolic or metaphorical language, individuals can retain the essence of their experience without needing to rationalize every detail, making it easier to incorporate lessons into their personal growth and healing journey.
Here is the beginning of my attempt to identify ten different types of Jewish sacred memories and their benefit as integration metaphors:
1. The Luchot: The Whole and the Broken Tablets
After Moses shatters the first set of tablets (Exodus 32:19), he ascends Sinai again and receives a second set (Exodus 34:1). According to the Talmud (Bava Batra 14b), both the whole and the broken tablets were kept in the Ark.
Integration metaphor: Psychedelic experiences can be shattering, breaking old patterns or beliefs. True integration honors both the new insights (whole tablets) and the brokenness that preceded them. Wholeness does not mean returning to the way things were, but carrying both the wisdom and the fragments together.
2. Jacob’s Ladder: The Meeting Place of Heaven and Earth
In Jacob’s dream (Genesis 28:12), he sees a ladder with angels ascending and descending, connecting earth to heaven. Upon awakening, he exclaims, “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (28:17).
Integration metaphor: Psychedelic experiences can reveal glimpses of the divine or the transcendent (angels ascending), but integration is the work of bringing those insights back down into daily life (angels descending). The ladder is the bridge between the visionary and the mundane.
3. The Shattering of the Vessels: From Chaos to Repair
In Lurianic Kabbalah, creation involves the breaking of primordial vessels (Shevirat HaKelim), scattering divine sparks. The spiritual task of tikkun (repair) is to gather and elevate these sparks.
Integration metaphor: A psychedelic experience may feel like a shattering of the self or worldview, scattering pieces of the psyche. Integration is the slow, sacred work of gathering the sparks—finding meaning in the fragmentation and restoring inner harmony.
4. The Manna in the Desert: Receiving and Digesting the Gift
The Israelites receive manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16), a miraculous food with a mysterious, shifting taste. The midrash (Sifrei Bamidbar 89) says the manna tasted different to each person, reflecting their spiritual state.
Integration metaphor: Psychedelic experiences, like manna, are spiritual nourishment given in moments of wilderness or transition. Integration is the daily work of “digesting” the manna—unpacking the unique and personal meaning of the experience, which may differ for each individual.
5. The Tent of Meeting: Moving Between the Inner and Outer Sanctuaries
In the desert, the Ohel Moed (Tent of Meeting) serves as a sacred space where Moses speaks with God (Exodus 33:7-11). The people remain outside, while Moses enters and returns to relay divine wisdom.
Integration metaphor: The psychedelic journey is like entering the Tent of Meeting—a sacred, inner sanctuary where deep truths are revealed. Integration is the return to the “camp”—bringing back the wisdom and embodying it in community and daily life.
6. The Cloud of Glory: The Fleeting Yet Lasting Presence
The Torah describes how God’s presence appears as a cloud by day and fire by night, guiding the Israelites (Exodus 13:21-22). The cloud is transient, moving unpredictably.
Integration metaphor: Psychedelic experiences often feel like traveling in the Cloud of Glory—ephemeral, hard to grasp, but luminous. Integration is the task of remembering the fire even when the cloud lifts—sustaining spiritual warmth and direction after the fleeting vision fades.
7. The Well of Miriam: The Hidden Resource That Stays You
According to rabbinic tradition (Taanit 9a, Bamidbar Rabbah 1:2), a miraculous well followed the Israelites through the desert in the merit of Miriam. This well provided life-giving water throughout their wandering. When Miriam dies, the well disappears, leaving the people parched (Numbers 20:1-2), until it is restored through Moses striking the rock.
Integration metaphor: Psychedelic experiences can be like drinking from Miriam’s Well—tasting from a hidden, life-giving source of wisdom and healing. Integration is the work of learning to recognize and draw from that well even when it seems to vanish—sustaining the connection to the inner reservoir of insight long after the peak experience has passed.
8. The Splitting of the Red Sea: The Miraculous Opening and the Long Journey
When the Israelites stand at the edge of the Red Sea, they face an impossible barrier. With the sea before them and Pharaoh’s army behind, they cry out. God commands Moses to stretch his hand over the water, and the sea miraculously splits, creating a path of dry land (Exodus 14:21-22). Yet, the sea does not remain open—they must cross before it closes again.
Integration metaphor: Psychedelic experiences can be like the splitting of the sea—a brief, miraculous opening where the impossible becomes possible. Yet, the opening is temporary. Integration is the long journey that follows—the slow, deliberate walk across the sea floor, bringing the revelation into lived reality before the waters close again.
9. The Baal Shem Tov’s Horse and Wagon: Traveling with the Animal Soul
A famous story from the Baal Shem Tov describes a man in a wagon pulled by horses. The horses symbolize the nefesh behemit (animal soul), while the driver represents the nefesh elokit (divine soul). If the driver loses control, the horses run wild.
Integration metaphor: Psychedelic journeys often stir the wild forces of the soul. Integration is the skill of becoming the driver once again—harnessing the energy of the experience with wisdom, rather than being driven by it.
10. The Sabbath: Sacred Time as a Portal
Shabbat is described in Kabbalah as a taste of the World to Come (me’ein olam haba)—a time of expanded awareness and spiritual rest. Yet, it must be followed by the return to weekday labor.
Integration metaphor: Psychedelic experiences can be like a momentary Shabbat for the soul—a taste of expanded consciousness. Integration is the task of carrying some of Shabbat’s sanctity into the weekday—the ongoing practice of infusing ordinary life with moments of the eternal.
Does this work for you? Do you find yourself gravitating toward one or a number of these metaphors? Are they too similar? What would you have added to you list?
As we enter the month of Nisan, when miracles should be apparent and abundant before our eyes, may we see our own encounters with expanded consciousness as the continuation of our people’s vocation of visionary voyages into sacred realms, and the hard fought attempts at finding places for them to reside in the day to day.
Hodesh tov,
Z
