Seeing God. Touching the divine. Kissing eternity. These are just a few ways people often describe the psychedelic experience.
So, it stands that tripping at church may not be that far-fetched. Just ask Benji “Teopixqui Dez” Dezaval, who runs Colorado’s first and only trip-friendly “church” in Colorado Springs.
Dezaval’s religious nonprofit, The Community of PACK Life, isn’t a sprawling cathedral or a spectacular megachurch, either. It’s essentially a DIY space run out of his basement, which he’s self-styled into a chill, inviting space.
How does it work? A group will meet at Dezaval’s house to socialize before he offers everyone one of three sacraments: two grams of psilocybin mushrooms, a week’s worth of psilocybin microdoses, or a small amount of dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which he extracts himself.
“I use these tools with respect and reverence,” Dezaval told the Colorado Sun. “The universe has provided these for us to find our wellness.” The best part? The psychedelics are free of charge.
The Community of PACK Life doesn’t operate as a wellness center or a dispensary, though it is taking advantage of recent legal reforms. In 2022, Colorado’s voters approved Prop. 122, which decriminalized natural psychedelics such as psilocybin and DMT. Additionally, Prop. 122 creates a statewide system for licensed wellness centers, though the law bans direct sales of the mushrooms.
READ: Church of the Eagle and the Condor Can Now Drink Ayahuasca Legally in the US
Instead of the wellness center model, Dezaval’s church functions like any other small religious institution. As long as the “gifts” he offers remain within the legal threshold of “personal use,” he should be well within the boundaries of the law. Additionally, he sees the religious nonprofit as a way to reach people in ways that wellness centers cannot.
When discussing why he went with a nonprofit, Dezaval noted the corruption of modern spiritual institutions, where the head of the congregation often serves himself before serving others.
“What if we took that same power and did something actually meaningful with it?” Dezaval told the Colorado Sun. “Those same avenues that are used to spread hate, those same avenues that are used to restrict people, we can use to empower people.”
Empowering people with psychedelics may test the boundaries of conservative Colorado Springs. The town is Colorado’s second-largest metro area, next to Denver. For perspective, the Front Range city shares neighborhoods with two Air Force bases, an Army base, and NORAD, the Pentagon’s sprawling Cold War installation built inside Cheyenne Mountain.
Colorado Springs is also home to two radical right-wing organizations – Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council – which openly oppose psychedelic reforms. Recreational cannabis stores are banned within city limits, even after the state’s voters legalized weed in 2012.
Yet, despite the city’s political legacy, Dezaval said he’s reached out to city hall, local law enforcement, and even the governor’s office, just to let them know he’s around. So far, no one’s given him any flak, besides a few noisy neighbors, a local ABC affiliate reported.
And while Dezaval’s trippy church may be a first for Colorado, others have come before it. One psychedelic church operates openly in San Francisco. Two others, one in Oakland and another in Detroit have been raided by law enforcement.
A cannabis church licensed for personal on-site consumption has operated in Denver, Colorado, since 2014.
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DoubleBlind Magazine does not encourage or condone any illegal activities, including but not limited to the use of illegal substances. We do not provide mental health, clinical, or medical services. We are not a substitute for medical, psychological, or psychiatric diagnosis, treatment, or advice. If you are in a crisis or if you or any other person may be in danger or experiencing a mental health emergency, immediately call 911 or your local emergency resources. If you are considering suicide, please call 988 to connect with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
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