Today, 9/20, people all of the world are celebrating Psilocybin Awareness Day in honor of a strain of fungus referred to by the late Terence McKenna as “the starborn magic mushroom.” Stropharia cubensis (or psilocybe cubensis), and other species of similar origins, contain the compounds psilocybin and psilocin, which are active hallucinogenic agents that contain the basic indole structure characteristic of most hallucinogens found in nature (with the exception of mescaline, which is structurally similar to amphetamine).

In the spirit of creating another access point to connecting to the world of ayahuasca art, I offer a serious disclaimer—the 11 here were very hard to select. There are so many amazing, powerful, and technically skilled visionary artists.

Natan Lenski is an incredible visual artist and musician, better known for his stage name - MantisMash.

MantisMash project was born somewhere in the end of the 2000's. Blending and Mashing together all the soundscapes that inspire his life, from Psy-Dubby Chill to Psy-Glitchy beats all covered with a layer of spinning fractals, MantisMash’s sound can be mainly describes as ‘Psy-Bass’.

What patterns do you see in your own life, or in the world that have symmetry and balance? Which ones are asymmetrical and out of balance? Noticing patterns helps us build on them if they are healthy, or break them if they are not healthy. The flux between asymmetry and symmetry is the process of growth and evolution. Sacred geometry gives us a beautiful reflection to contemplate as we navigate life’s challenges seeking balance and harmony.

Helena was born in 1992 in a little village just north of Amsterdam. She has always been a creative spirit; since childhood she found her ways to express through dance, music and painting. Her artistic journey started at age 19 when she was asked to teach Art to her peers during her Media & Design education. Besides she started to receive her first commissions. As a result she skipped art school and started her life as a professional artist. 

The world’s best psytrance festivals include the likes of Boom Festival, HillTop, Vortex Open Source, Ozora Festival, Rainbow Serpent, Universo Paralello, Momento Demento and dozens more across the continents of Europe, North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Wherever you go in the world, a psytrance festival can be found to suit your particular experience and travel needs.

There are so many festivals to choose from – our calendar often lists over 100. So how do you know which are worth attending? These festivals have been carefully curated as each of them offers something unique, making them worthy of being on your bucket list.

Born in Nova Scotia, Canadian artist Autumn Skye Morrison is a visionary painter who is well known for her live painting performance at festivals around the world such as Rainbow Serpent Festival in Australia, Envision Festival in Costa Rica, Boom Festival in Portugal, Unifier Festival in Connecticut, Bali Spirit Festival in Indonesia, and Beloved Festival in Oregon, amongst many others. Autumn Skye’s beautiful paintings of sensuous female forms, mystical illuminations, earth goddesses, spiritual rebirth, and connections with nature have appeared in many galleries and shows.

A new generation of psychedelic artists have emerged in the past ten years who have taken visionary art to a new peak becoming one of the most culturally relevant art forms of our time. Since the dawn of art, artists have attempted to reach and to show what the eyes don’t see, but the inner voice or the soul comprehend. 

Torus Energy is the alias of Jack Lightfoot, a visionary, designer and multi-disciplined artist from the Uk born in 1992. His work attempts to embody the unification between the human spirit and something higher and infinite, The Imagination being a window into the unlimited and fringe dimensions other than our own.

Julien Lechelle is a french artist who works with wood and steel to create some amazing sculptures, inspired by natural shapes. He likes working in the nature or in abandoned places where his installations can reveal their true charm after nightfall. This artist is known for his sculptures Protéus and Géonésys which he gladly showcases at festivals.

Psychedelics advocate Glenn Wasson first proposed the theory in the 1960s that the Amanita muscaria mushroom was, in fact, the ancient Indian psychedelic called soma. Since then, new theories have abounded about the origins of soma. 

A strong stigma in the West bullies our idea of drug culture, fueled by perceptions of mind-altering substances, man-made chemical compounds, and destroyed communities. But throughout the world, spiritual practitioners' use of entheogens—psychoactive substances applied in religious or shamanic contexts—is nothing short of a learned art, unique to the people and regions who’ve studied it for centuries.

Recent studies are finding that drugs such as LSD and psilocybin can help to alleviate depression, anxiety and addiction—and may have profound things to teach us about how the mind works.

Limelight Projection Mapping has been involved in 3D projection mapping, light painting and light installation since 2006. Regularly invited light festivals worldwide such as the Amsterdam Light Festival or the Skyway International Light Festival in Poland. The award winning A & A Award for Design Award and Competition, Interconnection in 2016 has already earned the largest 3D projection mapping competition, iMapp Bucharest jury and audience prize.

The hallucinogenic plant peyote – native to Mexico – has been the subject of considerable interest and controversy in recent years. Growing ever-more popular with curious outsiders, human rights campaigners have pointed out that peyote is sacred to the indigenous Huichol people and demand from trippy travelers is putting the plant at risk. Recreational use of peyote is illegal in the United States, so its use there is also an inevitable cause of controversy.

The summer of 1999 saw a total eclipse of the sun happening over Europe. Eclipses always drew people to celebrate. And since Goa and Psytrance started to happen, small parties emerged wherever there were Eclipses happening. But 1999 had the eclipse in Europe and the totality going over Hungary and a guy named Fish decided to make a big festival in a small place in the middle of nowhere in Hungary called Ozora. Yes, you know that name… Thousands of people from all around the world gathered in a unique celebration that non of those who attended will ever forget.

Jaroslaw Jasnikowski - a Polish painter and surrealist of the young generation.

In Jasnikowski's paintings you can observe much of Salvadore Dali's influence and other Polish painters such as W. Siudmach, R. Oblinski. Although the subject-matter deals not only with couragous visualisation of every-day problems or general overview of our world on different angles. It also shows an alternative version of the world. 

Throughout time people gathered to honor and celebrate the sun during the solstice and equinox with special ceremonies, rituals, and observances.

Mat Coll is an artist that creates Psychedelic images created using the DeepStyle method. His artist name and nickname is "Schizo". He is 41 years old and leaving and working in Germany. He says that his favorite culture is the Psychedelic Trance scene for about 25 years. So beside a normal job he tries to live and support this psychedelic lifestyle.

Neri Oxman and a group of creatives from the MIT mediated matter group in collaboration with Christoph Bader and Dominik Kolb have developed a technology to create digitally manufactured wearables with multi-material 3D printing machinery. the project, entitled ‘wanderers: wearables for interplanetary pilgrims’, was introduced as part of ‘the sixth element: exploring the natural beauty of 3D printing’, at Euromold in Frankfurt.

What is sacred geometry? Pythagoras described geometry as visual music. Music is created by applying laws of frequency and sound in certain ways. States of harmonic resonance are produced when frequencies are combined in ways that are in unison with universal law.

“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” ~ Zen Proverb

Robert Steven Connett  takes his current inspiration from biological forms, both flora and fauna, micro and macro, land and ocean dwelling. Connett uses acrylic paint to portray  dark and bizarre worlds teaming with diminutive life.

"True Hallucinations", yet another brilliant documentary on the life of Terence McKenna ... Aficionados of Terence McKenna need no introduction to the story that started it all. A journey through the Amazon basin becomes an experiment to hyper-carbolate human DNA.