By the Grace of Great Spirit,
In January 2026, I published 'Way of the Hummingbird' — a book about indigenous wisdom, natural plant sacraments, and the living traditions that have guided humans toward healing and spiritual realisation for thousands of years. Shortly after its release, after four and a half years of investigation, I was arrested.
For more than 5 years now I have lived under the shadow of institutional process, distorted media scrutiny, and the weight of being told — repeatedly — to stay silent. To keep my head down. To wait while the machinery of bureaucracy, and its antiquated view of indigenous spiritual practices, slowly ran its course — a process I had no voice in.
\nI couldn't do it any longer.
\nThis book I wrote is a living record of my life, my journey, and the ancient wisdom traditions I have walked for decades — traditions that are living, breathing, active and undying forces on this planet right now, in this time. I needed to have a voice. Not just for myself, but for the many people whose stories, whose healing, whose spiritual lives are woven into this same fabric, and deeply affected by prejudice and mis-representation.
\nThis blog is an extension of that voice.
\nAyahuasca is not new. It is an ancient sacrament — used ceremonially for thousands of years by indigenous peoples of the Amazon, held sacred by communities whose relationship with plant sacraments predates any modern legal framework by millennia.
\nGovernments and courts around the world have come to recognise this. The United States Supreme Court has upheld the right of religious communities to use Ayahuasca in ceremony. The Brazilian government has formally protected it as a sacrament. Canada and other nations have followed. These decisions were not made casually — they were made after rigorous examination of the evidence, the traditions, the safety data, and the human rights dimensions of criminalising sacred practice.
\nAustralia has taken a different path. Here, these Holy sacraments are prosecuted as 'dangerous drugs' — despite overwhelming volumes of scientific and medical research demonstrating their relative safety in ceremonial and therapeutic contexts. Despite explicit indigenous support for these traditions and their deep connection to living indigenous culture and spirituality. Despite the fact that the United States Supreme Court, among others, found no significant risk in their sacramental use. Throughout this process I have not seen the evidence about these traditions — their history, their living culture, the international safety research, their standing in other jurisdictions — given the weight I believe it deserves.
\nOur institutions have shown little to no interest in any of this. No interest in understanding the nature of our spiritual traditions. No interest in the indigenous relationships and lineages that underpin them. No interest in the decades of international safety research. No interest in why jurisdiction after jurisdiction around the world has reached conclusions so different from the ones being pursued here.
\nAustralia has not followed the path taken by the United States, Brazil and Canada, and is seemingly moving in the opposite direction. That divergence matters — in the scientific community, and in the wider conversation about religious freedom and the dignity of indigenous traditions. This risks costing the public millions of dollars in unnecessary litigations, criminalising a large community of healthy, peaceful citizens whilst increasing the risks to those people.
\nMost people cannot see past the horizon of their everyday lives, and so base their judgments on the conditioned limitations of what occurs—and what they accept as real—within this everyday horizon. But there are some who see beyond this horizon to the Light of Eternity, and so base their judgments on the Eternal verities.\n
It is no surprise that those who abide by the Eternal are often at variance with the everyday norm, and so are continually challenged to remain true to what they know. This is the eternal saga of those who possess vision: they are often deemed outcasts by the majority, who will always try to make the Eternal and the Infinite conform to the finite and the conditioned.\n
—Valum Votan/The Unpublished Journals
I do not believe that nothing can go wrong in ceremony. Healing contexts of all kinds carry risk — in hospitals, in medical procedures, during breathwork, in yoga and martial arts, in settings that bear none of the stigma that plant sacraments carry. When tragedies or accidents occur in those settings, they are examined carefully, compassionately, and with full context. There is always room to learn and improve safety. They do not result in the wholesale condemnation of an entire tradition and the communities who hold it, an entire way of knowing. The 2023 ICEERS report estimated there are over 100,000 people who consecrate the Holy sacrament known as Ayahuasca in Australia.
\nThe passing of our brother Jarrad Antonovich was a tragedy that affected our community deeply and continues to. What has come from these years — painful as they have been — is a deepened commitment to safety, to learning, and to the responsible holding of sacred space. That work is ongoing and is in alignment with internationally recognised best practice, backed by teams of doctors and scientists, Elders and community leaders.
\nWhat I dispute is how these events have been characterised. My experience is that the traditions at the centre of this were not well understood by those examining them, and that public reporting reflected that. This blog will follow my journey, and what it looks like when ancient spiritual tradition meets a system that has not yet found the wisdom to meet it with respect or understanding. When this matter concludes, I intend to write about what my experience of all of this has been.
I am aware that speaking publicly at this time carries risk. My faith in Great Spirit, God, our creator is what drives me forward. This faith is what took me to this path and is what will always be my guiding force. This path that I follow is not about me alone, I stand with God for all of those on a spiritual path, for those gentle vulnerable souls who seek natural remedy, for the Earth and her gifts of healing and sacred wisdom, and for the indigenous people and their cultures who continue to be abused by Western society and its colonial attitudes and institutions that drive oppression, disease, inequality and which are a danger to the survival of humanity and the Earth itself.
I am a practitioner and an author. What I am living through is not separate from the book I wrote — it is a continuation of it. The discrimination towards plant sacraments I have documented is not history. It is happening now, in real time.
\nFollow this space — because this story matters. To every person who has awakened and been healed by Holy plant sacraments. To every community that holds ceremony as sacred. To anyone who believes that justice should be blind to what you consider Holy. 'Way of the Hummingbird' is full of revelations and positive stories for the healing and evolution of the planet. This blog will continue the story and continue to be a voice for ethical and spiritual development for the people of the Earth.
\nThis is my living story. And it is still being written. I am still flying.
Legal Notice:
This blog and book contains cultural, historical, and autobiographical descriptions of traditional plant-sacrament ceremonies, including references to Ayahuasca and other restricted substances under Australian law. These descriptions are provided for educational and documentary purposes only. Nothing in this book or this blog is intended to encourage, promote, or facilitate the use, preparation, distribution, or procurement of any illegal substance or activity in any jurisdiction.
Readers are responsible for understanding and complying with the laws in their own region. The author and publisher disclaim all liability arising from the misuse or misinterpretation of the material contained herein.
Cultural Respect Statement
The ceremonial traditions, songs, teachings, and healing practices referenced in this work belong to specific Indigenous cultures, spiritual lineages, and ancestral guardians. They are shared here with deep respect and gratitude. These traditions should be approached with humility, cultural sensitivity, and guidance from legitimate knowledge keepers.