Otherworld - Episode 176: Flesh of the Gods

Episode Date: July 27, 2026

When Andrea loses her grandmother and is plunged into the depths of grief, she calls out and asks her for a sign. To her surprise, she woke up that night in another realm with her called answered. Some years later Andrea is invited by family to attend a retreat in Mexico, and finds herself participating in a ceremony with a very powerful and culturally significant mushroom called teonanácatl, or "Flesh of the Gods." In this ceremony, she is able to make contact once again.Check out our Merch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For business inquiries contact: [e-mail] you have experienced something paranormal or unexplained, email us your story at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[e-mail]

Welcome to Otherworld. I'm your host, Jack Wagner. This episode comes from a woman named Andrea. She's married now and a stay-at-home mom, but before that, she used to work as a psychiatric medical coordinator, which I find very interesting personally. She grew up in Napa Valley. I am sure many people know of Napa. It's a very famous wine region located in Northern California. It's an extremely beautiful place. It's known as a vacation destination. And I'd say it's pretty well known as a very wealthy part of the country.

Andrea, however, grew up working class in Napa. Her mom was an immigrant who worked four different jobs to take care of her and the family. Growing up, Andrea was also very much. very close to her grandmother. After her grandmother passed, Andrea was experiencing a lot of grief. It was through this that she had the experience that you're about to hear.

A series of events that took her from Napa to rural Mexico. I really loved this story. It was one that definitely took me by surprise, and I think you're going to like it as well. this episode is called Flesh of the Gods and you're listening to Otherworld.

This is Bobby? At its core, the science you can't argue with. I'm worried about all of a sudden. It's almost frustrating that it's happening. I'm going to die of its limbs were just like wrong. Everybody moves back into the light, even if it takes them a minute. My name is Andrea.

I've grown up all over California, but primarily was raised in Sonoma County, Napa Valley area. Really beautiful. I grew up with a single mom, working really hard, four jobs. Her main job was working for an orthopedic surgeon. So she, like, ran his office. And my mom also grew up in, like, Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala.

And she stopped school at, like, I think, eighth grade. So she's really, like, and she's a very smart woman, but just not educated formally. So she worked in an orthopedic surgeon's office and then she would type for another, I believe it was a physical therapist's office and nights. And then on the weekends, there was like this doctor that would come in,

a mobile doctor kind of thing. So they would set up a clinic and I also would sometimes go and work there when I was a teenager. Doctors would come from out of towns to do like assessments on Medi-Cal patients and we would like be the secretaries, like open the office

and let them, in. And, yeah. Napa County and Sonoma County is regarded as one of the most beautiful places. And it really, really is. I mean, there's redwood trees and I can be at the ocean in an hour. And, of course, there's tons of wineries, which are extremely beautiful. But it's a very, very expensive place to live.

I think it's one of the most expensive counties in America, probably. So there's a lot of wealthy people, even in, like, the public. school system. So growing up a little bit on, you know, the lower scale income could at times be rough. It was really prevalent once I got to like junior high and high school. But I'm the kind of person I could was dying to work. I was, you know, the second I turned 15, 16, I was looking for jobs because I wanted my own money so I could, you know, fit in and buy the cool stuff and all that teenage girls worry about, you know. I went on to study at San Francisco State, and I lived in San Francisco for a long time,

and then I worked with foster youth doing clinical work assessments. I was the psychiatric medical coordinator, so I would kind of oversee all the youth that were in this facility and kind of meet with their psychiatrists and clinical team and come up with plans for them. And it was a pretty traumatic job that I think shaped me a lot. I constantly was diagnosing and doing clinical stuff and then becoming a mom to two boys, that transference kind of bled into that. So I now am a mother with two sons, 10 and 5, and it's wild. And I'm married and I no longer work and stay-at-home mom, which is definitely a full-time job.

But I love it. And we live in, still live in the wine country of, California. So up in the mountains, we got a creek in the back, life is great. So, okay, it should be noted that my grandma, who I called grandma, who everyone called grandma grandma, she's actually my great aunt. So my grandpa's sister, but we were so close and all of the kids that were like her actual grandkids, we grew up like cousins. So of course, they're saying, we're at grandma grandma's house. I'm at grandma grandma's house and my actual grandma I do not have like a close relationship with at all. But everybody called her grandma grandma regardless of like who you were in the

family and she was definitely the matriarch. So she actually immigrated from Honduras on donkeys with her two brothers. Took them three months and they ended up in the San Francisco Bay area. And that's where my whole family is from, essentially, what spans from my, you know, my grandparents coming over here. She was just an amazing woman, and I know everyone thinks their grandma's like this amazing woman, but she exuded, like, angel energy. She was always happy, always looked really good, too. Like, she always had her nails done, mascara on. She was just a well-kept person, even up to the day that she passed away.

She had her nails done. It was extremely hard on me. I was 27. When I came to say goodbye to her, I cried so much that I couldn't even get any words out. And she, who was very close to death, was holding me and saying, like, it's okay. You know, she could barely speak, but she was saying, it's okay. And I couldn't even say, I love you without crying. I was an absolute mess.

And that was the last time I got to see her and the next day. believe. I got a text from my aunt saying, she's going to go, like, come if you can. So I was at work, and I raced, but I did not make it. It was just so hard on me, because I've never lost anyone close to me, and it felt, like, I don't know, the word passed devastating.

And I'm a very empathetic and emotional person. So I have a very hard time compartmentalizing things. So it was like, my little son was like one and a half at the time, and I was still, like, just walking around my house. sobbing and then thinking like, oh, I cannot be doing this. I have a kid, you know, I need to pull it together. But for about a week straight, it was just mourning, like crying and crying. It was more than I've ever cried. I've been crying for a week straight and finally, you know, I feel like the last few days of crying. I was calling out to like the void, you know, like, where are you? Am I ever

going to see you again? Just constantly. That was like kind of my mom. mantra like while I was crying. And so I went to bed. My little son was in his crib in our room and I woke up and I was, it was very undreamlike. It was like I was awake, but somewhere else. It was all dark, but I could just feel that I was in this like little area of a bigger area. I don't know if that makes any sense, but I could see all silhouettes and shadows of people. And for some reason I knew they were my family members. But I didn't have much time to discern that. I was just kind of like feeling this, I'm not supposed to be here,

but I was looking around to see like, is there anyone that's not a silhouette? Like, is there anyone that's not a shadowy, you know? So I'm literally turning around. And as I turn, my grandmother comes into view. And I'm telling you, it was more realistic than anything I've ever seen. She was emitting like this angelic glow. She looked like her jovial, beautiful, angelic self that she looked like in life when she wasn't sick.

She just looked healthy. She had her hair done short like she always does. She had her makeup on. She was smiling, her big smile like she always had. And she was also wearing a sweater that I had given her. And that was, since she was so clear, I could just, see everything. And I was just like, oh my God, it's my grandma. She's wearing the sweater I gave her. Like, I can talk to her. Like, she's telling me something. It was unbelievable. So she looked at me,

and I could see her face just illuminated perfectly. And she was just admitting her energy that she always omitted of love and, oh my God, but it was like 10 times more. And there was no word spoke. It was just like a message, and I totally received it. And it was. like super simple and clear. And also I could feel it. The second I locked eyes with her, I got this message from her like, I made it. I am great. Like I'm at peace. It sounds so corny. But I was able to say goodbye to her because when I had originally said goodbye, I was crying so much. So in this vision state, I was like, oh my God. So I said, I love you. I love you so much. And she said, I know. And that was about it. Like once the message was like clicked into like oh this is actually real. I was

zapped out of that space like instantly. As I was pulled out, I just shot up in my bed. It was like going from one realm to another and I had tears running down my face and everyone's grandma has a smell when my grandma had like a certain perfume that was just her smell. And it was like, it was like it was somebody had poured her smell all over me and stuffed it up my nostrils. Like when I woke up, I was covered in it and it scared the shit out of me because I knew it was real. Like it made me be like, what does the word real even mean? Like I was just somewhere else. I just said goodbye to my grandma, that was not a dream. So I ran into the bathroom. I splashed water on my face. I could smell it still for like the next 15 minutes. Her smell was just clinging to me, which,

I mean, that's never happened before or after. It was just extremely intense but beautiful. And it gave me a lot to kind of think about and unpack. I knew it wasn't. It just wasn't a dream. Dreams, you know, you wake up and you're like, oh, I was at your house, but it looked like this and it was crazy and I forget this part.

And then all of a sudden, no, this was like you're in a space. I was in a place. Like, it was wild. I truly felt the reason for this visit was to let me know because I had been mourning so hard and I, you know, didn't get to say goodbye the way I wanted to because I was such a mess. So that's what this kind of was. It was kind of my, I said, oh my God, I'm so glad you're okay. I love you.

And she just kind of like the message just was reiterated. Like, yep, I'm here. And she was just emitting this unnatural, beautiful glow. Like I can still see exactly how she showed. up in my mind right now because it was so clear, which dreams are not like that. The dream slash vision, I mean, I call it a vision. I know it wasn't a dream, but was really healing for me. It was also, I mean, super alarming because it really opened up this whole other, I've always been open to what's, you know, what's going on. But at that time, I didn't really

even have, like, I wasn't on Reddit or I didn't investigate. I was just like, I know what happened to me. So I told my mom, I told my aunt's, I told, you know, my family members, and they all believed me. I mean, I was really shook up by it. But it was also super healing because I never really felt like I had a proper goodbye. And now I firmly believed that wherever she was, it was good. That was the whole message. Time goes by. You know, it's a very good. You know, it's a very good. You know, It's rough on our family without my grandma, but I definitely have tried to keep the family together. You know, everyone's married and goes to their different people's houses for things, but we always make sure that we come together.

I have, like, a potluck at my house every fall with my family before Thanksgiving. And I try to, like, carry out things that I know my grandma would want me to do, like stay in touch with my family members. My grandpa still lives in Guatemala, so I call him. visit him. We were just there in October. Life went on, you know. I felt a lot better after I had gotten to see her in the vision and I knew she made it, whatever that meant, it was good. It was just a really, really good thing. I wanted to go back to that so bad, but I didn't know how to tap into that. I would say like, come and visit me again, you know, kind of in my head at night and I never had

it happen again. Flash forward, this was 2025. So last year, So my mother-in-law is a yoga instructor, and she proposed the idea that we go to this yoga retreat in Guerrero, Mexico, in this small little town. It's very close to Guatemala, and it's in the Meso Americas, which is like the lower part of Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala. So that felt like a strong, like, tied to my culture. I was really excited about the area we were going to, specifically. I do yoga, but it was really appealing. to me because my grandpa still to this day lives in Guatemala my entire life. You know, I've gone back and forth.

He's gone back and forth. But I had not seen him or been down to Guatemala in a really long time. And so I was really excited just to go immerse myself and be down there, be close to my roots. So it was definitely something that I had no hesitation. I knew I had to go. I was super excited about it. So this woman came as a part of the retreat that lives there. Her name is Adriana.

She does not call herself a shaman. It absolutely doesn't use that word, but she is a, I think the way she described herself is like holder of the past and like holder of cultural ceremonies and traditions. And it's very important and special to her. I mean, she's a local. She lives with all. the people that live in this tiny town, and she does these sacred ceremonies to get closer to

spirit is kind of the way she explained it. Immediately when I saw her, I mean, she's striking. She just has this thick, long black hair and these amazing bangs, and she wears this beautiful dress and beats a drum, and I am not easily impressed. I haven't fanned girled over someone like ever, and after I heard her speak and just the way she held herself and the way she, everything, I was like, wow, I was totally, like, taken with her. And she did a ceremony with us with cacao beans, grinded down, and they mix it with lots of, like, different things, like, turmeric, and it's like a very, very thick hot chocolate.

She does drumming and singing you lay down. It kind of opens your heart a little bit. And I was so impressed and, like, interested in her that after the cacao ceremony, she mentioned, she said, in two days, we're going to do another ceremony. It's a psilocybin ceremony. So you can go quite a bit deeper than the cacao and thinking, like, yeah, this was, like, drinking hot chocolate. And I felt good after it, but nothing, like, super psychedelic. So she's like, yeah, I do these ceremonies with a medicine that is psilocybin-based. so if anyone would like to come, like, I'll give you more information.

So I said yes, and a lot of the other people in the yoga retreat did, too. So there was about six of us, and she was very serious. And she said, okay, well, if you're going to do this, this is like a sacred practice. Like I'm inviting you to do, but you need to honor it by doing all the requirements that I'm going to tell you now. And so I was thinking like, oh, this is not just like eating some mushrooms and sitting, you know, hanging out with it.

like somebody that's cool and beats a drum. So anyways, she tells us no alcohol the night before, no heavy foods. You need to wake up and have like tons of electrolytes and you need to eat like a light breakfast, just something to coat your stomach for the medicine. It was never referred to as like, oh, we're going to eat mushroom. You know, after she explained that it was psilocybin-based,

it was only called the medicine. So show up. I'm in comfy clothes. She has like a big wooden platform that can fit like 10 people on it laying on yoga mats. It's completely covered. And then they have like linen ties. So you can kind of tie the sides up and feel like you're in this safe little, I don't know, nest. But you're also like 100 feet away from the ocean.

So you can see the beautiful ocean and like tide poles. It's amazing. She sits in the middle and she has all of these things set up, like all these sacred herbs and bowls. and there's a man there and he is working with her doing drumming. That's what they tell us when we show up. So we all get in like a semi-circle around her. So she's in the middle. She has all of her stuff.

The guy's in the middle. He's sitting there with this gigantic drum. And there's also just tons of kopal, the ancient sack in the tree that's burning everywhere. So she basically is like, okay, so elders and the holders of knowledge have prayed over this medicine for you. This medicine is extremely sacred to us and our culture here and the Aztecs and the Mayans. It's a very, very special thing you're about to do. So you just be open to whatever the medicine has to show you. And the way that you consume it is they make it

with the cacao beans into chocolate. So literally every aspect of this has been touched with care and cultural pride and like a real profound state of being like, this is medicine. This is sharing a part of our culture. So I was like, wow, this is more intense than I just kind of thought like, oh, I've eaten mushrooms before plenty of times. You know, you eat some mushrooms. You're camping with your friends and it might get deep or, you know, stuff might start changing or colors are really bright.

I've, you know, I've done that. I've gone deep, but I was like, okay, this seems like this is more intense. The vibe was like, oh my gosh, it went from like, yay, this will be a fun part of like the yoga retreat. We get to do shrooms with this like really cool lady that knows so much. And then you get there and it was like, I immediately snapped into like, oh, this is like a spiritual, very culturally special thing. So the other women that came with me actually, they had their own stuff that they wanted to kind of hand. handle. One of the women had literally the day before gotten a cancer diagnosis. And so I was like, oh my gosh, this is going to be really heavy for her. Another one had lost their husband of like

50 years. She was an older woman. And she had never done any kind of psychedelic or anything like it. But she was just really open. And she was like, had just lost her husband, came on this yoga retreat to connect and have new experiences. So she was just like, um, I'm going for it. And then there was me. And I was like, gosh, I'm here with all these people that have, like, things to solve and, like, purpose to think about. And I don't even know what to, like, why am I here?

Because the way it went down is she would call you up and say, she would kind of ask you if you had any, like, restrictions or this or that. And so I told her, I was like, I've had a surgery where they had to remove my gallbladder and part of my stomach. So it's a little weird, but, like, I just digest food really fast because my stomach's smaller, right? And so she says, oh, well, the medicine is probably going to, like, hit you harder, faster and it will pass through you faster. And so I said, okay, I'm fine with that. But she said, when she gave you the medicine, which was two chocolates, if you took the full dose, it was four grams,

and that's more than an eighth of mushrooms. So I was like, this is already going to be, like, the most I've ate. I've ate an eighth of mushrooms before, and this is a little over that. And so she gives you two chocolates. The chocolates are little round circular chocolates. They're delicious. There's two grams in each chocolate. So you get two to make four grams. So we all show up, sit down on our mats, which are placed in a semicircle kind of around

her. And you're supposed to kind of, they give you masks to put over your face or your eyes, rather. So if you want to go like, you know, internal. and she's in the middle and everyone kind of meets with her and she asks how much they should have, blah, blah, blah. They hash that out kind of in like a private way. Like everyone goes and sits down with her for a second and kind of whispers and says like, yeah, so I think I should blah, blah, blah.

But when she gave me my medicine, I did not know what to pray about. She said because part of it is you're supposed to pray to the medicine and ask it like for what you want. So everybody had these super, like right in your face problems you know like I just got diagnosed with cancer I just lost my husband I just you know and I was like I feel like a loser like but my life is pretty good like I don't know what to pray for and she said that's perfect just ask the medicine to show you what you need okay simple enough so I go back to my mat to eat the medicine it was delicious so I and I love chocolate so I ate both of mine like right off the bat like just popped them in and chewed them up and And boy. So it was only five minutes in, five minutes after I ate the chocolate. I started to look around and I started, quote unquote, tripping harder than I've ever in my life. So I'm looking around and everything's starting to like really change a little bit.

So I start to get totally, totally freaked out because I'm like, dude, this is five minutes in. like what's going to happen to me? So I, she had told us beforehand, too, which kind of made you a little like, ah, apprehensive. She said, you know, the medicine is actually very strong. For some people, they won't be able to move or you might not feel like you can talk. Just raise your hand because me and,

I don't remember the gentleman's name that was the drummer, but him and I were monitoring you the whole time and we will know if you're struggling, like if you need to get to the bathroom. So I'm like, geez, like what's going to be? going to happen. We're just eating, you know, mushrooms. Okay. So I'm only five minutes in and things are starting to get very intense. So I call her over. I don't want to freak anyone else out and I know I'm digesting them faster because of my stomach. So I pull her aside and say, can I talk to you? Adriana,

that's her name. Please. Like, I am so afraid right now. Like this is starting already and it's really, really intense and I'm about to lose like control and she just kind of put her hand on my head and said like the medicine we talked about this the medicine is going to hit you fast and it's going to be very hard and it's going to move through you fast and that's just part of your journey and I just was like oh my god and I immediately knew what I had to do so I just went from being afraid to just submitting to whatever was going to happen to me because I knew that if this is five minutes in it's going to be like very intense. So I immediately went back to my mat. I laid down and I put the cover over my eyes and I just said, okay, like here we go. What happened was more intense than anything

I've ever experienced in my life. Like nothing, nothing holds a candle to this. Immediately I was somewhere else. I felt myself kind of just sinking, falling and the only way I can describe what happened to me, which was extremely intense, is I felt like I was in the veil. And I've never used that term in my life ever. But it just seemed like the natural way to explain what happened. They start doing her and this other local man that's helping assist in the ceremony, start, you know, saging everyone with the sacred copal, praying to the deities that the Aztecs prayed to, to the east, the south, the west, the north, the heavens above and the mother earth below. And they say really beautiful things.

And everyone else is standing and getting saged with the copal. But I am on the mat already like, oh my God, this is kicking in. It took everyone else like another half hour, 45 minutes to have their experiences dark. So I'm laying there on the mat and I can hear her echoing saying like, we give you. thanks to this, that, that. It's very like dreamlike and I'm like, oh my God, like this is insane. I'm seeing all these colors. It's very like intense.

And then they start beating the drum. And you're laying on a platform that is made of wood that's raised off the ground. So the drum kind of just vibrates and beats through you. Like it's a part of you. And that's a big part of the ceremony. And she starts singing all these ancient mantras. and songs and playing the harmonian. And it just sends me deeper into this veil space

where I no longer felt connected to my body at all, which I felt when it happened and I was so afraid and I just had to let go and submit to it. And that's when I entered this veil-like space. I'm deep in it. And I see clearly coming before me just in a line, a long line of women. And they're all wearing kind of like ancient Mayan masks.

Like the kind that I'd grown up seeing that are native to Guatemala and Mayan culture. And they're all these women and their faces are covered in these masks. And they're all in a line. And it clicks to me like these are my ancestors. And as soon as it clicks in, it's like, so much energy came from them. And they gave me a very, very clear message that each one had come before the other. And this is the natural way of the world, right?

All of these women give birth to other women, the birth to other. Right. And that I come from a long line of, like, strong women who have given love to the next woman so that I could be birthed into this moment and stand firm. and that I did not need to have any anxiety about my place in the world, about being a mother, any of it, because I had come from such a long line of bloodline of love and strong women and that I was meant to be at this position in the line. And it was so powerful. And that was just the message that was getting thrilled home to me by these women that I, you know, had come to see like, oh my God, these are my ancestors.

These are people I've never seen, but I'm so connected to. Going back, like, there had to be at least, it didn't feel like I could count, but, you know, it was a line of women, maybe 20 women. So I know that it was far back. So I was given this knowledge and gifted this wisdom from my ancestors, female ancestors. All right. We'll be right back after this quick break. Whispers in the dark, phenomenon that slip past to logic, legends that refuse to die.

When the unknown stirs, its trail leads to our podcast, So Supernatural. I'm Yvette Jentele. And I'm her sister, Rasha Pecorero. Together, we explore all of the world's most bizarre mysteries. Listen to So Supernatural every Friday, wherever you get your podcast. That message to me, I didn't know I needed, but it was so important kind of connecting back to the work I did with kids in mental health. I suffer from extreme anxiety around my kids. And it's not even like a helicopter mom thing.

It's like just wondering like, is life going to be okay? Am I going to be enough for them? And I never really thought that that was something to like ask for help with or anything. I just, it's just part of me. I have big anxiety. So when all of my woman ancestors came through and delivered this message, it was so powerful. It made so much sense. And then in this space, it was so peculiar.

But on my right side, the entire time, which felt like a really long time and a really short time at the same time when you're in this space. But I had this feathery entity on the side of me, almost in my peripheral vision, you know, like it's always there. Like if someone's standing right behind your right shoulder, you know, you can kind of see it. And so it was feathers. And I felt like this really divine, it was just a very, very divine place that I was allowed to enter into. And I knew that that feathery entity was my grandmother. And it was so comforting because the message that all my ancestors were good to me was delivered. And it was very overwhelming.

It was a very powerful message that was just at times, like, hard to absorb. I was talking about, like, my female lineage all the way back, like, you know, centuries. And I can really feel all these women that came before me. And it was very, very powerful and spiritual and intense. But I had this soft feathery entity on my right side, and I knew it was my grandma, who also was a part of that lineage. But when the message was just so intense, I would kind of like divert to the feathery entity and be like, oh, like soothe me kind of, you know? And then I would kind of be like, okay, I'm relaxed.

Like I can absorb this message. And the whole time that this is happening, I am absolutely not, like I have no idea where my body is. Like my head is, like I said, in the veil. I really truly believe that my ancestors came forward. I believe that my grandma was there. It was like I was back in that veil space and like I was allowed to be there. I accessed it through this divine medicine, which she had been talking about. Like the medicine will take you, the medicine will protect you, you know?

But I just didn't know. So I come out of the experience and, you know, it still takes a few hours to be like, fully back in your body. But once that message was received and I stayed in that space for, like I said, what felt like a while and also quickly, I was able to, you know, take the mask off, be back in this time in space. And, you know, the drumming continued. The praying and chanting continued.

The burning of all the copal over us continued. But I was able to, like, sit up and listen to the music and the mantras and really like connect to what was happening. Like it was a very, very deep spiritual journey. And it was for everyone else. It also should be noted that when I finally like zapped back into my body, I was like, why am I all? I felt wet.

So I put my hands up underneath the mask. And I had been sobbing, just sobbing the entire time. The outfit I was wearing was covered in tears. and like just disgusting. And I am the type of person. Like I wear fake eyelashes. I have fake nails. They were,

my eyelashes were cried off. I had worn little glitter and like moon buns in my hair. Like I had no idea what I was in for. And when I showed up, she even kind of said like, oh, you're adorable. Like she knew she was going to rock my world.

Like, you know? So I had cried off my, eyelashes, glitter, everything. I was just a wreck. Like, I looked insane. But I felt like I had, I knew I had gone somewhere. I was clasping my hands so tightly, like, next to my heart while I was in this other realm. I broke all of my nails.

Anyone listening to your podcast that has, like, acrylic nails or gel nails, they know how hard that is to do. I must have been grasping so hard because it was so intense. So after everybody kind of like, you know, went through whatever their deep part was, everyone could kind of walk around when people were sitting down at the beach or sitting and just listening to her. And of course, within a few hours, we're all back in our bodies. And so she's like, how is everyone feeling? And we are all just fucking rocked. Like what just happened? Everyone had their own little thing that happened. But I shared my story like right then and there because I was so

excited and freaked out just kind of like the vision with my grandma. I was like, oh my God, something crazy just happened. That shouldn't have been able to happen, happened. I really truly thought I tapped in this veil space. So I went and I told her what happened. And she said, well, that makes a lot of sense with the mushroom you ate. It's a very sacred mushroom. It's only grown in this part of the world and only used in ceremonial purposes. Like it's meant to connect you to ancestors. So I was like, what? And so I said, what's the name of this mushroom? And it directly translates to flesh of the gods. So the use for this specific mushroom, when I looked it up, after, I had no idea this going in, no idea. It is meant to connect with your ancestors or divine forces.

It's only given in sacred settings, not casually. It's very rare and culturally protected. It's a very private sacred mushroom that's treated with deep, deep respect. Everything I looked up about this mushroom, it says it's meant to link you to your ancestors and it's known to connect, you know, centuries ago, the keepers of knowledge, shaman's, spiritual people of the area, whatever you want to call them, would use this mushroom and ceremonies specifically to get answers from their ancestral lineage. So I was like totally freaked out because everything I googled and talking to her after, it just like reaffirmed that like whatever happened to me, I truly believe I went to a space

that was divine that was not of this world. And I was just able to access that space like I did in my vision through the work of this mushroom. So I kind of explained that to her. And she, she was like unfazed. She was like, absolutely. She's like, you, you were in a divine space. This is like a very sacred divine mushroom. She kind of just nodded and said like, Yeah, like you got to that place. Like, that's what this medicine is for. If you treat it correctly, like, it will take you somewhere divine. And so she kind of like reinforced that I was like, yeah, not crazy for being like,

no, I think I was somewhere else, you know? She's like, yeah, that's kind of a point. And so she said, it's the cultural belief around this mushroom is that the God of the West gave a piece of divinity to the people to directly connect them with the gods when they needed to. And the way that this particular god of the West in Aztec belief shows up is a plumed snake, which means a snake with feathers. And so when I ask her about the mushroom, she goes on to say like, yeah, so the god that's believed to have given it, sometimes if you get to the divine realm, he will guide you to your

ancestors and he shows up as like feathers like a long line of feathers he's a snake so i didn't know that any of this going in and so i'm like oh my god i was connected to my ancestors there was a feathery entity on the side of me that felt like my grandmother and she said yes that's what he's known for is he if you get to the divine space he will bring forth your ancestors and people that you love so she was not even like blinking or thinking twice when she was saying this to me she was just like, oh, good. Somebody got like to that space. This is what it's culturally for.

But I was totally freaking out because I'm like, there's feathers, there's, you know, ancestors and answers to things. I didn't know I need the answer to. And that's exactly what this medicine or specific rare mushroom is used for. Like, I'm so glad I did not know that beforehand because it would be so confusing. I would be thinking, oh, my mind just kind of made up this. because I knew that this is, you know, what it's supposed to do. But I knew none of this.

I ate the mushrooms kind of thinking like, oh, I will just see what happens. And everything that this mushroom is like divinely supposed to do happened to me. So it really was reaffirming, but again, kind of like scary. Like what the fuck? I was completely changed. I mean, it really, really got into my like mind, body, heart. it felt like my whole spirit and like essence of me was tapped into something else. And again, I'm like, I have eyelashes off my face.

My nails are completely broken from just having such a powerful experience. Like my whole body was exhausted. But I was so amazed and I could not believe that I was connected again to that space. And so I left feeling really, really like, oh, my. God, there's like a whole other part of existing, like consciousness. So I was really, really, really charged. I came home and I, you know, of course, I told my husband everything and I'm like, I need a Zen garden. I need to meditate. I need to get to this space. Like you really can connect. My dream was like when I had that dream about my grandma, it was the same kind of space. Like,

my husband is the best and he just was like, okay. And so like we literally made like a little Zen Garden. It was beautiful. And I was like doing meditation and just trying to like stay connected to that energy and space that I was in because it really, really affected me. So I went to my local bookstore and I was kind of looking around in like the little woo-woo section that I had always kind of thought like, oh, okay. Like connect to like a book that a medium wrote or this or that. But now I was like so much more open. So I found this book called Signs. It was written. It's written. by somebody who claims to be a medium. She does a lot of work and a lot of people really highly regarded.

It's like signs. I forget the exact title, but it's like your soul's connection to the universe and how to pick up the signs or whatever. So I was flipping through it not too seriously, but she basically was saying like your loved ones are like the consciousness does go on and you can connect with it. You just have to ask. Like they constantly want to be sending you signs.

but people just aren't open. People just don't, like, are not open to receiving the message or we're so westernized that we're like, that's just woo-woo, like, you know? So you're never getting any kind of like affirmation or seeing that your loved ones have passed on or even your ancestors are just a veil space away. I don't know how to explain it. So I read part of, you know, her little flip through the first couple chapters and it says, you know, if you want a sign, the best way to get one, it's just to tell your loved one,

I'm ready, I'm open for a sign, like, show me that you're still with, whatever, whatever message you want to say. So that night, I decided I was going to really ask. So I said it, like, out loud. I said it in my head. I said it, like, I screamed out and was like, Grandma, if you're here and you're, you know, just another consciousness away or whatever. send me a sign. I want a sign so big that I cannot ignore it. Like, I want something crazy, you know? So I really

asked a lot and I really did not think I would get it. But I was really, really, really open too. Like, my heart was open from that ceremony. Like, I know that there's something beyond here, right? Like, so I'm screaming out to it saying, give me a sign, give me a sign. So I went to bed that night and I was like, I bet I'll have like a vision kind of dream or you know whatever and so I go to bed wake up the next morning I just had like stupid random dreams all night nothing to do with like any kind of higher consciousness and I'm like okay feeling like a little silly like uh lame whatever let's get on with the day right so I'm a stay at home mom at the time my three year old wasn't in school or preschool or anything he was just hanging out with me so we were going to go by

some like trees at this tree nursery. So I put him in the car. We're driving there. He's jibber jabbering. We're on like beautiful scenic like wine country roads, you know, driving there. I live up in the mountains. So it's like a gorgeous drive. And he's chattering, blah, mom, put this song on. I want to snag. Blah, blah, blah. Then we're driving. And a song comes on the radio. I do not remember what song. But all of a sudden, my three-year-old kind of like, I don't know. explain it. Like the energy in the car just kind of slowed down a little bit. And he said, this song reminds me of grandma grandma. And I said, what? Because I had never spoken to my three-year-old about her, ever. He came after she had passed. So there's no, you know, unfortunately, she never got

to meet him. There's no pictures with, you know, I don't think I'd ever mentioned her once before to him. So he just said that out of the blue. And I said, what? Like, I was thinking in my head, like, you just made up, like, he's jabbering about something, and you just heard him wrong. So I turn the radio down. And I'm like, what did you say? And he said, instead of saying what he said before, he just goes on, he says, Grandma, Grandma wants me to tell you that she was the one that made you the secret breakfast.

When I say I almost crashed my car, I mean, I get like kind of emotional talking about it because it was so insane. So I literally pulled over at a turnout on this like, you know, wild mountain road, winding road. And I said, what? And he said, she's the one that made you the secret chocolate pancakes that you weren't supposed to talk about. And then he said, I wish I could have those kind of pancakes that grandma, grandma told me she makes for you. He's talking like very clearly. And this is a three-year-old. Anybody who knows a three-year-old or is around them often knows.

that it's not like you usually have this like steady stream of like talking. It's like always chaotic and at least with my kids, they're like me, just like all over the place. But this was not like that. It was very clear. Like I said, the energy felt like calmed down. Like he was delivering this message and I could totally feel it. And I was freaking out. So I said, what did you say?

And he said it again. Like grandma, grandma wants me to tell you about the secret. chocolate breakfast that only you guys know about. And I, you know, after he said it twice and kind of was in that like, I don't know, quiet state that he, it almost was like a trance state that he was in, I would say. I absolutely lost my mind. I threw my car and parked, turned it off, jumped out and screamed, like literally and fell to my knees because I was so overwhelmed that this happened.

after I calmed down, I didn't want him to see how wild I was blown away. I came back in the car and he was done. He was out of it. He wasn't there anymore. I said, what were you to, like, what did you say? And he just goes on, he's like, oh, yeah, blah. Like, can we change them?

Can you put on a podcast about like the kids pot? You know, going back to his like normal toddler self-talking, not talking about that at all anymore. And I asked Tim up. after, said, how did you, why did you say that? How did you know to say that? And he said, I don't know, I just knew or I just know. I couldn't get anything else more out of him. That was it. And he really kind of like didn't really care. Like he didn't really want to talk about it. It was like, uh, I just like knew to say, I knew that. I knew that. And then he just moved

on. But there's absolutely no way at all that he knew this because almost nobody knows this. It's just a thing for me and my grandma, which he said. When I spent the night at my grandma's house, when I was a child, our thing together, which happened often, was she would make me pancakes every morning after I'd sleep over. And instead of using maple syrup like you would anywhere else, she wanted to be special. So she would let me use Hershey's chocolate syrup. And I would drown my pancakes in them. And she would always jokingly say to me, like, don't tell your mom.

It's like our little secret, you know. a thing with me and my grandma. It was something I like cherish in my memories, but like I never have talked about that. Like who's, who tells somebody that, you know? So that's not something I like told people or there's absolutely no way my three year old would know that. So, and this happened, I'm telling you I went to bed at 11 p.m. or something the night before saying like, give me a fucking sign, the biggest sign. And this was like 10.30 the next morning. So we're talking about a 12-hour turnaround here. Like, I knew it was her coming through him.

And as crazy as it sounds, there is nothing that will make me not believe that because it was so clear, so, like, meant for me, it was so an answer to that demand. Really, I demanded, like, show yourself. Like, I need to know I'm not going crazy from these things happening, you know? And she did through my son. The way I think about all of these things and how it's kind of changed me is that I know that there's something that we as humans, most of us can't tap into yet. But I feel I have been able to tap into that veil space, the space that comes after.

Or maybe that's happening all the time around us. like when I asked my grandma for a sign, I didn't really, I had no idea what I was asking for. Like I thought maybe I would have a vision again, like a dream vision. But I didn't know what sign would be big enough that I'd be like, oh yeah, it's definitely my grandma. And she figured it out because I would never even think to say that. But that was a concrete way of being like, this is something that only me and you know about. No one else is going to remember this. It was our little sacred, like sweet thing.

know. So the fact that my son said that was like so startling. It was the confirmation that I needed that there is life beyond what we can see. It really has changed me in just trying to be more open to hearing people's experiences that are, you know, similar. And it absolutely 100% has made me not afraid of death. There's nothing that could change. how I feel about consciousness transcending death after these experiences. So it's given me a lot of comfort and also a lot of curiosity. Like I'm open to trying to get back into that space, but I'm just not, you know, both times that I did, it wasn't like I tried to, you know?

It's actually pretty funny because, yeah, we absolutely, of course, honored her. and the next day I made them pancakes and we had chocolate syrup. Hershey's chocolate syrup. I made sure to go out and buy it. We usually don't have that kind of stuff in the house, but it was actually like so fun and so deep to go buy some and be like, we're going to eat this. And so we did.

And my other son ate them too. And yeah, it just made me super duper happy, you know, in addition to being like in awe and wonder of what could possibly be on the other side waiting for us or right in front of our face, I was also just very happy. Eating the pancakes and going back to having a really special memory from my childhood and sharing it with my children felt like I was definitely paying homage to her and like appreciating that she came through because she came through loud and clear that it was her saying once again, I'm okay, I'm here. Like I have this knowledge. And so sharing,

during that special pancake breakfast that I haven't had since I was a little girl with my sons, it definitely felt like, you know, she made that happen. And so I felt, I feel her presence all the time. I know that

she is still there. And yeah, it was extremely life-changing all of it for me. Okay, thank you so much to Andrea for speaking to me and sharing this incredible story. I really love this one for so many reasons,

but I'd say the main reason was how unexpected this was for me in so many ways. But a big reason is that this was so unexpected for me, and I'm sure it certainly was for Andrea as well. Who, by the way, has returned to that town in rural Mexico, since we recorded this episode and has done the mushrooms again. As far as I know, she didn't experience anything as extreme as what we just heard. If she did, she at least hasn't told me about it. Thank you once again to Andrea for sharing this story.

This episode was called Flesh of the Gods, and you've been listening to Otherworld. Otherworld is executive produced and hosted by myself, Jack Wagner. Our producers are Theo Schaefer, Theo Krantz, Haley Pearson, and Nikki Kate Delgado. Our theme song is by Cobra Man. The soundtrack of this episode is by North Americans and Juice Jackal. Our artwork is by Coldassack Studios. Please show us your support by subscribing, leaving a five-star review, and telling your friends about the show. If you want to hear bonus episodes of Otherworld, you could become a patron at patreon.com

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