While Miley Cyrus is currently topping the charts with her hit song Flowers, she hasn’t always limited her plant purchases to the floral variety. The singer-songwriter has been open about her experience with psychedelics, including magic mushrooms and ayahuasca. In a candid talk with Rolling Stone magazine, when asked about her plans to stay away from mind-altering substances, she said she would possibly make an exception for magic mushrooms, and after contemplation added that she loved ayahuasca, but that she would not be doing it again due to the intensity of the experience.

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew made from the ayahuasca vine and other plant ingredients, often including the leaves of the chacruna plant. It has been used for centuries by indigenous peoples in the Amazon basin for spiritual and medicinal purposes, and more recently has gained popularity in the Western world as a tool for healing and self-discovery. The singer recounts that the shaman, who guided the experience at her home, claimed it usually takes multiple trips to have the type of inner journey the singer had. 

At the onset of her trip, Cyrus saw snakes that guided her during the trip and took her to “Mama Aya”, which is a nickname or term of endearment for Ayahuasca. The nickname reflects the reverence and respect that many people have for this teacher plant and its potential to facilitate personal growth and transformation. While she doesn’t go into detail, she describes it as crazy and afterward she asked the friends – including band members of Flaming Lips – if they also felt like they were completely new people. While it seems like she had the most intense experience of them all, Flaming Lips leader Wayne Coyne says “I think we’d do it again in the same sort of way, if we’re with some cool people, and we’re all in the same boat.”