in short: its been more than a minute, its been a whole year. But I bring you from my extended travels south of the border not just my favorite Mexican pan dulce, but what we might argue is the real life Sorcerer’s stone (iykyk).
because the backstory: as many of you long time readers know, in 2018 I found myself bed bound and unable to walk for a near year due to a sciatic nerve injury (after being held captive, for those of you that are new here).
But what absolutely none of you know is, that I got up from the wheelchair and walked after a single large dose of psilocybin (i.e. magic mushrooms). And magic indeed, for six hours after venturing into the depths of my subconscious, the crippling sciatica pain was gone (amongst other things)– and it never returned.
One year later? I was hiking 13 miles in the Sierra Nevada.
“Un milagro!” my grandmother, a devout catholic, would’ve likely declared had she been alive to witness it. But me calling it a miracle and moving on with my life wasn’t enough. So that day was unknowingly also the start of a seven years long quest in search of an answer to questions which, well quite clearly, seemed impossible to actually answer.
but spoiler: I bring actual answers (and unbelievable stories)(like, you really won’t believe me).
But arguably most importantly, and the reason why I cannot apologize for my tardiness: I also bring the price you’ll have to pay if you choose to go down this route– for just like anything in life, there really is no such thing as a free lunch 💸
but first, today’s recipe: for food is a powerful ingredient in our story.
And this recipe is an ode to arguably the most famed (and my personal favorite) Mexican pan dulce: sourdough conchas.
and some food (for thought): on December 8th 1994 famed Mexican physicist Dr Jacobo Grinberg-Zylberbaum disappeared without a trace.
But not before leaving in his wake an extensive body of work which, in his own words, spans from studies in quantum mechanics, elements of judaism and christianity, developments in Buddhism and yoga, classic literature (notably Herman Hesse’s themes of unity and interconnectedness), and last, but certainly not least, the lived experiences of Mexican shamans.
For as the story goes, his encounter with the Mexican curandera Pachita (born Bárbara Guerrero) would change the course of his work– and eventually his life. You see, Pachita was said to be able to perform so-called “psychic surgeries” i.e. highly complicated operations, without the need of anesthesia and only with the aid of a dull and crude hunting knife, where her patients said to have felt little discomfort and healed miraculously from their ailments.
The real kicker of the story? Pachita was said to be able to conjure organs out of thin air, close wounds with the swipe of her hand, and even perform blood transfusions (which, gulp, flowed out of her mouth).
And for Dr Grinberg, meeting her would change his perception of reality itself.
And interestingly enough, years before The Matrix would debut in 1999, he would conclude that by connecting consciousness to the informational matrix, high energetic vibrations allow significant modifications of reality to emerge.
i.e. reality itself can be bent
And if you were to ask me today if I believe the stories of Pachita and Dr Grinberg to be true, I would tell you that after the events I personally witnessed (and experienced) this past year… that I one hundred percent believe that reality can be altered in an instant.
But this is the part of the story where my grandmother would cross herself (and very likely either declare such stories to be the work of the devil himself)(or promptly call for my actual insanity).
And if you too are wondering if I lost my marbles– you’re not wrong.
For I suppose this is, in fact, the story of how just like Tootles I came to be in search for my marbles… and was kindly reminded when back in my possession, that we might just be able to take flight once again (yes, à la Peter Pan).
Because the key ingredient?
Unwavering faith that magic is real (i.e. you gotta be a little delusional, tbch).
