Perhaps a little less formal, the Durango Psychedelic Club also looks to create a space where members can discuss psychedelics and their therapeutic uses.

“I just want to see people mentally healthy,” said Rayne Grant, president and founder of the Durango Psychedelic Club. “Our focus is bringing conversation about psychedelics to the public. This is how we learn from each other as a community.”

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The Durango Psychedelic Club is the local chapter of a national organization known as the Psychedelic Club, which is based in Denver.

Grant has spent the past 10 years studying mycology. Her mushroom research was originally based around certain fungi that can break down plastics. Many people assumed that because Grant was a mycologist, she was studying psilocybin.

“So many people came to me for information on psilocybin that I thought maybe I should get some books on this,” she said.

Fascinated by what she learned about psychedelic mushrooms and how they can be used for therapy, she began giving talks at music festivals and other events. Beyond psilocybin, Grant took an interest in the legal psychedelic mushroom amanita muscaria.

“Amanita muscaria is kind of my spirit mushroom,” she said. “Anything related to the nervous system, it’s an amazing mushroom for helping with that.”

Durango Psychedelics Club board member Badí Reddy said part of his fascination with psychedelics is the history behind them.

“Every culture throughout history has had its own means of creating a situation where people center themselves and have an experience that is beyond the physical,” he said.

Reddy said one of the benefits of psychedelics he enjoys is the ability to have a centering, individual experience, that at the same time connects him with others.

“A psychedelic experience is really about you, and how you want to interpret yourself in relation to your world,” he said.