Guest host Lisa Garr (email) was joined by psychotherapist and founder of the Shared Crossing Project, William Peters. He recounted his own near-death experience at age 17, which became the foundation for his later work. After a severe skiing accident, Peters found himself in complete darkness, aware of his own consciousness but without any physical sensation. He described experiencing an out-of-body ascent, viewing his body below, and rising above the Earth into space. As he traveled, he underwent a rapid life review filled with emotional lessons about kindness, regret, and karma. Approaching a radiant light he intuitively recognized as the source of all creation, he felt overwhelming peace, but also a sudden realization that he had not yet fulfilled his life's purpose.
Peters explained that such experiences, whether near-death or end-of-life visions, often transform one's beliefs, sense of purpose, and relationships. He pointed to well-documented research showing that dying individuals frequently have comforting dreams or visions involving deceased loved ones or elevated spiritual beings who help them prepare for death. He noted that more than 90 percent of hospice patients report these experiences. These encounters often shift dying individuals from fear and agitation to profound peace, which in turn reassures their families and caregivers, he said.
Peter's primary field of study is the shared death experience (SDE). Unlike a near-death experience, an SDE occurs when a healthy person, whether at the bedside or remotely, feels drawn into a loved one's transition and witnesses elements of the afterlife, such as the soul leaving the body or encounters with spiritual beings. According to Peters, research shows that openness, mindfulness, and emotional receptivity appear to make these experiences more likely. He described ongoing support groups for experiencers and outlined his team's work training patients and loved ones to foster conscious, connected end-of-life experiences.
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Podcast host Christian Rasmussen followed in the second half of the program. Rasmussen explained that he became addicted to benzodiazepines in his early 20s after being prescribed them for anxiety during a period of high-pressure business work. Although the medications initially made him feel euphoric and highly functional, they eventually left him emotionally diminished and dependent for nearly a decade. When he began tapering off the drugs, a process he emphasized must be done slowly to avoid life-threatening withdrawal, he entered a period of relentless panic, extreme anxiety, and debilitating physical symptoms. After a year of withdrawal, having recovered only minimally, he recalled feeling hopeless and contemplating ending his life.
During this low point, Rasmussen encountered Amanita muscaria mushrooms while hiking and felt a powerful intuitive calling toward them. He described these mushrooms as ancient mycorrhizal fungi with deep historical and spiritual roots, despite long-standing misconceptions about their toxicity. After microdosing very small amounts, Rasmussen experienced dramatic relief from his benzo withdrawal, estimating a 70 to 80 percent improvement within weeks, and noted that even after stopping the mushrooms, his improved brain function remained stable. He emphasized that Amanita is non addictive, appears to rebalance the GABA and glutamate systems damaged by benzodiazepines, and is widely used by people seeking help with anxiety, sleep, depression, PTSD, pain, and even certain neurological issues.
Rasmussen noted that Amanita muscaria works differently from classic psychedelics such as psilocybin or DMT. It is psychoactive but not traditionally psychedelic, generating internal, intuitive, dreamlike experiences rather than visual hallucinations. He said that at higher doses, used by only a small minority, some users report profound spiritual or paranormal experiences, heightened intuition, or encounters with entities, though he personally views the mushroom as a conduit to the divine within. He explained that most people use microdoses for grounding, sleep improvement, nervous system regulation, and cognitive benefits.