Britain: 32-year-old woman drank hallucinogenic tea in shamanistic ceremony and killed herself

A coroner has warned of the potentially deadly consequences of ‘healing’ methods in shamanistic ceremonies, after the death of a young artist who suffered a mental breakdown and then took her own life

According to Daily Mail 32-year-old Kate Hyatt battended a £620-ticket ceremony at a ‘healing retreat» in a farmhouse in Worcestershire, Britain, where drank a hallucinogenic ‘tea’ based on plants used in South American ceremoniesaccording to the inquest.

Supporters of such ceremonies are celebrities such as Sting and Lindsay Lohan. In these rituals uses psychoactive beverages that are claimed to expand participants’ consciousness and counter negative emotions.

Hyatt was forced to abandon her studies for a master’s degree in San Francisco when the coronavirus hit California and returned to live with her parents in Yorkshire and explore alternative medicine. In June 2021 she took part in a three-day ceremony at a retreat near Malvern after being put in touch with organizers by a midwife, the inquest heard.

According to emails sent to Hyatt and accessed by the Daily Mail, the retreat was to offer wachuma, billed as a “plant-teacher” that allows participants to “dive deep within ourselves».

Another drug

In addition to wachuma, which is made from a “sacred” cactus and contains the illegal hallucinogen mescaline, The girl’s parents told the inquest they believe Kate also took ayahuasca, another drug.

On her return home, her mental health deteriorated and she was convinced she was dying. Her mother pleaded with shelter organizers to help her. Despite being referred by doctors to a mental health crisis team, she attempted suicide once before taking her own life in October 2021.

A coroner took over

Now Bradford assistant coroner Crispin Oliver has drawn up a “prevention of future deaths” report, saying there is a risk other participants in courses run by the Hands of Light Academy could be at risk due to a lack of medical supervision.

Marian Woolis, who founded the venue with her husband Clive, denied that Hyatt had taken part in a séance, or that illegal psychedelics had been administered. However, the assistant coroner concluded that the evidence available to him was valid.

Now Hyatt’s parents want to warn others who are drawn to alternative medicine. “These are not innocent drugs, they should be used in carefully controlled trials,” her father said.