Who Gets to Hold the Medicine? A Conversation with Mee Ok on Power, Integrity & Psychedelic Healing
PLANT MEDICINE
6/30/20251 min read

It’s Not About the Trip — It’s About the Turning Point
A conversation with Mee Ok Icaro
In this conversation with Mee Ok Icaro, I share what I’ve learned about healing, plant medicine, and the deeper work that happens beyond the ceremony space.
Before I ever went on a retreat, I didn’t really understand what it was all about.
"Honestly, before the retreat, I didn’t understand that it’s not about the medicine. It’s not about ingesting the medicine. It’s about the dieta. It’s about the months of preparation, and connecting with the plant without even ingesting a single drop."
I asked the kinds of questions I had when I was first starting out—like what really happens in a ceremony? What’s the difference between taking ayahuasca alone versus being in a sacred space held by Indigenous maestros?
I also asked deeper questions:
"Most people are not going to pursue the path you are on… so how do you see the everyday person, or non-Indigenous practitioners, best supporting traditional lineages?"
"As an adoptee and Korean-American, how have your identity and ancestral lineage informed your relationship with the Shipibo traditions?"
"So to me, being in that liminal space that you described… that’s the opposite of where the Shipibo are. They’re in a very rooted place. So how has that liminality informed your relationship to those traditions?"
I’m still learning. Still asking. Still opening. And Mee Ok holds such a thoughtful space to explore these questions. I'm grateful for the chance to speak honestly and to keep learning alongside others who care about this path as deeply as I do.
"Every time I talk with you, I have more questions… I really appreciate who you are—not just these identities that we label people with, but your energy, your soul, your spirit."
Resources & Ways to Connect
Mee Ok
🌿 meeok.substack.com
🌿 holdingcompassionate.space
🌿 mee-ok.com
SooLotus
🌸 soolotus.com
🌸 @soo.lotus on Instagram