Sacred Toad
Near-total darkness: a distant warm light and the faint edge of a black stone, dust drifting through the glow.

Sacred Toad

A private ceremony, held by Nina Moore. One guest or one couple, one night.

A tall faceted block of black volcanic glass floating in darkness, a single distant light above it.

Sombra, Shadow

It begins with what you carry and rarely say.

Macro view of knapped obsidian: overlapping glassy scoops with a soft band of light across them.

Before you come, we talk: your health, any medication, and why you want this.

Close view of wind ripples in fine sand, low sun picking out each crest.

Disolución, Dissolution

In the ceremony, the sense of being a separate self can fall away within seconds.

The knife-edge crest of a great dune against the sky, sand streaming off it in the wind.
A vast sky at blue hour over a dark plain of low dunes, distant volcanic ranges on the horizon.

Horizonte, Horizon

For a few minutes there is nothing to hold. Nina stays beside you throughout.

A ten-metre wall of rammed earth crossing the desert, a tall narrow door cut through it, a block tower behind.

Muro, Wall

The ceremony is short. What surrounds it is most of the work: a conversation before, and another after.

A narrow corridor between thirteen-metre earthen walls, a slot of sky above, the desert blazing at the far end.

It is you, or you and your partner, and Nina. There is no group.

A dark volcanic cave pierced by a single beam of sunlight that lands on a mound of pale sand.

Luz, Light

Many people describe white light. What you take home matters more.

A dark square room with a brim-full black pool, a beam from a round oculus striking the water, a thin window slot of desert beyond.

Agua, Water

Afterwards there is a session to make sense of it, and it takes longer than the ceremony did.

Ripples of sunlight reflected from the pool moving across a plastered wall above the waterline.
Top-down macro of dark pitted basalt under a thin layer of still water, a net of light across it.

Dinner when you arrive, breakfast in the morning, both brought to your door.

The house in silhouette against the first band of dawn light, the sky turning from indigo to gold.
The sun rising exactly in the narrow door of the long wall, a shaft of gold running across the shadowed sand toward the viewer.

Alba, Dawn

The morning is slow, and we do not fill it.

The temple room: plastered earth walls, a deep window, morning sun across a stone ledge and a single clay vessel.

Refugio, Refuge

Your room is apart from the rest of the property. No one else stays there.

A tall doorway in a dark earthen wall, closed by a linen veil glowing gold with the dawn behind it; light slips under the hem onto the floor.

A table and a glass of water. That is enough for one night.

A long reflecting pool leading to the lit door in the wall, one small figure standing at its far end.

You come in your own vehicle, and leave when you are ready.

Close view of a rammed-earth wall: horizontal layers of compacted soil in ochre, rust and pale lime.

The night

One offering: a private ceremony for one guest or one couple. It begins with an application and a conversation, and not everyone who applies is offered a place.

  1. Preparation

    A call with Nina before you come. We go through your health, any medication you take, and what you are hoping for. If it is not safe, we say so.

    Before

  2. The ceremony

    You arrive, and dinner is brought to your room. The ceremony is held privately, with Nina beside you throughout. You stay the night.

    The night

  3. Integration

    A session afterwards to make sense of what happened and to carry it into ordinary life. Breakfast is brought to you in the morning.

    After

Before ceremony

Every applicant completes a medical questionnaire and a call with Nina. When it is not safe, we say no and tell you why.

We cannot sit with you in ceremony if you

  • take antidepressants, lithium or MAO inhibitors
  • have a heart condition or high blood pressure
  • have a personal or family history of psychosis, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder
  • have epilepsy or a history of seizures
  • are pregnant or breastfeeding

Never stop a prescribed medication in order to attend. Talk to the doctor who prescribed it first.

The medicine is 5-MeO-DMT, from the Sonoran Desert toad, ethically sourced from Sonora. It is a controlled substance in many countries. Check the law where you live and where you travel.

Arrival

You come in your own vehicle. The address and directions are sent privately once your place is confirmed, and the fee is agreed on the call.

The Milky Way over the dark silhouette of the house, its narrow door glowing warm.

Apply

Tell us whether you are coming alone or with a partner, and roughly when. Nina reads every application and replies within a few days; the reply includes the medical questionnaire.

Who is coming

Sacred Toad
  1. SombraShadow
  2. DisoluciónDissolution
  3. HorizonteHorizon
  4. MuroWall
  5. LuzLight
  6. AguaWater
  7. AlbaDawn
  8. RefugioRefuge
  9. The night
  10. Apply