Articles & Updates

Church of Ambrosia Blog

2503, 2026

Gas Station, Smoke Shop, and Online Mushroom Chocolates: What’s Really Inside Them

A public safety warning from the Church of Ambrosia If you’ve walked into a gas station, smoke shop, or convenience store recently, or searched for mushroom chocolates online, you may have noticed something new: colorful chocolate bars and gummy packages with names like “PolkaDot,” “Diamond Shruumz,” and “TRE House,” marketed as “mushroom blends,” “nootropics,” or “microdose” products. They’re packaged to look like candy. They’re sold next to energy shots and

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2403, 2026

Mistah F.A.B. and Mama Ayanna Mashama Are Opening Saturday. Here’s Why That Matters.

On Saturday, April 4, the 58th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s transcendence, Oakland rapper Mistah F.A.B., Mama Ayanna Mashama of Black August, and Monica Cadena open the main stage at Spirituality & Beyond 2026 with “Honoring Legacies.” This is not a warm-up act. It is a statement about what kind of church this is and what community it comes from. April 4, 1968. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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2403, 2026

What Resurrection Means to the World’s Largest Psychedelic Church

On Easter Sunday, April 5, Pastor Dave Hodges delivers the annual Easter Sermon at Spirituality & Beyond 2026. This is the sixth year. It is a real religious service, for a community of more than 137,000 members. Here is what the Easter Sermon means in the Church of Ambrosia tradition. Seven years ago, Pastor Dave Hodges stood in a room in Oakland and delivered the first Sermon for a community

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2403, 2026

God Sitters: The Art of Holding Space When Someone Has Gone Very Far

A “god sitter” is someone who holds space for a person navigating an intense or overwhelming psychedelic experience. At Spirituality & Beyond 2026, three separate talks on Saturday and Sunday address this practice from different angles: what it requires, how to do it at scale, and what the limits of responsible guidance actually are. This is the most substantive treatment of psychedelic harm reduction happening in Oakland this Easter weekend.

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2403, 2026

Monica Cadena Is the Thread Running Through This Whole Weekend

Monica Cadena (@sacred.alchemist) appears at Spirituality & Beyond 2026 on both Saturday and Sunday. She opens the weekend, moderates the Lab Potency panel, and interviews Reggie Watts on Easter Sunday. She is not a featured speaker in the traditional sense. She is the architecture of the gathering itself. Every gathering has someone who makes the whole thing cohere. Not by managing the logistics or running the production, but by holding

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2403, 2026

Shane Mauss on Saturday: The Deepest Conversation, Then the Funniest Show

On Saturday, April 4, Shane Mauss joins Pastor Dave Hodges for a headliner conversation on the Hero’s Journey and high-dose psychedelic experience. That evening he performs TRIPS: Third Dose at Humanist Hall. His new special TRIPS: First Dose just premiered. Two tickets for the full Saturday. Both are worth it. When Shane Mauss says he has spent the last decade at the intersection of comedy, neuroscience, and psychedelics, that is

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2403, 2026

Press Release: Reggie Watts and Shane Mauss Headline Spirituality & Beyond 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMarch 25, 2026 REGGIE WATTS AND SHANE MAUSS HEADLINE SPIRITUALITY & BEYOND, CHURCH OF AMBROSIA’S SIXTH ANNUAL EASTER GATHERING IN OAKLAND Mistah F.A.B., Bia Labate, and Zendo Project Among New Additions to Lineup; MLK Legacy, High-Dose Practice, and Community Care Shape Easter Weekend Program OAKLAND, Calif., March 25, 2026 – Spirituality & Beyond, the Easter weekend gathering hosted by Church of Ambrosia Pastor Dave Hodges, returns for its

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0403, 2026

Reggie Watts and Shane Mauss Headline Church of Ambrosia’s 6th Annual ‘Spirituality and Beyond’ Easter Weekend Celebration

Three-day gathering brings comedy, music, consciousness exploration, and community to Oakland’s Humanist Hall  Spirituality and Beyond, the annual celebration of spirituality, science, and art hosted by Church of Ambrosia Pastor Dave Hodges, returns for its sixth year over Easter weekend, April 3rd through April 5th, at Oakland’s Humanist Hall. “Spirituality and Beyond is always Easter weekend, but Easter moves every year, and the dates always land on something we wouldn’t

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2002, 2026

Spirituality and Beyond 6th Annual Event

Overview Spirituality & Beyond brings together healing, science, art, and community for a weekend of connection, learning and expanded consciousness. Easter marks resurrection, renewal, and sacred communion. This weekend, we gather for another kind of communion — one rooted in community, consciousness, and embodied experience. There is a long-standing theory that early Christian rites carried entheogenic symbolism — that mystical communion once pointed toward altered states and direct encounters with

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2312, 2025

Amazing community support signals huge success for today’s “Toys for Joy” giveaway organized by Rapper Mistah F.A.B. and Oakland’s Church of Ambrosia

The Church of Ambrosia and Oakland Rapper Mistah F.A.B. expect a record turnout in today’s toy giveaway for children and families. Community contributions this year have been overwhelming. Mistah F.A.B.’s Toys for Joy campaign raised approximately $20,000 in toy donations. The Church of Ambrosia contributed over $20,000 in psychedelic sacraments through its “Shrooms for Toys” program, bringing the combined value of this year’s partnership to more than $40,000. Significant contributions

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