Oregon Psilocybin Center Feature: 7 Gates Sanctuary

Throw a stone and it will land somewhere in Portland’s lower east side—a hive of antique peddlers, pop-up galleries and unassuming storefronts that conceal nationally-acclaimed restaurants. Go south and you’ll hit the stairs off a historic high school now converted into the best music venue in town. If your boots pivot to the east, you’ll wander into one of Portland’s original cemeteries on route to Laurelhurst, where you’ll find an old-timey movie theatre, food cart pods and tree-lined streets filled with bicyclists and pedestrians. Finally, if you go west, young human, you’ll find yourself on the banks of the Willamette River or crossing one of the several bridges that usher you downtown.

You’ve probably already surmised that 7 Gates Sanctuary is smack dab in the beating heart of Portland. And though it’s surrounded by busy thoroughfares that its location warrants, the vibe inside resembles more of an oasis than a superhighway.

Set, Setting and Intentional Decor

Only one step into the 1906 Craftsman which is 7 Gates Psilocybin Center, and I already feel invited to take off my shoes and stay a while. Beside the mahogany trim, weathered doors and ash floors, a local artist has transplanted towering trees onto the walls of the group ceremonial space which encompasses most of the ground floor.  As I make my way upstairs to the three journey rooms, I almost feel I’m hiking a path through a patch of old-growth forest.

The stairs lead us to a shared bathroom, then a long corridor that spans the length of the second story. The first room, aptly named the Dunes Room, is both bright and muted, a sandy ode to a picnic by the sea. About halfway down the corridor, the vibe turns mystical as the Dreamer Room beckons—it’s a small journey space that’s big on aura thanks to the stained-glass windows and turquoise furnishings. Finally, at the end of the hallway, you’ll find the Wild Rose Room. It’s the largest of all 3 rooms, and it features a rose-themed Tuscan mural, a few burgundy couches, a green forest of indoor plants and a day-bed too.

What? Really? A Psilocybin Center on 11th and NE Sandy?

If you’re from Portland, you might be surprised to learn that several psilocybin service centers are sorta unassumingly hanging around in some of the city’s most bustling neighborhoods and intersections. When I tell my friends that I’ve been working with clients in an old craftsman at the intersection of 11th and Sandy, their eyebrows rise up and let out and audible really? Isn’t it pretty loud there? Wouldn’t it be better to be out in the woods?

The answer is yes and yes. And no and no. Part of properly facilitating a mushroom journey is preparing and embellishing the set and setting. While an urban nexus is ideal for visitors and city dwellers, we can’t control the occasional sirens nor the thrum of commuters as they sashay down the sidewalk. However, all my journeys (and I’ve sat for several) at 7 Gates have been nearly flawless. Not one of my clients have complained about street noise or the lack of access to a yard or garden and here’s why.

First, the obvious; insulated walls and sturdy windows repel noise. Secondly, each room looks and feels like a vibrant habitat—snake plants and ferns remind us of the woods and emanate life. Finally, and this is the most important point which I’ve made eleventy billion times before in previous articles, when we sip our mushroom tea here in Oregon’s legal service centers, we are deliberately going inward. My clients strap on an eye mask and follow the mushrooms wherever they might lead. Once they’ve dropped in, a random horn blast from a frustrated driver or the dystopian thrum of a leaf blower is really no match for a psychedelic jaunt through the cosmos.

A Cooperative Approach to Psilocybin Therapy

From my perspective as a facilitator, 7 Gates feels like a second home. The service center representatives are kind and deliberate, and they’re always fully present when interacting the clients. The spaces are clean, and inviting; whether I’m setting up the Dunes Room or the Rose Room, they seem to radiate a permanent calm. Despite the bureaucratic red tape of regulation, they are extremely professional with the requisite forms and make it easy to catapult over that bureaucracy and land in the rose room, under the eye mask and dreaming.

Part old-school cooperative and part healing center, the prevailing mantra at 7 Gates is access. Facilitators have the option of enrolling in a membership model which allows them to serve clients for a fraction of the cost of other places. Like a few other centers I work at—chariot and Vital Reset—they always have lower-priced strains of mushrooms available for those who can’t pay full price. As they say so succinctly on their site, “Our model is designed to dismantle the barriers of traditional healthcare: fostering accessibility, mutual support, and regenerative community economics,” and you’ll feel its tangible resonance in every interaction.

Wanna Journey at 7 Gates?

Take a tour of the website here. Send me a note and we’ll get the ball rolling!