Former state lawmaker Steve Urquhart is heading into 2026 with a disco ball helmet on his head and 10 grams of psilocybin in his belly. And you can watch.
He’s calling it “The Most Important 🍄 Journey," a tongue-in-cheek title he’s advertising online with a theatric wink, two thumbs up and a glimmering helmet not unlike The Great Gazoo’s.
Urquhart plans to livestream the experience on Instagram, Youtube and TikTok on New Year’s Eve, with several accounts ready to take up the stream if it is removed.
It’s the latest episode in the long, strange trip that stemmed from Urquhart leaving the Legislature, disavowing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, experimenting with psychedelic drugs and ultimately starting his own church — alongside his wife, Sara — where psilocybin, sometimes called magic mushrooms, is the official sacrament.
While psilocybin is still considered a federally illegal Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, Urquhart’s church has some protected status under the Religious Freedom Act, which Utah codified at the state level in 2024.
The fungi and other psychedelic drugs also are increasingly being studied and used for treatment-resistant depression and more, including in Utah, in what some have called a psychedelic renaissance.
Urquhart said he hopes the livestream can give insight into how he worships with the use of mushrooms and show viewers that there isn’t one right way to access divinity.
“That’s kind of an important part of religion,” Urquhart said. “If you have found the good news, you share it with others.”
Why livestream?
(Brooke Lark) Former Utah lawmaker Steve Urquhart poses with a disco ball helmet in promotion of the livestreamed psilocybin journey he's planning for New Year's Eve.
The idea started, strangely enough, with Bryan Johnson, Urquhart said.
Urquhart had seen social media content featuring the entrepreneur, venture capitalist and futurist as he tries to bio-hack the human body to overcome death.
To that end, Johnson has also livestreamed himself on psilocybin, wearing at times his own bulbous helmet that measures brain activity. Urquhart said he wanted to parody the content and do twice the dose. He even got a similar, albeit more ostentatious, helmet.
But, he conceded, that was a “pretty base” motivation. As he started researching Johnson, he discovered a photo of Johnson on his Latter-day Saint mission. They were more similar than he thought, Urquhart realized.
“I’m like,” Urquhart recalled, “‘Oh, Brother Johnson, you too are trying to fill a God-shaped hole in your soul.’”
Urquhart’s livestream won’t discuss Johnson much, he said. Instead, it will focus on showing viewers “that there are different ways that we can worship.”
It will mark the first time Urquhart’s livestreamed himself on psilocybin. Why now?
“The main thing would be to just show the world how I do it,” he said, “and how I do it with some of my friends.”
Some online commenters have been skeptical that the livestream, or taking psilocybin as a sacrament, is a religious experience, but Urquhart said they are wrong.
“I have found peace that I didn’t know was imaginable, and so I don’t want to hide that light under a bushel,” he said. “I want to share it because I think people need it.”
Why 10 grams?
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Steve Urquhart, who started The Divine Assembly church with his wife, Sara, unpacks a psilocybin grow kit in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. Urquhart’s church uses psilocybin as sacrament and sells the kits so others can grow their own sacrament.
A “medium-strength dose” of psilocybin is around 2 to 3 grams of dried mushrooms, according to an article in Harvard Health Publishing.
Urquhart said he doesn’t take psilocybin much anymore “because I don’t need to. I love where I’m at. I’ve found peace.” And he hasn’t done a larger dose in “quite a while.”
So why such a big dose?
“I won’t be able to hold on, right? I won’t be able to control the journey, and I think at times that’s important,” he said, “to be swept away in the mystic.”
“Maybe I’m just gonna hide under the covers,” he said. At least some of it will be silly.
It’s hard to know exactly how he will respond, to not only the dose but all the variables — his guests, the livestream and more.
“Yeah,” he said, “this is going to be a lot. And I’m super excited for it. This is how I worship. I sincerely believe I connect through the divine, through this, and I’ve never done anything like this. So let’s see what happens.”
The logistics
Urquhart will begin livestreaming around 3 p.m. Mountain time, when he will take the psilocybin. He will be surrounded by people he loves, he said, receiving guests throughout the evening who bring gifts or thoughtful conversation.
It will be hosted on Instagram at @the.divine.assembly and @Shift_Series_; on TikTok at @mushroomchurch and @ShiftStories.yt; and on Youtube at @thedivineassembly1 and @Shift_Series.
In addition to Urquhart, the broadcast will also include commentary from others about health, safety and worship.
The livestream will end around 8 p.m.
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