Photo by Cornelia Peterson
About a decade ago, Randy Layman was at the helm of a medieval textbook crisis. He had a young family and a thriving career in the restaurant business. But he also worked hard, drank hard, and was doing it for a purpose.
“I needed a reset,” Layman says. “I had to explore what I might be able to do with my life.”
He found the answer, quite unexpectedly, after losing his left leg below the knee in a motorcycle accident in 2022. That event, combined with some changes Layman had already embraced, set him on a new, more fulfilling path of life as a certified psychedelic guide specializing in amputee clients.
“There is so much need and opportunity for people to experience real healing,” says the 43-year-old layman, who calls his new venture Magic Lamp Guiding. “Not just going through hospital recovery or working with physical therapists or psychotherapists, but spiritual healing. Psychedelic drugs showed me another way to understand myself and shine light into some dark and shadowy areas. I want to create a safe way for amputees to experience the same kind of healing that I have. Because I know how powerful it is.”
Lajman’s evolution began in the mid-2010s, when he woke up, began meditation, amicably parted ways with his wife, and began a daily journaling practice. After reading Michael Pollan’s bestseller How to change your mind, he added traditional plant-based medicines like psilocybin and ayahuasca to the mix.
“These drugs allow people to deal with feelings in a way that our society just isn’t designed to handle,” Layman says. “They showed me that there are other ways to follow life, other ways to understand yourself. I had many breakthroughs of self-discovery.”
Just when he was starting to feel whole and healthy again, Layman was hit by a drunk driver while riding his motorcycle in downtown Denver. The impact crushed his left leg.
“The irony was not lost on me,” notes Layman. “For almost all of my 30s, I abused alcohol. I’ve never gotten a DUI, but I’ve gotten behind the wheel when I shouldn’t have plenty of times. I had to ask myself what my role was [causing the accident]? How much was this karmic wheel that taught me a lesson?”
The incident launched Layman’s quest to redefine himself in transcendence. All of a sudden, he had to admit weakness and accept help. “I had this new body,” he continues. “How do I feel comfortable with him? How do I remove fear and anxiety about the future? Will women find me attractive? Will I find myself attractive? What will I tell my children? How will I become a father?”
About six weeks after his amputation, after weaning himself off the painkillers, Layman scheduled a psilocybin session to settle back into his body, reintegrate it with mind and spirit, address his doubts about to live with limb loss and to shake off the feeling that he had somehow brought the accident on himself. “I had a very special spiritual experience,” he says. “Everything started to connect. After that, I began to dream of being an amputee”—a healthy sign of peaceful acceptance.
While all this was unfolding, Layman had to deal with a parallel health crisis. While doctors were examining him after his motorcycle accident, they discovered a lump on his thyroid. “I was walking around with thyroid cancer and I had no idea,” he says. “If not for the accident, I wouldn’t have known and I wouldn’t have removed the cancer as soon as I did.” So it left me in this space where I thought the universe must be trying to push me. I didn’t die from the accident; I dodged the cancer bullet; So what am I going to do with the rest of my time? How can I be of service to the world?”
Layman quickly settled on the idea of guiding other amputees to the holistic healing he had personally experienced. He was inspired, in part, by the encouragement he received from other amputees during his recovery. “Once you make yourself available to the community, the community is available to you,” he says. Layman began taking courses at the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness, a 12-year-old institute that helped pioneer legal, clinically-based professional training in psychedelic herbal therapy. After completing the year-long program this spring, Layman launched Magic Lamp Guiding and began accepting clients.
“I really see my amputation now as a blessing in disguise,” he says. “That’s how I want to be of service.” Layman will launch his website daily at magiclampguiding.co. The site should be up by the end of this week.
More Amplitude articles about the clinical uses of psychedelic medicine for amputees
Limb loss, psychedelics, healing and ceremony
Amputee Health and the New Science of Psychedelic Drugs
FAQ: Phantom limb pain and psilocybin
Can LSD help cure phantom limb pain?
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