International Church of Cannabis — Attraction in Denver

So I’ve lived in the Denver area for almost a decade now. I’ve always wanted to go here, and when they started advertising the light show I was even more anxious to go. I kept dropping hints to my husband over the last 4 years, but I kinda gave up ever getting to go. So you can imagine my reaction when he tells me he had a surprise set for my birthday and he suggested I stop by the Lyman Support Center ahead of my surprise (if you don’t know about Lyman Support Centers you’re missing out so after you read this review, google it you’ll thank me later!!!). I was really surprised that he brought me here! I went full on tourist for the day!

Now I’m going to say this much, I was a bit disappointed when we got there because we were told there were some minor technical difficulties and that they were trying to get the light show up and running. They did give us the option to not use our tickets and come back, but they let us explore the whole place and they also gave me a super nice goodie bag for my birthday so I was still happy. While exploring the church and the basement area, a nice man came and found us and told us that the show was fixed and would be starting soon. Yay! He led us upstairs to the beautifully painted sanctuary and we literally had the whole place to ourselves! The light show started and it was perfect! We were snuggled up in a church pew with stars surrounding us and I don’t think I have ever experienced a more magical moment or birthday in my entire life! I think 2 tourists showed up a bit late but we didn’t even notice them. It was a great experience, great birthday and I truly appreciate the hard work on the part of the staff in making the light show happen! This literally made my year!

So my suggestion is to go to the first show of the day (you can stay as long as you want afterwards and catch the show again if you want) and if you want to be practically the only ones in there, go on a weekday, we went on a Wednesday. Be prepared that the sanctuary is actually upstairs, so if you’re disabled like me, make sure you arrive early so you can get up the stairs. Also thank you to the guy running the show who noticed I wasn’t super fast on the stairs and actually slowed down for me, I don’t look disabled and don’t ever ask for accommodations, but I had a spinal cord injury and 2 emergency surgeries so I could retain my ability to walk and then had a really bad car accident in December that made my mobility worse. So it was much appreciated! If you are wheelchair dependent you might not be able to do the light show but I did read on their FAQs that if you can call ahead there is an accessible entrance and you can at least experience a tour of the place minus sanctuary. There’s not a lot of stairs to the main entrance and there’s a rail so it’s mostly accessible. And it’s worth the climb!

Also if you are trying to time it right, definitely see Lyman Support about an hour prior to the show. And smoke before you get there, they allow families and children into the light show so you won’t be able to partake during the show.

Also, if you’re wanting to partake here outside of the show, on other days or times, make sure you become a member on their website before you go, it’s free and who doesn’t want to be a member of...

Edit Nov 2024: we have come back again and will again and again! Thank you for reminding me always of what is most vital, most alive. Thank you for reminding me to celebrate love!

Edit: returned aug 2023. Every time I visit here the section about time makes me cry. And every time for a different reason.

What a powerful beautiful place...

Original:

My best friend and i came to the church of cannabis on a cross country road trip to move me to California. It was our farewell tour, our goodbye journey, and we were driving on the cosmic chuckle bus (the name we bestowed upon our noble cargo van).

Before visiting the church, we had three road trip mishaps, including having our van lost in the city of Denver (by a private towing company) for an entire morning. So we decided to come here, to lay on the ground looking at beautiful and entrancing visualizations and listening to the moving and affective words and songs of great thinkers, artists and musicians.

As the song time by pink floyd started to play, i began to cry, realizing not just the significance of my journey out west but what would be the greatest loss of my life: my best friend, the love of my life, lying by my side. I wept and we watched the lights, he held me. I knew I had to tell him what every part of me knew, no matter the outcome. We exited the church, i kept weeping, and then we sat on the steps of the church of cannabis, and I told him, "I love you." He said, "I love you too." And I said, "No... no... I mean... I don't want to write the rest of my story without you."

We've been together ever since. And we returned for a second showing after a winter holiday spent together with family, with us as a couple.

Run, don't walk to the church of cannabis. You never know what story you'll find within or...

This place is super dumb. It is an amazing space, that is used as a cheap, low budget tourist trap.

I attended one of their "ceremonies." It was supposed to consist of a guided meditation session along with a freeform experience.

The guided meditation session basically consisted of trippy music and some guy with a British accent pithy statements that were printed on a millennial's pillows.

The freeform experience was basically a 1980s laser rock show with what I assume they thought was '60s and '70s stoner music. I mean, it started out with White Rabbit. Really guys? It's the Church of cannabis, not LSD, and The Summer of Love was a long time ago.

The music was interrupted with dialogue from different films, talking about how all of us weirdos, we're going to take over the world and we were the greatest people on the planet. And then Led Zeppelin.

It was even hard to enjoy the music, because the sound system was completely insufficient for a space of that size. The interior of the room is a massive barn, and the sound system was basically enough for a speaker, but not enough for music. It sounded hollow and tinny. There was no subwoofer, and a room that size needed massive subwoofers.

I knew it missed the mark when I thought to myself, I probably shouldn't have gotten so high for this.

I think the fact that the space is so amazing, and could be used so much better, just adds to the sense of disappointment you have, for such a lame effort at attempting to put together something that was neither for people on cannabis or offered anything like a...