



Not until someone reached out asking for information about the very abuse Ross had experienced did she realize she could find help outside the system that had silenced her. Ross: People didn’t say, “This is your fault.” They said things like “You manifested this experience so that you could grow as a person. Relating the multiple instances of rape and sexual abuse she experienced at the hands of an ayahuasca shaman and the aftermath when she decided to come forward, Ross portrays a community unwilling to support her or confront its own systemic issues. In the second episode of Cover Story, Lily Kay Ross recounts her trip to the Ecuadoran Amazon to the podcast’s host, iO Tillett Wright. Photo-Illustration: by The Cut Photos: Provided
