What I meant by "consuming a natural substance that alters our awareness and perception in a perceivable way" specifically, is the consumption of marijuana.

Of course, I believe this applies to anything that we "consume" which alters our body and perception through the release of chemicals(neuro-peptides) by the hypothalamus.

In your article it is clear that you are taking a stance against the adverse side effects that one can receive from consumption of heavy mind altering drugs. In saying that, if consumption of a drug, food, nature, etc alters our perception, yet, the alteration is held in awareness so that the very alteration itself is perceivable, is this a bad thing? Does this type of perception alteration take away from the experience and act of that specific communion? Does it add a layer of falsity to the communion?

In my mind, I am trying to make a juxtaposition between drugs or natural substances that alter experience in a state of "perceivable awareness" as opposed to altering awareness in an imperceivable way. So instead of completely changing our awareness through drugs like mushrooms, salvia, or DMT, making us observers with totally different glasses on, we can become an observer observing the observer through the "perceivable awareness" of an alteration of perception by consuming substances like marijuana, sugar, caffeine, etc.

These are just some things I have been thinking about as of late, and I was hoping that you, and others, would be able to share their insights, thoughts and intuitions on some of these ideas.
Thanks for your time

Ron