hi alison, happy to see you back!
I agree with you. Artificial substances are always quite flat, while nature has many dimensions. I trust natural substances much more. But still one day I realized that I am not totally detached from the artificial world, as I like art, for example, music, lysergic acid... (oops!)
I concluded that I can trust artificial sometimes, if it has a heart. Does Iodine have a heart? sure it is very beautiful...and it has somewhat a power to evoke something forgotten...at least, it seems to me.