The method to my madness: The Psychonaut

Mankind has always believed in "altered reality", if only in the mind, and the need for most of us to access those levels under certain optimal conditions. This has been like this for thousands of years, across many different cultures.

Whether you wish to believe it is only subjective, and thus irrelevant, or the user becomes "objectively one" and scientifically implausable, these side effects have immense impact on the user. The days and weeks following such explorations into "altered states" always have a significant and long lasting effect on the user, user beneficial. Mostly negative only when not under controlled conditions, either too much (abuse) or wrong environment (which is most important for a good trip) ... in other words taking drugs and going partying with friends at a nightcvlub is about the worst thing you can do. Which is what most people do, of course.

It's rather disappointing to see how "traditional" drugs like marijuana are banned while prozac is manufactured by the ton. Ditto for alcohol, such a dirty, demeaning drug, that causes more than half the worlds misery every friday night.

Nice post OP, there's plenty of case studies done that show the relevance and need for psycho-active drugs in our society, perhaps you could compile some?

peace

reply to post by 2weird2live2rare2die

i'm sure we have all been there..

I don't think we all have actually...I don't know what to say in response to that actually, but your post is probably breaking the T&C by describing your trip in detail like that, not that it really helps make my point, I would suggest you maybe avoid drugs or at least what ever drugs cause you to see demons.

reply to post by CHA0S

Literally being as one, or just feeling as one with the Universe?

I should have clarified what the definition of one means as well, especially considering the ongoing debate in the forums about what that means to everyone.

When i say being at one, i don't literally mean being the universe, what i mean is that i find harmony in my life with the direction "it" is telling me to look at for the predetermined path i have been sent out on. One not being me at the zero point of consciousness experiencing everything all at once, one just being that i am at peace with my chosen path. I hope that better describes what i ment.

Originally posted by CHA0S
reply to post by onequestion

 

My definition of enlightenment is being at one with the universe, and harmony.

Literally being as one, or just feeling as one with the Universe?
2nd

Well I think that's a hard thing to differentiate.

To keep in the topic of the thread, I too dabble in psychonautics and I have reached a certain state called "ego death". I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

If there is any experience in the world that can compare to say, what the Buddha experienced and how he described it, it would be ego death.

reply to post by CHA0S


or maybe you just need to do more next time? because when things start kind of melting and subtly changing right in front of your face is when it gets good.

Star and flag!

I have too delved into the psychonautical space for years. Tried many interesting journeys - Salvia is perhaps the most reliable and unusual space in my opinion (besides being a legal plant). I also participated in book projects on the subject of what was called "entheogens" in the 90's. I think it is pretty much proven by now that the OP is right about good altered states probably focusing naturally occurring '___' in the pineal gland (even though we will probably never observe in vivo how a human pineal gland actually manufactures that substance).

I guess it matters for more and more people to start to reprogram themselves this way - and later to use those memories to allow themselves to build a new type of life on this planet. That is why I think it was not the government who REALLY initiated early '___' exposure at Woodstock etc. - I think it was certain unseen liberating powers around this globe that wanted many folks to get out of their social constructs.

I was also struck by the similarity of cyclical psychosis and '___'-type drugs: I grew up with a severely manic depressive stepmother - and when she was in a manic phase, she was not only positively charged, but she wa also psychic - reading telepathic stuff, telling some events accurately from the future etc. In fact, the real problem was not that, it was when she turned depressive...

Yet after these years I still think it is more important for people to start acting upon those webs of meaning they discover during these journeys than to get to the same space by taking more psychedelics. When you get to this conclusion - that will differ from person to person - some need exposure for a long time, some are changed by a single dose at a college party... Jim DeKorne, noted explorer and author turned to Kabbalistic and oriental meditations etc. a long time ago.

For this philosophical reason I have not taken any mind-altering stuff myself in a long-long time. What causes perhaps the best experience of personal growth in my life is whenever I do something that either brings back those feelings or whenever I notice myself accomplishing a change that I know I had signed up for during some trip - maybe as long as twenty years ago...

About 25 years ago I posted the goal of finding out how to create spontaneous psychedelic feelings without any substance at all. I succeeded. At the time I thought meditation and shamanism were my main tools - but everyone is different, and the whole Earth is different now, so it is not the same thing to meditate now as it was before 1999... At any rate, I can tell you that it is possible to create that space (auras, visualizations help a lot), even though normally one would get to only a certain lower percent of one's psychonautical experience... but then, that 5-10 percent is totally volitional, I mean it can be basically turned on and off...

I am putting the question to those of you who have had exposure to cannabis as well as '___' or mushrooms or '___' - back then I formed an opinion that Cannabis was a different direction than the other group. At the time I used the metaphor "horizontal" whereas the other group were "vertical" to me. I felt good from Cannabis and after a while I thought it was imperative that I should stay away from that, as it was getting too comfortable and it did not allow any more personal growth...

Now most books would say (with the notable exception of Jim DeKorne's 'Psychedelic Shamanism') that it IS the same direction, yet I had formed the hypothesis over the years that marijuana is a different direction... although probably therapeutical to some people at some ages or conditions (as the Yellow Emperor listed it already in the world's oldest medical textbook, to be administered orally).

My other question would be - your main non-drug avenues to really bring back the good side of psychonautical experiences. When the theme was young, thirty-forty years ago, writers listed things like fasting - I think that does not work on everyone though. It does not for me - I am thin and nervous. After the books and lectures of McKenna, this topic will never be the same as before...

Great thread!

well, it seems that the only safe and reliable option (known to me) to explore this reality or this illusion we live in and other realities is through SALVIA DIVINORUM.
look it up in depth, folks. here's a good thread on the experience: www.entheogen.com...

It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to tell myself that what I have been experiencing with Salvia extract is not actually real or authentic. During the experience & immediately following it there is some part of my mind/consciousness that tells me “You know what that is, you know that is real.” Once some time passes my rational, sober, day-to-day state of mind returns and I tell myself “There’s no way that can actually be real”. Also, the fact that there are other people who are having these very similar experiences with Salvia makes it hard for me to just write it off as my “brain on drugs”. At the end of the day I don’t believe it’s real, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t seem like it is! It seems just as real, if not realer, than this Life/Reality.

This week I did 2 deep journeys and did something a bit different than I usually do. Most of the times I’ve used Salvia have been with my eyes closed and in a completely dark or mostly-dark room. This time I made a point to leave the light on & keep my eyes open because I wanted to know if I would actually see what I usually see. I wanted to be able to tell if what I have been experiencing was only taking place behind closed eyelids in the dark.

Both of these sessions consisted of pre-loading with a bowl of plain leaf, smoked at once into one huge hit (I have iron lungs)…I waited a few minutes…then proceeded to smoke the “real” bowl. Both times I used a mix of 5x, 15x, and topped each bowl off with a small pinch of 30x. I still cannot believe what happened next. It is difficult to actually put into words since we don’t have language to describe this process but I will try my best. Both of these experiences consisted of the same exact thing happening, basically the same thing that happens to me every time I smoke now.

I’m sitting there in a comfortable chair which has a cushioned back & a cushion to rest my head on, looking around at everything in the room while I hold the last hit in. Within seconds after I exhale everything starts to get that “fake plastic/waxy” look to it. All of the sudden I feel this strong sensation of something either opening or turning along the side of my body and it felt like something was literally scraping against the side of my body, I soon realized it was one of the turning gears/cogwheels. Before I know it everything starts to lose depth and what I am looking at…my reality/my field of vision/whatever you want to call it…begins to turn into this completely flat “sheet” which starts to become TRANSPARENT. It was like my Reality became see-through wallpaper. Like I was looking through a clear painting.

So now I'm staring THROUGH my room which is now completely flat & see through…and on the other side of this I see the same #ing thing that I have been seeing for quite some time now. I SEE ROWS OF THESE TURNING/ROTATING GEARS/WHEELS AND A BUNCH OF THE SAME EXACT BEINGS/PEOPLE DOING SOMETHING. I cant tell if these Beings/People are operating the wheels & making them turn or if they are watching over them, but whatever it is they are definitely doing something. It’s like they are doing some kind of work. I cannot stress enough that these Beings/People are exactly the same every time I see them. There is absolutely no variation in the way they appear from experience to experience. They look the same, have the same details/features, and they move around in the same fashion EVERY SINGLE TIME. Same thing goes for the gears/cogwheels I always see. Like I’ve said before and I’ll continue to say for the rest of my life…every time this happens it looks & feels as REAL as it could possibly be. Vivid, detailed, colorful, and the movement is fluid just like what happens in this Reality. Every time I smoke now it makes me think that these Beings & gears/wheels are always there & they are making Reality or Consciousness happen, producing it. It’s as if Reality is some sort of ever-present veil and when I get enough Salvinorin A loaded up into my brain at once it allows me to see what is going on behind the scenes. It forces me to feel like I’ve found a way to temporarily escape Life/Reality and see the truth, if only for a few quick confusing minutes.

The thing that I just cant get over is the fact that while everything in this Reality lost depth & became flat, there was great depth & detail to what I was seeing behind this transparent/see through “sheet” or “veil”. The further away the Beings & wheels were the smaller they looked. The ones that were close to me looked big. I was able to look off into the distance at the rows of these things turning/rotating. It’s no different than if you were standing on a busy street and you looked off into the distance down the street. The buildings, people, cars, etc that were far away from you would look smaller to you, everything close to you would look normal size. It’s just like that. Everything in this Reality becomes fake and the turning wheels & Beings become real.

Now this isn’t even the strangest part. What happened next was even more bizarre and I just cant stop thinking about it. Off to my left, in my left field of vision or the left side of my Reality, something happened. It was either one of 2 things…either a hole/gap opened up or part of my Reality became unattached/unhinged from something. The best way I can explain it is that there was this hole/gap off to my left where I could see more Beings & wheels and it was dark off in the distance…but I wasn’t seeing them through the transparent sheet. Then a few of the Beings/People that were closest to me had to stop what they were doing & start dealing with what I had done. I saw them literally walk/march right up to “me” and this hole/gap…they grabbed on to the edges of it…and started walking with it and were pulling/stretching it back! It’s like they were either closing it up or they were re-attaching the part of my Reality that had become messed up. I cannot stress enough that this looked & felt ABSOLUETLY REAL. Just like I have said many times in the past…I was seeing this happen in great detail, very vivid, with fluid movement. No different than if I was watching something happen in this Life/Reality.

So they are holding onto “my reality”…pulling/stretching it back around me as they walk…and I could literally see my surroundings start to wrap back around me in my left field of vision. Every time I have this type of experience they seem like they are slightly annoyed by having to do this, not angry, but just inconvenienced. It likes they are sensing to me “Hey, you aren’t supposed to be here, you aren’t supposed to be seeing this, now we have to deal with what you have done.” After they got done “fixing” it or doing whatever it was they were doing the experience came to an end. Everything in this Reality started to gain back depth, the transparency slowly faded away & everything became solid/real again and before I know it they are gone and I’m back, sitting in my chair, soaked in sweat wondering what just happened. Every time I smoke a high dose of extract now all of the experiences end this same way. When these Beings/People get done doing something to me or my Reality & get done performing a task.

One other thing I want to touch on regarding these experiences is I remember that I was speaking out loud to Beings/People, trying to ask them what was happening. I don’t remember everything I was saying, but I know for sure that I can speak coherently when using Salvia now. I plan on recording myself in the future to help me remember what happens & what I say. One thing I do remember yelling was something along the lines of “Are you guys going to fix my stuff?”, which makes me laugh when I think about it. The reason I asked this was because it seemed like things were so messed up since everything was flat & see through…I was afraid that nothing in the room I was in was going to work anymore. I thought it was all ruined forever. When people say that it is impossible to speak during a deep Salvia experience that is not entirely true. Most people cant, but that doesn’t mean that ALL people cant. Also, this whole thing about “Levels 1-6” is a bunch of nonsense, in my opinion. I find it comical how many people buy into that (along with the Lady Salvia stuff). This Level 1-6 thing is just something that one person made up and now everyone believes it and talks about it like its some type of solid fact. For me there are only 2 levels now. A light dose and I remain here (Reality)…a heavy dose and I’m there (the gears/wheels & Beings). Simple as that. It is impossible for me to have any other type of experience with Salvia Divinorum now. Believe me, I’ve been trying. Once you cross the line there is no going back apparently.

I’ll never be able to stop thinking about these experiences I’ve been having with Salvia extract. I could live to be 200 years old and I’d still be laying on my death bed wondering “Who or what were those Beings and what were they always doing to me? What the # were those turning gears/cogwheels all about?” Salvinorin A is just utterly bizarre stuff. That’s really the only thing we know for certain about it. I would love to know the true reason why this molecule causes these types of realistic experiences when loaded up into a Human brain in large amounts. It is something more profound than just a general statement of “It affects the kappa opioid receptors of the brain.” That really doesn’t tell us anything at all about the actual experience.

I think the OP should check this thread - it has interesting info now as well as questions.
I am not an expert but I don't think the above post could be a problem - even though it describes personal experience of psychonautic nature - mainly because the material in question is legal in the US and most other countries.
However, I am also interested in general philosophical and experiential learnings - I could share a few observations that most people around me had when they recounted '___' or Salvia experiences.

Most people I talked to about Salvia ate fresh leaves from simple potted plants.

Salvia is particularly different in that many people found it changed the tactile - feeling dimensions (and natives use it for psoriasis, a skin problem probably related to transmitters as well).
Also, spatial experiences like being in several places (with Beings as the above poster calls them) are common. I don't know anybody personally who had a strong response to music as with Cannabis or sometimes lysegic acid or psylocibine. In fact, most peopel I talked to found music unimportant.
Talking is a major dimension - people hear voices answering their own internal dialogue, or hear someone dubbed as the "spirit of the plant" or echoes by other talking people.
Other than that, Salvia extract sounds not too far off from '___' - another world. My feeling is that '___' is mosty a more exotic experience.

What are these beings in the above post?
I heard stories where people saw black and white actors in fours bending over them (with open eyes) and heard them say things like in the above account. Others stated that this was the only type of "journey" where they actually believed that there are people staying with them and in fact they were alone, experimenting. All this points to whatever is called "spirits" in the phenomenology of classical shamanism.

In contrast, the typical '___' experience sounds like a person is taken out of their body and the whole world is transformed completely. Not everyone sees the multiplicity McKenna talks about - self-transforming machine elves. I know of '___' accounts where the person was talking to "the source of all life" who showed him spiders and other living beings and mosaics of all this, and people who described it as if it happened somewhere in interstellar space.

There is the world of difference between taking a hallucinogenic substance for the purpose of 'journeying' to knocking off your higher brain functions with something like alcohol or injecting heroin to wipe out mental/emotional pain and sadly all 'illegal' drugs get tarred with the same brush. I don't suppose many people have committed criminal acts so as to be able to afford hallucinogens!

Before psylocibins became illegal in the UK, I bought something called 'Philosophers Stones' (actually a truffle) from a local hippy shop and had the most amazing experience with it. These 'entities', for want of a better word took me away and showed me how silly we all are, wasting energy and time in all the mundane day to day dramas of life, and that death was nothing to fear but just part of the great cycle of truth and I saw life energy pouring into a huge pool waiting to become life/matter again. It is really hard to find the right words to explain or describe it without it sounding silly but it changed me. I used to be such an anxious person but am so much calmer and serene these days. Hard to believe that the most powerful thing I have had I could legally buy from a shop - then.

Some of these drugs could indeed hold much potential for humanity I believe and who had the right to tell us what we can and cannot eat from Nature's amazing array of substances that grow in the ground we walk on. Infact I remember reading a theory that accidently consuming psychoactive substances was what caused the evolutionary jump from Neanderthal to Homo Sapien.

One could almost suspect that TPTB wouldn't be wanting us to take these things if it increased our levels of awareness..........