first mushroom trip

[Shaun]

I wanted my first mushrrom trip to be strong, so I ate an eighth in one sitting. I sat in the bathroom and listened to some spacey folk music with slide guitar and lots of ohms.

In beautiful splashes of gold and blue, all of the shamans of all the tribes of time reached out to me to give me this golden shining light. I reached out to recieve it, but I felt like my mind wasn't strong enough. It looked and felt like my mind was starting to rip. I got distracted by my friend shedding his skin in the bathtub. When I closed my eyes again everything was gone.

I went to lie down on the bed. Everything was so clear. How things are, how things should be, what I need to do to make things so. There was other stuff like becoming a tree, time singing through me, feeling what it was like to be death, tearing matter and time with my voice, gathering energy with hand momvements, etc.

But I just can't get over the vision in the bathroom. Any thoughts?

[GrodyWanKnobe]

Well,

I've never had that many mushrooms or had that kind of vision, but I'd say that sounds wicked. And not much negative, huh?

I'm going to be taking my first hit of acid in a couple weeks I think. And I'm trying to prepare for it. Have you done acid too? I'm really just wondering if I should be smoking a decent amount of pot between now and then just to keep my mind limber?

[suebee]

no keep you mind clear as can be before.

most of my mushroom trips were with fresh (purple spores) caps picked in the field next to where i lived in belize. we used to eat them raw till we saw the millions of worms :eek: in them so began cooking them with our breakfast eggs.

all of my acid and peyote experience was during college and immediately thereafter (as were mushrooms). i get way higher than most anyone i know now on just pot and so dont do it much. i think for me at least i carved out the space in my psyche that the drugs take you to and then thats where you go no matter what "psychedelic" you take after.

id like to do ayahausca before i die but in general these days i prefer a good red wine.

theres only so much you can learn from "tripping;" then you should (must) do the (sometimes) hard work of integrating what you have learned into your daily life - otherwise why do it?

[Shaun]

Everything was clear, what I should do when I returned from the trip. After I was sober I called all my friends and family and told them that I loved them. It made no sense to me why I smoke cigarettes or why I have a cell phone.

I feel like the period of clarity after the initial vision was actually what the spirits were trying to hand me, in a sense.

[suebee]

yes, i believe that. things come to you and you see why you need to do things differently and then you have to try. i stopped doing things and some time later, it was "discovered" by mainstream science that some of these things (conveniences) were very bad for humans...

[David L]

no keep you mind clear as can be before.

most of my mushroom trips were with fresh (purple spores) caps picked in the field next to where i lived in belize. we used to eat them raw till we saw the millions of worms :eek: in them so began cooking them with our breakfast eggs.

all of my acid and peyote experience was during college and immediately thereafter (as were mushrooms). i get way higher than most anyone i know now on just pot and so dont do it much. i think for me at least i carved out the space in my psyche that the drugs take you to and then thats where you go no matter what "psychedelic" you take after.

id like to do ayahausca before i die but in general these days i prefer a good red wine.

theres only so much you can learn from "tripping;" then you should (must) do the (sometimes) hard work of integrating what you have learned into your daily life - otherwise why do it?

I've taken a eighth of Mushrooms and even more before - not boasting. This was when I was around 18, a lot more naive to my psyche and what amount of influence and seriousness these plants can bring.

My last mushroom trip (I'm 22 now) was at Burning Man this year, I ate..not sure how much, I think less than an eighth though I can't be certain, extremely powerful shrooms. I ate them with my friend after we dismantled our camp because we were planing to leave after the burn Saturday/Sunday Morning. I smoked a bowl a little after I ate the shrooms and they came on STRONG. I had a brief moment of "oh shit do I really want to do this, I can't back out now" and finally as the feeling became so immense "Yes, I surrender" and immediately got on my back and start gazed.

Last time I did acid was in June. Personally I think LSD is a lot more manageable then mushrooms at times. Shrooms is an all being encompassing trip, at least for me, where as LSD is mind focused, at least to me. So in some senses I'd say LSD is mellower.

I also can't smoke as much pot anymore. Prior to Burning Man I was smoking regularly, daily, but after my last time I've cut down/ pretty much stopped. It's just too much. Perhaps "journeyer's" minds are becoming more sensitive, or perhaps people's minds in general.

[GrodyWanKnobe]

Thanks Suebee and David L for the advice. See, I'm that way Suebee, I used to smoke a lot of pot, but now it is just kind of negative or at best pointless to me.

I understand that there are all kinds of paths to understanding your self and seeing clearly, and knowing what you need to do and all that, but I figure I should give acid a try.

Actually, I'm twenty-eight and have sort of put a lot of the "wild" days a little behind me now. And I never did psychedelics, just pot and ecstasy and small amounts of shrooms (psychedelic?). Some things I've read (not naming names) have made me want to give LSD a go.

Not that I'm totally straight-laced and "grown-up" now, But you know, like when you're young and going through lots of wild experiences and smoking pot or whatever fairly regularly your mind is limber. I hope my mind ain't gotten so stiff it's a rough take-off or landing.

So any advice is good.

[David L]

Thanks Suebee and David L for the advice. See, I'm that way Suebee, I used to smoke a lot of pot, but now it is just kind of negative or at best pointless to me.

I understand that there are all kinds of paths to understanding your self and seeing clearly, and knowing what you need to do and all that, but I figure I should give acid a try.

Actually, I'm twenty-eight and have sort of put a lot of the "wild" days a little behind me now. And I never did psychedelics, just pot and ecstasy and small amounts of shrooms (psychedelic?). Some things I've read (not naming names) have made me want to give LSD a go.

Not that I'm totally straight-laced and "grown-up" now, But you know, like when you're young and going through lots of wild experiences and smoking pot or whatever fairly regularly your mind is limber. I hope my mind ain't gotten so stiff it's a rough take-off or landing.

So any advice is good.

No problem man,

When I used to do shrooms when I was younger my friends and I would chill at a friends house/ walk around. As I've gotten older and more aware/ contemplative I can't be inside while on psychedelics, I gotta be outside.

I've done LSD twice, both times I did it with my good friend. We took it early in the day - before noon and hung around outside - road our bikes, with the aid of Hoffman. There is actually something very meditative about riding a bike - in general, but also on LSD.

The first time we did it we smoked a little pot to catalyze, the second time - my favorite, we just took it, used nothing else and it was probably the "best" psychedelic experience I ever had. I was seeing a lot of stuff but my thought processes were intensified, like I was hoping they would be. We'd ride to a location, lay in the sun - that really helped, we didn't get, got lots of love from the sun that made the trip great. We'd talk "Philosophy", Psychology, about our lives, etc.

I guess I'm advocating nature. It aids in the ease and enjoyment of the psychedelic experience.


"Not that I'm totally straight-laced and "grown-up" now, But you know, like when you're young and going through lots of wild experiences and smoking pot or whatever fairly regularly your mind is limber. I hope my mind ain't gotten so stiff it's a rough take-off or landing."

I'm still pretty young and know I'm neurotic and naive in ways but what I've been learning was that pot, with my mind aided in growth but also aided me in hindering myself. I've been slowly smoking less and less and pretty much going to stop - can't say forever but for awhile, break my old sober record.

I think pot in some ways didn't aid in "limbering" my mind but perhaps inhibiting, with my help, the potential intensity of my consciousness. Not being stoned during the last LSD trip allowed to me manage myself easier - sometimes I can get into a negative trip when I smoke sometimes. The LSD experience by itself was very "clean" and pure.

[Shaun]

After mushrooms I didn't feel the need to do them again, or any drug for that matter. I was addicted to dxm for around a month, but after the shroom trip I couldn't imagine doing dxm again. No matter how good the trip might be it would still be a nightmare compared to shrooms.

I plan on trying acid pretty soon. I'll take an initial trip with one hit, and three the second on a later date. I have been smoking massive amounts of weed, and I've tried to structure my usage, of any kind, around ritual. The friends that were with me at the time wouldnt allow me to leave the house, though I desperately wanted to. Train tracks run by where we live, and I had wanted to lie down on the ground and feel the vibrations. Probably a good idea I didn't.

[Oahspe]

Everything was clear, what I should do when I returned from the trip. After I was sober I called all my friends and family and told them that I loved them. It made no sense to me why I smoke cigarettes or why I have a cell phone.

I feel like the period of clarity after the initial vision was actually what the spirits were trying to hand me, in a sense.

Yes!

Last winter I quit my job and decided to consume an unknown but large amount (7-10g?) of dried mushrooms. In a similar vein (although while tripping) I felt it necessary to talk to my little brother and tell him that I love him. I told him that I had taken mushrooms and that even though there is always alot of fighting and anger in the house, somehow everything will be alright.

LIFE IS TOO PRECIOUS
FUCK HESITATION

[ayahuascakhan]

I've read all of your posts and I've noticed a lot of synchronisities. Suebee you are so right in mentioning that you can only trip so much and than bring this knowledge and experience back by re-integrating yourself back into the society you live in to bring coherent and articulate expressions on the positive and beneficial uses of entheogens. Suebee i would love to experience ayahuasca with you for your first time as well as mine.

Shaun, you are an amazing spirit man. I'm so happy for your first mushroom experience and of course I know why you called everyone after and told them you loved them. I felt the same way after my frist acid trip. In fact it's so weird that you didn't even understand your cell phone or need it. My first trip at the COSM I misplaced my phone and spent a good time looking for it at one point and than realized FUCK IT' theres more important things in life like actual human interaction and warmth and contact. They way you described your trip was very reminscent to one of my mushrooms experiences.

David L,

You have discovered a beautiful thing in nature and acid and riding bikes. Hey if I'm ever in Cali I will be sure to message you and we can discuss life and all of it's intricacies.

Hey and man it's all about the intention... I will post more later I have to sleep and I can't wait to share my last mushroom experience which was in novermber. the time before that was in may of '06. The only difference was this last time was in the woods and I brought my shaman drum and i ate it as a sacrament. Peace for now guys can't wait to re-post later I'm glad we can have lively discussiions here. :)

[suebee]

NewslettersSciAm.com Planetary Science July 1, 2008 in Mind & Brain

Long Trip: Magic Mushrooms' Transcendent Effect Lingers
Survey shows that profound mental changes induced by psilocybin have lasted for more than a year
By David Biello

People who took magic mushrooms were still feeling the love more than a year later, and one might say they were on cloud nine about it, scientists report in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

"Most of the volunteers looked back on their experience up to 14 months later and rated it as the most, or one of the five most, personally meaningful and spiritually significant of their lives," comparing it with the birth of a child or the death of a parent, says neuroscientist Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who lead the research. "It's one thing to have a dramatic experience you say is impressive. It's another thing to say you consider it as meaningful 14 months later. There's something about the saliency of these experiences that's stunning."

Griffiths gave 36 specially screened volunteers psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called magic mushrooms. The compound is believed to affect perception and cognition by acting on the same receptors in the brain that respond to serotonin, a neurotransmitting chemical tied to mood.

Afterward, about two thirds of the group reported having a "full mystical experience," characterized by a feeling of "oneness" with the universe. When Griffiths asked them how they were doing 14 months later, the same proportion gave the experience high marks for transcendental satisfaction, and credited it with increasing their well-being since then.

But some scientists noted that this psilocybin study was just the first trip on a long journey of understanding. "We don't know how far we can generalize these results," cautions neuroscientist Charles Schuster of Loyola University Chicago and a former director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "To attribute all of this to the drug, I think, is a mistake and to expect the same effects from simply taking the drug without this careful preparation in these kinds of people would be a mistake."

Herbert Kleber, who directs the division of substance abuse at Columbia University also notes that it is difficult to assess the mushroom's impact without detailed information on how individual lives were changed. For example, it remains unclear from the study whether volunteers really were more altruistic or simply claimed to be.

But the findings do seem to support reports of recreational users and what LSD guru and 1960s counterculture icon Timothy Leary made famous in his psychedelic lab at Harvard University.

Griffiths and Schuster are proponents of future research on psilocybin to determine whether it has long-term influence on the brain—and whether the reported mystical effects affect memory alone or stem from other physiological changes. This study is among the first of so-called "shrooms" in four decades, coming after the widespread, illegal use of hallucinogens as recreational drugs in the 1960s, which turned off corporate and academic researchers.

"I don't think the evidence is sufficiently strong for any beneficial effect in general for us to consider changing the legality of these substances until a great deal more research is done," Schuster says. "But the illegality should not interfere with this research."

For his part, Griffiths is now recruiting terminally ill cancer patients for a trial that will test whether psilocybin mitigates the existential anxiety that comes with facing death. Strangely enough, he says, it may also be a salve for alcoholism and drug addiction.