Category Archives: Psychedelics

Psychedelic medicines are some of the most powerful tools in the world for personal healing and psychological growth. This guide is intended as a starting point for using psychedelics for personal healing, recovery, and development, on your own or with a mental health professional. This site is science-focused: at the bottom of each page, we link to articles and research studies related to the particular substance, treatment goal, and treatment method.

For an overview of recent research with mushrooms and LSD, take a look at Michael Pollan's wonderful 2015 New Yorker Cover Story, The Trip Treatment and the video Magic Mushrooms and the Healing Trip.

UPDATE: We are supporting the 920 Coalition's work to build a day of events around psychedelic mushroom research and awareness. Read more and join or participate in an event here.

All of our guides are listed on the left sidebar. Some of our most popular are:

Treating Depression >> Treating Anxiety >> Mushroom Guide >>

Research at major medical centers over the past few years have shown remarkable results in the treatment of conditions such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety. The same protocols used in these research settings can be done at home or with an independent practitioner and frequently lead to new insights and dramatic breakthroughs in mental health. This site is designed to help you do that.

Psychedelic medicines provide a path of treatment that is often more effective and rapid than other methods, and with many fewer side effects than pharmaceutical options. In addition, psychedelics have been effective for patients who have not made progress with other approaches.

Several organizations are working with and funding research at major medical centers around the world to expand the use of these drugs for therapeutic purposes. More than 50% of Americans support legalization of marijuana and that number is rising every year. Over 75% now support medical marijuana access. Recently, several countries and many US states have authorized use of marijuana for medical and personal purposes and other psychedelics are moving quickly towards approval as prescription medicine. See our resources page to learn more.

Psychedelics have also been shown to reliably and predictably provide powerful spiritual and religious experiences and to create lasting positive personality changes, increasing emotional openness and acceptance of difficult experiences. In a recent Johns Hopkins research study that administered psilocybin mushrooms, "94 percent of subjects said that it was one of the five most meaningful experiences of their lives; 39 percent said that it was the most meaningful experience" (New York Times).

Unless you know a lot about psychedelics, you probably have mostly inaccurate information floating around in your head. We certainly did, until we started reading and having our own experiences. But times are changing very fast and the conversation is quickly moving back to reality-- new research on psychedelics is accelerating at major universities and legalization of marijuana is now supported by the majority of the population.

Even a cursory review of the research shows that psychedelics are dramatically safer and have far fewer side effects than alcohol, cigarettes, narcotics, and most pharmaceutical anti-depressants (please, read the research!). Yet marijuana, mushrooms, LSD, MDMA, and other substances have been lumped into the futile war on drugs and now two generations have grown up with a completely distorted understanding of what should be understood as medicines.

We are a group of friends, professionals in our late 20s and 30s-- theres a lawyer, a mobile game company CEO, a television producer, a non-profit director, a reporter, and a filmmaker. Half female and half male. White, black, and asian. Psychedelics have helped to open us emotionally, relieve stress, depression, and trauma, connect more deeply to our creative core, and have given us powerful spiritual experiences that weve never had before.

All of us have been both surprised and amazed over the past few years as psychedelic experiences have become an important part of our lives and of the people around us.

We were surprised because these incredible tools have been so overlooked and misunderstood that we could have gone through our whole lives without having seriously explored them. Its actually a little bit scary to think how easily that could have happened and how much we would have missed out on. We feel very lucky.

And we are amazed at the extent of the positive impact on our lives and our work, and the incredible freedom that weve felt in the experiences and afterwards. We want to share this.

When used intelligently, in positive environments, and with purpose, psychedelics bring love, energy, creativity, and healing to individuals and to society.

Canadian psychiatrist Dr. Humphry Osmond coined the word 'psychedelic', a combination of the Greek words for 'mind' and 'make visible, reveal'. We hope to bring some clarity to the subject of psychedelics, which in turn bring clarity about our own minds.

Weve created this site because, despite all the information available about psychedelics, we havent found a clear, simple, and up-to-date guide thats grounded in science. You can help us change how the world sees psychedelics by sharing this guide with your friends and helping to create positive environments for them to make psychedelics a healthy part of their life.

To be clear, psychedelics are very powerful medicines and they have risks. Like almost everything that gets ingested in our society, they can be misused and are very misunderstood. Even many intelligent people who used psychedelics repeatedly in their youth did so in a party setting and have never experienced the psychological and spiritual benefits that emerge in an intentional session. The difference is dramatic.

We cant recommend that anyone use psychedelics and we urge you to be extremely careful about the dose and quality of the substance, setting of use, the age of the individual and their mental state, and potential supplement and drug interactions. Prohibition of these substances in many locations has made it more difficult to create a safe environment, but doing so is essential.

And please be in touch and let us know what could be better-- we will be making updates and adding new research frequently.

Psychedelics have been misunderstood and misrepresented for decades. That's changing. Please help us share safe, responsible information on using psychedelics by sending this page to friends, and posting to Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Read this article:

How to Use Psychedelics for a Healthy Mind and Direct ...

For the last eight years, Nicky has struggled with advanced ovarian cancer, and despite repeated rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, it's unclear how long she has to live.

"Ovarian cancer has a very bleak outlook -- less than 30 percent make it to five years," said the 67-year-old former New York City French teacher. "I was diagnosed in 2002, and I was going in to my fourth year and had a recurrence -- which was like the proverbial shoe dropping -- and it frightened me so much."

"For the moment, there is no pain," she said. "The most difficult part is leaving this world early. I wasn't ready to get on that bus."

But last May, Nicky volunteered to take a psychedelic "trip" on psilocybin -- the hallucinogenic compound from "magic mushrooms" -- which has been used for thousands of years by indigenous cultures to reach higher levels of spirituality and consciousness.

Today, even after losing seven friends from her cancer support group in 15 months, Nicky said she is less afraid of death and is living her life more "honestly and authentically."

Nicky was one of the first terminally ill participants in an ongoing study at New York University on the use of hallucinogens to help those with terminal illnesses.

"I had a wonderful life, a fabulous child and beautiful grandchildren, and here my life was cut short," she said. "I thought of my two granddaughters and not seeing them growing up and graduating from college -- it made me profoundly sad. I wanted to do something for myself, to be able to live more in the moment, rather than worrying about the future and having all these existential thoughts about what life was all about."

Her "trip" took place under full medical supervision in a warm, living room-like setting with art books, fresh fruit, flowers and soothing music. She was given a pill in an earthenware chalice and a single rose, then hunkered down on a cozy sofa with eyeshades and headphones.

"I was in a dome and it was all bejeweled with colors, mostly striped, like a kaleidoscope, but not turning," she said. "Every once in awhile, the dome would open up at the top and send a luminescence," she said. "I was in awe and could feel myself taking deep breaths. At the same, tears were running down my face, but I was not crying."

"It was incredible," she said. "I wanted to share it. I couldn't believe the world could be so beautiful."

Researchers at New York University say that in a controlled setting, hallucinogens, which alter perception and cognition, can help patients reduce the anxiety, personal isolation and fear of death.

"I am still not ready to die," said Nicky, who just returned from trips to Mexico and Bali and boxes with a trainer several times a week. "It's definitely improved my interactions with those closest to me and figuring out how I want to live my life."

"Has my anxiety of dying gone away? I would say no, I don't ever want to die. Will I be able to walk toward death with a little less fear? Perhaps," she said. "I know it sounds trite, but I live more in the moment," she said.

The three-year study, "Effects of Psilocybin on Anxiety and Psychosocial Distress in Advanced Cancer Patients," is being privately funded by the Zurich-based Heffter Research Institute , which promotes the use of psychedelics for the alleviation of suffering. Fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it adheres to rigorous safety guidelines and protocols.

Researchers hope that it will one day lead to reclassification of Schedule 1 hallucinogens so that doctors may prescribe them to patients for palliative care, depression and even addiction.

"It's daunting working with people in the midst of death," said principal investigator Dr. Stephen Ross, assistant professor of psychiatry and director of the NYU Langone Center of Excellence on Addiction. "To help people to have a good death, and not more chemotherapy, to prepare for the final part of life and to die with dignity and do it in a way that they are not frightened, that is one of the most important endeavors as a physician."

Ross and his colleagues are looking for 32 patients who are willing to participate in the random, double-blind study. To be eligible, patients must be 18 to 76 years old with the diagnosis of a "potentially life-threatening disease" or advanced or recurrent cancer who are displaying symptoms of acute stress, anxiety or adjustment disorder due to their disease.

Patients are screened carefully -- those with psychotic spectrum disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression cannot participate.

"Mysticism is really the cornerstone of all major religions going back millennia," said co-principal investigator Anthony Bossis , professor of psychiatry and anesthesiology at the NYU School of Medicine.

"It is characterized by a sense of unity, transcendence, connecting to the broader universe and a sense of life and the promotion of personal spirituality," he said. "It recalibrates how we see our life and gives a sense of sacredness and reshapes how we view death."

A mystical experience can help root patients like Nicky more in the present, according to Bossis. "People with cancer can spend their final days and months not anxious and improvement in quality of life is attainable," he said. "These experiences have the potential to do that."

Scientists across the country have shown a renewed interest in the medical uses of hallucinogens. So far, 80 to 90 patients have had similar experiences in studies on psilocybin at other universities including Johns Hopkins and UCLA.

In a study on 36 patients at Johns Hopkins, researchers looked at the effects of psilocybin on depression. At the 14-month follow-up, more than 60 percent of volunteers rated the experience as among the five most meaningful and spiritually significant of their lives; 58 percent reported a "complete" mystical experience.

"We have come a long way in pain management with the use of opiods , but the sheer anxiety is so hard to address in a medical setting," said Bossis, a clinical psychologist whose specialty is end-of-life care.

"The heart of this study is to address these levels of suffering and get at the existential [fear] of not being here any longer that we all face," he said. "We provide an empirical experience where the patient goes into a journey -- his own journey -- and can find resolution and peace and transformation and return back here to integrate it into their lives."

Psilocybin, an alkaloid compound in the tryptamine family, is produced by hundreds of species of fungi and acts on the serotonin receptors in the part of the brain responsible for non-verbal imagery and emotion. Its mind-altering effects can last anywhere from three to eight hours.

It is in the same class of chemicals as mescaline, contained in the peyote cactus, which is used in religious ceremonies by Native Americans, and dimethyltryptamine, which is in ayahuasca, used by indigenous South American religions. The effects are sometimes described as similar to near-death experiences. Some research has shown that brain activity under psilocybin mimics closely that of Buddhist monks meditating.

"It appears we are hardwired with neuro-circuitry to meditate and have the spiritual experience," said Ross.

Psychologist Timothy Leary popularized hallucinogens like LSD in his 1964 book with Ralph Metzner, "The Psychedelic Experience," which he hailed as a way to "journey into new realms of consciousness."

"It opens the
mind, frees the nervous system of it ordinary patterns and structures," Leary wrote.

Experiments with LSD took place as early as the late 1940s and 1950s, after it was discovered in an ergot fungus by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hoffman.

By 1965, more than 2,000 papers had described positive results in 40,000 patients with few side effects and a high level of safety in the treatment of psychiatric orders, depression, sexual dysfunction, bereavement and even addiction, according to the British Journal of Psychiatry.

But by 1966, the drug was made illegal after abuses by the hippie counterculture, scientists distanced themselves and the government cracked down on research licenses. By the 1970s, under pressure from the U.S. Justice Department, virtually all research ended.

"It got demonized as a most addictive drug, but the irony is that it is not addictive," said Ross. "Used in the models we describe, it can actually lead to sustained sobriety."

Volunteers in the NYU study agree to take part in two full-day sessions, seven weeks apart, where they are administered either a placebo or the psilocybin. They are monitored for anxiety and outcomes two to four weeks prior to drug administration, then one day prior, then again seven hours, one day and several weeks' intervals until 26 weeks post administration.

Investigators also measure depression, pain and quality of life as well as attitude toward their disease progression at designated intervals.

Beforehand, they undergo preparation for the experience in psychotherapy. "We take their life narrative and their cancer narrative and review all the safety parameters -- what happens if X," said Ross.

When the drug is administered, the patient is paired with a male and female therapist to monitor responses and for comfort.

"Emotional stability optimizes the chance for a good experience," said Bossis. "Trust with the monitors is crucial . If the patient doesn't feel safe, we don't go forward."

Sometimes the experience is traumatizing, but facing fears is part of the process. Doctors have an antidote to abort the experience, if necessary, or use valium to calm a patient down.

"We encourage them to go inward, to minimize the communication with us and enter the experience, even if it's something dark and difficult that comes before them," said Bossis. "We tell patients that no matter where they find themselves, they will return to a normal state of consciousness within six hours."

Two of the three patients in Nicky's group have already died. Both reported extraordinary experiences -- "a cleansing of the body and soul of grief and sadness and an increase in the acceptance of the disease and the dying process," according to Bossis.

The patients said they wanted to give back more -- financially or emotionally and were able to reconnect with estranged friends and family members. Both were "peaceful and thankful," at the end, he said.

As for Nicky, the first hour of her psychedelic journey was awe-inspiring, but the second part was deeper and more emotional. At several points, she had to sit up and take off her eyeshades and seek the comfort of Ross and her other therapist.

"I became profoundly sad, and I actually had to sit up after 45 minutes and talk to them and I cried a lot," she said. "There was another scenario, then I went through the rest by myself."

In six hours, when it was all over, she stayed and analyzed her experience with the doctors.

"In therapy we had been working on my top five [issues with death or family]," she said. "During my experience, I reordered the hierarchy of issues to lead a more authentic life emotionally. I didn't realize my number four was actually number one."

"It was such an enormous gift," said Nicky. "It's really amazing that a king's ransom arrived at my door step."

Today, Nicky said she would take psilocybin again -- "in a New York minute." She continues her therapy at NYU and will go on a drug trial soon for late-stage ovarian cancer. She also hopes that her openness about the psychedelic experience will help others.

"I don't think people should be so afraid of something that could be so helpful when you are nearing the end of life," she said. "I had huge insight into my head. I can still conjure it up and I tried for very long to relive it -- it was breathtaking."

Nicky never expected to find God. "I didn't have that spiritual experience, but my dome was very close," she said. "When it opened up several times and let in the light, I would have thought it was my creator if I had been religious."

For more information on how to participate in the study, contact patient coordinator Krystallia Kalliontzi at 212-998-9252 or kk71@nyu.edu.

Go here to see the original:

Stairway to Heaven: Psychedelics Soothe Dying - ABC News

Psychedelic drugs include LSD (acid), psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline (found in peyote), ibogaine, salvia, and DMT (found in ayahuasca). Psychedelic substances have been used for thousands of years for religious and therapeutic purposes.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, psychedelic drugs such as LSD were considered promising treatments for a broad range of psychological and psychiatric conditions. Tens of thousands of people were introduced to them in clinical studies, as an adjunct to psychotherapy, or as part of a religious or spiritual practice.

By the late 1960s, however, as millions of people experimented with them, psychedelics became symbols of youthful rebellion, social upheaval, and political dissent. By the early 1970s, the government had halted scientific research to evaluate their medical safety and efficacy. The ban persisted for decades, but has gradually been lifted over the past decade.

Today, there are dozens of studies taking place to evaluate the medical safety and efficacy of psychedelics, and the Supreme Court has ruled that psychedelics can be used as part of the practices of certain organized religions.

Facts

Sources:

Grinspoon, Lester and James B. Bakalar. 1997. Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered. New York: The Lindesmith Center.

Grob, Charles and Roger Walsh, ed. Higher Wisdom: Eminent Elders Expore the Continuing Impact of Psychedelics. SUNY University of New York Press, 2005.

Stamets, Paul, Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World, Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1996.

Stolaroff, Myron. The Secret Chief. Sarasota, FL: MAPS, 2006.

Strassman, R. J. 1984. Adverse Reactions to Psychedelic Drugs: A Review of the Literature. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 172: 577-95.

Originally posted here:

Psychedelics: LSD, Mushrooms, Salvia | Facts | Drug Policy ...

Substances found on the psychedelic drug list are known for their hallucinogenic and out-of-body effects in which they alter users' sensory perception while they are active.

Psychedelics, a class of hallucinogen drugs, bring on certain unusual effects not found through other types of drugs. With most all other drug types, users maintain their grasp on reality while experiencing a drugs effects. With psychedelics, users seek out a very definite break with reality, which is what distinguishes psychedelics from other types of drugs, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.

The psychedelic drug list consists of a wide range of different concoctions, some naturally occurring, and some synthetic or manufactured. Each drug produces its own unique effects, though users will experience a dissociative state in one form or another when using any drug found on the psychedelic drug list.

Morning glory, the perennial vine plant found in so many backyards, produces a seed that brings on psychedelic effects when ingested. The more seeds a person eats, the strong the effects. Much like the effects associated with LSD, users experience a heightened sense of perception along with a diminished sense of reality. Users may also experience extreme mood swings in the process.

The name magic mushrooms well describes this nature-made fungus on the psychedelic drug list. Magic mushrooms are known to produce hallucinations and distorted perceptions of reality. While edible, magic mushrooms taste particularly bad and often bring on bouts of stomach pains, nausea and diarrhea.

As one of the most intense drugs on the psychedelic drug list, the DMT molecule exists in a number of different plants and is also produced by the human body. Though difficult to obtain and use, users gain access to a portal into the unconscious mind when using DMT. DMT also enables people to dream when asleep as the brain releases this powerful chemical.

Also known as designer drugs, synthetic varieties of drugs on the psychedelic drug list include:

LSD, the granddaddy of all psychedelic drugs appears as a white powder that can be swallowed, injected or dissolved under the tongue. LSD effects produces visual, auditory and tactile hallucinations sending users into a world of their own.

With LSD, environmental factors, such as a persons mood and surrounding noise and/or activity can influence the type of high a person experiences. Someone who uses while in a bad mood will most likely experience a bad trip made up of frightening or upsetting hallucinations. Someone whos in a good mood may experience transcendent-like experiences filled with awe, joy and peace.

Also known as smiles, 2C-1 exists in powder form, but users typically mix it with chocolate or candy. Drug effects can last anywhere from four to 12 hours depending on dosage amount. Unlike most other drugs on the psychedelic drug list, 2C-1 produces mostly mental distortions of reality as opposed to the heightened sensory perceptions users experience with other psychedelics.

Methoxetamine, a white-powdery substance, can be swallowed, injected or dissolved under the tongue. It can take anywhere from 10 to 90 minutes before a user feels the effects of the drug. Methoxetamine causes visual and auditory hallucinations as well as feelings of restlessness and increased energy. Drug effects may also produce feelings of floating away from reality.

Original post:

Psychedelic Drug List - Mushrooms, LSD, Salvia

Psychedelics have been used in manifold contexts throughout human history: from ancient traditional ways to modern medical research, to home-grown lay use and parties; from treatment, personal growth, and wellbeing to gnostic and heuristic purposes, and ceremonies serving societal needs or religious and environmental functions. Ever present within the context of the psychedelic experience is how use of these substances also affects society and vice versa,

Rather than looking at psychedelics merely as chemical substances, this conference aims to focus on what is beyond. We will approach psychedelics in two ways. First, we will look at them as a powerful tool or catalyst that may help achieve a broad range of diverse goals. Second, we will discuss what position they hold in society, with respect to social environment, norms, attitudes, and, most importantly, how they are represented in the legislative framework.

We want to explore the context of psychedelic use and its interaction with the psychedelic experience, and to give voice to knowledge and experience gained within multiple frameworks, as we believe that much can be learnt by sharing different perspectives.

We will be discussing the position of psychedelics within nature, therapy, culture and society. Besides, considering the fact that the context of the psychedelic experience is influenced by its purpose, we will take a look at various purposes of the psychedelic experience:

We would like to discuss these areas from a variety of perspectives. In order to represent as many different perspectives as possible, the list of speakers will include Western scientists, traditional indigenous experts, drug policy analysts, historians and eyewitnesses of the 1960s, people working with psychedelics in their treatment practice, people working in psychedelic harm-reduction services, and, last but not least, also patients treated by psychedelics as well as lay users of psychedelics.

We will meet to share our diverse perspectives from all over the world, engage in discussion, explore the potential of psychedelics, learn from each other and look for new prospects for the use of psychedelics in the modern society.

See more here:

Beyond Psychedelics Global Psychedelic Forum

The use of psychedelics from plant sources was the beginning of humankind's deep spirtual awareness. The suppression of the use of these psychedelics by governments and organized religion is one of the great crimes against humanity. And it continues to this day in the so-called "War on Drugs", which is in part an attempt to prevent people from realizing that what they're told by politicians and the mainstream media consists mostly of lies and that the real source of true understanding is the divinity within their own consciousness. But the prohibitionists will be defeated, and will be regarded with contempt by future generations.

First a 1954 review of Huxley's The Doors of Perception.

Now a couple of reports of psychedelic experiences from the late 80s:

This article originally appeared under the title "Mushroom with a View" in Unshaved Truths #3 (Autumn/Winter 1992), edited by Jon Lebkowsky. (Unshaved truths are the opposite of barefaced lies, which are commonly found in the mainstream media, such as the New York Times.) It was originally presented as fiction; this was itself a fiction, as any experienced reader would soon realize. The article was subsequently reprinted (under the original title) in Psychedelic Illuminations (#5, 1993), ed. Thomas Lyttle.

In 1990, when Dr Rick Strassman was designing the questionnaire for use in his DMT experiment, he sent me some questions. I don't have the original questions, but they are implicit in the answers given. Previously unpublished.

I began this article in September 1989. It went through several revisions, which were shown to numerous people who kindly offered suggestions for improvement. After extended work with the DMT pipe (see the "DMT Journal" below) it was completed in June 1992 and was published simultaneously at the end of that year in Psychedelic Monographs and Essays, Volume 6 (edited by Thomas Lyttle), and in Jahrbuch fr Ethonomedizin und Bewutseinsforschung (Yearbook for Ethnomedicine and the Study of Consciousness) (edited by Christian Rtsch, Ph.D.). It was reprinted in Psychedelics (1994?) edited by Thomas Lyttle. The Psychedelic Monographs version, and parts of it, have been published at various places on the web. For this HTML version I have made some minor changes and have added a small amount of new material.

Notes I made "in the field" while researching the DMT article.

Now reports by other people. Most remark on the astonishing nature of the DMT experience, how no words can ever convey the quality of the experience to those who have not had it. It is, indeed, the weirdest thing you can experience this side of the grave. And, by the way, the experience immediately refutes all the basic assumptions of modern materialist Western science, as I say in Physicalism: A False View of the World.

For many accounts of experiences in the DMT space by a large group of people see 340 DMT Trip Reports (603KB). The links below are to reports by individuals.

A series of reports of DMT-smoking experiments by a 40-year-old female researcher which resulted in definite contact with the entities. These reports mention a phenomenon, sometimes called "elf-dismemberment", where the entities are experienced as performing an operation of some kind upon the subject which may feel like dismemberment and recomposition. This phenomenon is often reported by persistent explorers and it is emerging as one of the "consistent features" to be encountered in the DMT world. Just what is actually happening during this process is, of course, anyone's guess.

Some extracts from this article.

A 31-year-old male here reports on his DMT experiences, and concludes (as others have noted) that the further you go the weirder it gets.

The 5-MeO-DMT molecule is the DMT molecule with a methoxy (CH3-O-) group attached to the 5-position of the benzene ring. It is about five times as potent as DMT, and smoking 2 - 4 mg can produce significant effects. Jonathan Ott reports (in Pharmacotheon, p.169) that Alexander Shulgin found 5 - 10 mg of this material to be effective when injected parenterally or smoked. The main difference, subjectively, is that 5-MeO-DMT produces few visual effects (though some are reported). I have smoked it twice, and I find that the absence of significant visual effects means that there is little about the experience that I can recommend. Here is a report of three 5-MeO-DMT trips (and some further thoughts on the subject) by an 18-year-old male ("MAP"). He says that on his first trip he smoked 30 mg of 5-MeO-DMT, which is about six times the recommended amount, and found the effects highly impressive.

Dimethyltryptamine is unique and extremely powerful. If I were asked what its most important attribute was, I would have to say that it is the doorway to the intensely personal temple of our own sacredness. It opens the doorway to the vastness of the soul; this is at once our own personal soul, and its intrinsic connection to the universal soul. When the underlying unity of this fictional duality is seen and felt, one experiences a completeness and interconnection with all things. This experience, when we attain it, is extremely beautiful and good. It is a song that rings and reverberates through the lens of God. Now we know why we were born; to have this intense experience of the sacred, the joyous, the beauty, and the blessing of just being alive in the arms of God.

These PDF files are viewable with Acrobat Reader. "Moving Into the Sacred World of DMT" first appeared in Vol.X, No.1, (Vernal Equinox) 2001 issue of TheEntheogen Review, pp.32-39. "Just a Wee Bit More About DMT" first appeared in Vol.X, No.2 (Summer Solstice) 2001 issue of TheEntheogen Review, pp.51-56. Both articles are republished here with permission of Infinite Ayes (Nick Sand) and TheEntheogen Review.

Contemporary researchers, in particular, Carl Ruck, Blaise Daniel Staples and Clark Heinrich, have confirmed Wasson's research and expanded upon it, providing evidence that this mushroom has played an important role not only in Indian religions but also in Judaism and Christianity (thus supporting John Allegro's findings) and in the alchemical tradition.

But the mere suggestion that the eating of a drug-containing fungus, and the psychedelic effects thereof, played a major role in the development of the world's religions is enough to send conventional thinkers into fits of hysterics. Eventually, however, the truth will become known, and the vacuity and the fraudulent character of conventional Christianity, and other religions based merely on faith (which is chosen belief, sometimes strongly-willed and often self-delusional), will become clear.

The truth of the matter is that some psychoactive drugs can help you to overcome the self-limiting conditioning that a mechanistic/materialistic society imposes upon its members, thus leading to a more authentic understanding of self and world, whereas other drugs, used unwisely, can lead to ruin.

There is plenty of evidence (in the literature) from people who have used psychedelics that these drugs (LSD, psilocybin, ketamine, etc.) generally have positive effects, sometimes even major beneficial effects. Cannabis is a divine gift to mankind (Christians might reflect on the fact that the Bible in Genesis says that God gave to mankind for its use all the seeds and plants upon the Earth; this includes the cannabis plant). Alcohol has its beneficial uses, though injudicious use of this substance causes many problems in modern society. Tobacco may be OK for some people, but for most it is extremely addictive, and kills about 300,000 people each year in the U.S. Heroin is addictive also, but in comparison to tobacco very few people die from its use. But if we want to talk about bad drugs we haven't yet got to the worst. Cocaine is addictive, its use ruins lives, and when some people smoke crack cocaine they can go crazy (even to the point of killing other people). Amphetamine can also send you over the edge if used to excess. Even so, the use of these drugs should not be illegal, since people can use them without harming others, and if so, they have a right to do so.

Another drug which some people consider bad is PCP. This is not addictive, so it does not destroy lives in the way that cocaine can do. But (unlike its relative ketamine) it has a low margin of safety. It's easy to overdose, which can have unfortunate consequences, even for someone very experienced with psychedelics.

A Few Good Rules Before You Trip:

1) Cars can hurt you. 2) You cannot fly. 3) It's never a good time to die. 4) Taking your clothes off will draw attention. 5) Keep your mouth shut at all times while in public. 6) Although you may see things that are not there, you won't NOT see things that aren't there. 7) Don't forget how to burp. 8) Only carry: a house-key, some loose change, and your address in your shoe. 9) Nobody can tell that you are tripping till you tell them "I'm tripping". 10) No matter how fucked-up you think you are, you'll eventually come down.

(Found at NOFADZ.)

Further articles on this website:

Ayahuasca is a brew prepared by boiling the vine Banisteriopsis caapi, which contains harmala alkaloids, and Psychotria viridis (or another plant), which contains DMT. The harmala alkaloids render the DMT orally active, and the brew is drunk by South American shamans to induce powerful visions. Steven Gilman travelled in South America and partook of ayahuasca with several shamans. His experiences are recorded in his book Pilgrim Tales, which is published for the first time here on Serendipity.

Tells of an experience following ingestion of 40 grams of dried psilocybin mushrooms. This is about eight times the recommended normal dose.

A short article concerning the preservation of dried psilocybin mushrooms. Hara Ra invented this technique in the early 1980s, and he sent me this article sometime around 1990 (it has not previously been published). I have not tested this technique and so cannot confirm that it is effective, but the author is reliable.

One reader expressed some reservations about this method, to which Hara Ra replied.

Years later another reader, Doc Haux, contributed further advice on this subject.

This article presents "correlations between the Pineal Gland, the psychopharmacological molecule LSD and, its antagonistic neurotransmitter Serotonin."

The pioneering ethnobotanist Richard Shultes died 2001-04-10.

Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, died 2008-04-29.

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Psychedelics - Serendipity

"Psychedelics" redirects here. For other uses, see Psychedelic.

A psychedelic drug is a psychoactive drug whose primary action is to alter cognition and perception, typically by agonising serotonin receptors.[2] Psychedelics are part of a wider class of psychoactive drugs known as hallucinogens, a class that also includes mechanistically unrelated substances such as dissociatives and deliriants.

Unlike other drugs such as stimulants and opioids which induce familiar states of consciousness, psychedelics tend to affect the mind in ways that result in the experience being qualitatively different from those of ordinary consciousness. The psychedelic experience is often compared to non-ordinary forms of consciousness such as trance, meditation, yoga, religious ecstasy, dreaming and even near-death experiences. With a few exceptions, most psychedelic drugs fall into one of the three following families of chemical compounds; tryptamines, phenethylamines, and lysergamides.

Many psychedelic drugs are illegal worldwide under the UN conventions unless used in a medical or religious context, such as medical cannabis or ayahuasca. Despite these regulations, recreational use of psychedelics is common.

The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words (psyche, "soul, mind") and (delein, "to manifest"), hence "soul-manifesting", the implication being that psychedelics can access the soul and develop unused potentials of the human mind.[4] The word was coined in 1956 by British psychiatrist, Humphry Osmond, the spelling loathed by American ethnobotanist, Richard Schultes, but championed by the American psychologist, Timothy Leary.[5]

Aldous Huxley had suggested to Humphry Osmond in 1956 his own coinage phanerothyme (Greek "phaneroein-" visible + Greek "thymos" soul, thus "visible soul").[6] Recently, the term entheogenic has come into use to denote the use of psychedelic drugs in a religious/spiritual/mystical context.

Psychedelics have a long history of traditional use in medicine and religion, where they are prized for their perceived ability to promote physical and mental healing. In this context, they are often known as entheogens. Native American practitioners using mescaline-containing cacti (most notably peyote, San Pedro, and Peruvian torch) have reported success against alcoholism, and Mazatec practitioners routinely use psilocybin mushrooms for divination and healing. Ayahuasca, which contains the powerful psychedelic DMT, is used in Peru and other parts of South America for spiritual and physical healing as well as in religious festivals.

Classical or serotonergic psychedelics (agonists for the 5-HT2A serotonin receptors) include LSD (also known as "acid"), psilocin (the active constituent of psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as "magic mushrooms" or "shrooms"), mescaline (the active constituent of peyote), and DMT (the active constituent of ayahuasca and an endogenous compound produced in the human body). Salvia divinorum is an atypical psychedelic that has been gaining popularity over the past decade, due to its legality in many US states. It is often compared to DMT due to its short and very intense trip. A few newer synthetics such as 2C-B have also enjoyed some popularity.

This class of psychedelics includes the classical hallucinogens, including the lysergamides like LSD and LSA, tryptamines like psilocybin and DMT, and phenethylamines like mescaline and 2C-B. Many of these psychedelics cause remarkably similar effects, despite their different chemical structure. However, many users report that the three families have subjectively different qualities in the "feel" of the experience, which are difficult to describe. At lower doses, these include sensory alterations, such as the warping of surfaces, shape suggestibility, and color variations. Users often report intense colors that they have not previously experienced, and repetitive geometric shapes are common. Higher doses often cause intense and fundamental alterations of sensory perception, such as synesthesia or the experience of additional spatial or temporal dimensions.[7] Some compounds, such as 2C-B, have extremely tight "dose curves", meaning the difference between a non-event and an overwhelming disconnection from reality can be very slight. There can be very substantial differences between the drugs, however. For instance, 5-MeO-DMT rarely produces the visual effects typical of other psychedelics and ibogaine (a 'complex tryptamine') is also an NMDA receptor antagonist and -opioid receptor agonist in addition to being an agonist for the 5-HT2A receptors, resulting in dissociative effects as well (see dissociatives below).

The empathogen-entactogens are phenethylamines of the MDxx class such as MDMA, MDEA, and MDA. Their effects are characterized by feelings of openness, euphoria, empathy, love, heightened self-awareness, and by mild audio and visual distortions (an overall enhancement of sensory experience is often reported). Their adoption by the rave subculture is probably due to the enhancement of the overall social and musical experience. MDA is atypical to this experience, often causing hallucinations and psychedelic effects in equal profundity to the chemicals in the 5-HT2A agonist category, but with substantially less mental involvement, and is possibly both a serotonin releaser and 5-HT2A receptor agonist.[citation needed]

The cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and related compounds are capable of activating the brain's endocannabinoid system. Some effects may include a general change in consciousness, mild - strong visual distortions, strange unique hallucinations unlike serotonin based psychedelics that usually have rigid movements and vividly flashing images usually seen in dim lighting (high doses), landscapes and vivid cartoon-like images upon closing eyes, euphoria, feelings of general well-being, relaxation or stress reduction, enhanced recollection of episodic memory, hunger, increased sensuality, increased awareness of sensation, creative or philosophical thinking, disruption of linear memory, paranoia, agitation, anxiety, potentiation of other psychedelics, and increased awareness of sound, patterns, and colo(u)r.

Certain dissociative drugs acting via NMDA antagonism are known to produce what some might consider psychedelic effects. The main differences between dissociative psychedelics and serotonergic hallucinogens are that the dissociatives cause more intense derealization and depersonalization.[8] For example, ketamine produces sensations of being disconnected from one's body and that the surrounding environment is unreal, as well as perceptual alterations seen with other psychedelics.[9]

Salvia divinorum is a dissociative that is sometimes classified as an atypical psychedelic. The active molecule in the plant, salvinorin A, is a kappa opioid receptor agonist, working on a part of the brain that deals with pain. Activation of this receptor is also linked to the dysphoria sometimes experienced by users of opiates either therapeutically or recreationally. An unusual feature of S. divinorum is its high potency (dosage is in the microgram range) and extremely disorienting effects, which often include "entity contact", complete loss of reality-perception and user's experiencing their consciousness as being housed in different objects e.g. a pane of glass or a pencil. It is also unusual as it is a terpenoid like THC as opposed to an alkaloid like the comparably intense serotonergic psychedelics and NMDA receptor antagonists mentioned above.

Despite many psychedelic drugs being non-ad
dictive[10] and there being no evidence to support long term harm on mental health[11] many of these drugs have been declared illegal under the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971. In addition, many countries have analogue acts that automatically forbid any drugs sharing similar chemical structures to common illicit substances regardless of whether they are harmful.

Others

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Psychedelic drug - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The purpose of this site is to provide science-based information about how to safely use psychedelics. Following basic safety precautions dramatically reduces any risks.

Safety with psychedelics is important not just because these are powerful substances but also because creating a safe environment and approach will make treatment much more effective. Crucially, when psychedelics are used in a safe and comfortable setting, it becomes easier for people to relax and open themselves to the experience and gain the most benefit.

The most common psychedelics -- LSD, mushrooms, MDMA -- are far safer to their users and the people around them than drugs like alcohol, tobacco, and many prescription medicines. However, because of prohibition in many countries, there is far less available information and far more uncertainty about the sources and contents of psychedelic substances. Caution is very important.

We recommend psychedelics be taken only when you are in good health (unless you have decided to use it specifically to deal with an illness or in alleviating end of life anxiety). Those with heart problems should avoid psychedelics unless specifically discussed with a doctor. Pregnant women should not take psychedelics.

During a psychedelic experience, the mind/body connection is usually magnified. Any physical pain or discomfort (including something as small as hunger pangs) can affect the nature of the experience. Women should avoid tripping when experiencing menstrual cramps. If a woman typically experiences strong pre-menstrual symptoms (back aches, bloating, moodiness, headaches etc) its advisable to postpone the trip until they have subsided.

Entering a psychedelic journey with a comfortable and healthy body will help you toward a positive and meaningful experience.

For the advanced psychedelic user, a trip to deliberately investigate physical discomfort or pain may prove beneficial in understanding the mind/body connection and creating a deeper connection with your physical body.

Here are the some components of a safe psychedelic experience:

Setup the room that you will be in so that it feels cozy and pleasant. Have a comfortable place to sit or lie down, have pillows and decorations. You may want to have some music to listen to as well (music without words is recommended, as it is less likely to pull your thoughts away).

Keep in mind that going from place to place, being in a public setting, or dealing with logistical matters can be difficult while using psychedelics and can also be a source of anxiety. This is not recommended and can distract your focus.

When in doubt: be very cautious, don't rush, and start small.

Dont take a psychedelic for the first time without someone present who has experience with that substance. Make sure this is someone who you trust to help talk you through any stressful or confusing moments. Having trusted support is incredibly helpful for letting you feel safe and open to the experience. In addition, having someone around to help with practical needs (like getting you a glass of water) will let you focus on the process. Even if you have lots of experience with psychedelics, we recommend having a trusted person present (they don't need to be in the same room, just on hand).

We generally believe that psychedelics are most appropriate for people in their mid-20's and older. We don't know of research that has explored age-associated effects, but anecdotally, older individuals tend to take a more serious and intentional attitude towards psychedelic exploration.

If you have a dissociative psychological disorder, we do not recommend that you use psychedelics. Again, there is not good research on this topic and anecdotal reports are highly contradictory-- some people have had their conditions healed by use of psychedelics, others have found it has made their symptoms worse. We encourage you to err on the side of caution for these types of disorders.

Be sure to very carefully research any potential interactions with other prescription or non-prescription medicines or supplements that you are taking. In particular, anti-depressants, SSRIs, anti-anxiety, and anti-psychotic medications are not safe to take with psychedelics.

Before using a particular psychedelic for the first time, you may want to gauge your sensitivity to it. Some people are much more sensitive to certain substances than others. One mushroom cap might feel strong for one person and very mild for another.

If it is your first time taking a substance, try to take a very small tester amount (less than 1/10th of a dose) a few days before your planned trip. You may not feel any effects, but you will be able to roughly judge your sensitivity if you do, and you may feel more comfortable when the time comes to take a standard dose.

Several companies make purity testing kits for various substances, including MDMA and LSD. These can be found easily on Amazon.com or with a Google search. If you are uncertain about the purity of a substance, it's always better to test and be safe.

Psychedelics have been misunderstood and misrepresented for decades. That's changing. Please help us share safe, responsible information on using psychedelics by sending this page to friends, and posting to Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

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Safety - How to Use Psychedelics