Ezias wrote:I found it very interesting that the article above mentions other hallucinogenic drugs as well. Many, many years ago (I would never do this now) I experimented with psylocibin mushrooms (I picked them myself near my home). I ingested way too many (although fatal overdose is not possible) and had what people refer to as a "bad trip". Basically I went to hell, outer darkness, so to speak. I knew I was on drugs, so I knew I wasn't dead, however, I believed that I could possibly die and stay there permanently. It was a horrible but also very educational and "mind expanding" experience. I prayed to be rescued from this hell so that I would not end up there permanently and was rescued by an unseen force (angel?) and brought back to physical reality and the intensity of the experience waned. The whole trip lasted 18 hours. Afterwards I was left to ponder whether or not the spiritual aspect of the experience was real, or just chemicals in my brain. During the experience, It seemed that this spiritual reality I was experiencing was more real and more eternal than our normal physical reality.
This experience (like many NDE's) permanently changed my life. I had a more profound understanding of the difference between good and evil and their place in the universe. I became extremely interested in anything that had to do with religion, or other psychic or spiritual phenomena. I began studying religions of the world, including the religion of my upbringing, LDS. (Not LSD) :) To this day the question still rests on my mind: was I really having a spiritual experience, or was all of this just a chemical reaction going on with my brain?
If anybody is curious what this experience was like I know of a song that somewhat acurately portrays the experience. It is called
Goggles by the Melvins, from their album called Stag. I don't have a link directly to it but you can listen to it free on
www.napster.com . Click on "I'm not ready for napster yet" and then create a free user name and password, and you can log on and look up Melvins. You can't download the song but you can listen to a streamed version for free.
What is interesting about the song is the structure and instruments, not necessary the lyrics (you probably won't understand them anyway). I have found many parallels to my experience in psychedelic music, from the Doors to Nirvanna, to Alice in Chains (the song Again off the Album Grind is a good portrayal of a bad trip too).
Alice in Chains is interesting because Alice in Wonderland has a strong overtone of psychedelic mushroom use. Alice in "Chains" instead of "Wonderland" is interesting, depicting a bad trip.
Too bad the lead singers to 3 of those bands I mentioned died young, they were genious artists. God rest their souls.
Just for the record I highly recommend NOT expirementing with drugs.
Hi Ezias,
I guess one of my pet peeves is when one lumps all "drugs" together when discussing which are better or worse, etc. They are so different, one from the other, that I find a statement such as "...I highly recommend NOT expirementing [sic] with drugs" rather meaningless.
I would never recommend someone taking an entheogen for the first time without an experienced "guide." With a guide, however, I highly recommend them for some people. Personally, I wouldn't recommend one trying heroin, as well as, a few other substances, but that is just my personal opinion. To each his own.
The problem with mushrooms is that the concentrations of the active ingredient in the mushroom (psilocybin) can be so different from one mushroom to the next (even though they are standing right next to each other) that one doesn't know how much they are getting. Hence, their unreliability. This problem can be overcome by grinding the (dried) mushrooms in a grinder and then determining the proper dosage one experience (1 gram) at a time.
The other problem with mushrooms is that there are many different kinds (some grow in s**t and some grow in the forest and they each have varying amounts of the active ingredient.
Given those parameters, one should be very careful and know what they are taking. Hence, the importance of a guide. I have had many wonderful experiences and a few bad experiences with mushrooms, so I have a little experience with them.
I have never had a "bad trip" with LSD or ecstacy or ayahuasca or peyote.
Set (mental expectations) and setting (physical and social environment) are the two most important things to remember when trying these substances, assuming purity and proper dosage. The problem with most who take these substances is that they don't take them in the proper set or setting and don't even know at times whether they are actually taking what they think they are taking. This is due in large part to pushing them underground and demonizing them as a result.
Entheogens have provided me with some of the most special experiences I have ever had. I've never regretted trying them.
Stop the demonization. Demonization causes more problems than it solves, in the long term.
Just my .02.