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What psychedelics would you recomend

the rake at the gates

20:31 / 30.11.03

im quite interested in trying psychedelics, but LSD and mushrooms apparently have a chance of mental breakdown so im put off using them, thinging more peyote/san pedro, saliva. i know theres threads on each one, but im interested what everyone would and wouldnt do, and what they would use each drug for, which are the best, what to avoid etc

20:53 / 30.11.03

They all involve risk.

21:15 / 30.11.03

I can't get enough mescaline. I love it, but I know my limits. I only trip out on it four or five times per year. It drives my wife crazy though, so I usually do it when she's not around.

the rake at the gates

21:26 / 30.11.03

i've heard that the native users say doing peyote too much can make you go mad, but i'm thinking once is pretty safe, mental health wise. how do you take it? peyote, or as mescaline, i've heard san pedro is similar to peyote but much quicker to grow

21:35 / 30.11.03

Funny, I'd advise for starting with LSD or Mushrooms before Peyote or Salvia. Both of the later can be considerably more intense than LSD or Mushrooms, which at lower doses are mostly giggly fun. You're going about it the wrong way if you're afraid of the effects being too much to handle

21:44 / 30.11.03

I don't think I fully appreciated mescaline until the second or maybe even the third time I used it. Don't get me wrong, the first two trips were mind blowing, but I don't think it dawned on me how special it was until I had a better frame of reference.

The first time I took it, it wasn't the most positive experience. I mostly just lay around on my bed for hours pondering life and feeling very insignificant in the world. The third time, it was more like a spiritual journey, and I'm sorry if that sounds dodgy, but that's the way it was for me. When tripping on mescaline, I often feel as though the world is changing shape all around me. The whole world feels like a living breathing organism, and I feel as one with it. It's a profound feeling. All the pain and pleasure in the world can be felt all at once - I can feel the worst agony and the most intense joy. Sometimes it is like flying above the world, and seeing it all from a distance, and othertimes it is like merging with the earth and feeling the entirety of existence all at once. It can be beautiful and terrible, but always revealing. I wrote several songs based on my mescaline experiences, and though I am proud of them, they cannot begin to express how it feels.

09:44 / 01.12.03

I second cusm, try LSD or mushrooms first- peyote/mescaline and Salvia are much more hardcore IMO.
If you're in UK you can get fresh mushrooms legally, which is a bonus. I recommend starting with a small dose of them and working your way up to stronger experiences as you gain the skills to deal with it.

Tripping is like swimming in a lot of ways, you need to get the basics before you throw yourself in at the deep end. To extend the metaphor, Salvia and Mescaline and stuff are like the surf of the Pacific ocean, exciting but dangerous, and if you're inexperienced you can't gauge whether or not you're ready to deal with it.

09:53 / 01.12.03

I think you can hae something of a psychedelic experience through smoking weed actually, if it's stong enough. Couple of hits from a bong, or hashcake, certainly put you into a not-unrelated headspace. Though it doesn't have the insane intensity, hallucinations etc and doesn't last as long. Might be an easy way in. Anyone agree/disagree want to comment on the differences?

Gavin - where on earth did you get Mescaline?

10:56 / 01.12.03

I can't really get into names and specifics here, but I have some friends who have able to supply me with mescaline (and some other fairly exotic drugs) over the years. I mostly get it from a friend of mine who lives in Amsterdam, but there's another friend of mine in Arizona who gave me some when I was in the States two years ago.

12:23 / 01.12.03

I agree with Ilmatic (again, his pre-emptive telepathy is starting to piss me off) strong skunk will do it, especially in cake.
Here's an initiation into psychedelics for you, in order of severity;

Smoke a few bongs of skunk and look at some animated fractals

Eat some strong cake and look at some fractals

Eat a small dose of mushrooms and look at a blank white wall

Eat a large dose of mushrooms and look at anything or close your eyes

Take some acid and go out into the woods/park/garden

Smoke some Salvia and close your eyes (and lie down!)

Take some mescaline/peyote in the desert and discover the infinite fluidity of your perceptions of reality and what an arbitrary distinction it is to pick one reality tunnel over another. And then tell me what it was like, I've never done any Mescaline, makes you sick (euw).

the rake at the gates

14:20 / 01.12.03

yeah i've tried hash cake, and i find that at high doses i get a great rushing feeling and some interesting closed eye visuals, especially when listening to loud music in a dark room.

i've also tried saliva in a bong, only had one hit and then we ran out, i felt like i was somehow seperated from my body, like i was floating looking out from behind my eyes.

but apart from that i only really had those herbal high/kick legal stuff, 'druids fantasy' was very disapointing, and i took the maximium dose of 'mind benders' and to be honest i've had better highs off hash cake.

after reading harry asher's 'they spilt my personality' in howard marks book of dope stories, i'm put off using LSD, plus i wouldn't know where to get it.

salvia is easy to get, but it's a relativley new drug, in that no one knows if there are any long term effects, but i have acccess to fresh leaf and can always alter the dose.

as for mushrooms, i'ld really like to try them and could grow my own, but as it says on everybodydoesit.com 'If you suffer from mental, psychological or emotional problems you should avoid taking mushrooms', now i'm not saying i have mental problems but i might have underlying problems and not realise it.

has anyone else tried any herbal highs?

overly cautious maybye, but better safe than sectioned

14:52 / 01.12.03

shrooms are great. and all hallucinogens drive ne temprarily insane (actually helpful for some people) try about half as much as normal fr first dse and have a abysitter. do not grow your own unless you have taken a college level course on mycology. anyone who grows/manufactur hallucingens without knowing what they are doing is just begging for a trip to the ER. stick to mainstream stuff also. stuff like taking morning glory seeds have just prven t be vastly unpleasan in my experience(does salvia actually work? ive only had placebo highs on it.)

trouser the trouserian

15:23 / 01.12.03

Haven't done much in the way of psychedelics for ...ooh, years, but I would reccomend shrooms - particularly brewed up as 'tea' for a light does, or (for the more 'elite' partaker) mushroom wine or whiskey. Setting (where you are) and context (what you're up to) is all important tho'. The first time I took shrooms was just before an English lesson at school - I had to read aloud from a book (Bleak House by C. Dickens)and the bloody letters started running off the page!

18:12 / 01.12.03

Problem with obtaining LSD is that so much of it is impure; either weak or heavily cut with speed. (I really dislike the speedy stuff, all that restlessness and teeth-grinding.) Used to know a guy who could get a hold of very pure, very strong liquid variety (usually put a couple of hits of it on an animal cracker, as opposed to blotter). When its pure, you'll know it. The most blissed-out amazing feeling, like E but far, far better. Had the best time on that particular variety, stayed up all night and watched the sun come up with a bunch of people after partying all night on it. Best way to come down. There was a definite "group mind" effect when everyone was peaking at the same time. I got very Hindu-tinted visuals at one point...I saw glowing, spinning mandalas in the sky.

Oh, BTW, outside is the best place to trip. Especially in a rural setting. So much more organic, you can literally "feel" the interconnectivity.

19:38 / 01.12.03

(does salvia actually work? ive only had placebo highs on it.)
are you kidding?!?!?!
that stuff works alright. if you smoke enough of it its pretty much like a DMT trip.
I tend to underestimate it everytime.....
and its insane that you can actually buy high grade stuff legally.

in my experience , the purpose and beauty of all psychadelics is closely intertwined with the horror one experiences when on the journey. life/existence/universe is a brutal place in some ways, and when tripping I usually get confronted with that. if i dont get seriously rattled on a trip, i didnt take enough.

rake, they all are dangerous. if you have serious worries or concerns you should better stay away.
if curiosity is too high, make sure to read up on whatever you're gonna do and make it a spiritual happening at the right time with the right guide/friends.

I prefer the short lasting trips these days, but as an" intro into psychadelics" I would prescribe mushrooms.
but overall, all tryptamines are very similar although they manifests in different ways, you'll get the same shaman lesson on acid, shrooms, dmt, salvia. even high grade mdma aka ecstasy.

salvia is easy to get, but it's a relativley new drug, in that no one knows if there are any long term effects, but i have acccess to fresh leaf and can always alter the dose.
the mexican shamans have been smoking that stuff for a looooong time. i doubt there are long term effects. besides the possibility of going crazy or looking at the world with new eyes and becoming a social outcast.....
the positive aspect with salvia is that it wont last that long. you can work your way up slowly. but an overdose can be very intense.
and last but not least , theres great info compiled at
Erowid

09:27 / 02.12.03

Rake, your experience on hash cake is pretty much what low doses of shrooms are like, they just last longer. I had 'Druids Dream' at a ball once, just made me feel hungover, eurgh.
overly cautious maybye, but better safe than sectioned
Start with small doses and carefully take more each time until you get the trip you want. People go mad when they take massive doses, or they make themselves paranoid worrying about what might happen and what happens is paranoia- self fulfilling prophecy.

Elbereth- I don't have a Mycology degree and I've successfully grown shrooms from a growkit from kingbong.com. It's so easy they guarantee the kits. As long as you're not just eating shrooms at random from fields and woods you're OK- shrooms aren't complicated.
On the other hand chemistry is a different matter. LSD is chemically very close to Strychnine, so it's dangerous to make innaccurately. That's why some acid makes you grind your teeth and get lockjaw, it's the trace strychnine in it. Pachinko Droog is right about the setting (outside) and liquid acid though, liquid is best!

the rake at the gates

11:43 / 02.12.03

ok so if i was to take shrooms how many should i take, i could get some dried, or go down the legal route and buy/grow some from a head shop, does it matter what variety i try? or are they pretty much the same?

yeah im not too keen on the herbal highs, i've tried a few and been disapointed, but they must sell a lot to stay in business,maybye ther all first time buyers.

cheers for the advice, if any one wants a cutting of a salvia plant some time next year i could probably help you out if mine gets big enough, and you live in the uk. (i actually bought one in case they became illegal, but never really had the guts to chomp down on a bundle of leaves)

Gendudehashadenough

14:52 / 02.12.03

If you take mushrooms for the first time, you really should consult the vaults of Erowid. Usually 1/8 Ounce suffices for a "full" trip. Some users start out with a half 1/8 Ounce and report very mild ride.

Essentially, if you want to be fucked up, you'll probably want the eigth. If you just want a good feelings, giggles, and mild hallucinations the half eigth is your ticket.

The varieties of mushrooms can vary greatly, but typically the "magic mushrooms" that are used for their psycedelic properties contain Psilocybin and Psilocin as the principle psycotropic agents. There are many types of psilocybe mushrooms. (p. cubensis, p. coprophelia, p. montana, etc.) Usually they are dried and eaten whole, or brewed in a tea to obtain the effects of the drugs. When eaten fresh the amount that must be consumed must typically be tripled to obtin full effects.

Last but not least: as I'm sure it is had been made aware on this board, drugs should not be taken lightly. Start with a small dose and work up to larger amounts and remember that set (your mindset while using the drug) and setting (the place at which you will be using) are the single most important things for responsible drug use.

Trip safe. Have a nice day.

15:12 / 02.12.03

Get some shrooms from your local head shop or Camden or Portobello otherwise, and ask the stallholder- they'll tell you all about dosage etc.
Basically put a palmful in some tea, typically 5-10 cubensis or the like, or 20 or so Liberty Caps (they're smaller and not as strong, those are the ones that grow wild in England) in a relaxed setting with some friends, and don't worry- millions of people do it with no ill effects. If you get worried remember it will pass, it's more likely you won't be too impressed and want to take more next time!

Just to echo Rodya, be careful with your brain dear reader, and when in doubt say no. Be informed and be with friends, and have toys to hand!)

18:08 / 02.12.03

If you suffer from mental, psychological or emotional problems, avoid psychedelics in general. That warning isn't just limited to mushrooms.

As for LSD, its not that its cut with anything, its that the LSD-25 molecue has degraded into something else by the time you get it. You're unlikly to ever find the fresh stuff, but if you do, you'll know it. Its a completely different experience. Trust me on that one. There's nothing like fresh liquid. You don't even hallucinate, necessarily, just become a blissed out hyperintelligent mystic guru for 6 hours. But even the crappy stuff is fun too, if you can get it. LSD is like an all around generic psychedelic lubricant. It does everything at once. Just don't have anything important to do the next day.

20:46 / 02.12.03

I would agree with most everyone above. The dangerousness of LSD is way over-hyped. Still, I did see one person go into a really bad trip wih it, so it does happen. Out of all the times I tripped though, with quite a few people, I only saw that happen once. It is true though that it is probably a bad idea to do it if you have mental problems. To be honest, while I haven't done it for many years, I credit it with the ability to visualize that I have. I will say this though, that one person I saw react badly had no outward sign of mental difficulties. Still from what I've seen, the odds of that happening are quite low. One thing to do with that is to start at a reasonable dose, until you get an idea of how strong the batch is. The potencies and effects vary WIDELY. The reason that I recommend it is because unlike some other hallucinogens, it increases concentration greatly, making it excellent for controlled magickal work. Many of the others lend themselves better to ecstatic trance.

Frater Pontikos

14:24 / 03.12.03

I feel like I should add my two cents here. I've used LSD, 'Shrooms and Salvia.
All three are great, but here is a warning about 'shrooms, some (at the least the variety I tried last) can overstimulate mucus membranes. In other words your eyes, nose and mouth will "run". I had never experienced that effect on previous shroom trips (this was a heroic dose, something like 5 grams taken with tastey brownies) The effects were spectacular, but about half an hour to an hour after dosing, my nose, eyes and mouth started to leak. I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out what to do since I decided all of me was leaking out of my face. Fortunately before I started crying or really freaking out, I asked my friends about it and they assured me that the effect was normal. After that it was happy fun land.

I will leave you with a paraphrasing of Tim Leary's advice on the topics of psychedelia: The two most important factors of any trip are Set and Setting.