Extremely interesting questions for THOSE WITH 5+ YEARS PSYCHEDELICS EXP.

[Ximot]

a) I use psychedelics for entertainment as well as growth

d) I am in my 30s and have been using (on and off) for about 12 years now. Will likely continue for some time. The prospect of not using ever again would be a dautning one, I do not want to conceive of such a life. Too much of a valuable tool and a fun toy they have become.

e) self-knowledge & (after much initial difficulty) self-acceptance & a totally different taste in music - I do believe the psychedelics have played a role as catalysts. I cannot say for sure whether I would have evolved differently without them as there have been other experiences that have had a major impact on me (lessons learned in relationships and through friends, my partner, my living on a different continent for some time, backpacking in Asia, a number of Buddhist meditation retreats). Now I don't know if I would have had all those experiences if I hadn't taken a terrifying first LSD trip aged 21, since they all happened after my first psychedelic ride. Actually, a lot of my life from before that day feels a bit removed, as if it had been lived by a different person - so not me compared to who I am now (in a positive way). As I changed, so did my surroundings, which in turn encouraged me to change more... who knows? One of my life lessons so far has been that the "what if..." question is unanswerable and that, while it may be intriguing and at times entrtaining, it is often a source of unnecessary worry or frustration. It's dangerously close to the statement "if only..." --- things are as they are and themore we can accept that and understand them as they are, the more there is potential for beneficial change.

 

[Jabberwocky]

If one is to use any psychedelic chemical, it helps to be aware that the psychedelic experience continues long after the physical chemical has left the body. There is (hopefully) a healthy period of integration and rebuilding.

It sounds like you are in the midst of an intensive integration period. It may be that you ultimately decide to abandon using psychedelic chemicals. Or you may continue.

My advice would be to just take this time to seriously think about your life, those around you, and how you want to live. There is nothing wrong with choosing a different path.

There is no necessity of drug use in the psychedelic experience. There are so many different paths to the same truth (or the realization of no-truth, it is the same). Take heart that the world truly is psychedelic. It bends, wavers, hesitates, and even blinks momentarily out of existence. It is up to every human to understand, embrace, and eventually even let this truth go.

Peace.

 

[motiv311]

I usually take psychedelics because I CAN.

I haven't for awhile, because i Couldn't.

I take them to make things better. Sometimes they make things worse.

I could see my self taking them occasionally ... the rest of my life.

they're are much worse drugs out there. for most ppl anyway.

 

[swilow]

a) do any of you take psychedelic drugs for reasons I haven't listed, and if so, WHY? ie besides "personal growth" or "learning lessons"

Recreation-sometimes boredom-to share something special with my girlfriend

b) of those who have stopped taking psychedelics, why? due to questioning their purpose like me right now, or something else?

I've reduced my use because I've found out what I want to know. Most of my trips now revolve around me trying to figure out exactly what the drug is doing, not how its effects are applicable. I can achieve deep levels of insight sreaight, by utilising visual techniques seen under acid etc.

e) can you attribute ANYTHING, be it positive or negative, to your use of psychedelic drugs in particular? Would you be the same or different if you'd never done these drugs? Then, what makes you think that, for whatever reason?

Possible opening of eyes, which further questing when sober revealed moreof. Enhanced empathy, decreased reliance on others peoples opinions, ability to see truth in things, lead me to mediatation, helped me confron my extreme anxiety. Negative effects- some discontent with mundane reality, fear of madness after salvia trips, dislocation from some firends/family, but thats sorting itself out.

The fact pychs put you so far in your mind has lead me to focus on the working of my brain, and seeing how its various functions construct reality. Spending 10 hours in a world dominated by thought and feeling makes you more inclined to reflect on situations in life, with thought and emotion as the driving force.

 

[swilow]

That would be a crime! No adult should be prohibited from putting toxic poisons such as alcohol in their body. You (speaking to drinkers out there) may be disgusting in my eyes, but I support your right to disgrace yourself...so long as you don't drive.

No offense intended here, but that sort of attitude is very 'un-psychedelic'. How can other humans disgust you, can't you not see that alchohol consumption is just another fragment of humanity? Alchohol can be incredibly dangerous and violence provoking though with all things, its up to the user. Possibly you've obly seen alchhol abuse MGS?

A small amount of an organic alchohol (beer made with hops, absinthe, some tinctures- cannabis, damiana, wormwood, Blue Lotus) can really enhance the entheogenic experience. Many shamans love a tipple of tequila or schanpps during a sacred experience.... I personally dislike the distilled alchohols because I don't think the human body is really equipped to metabolise them so well....

Massive generalisations on drinkers there, so common amongst the psychonauts who think their drug is better then anyone elses. Alchcohol is only poison to those who fuck with it, it in itself is not the evil molecule. I think people dislike alchohol largely because its legal, sanctioned by the powers that be, which means it must be somehow involved in some grand conspiracy to keep psychedelics and other drugs legal, so booze can rule the world!

off topic- sorry guys. Feel free to delete. Just sick of mindless booze bashing.

 

[Church]

^ Well said, Willow. I wasn't going to comment on that, but since you just did, allow me to say to MGS: 8)

 

[Jamshyd]

...A small amount of an organic alchohol (beer made with hops, absinthe, some tinctures- cannabis, damiana, wormwood, Blue Lotus)

*gets enchanted*

*Starts collecting ingredients*

:D

Thanks my friend, now I have something to do for the holiday!

 

[swilow]

^^^Blue lotus in a bottle of cheap white wine (cheap cos you'll kill the taste)- pleasant relaxing drunky spiritual feelings. Do some research and you'll find alchohol can actually accompany any voyage. I do find drunkeness a bit distasteful though, but thats cos it can make me depressed and nauseas.

 

[Splatt]

I know, I just enjoy ripping on alcohol.

Nothin wrong with a bit of alcohol. It makes me very social.
I love yelling at Conan and Leno to be more funny after drinking a whole cask of cooking wine.

 

[Ximot]

I'm recovering from an alcohol-induced hangover as I write.... the end-of-year work socialising brought red wine at lunchtime with it... later I was invited for dinner and had some nice special Christmas beers before dinner and way too much red wine during and after dinner... I also got nicely stoned with the cannabis... and I peacefully nodded off on the couch at my friends' house. When I woke up (in my bed) today I regretted the drinking... never again, haha! how many times have I said this? A hearty meal, lots and lots of water and a few days of abstinence and all is good again. The trick is not to indulge really .... not THAT easy once the fun begins. But enough of that- Since the thread has seemingly taken a turn it seems like I am not even off-topic.

I went through a phase of thinking that alcohol was truly uncool. That was when I first started using LSD and E. They kinda showed me how stupid a lot of drinkers do indeed become.... but I don't see it all that much that way any more. Perhaps because alcohol affects me a little differently than it used to. Even if I agree with MGS that alcohol can indeed be at the source of a lot of misery, violence, adultery, broken families etc. Dunno what you've witnessed to make you so anti-alcohol, but I do believe there's other drugs that cause people to behave as impulsively / aggressively and unwisely.

 

[Jabberwocky]

^^^Blue lotus in a bottle of cheap white wine (cheap cos you'll kill the taste)- pleasant relaxing drunky spiritual feelings. Do some research and you'll find alchohol can actually accompany any voyage.

Nice!

Here's ingredients for a beautiful evening:
1) someone you love
2) good bottle of red wine
3) MDMA
4) candles, incense, pillows, blankets (hehe! )

Joy, Grace, and Perfection...

Love,
Andy

 

[Xorkoth]

I've personally given up alcohol except for extremely rare occasions, as it just feels poisonous to me and even a single glass of wine makes me feel slightly uncomfortable and almost a little sore. When I was younger I drank pretty heavily, not more than a few times a week but just a shitload of it when I did drink, and I started blacking out entirely earlier and ealier, more and more often. The last time I got wasted was when I was 19 or maybe early 20... I blacked out at midnight and came to at noon in my bed. I found out through several people (my girlfriend and dad mostly, who were both tremendously upset with me) that I had been convinced to drive while incoherent by a friend, driven into a ditch, gotten pulled over by two sheriffs, but amazingly my cousin had just married a friend of theirs on the force and they recognized my last name because of that, and they called my dad and had him come pick me up and didn't even give me a ticket. But anyway, I had alcohol poisoning badly which caused a serious depressive imbalance along with my guilt, and I've never felt so horrible physically as long as I've lived. Ever since then I really just can't drink, nor do I like to. No other drug I've ever encountered can get close to the loss of control that alcohol can for me, and it's insidious because it convinces you that you're at least reasonably okay in any situation.

Despite this, however, I don't see any problem with responsible alcohol use, and pretty much everyone I hang out with in any way drinks, although I haven't been around an actual drunk person in a while. I actually very much wish that I could still enjoy a glass of wine or a good beer, because they can be delicious and a good alcohol buzz is very nice indeed.

Anyway, why do I use psychedelics? Because they've made me realize that life itself is a psychedelic experience, and ever since they woke me up, so to speak, I've been living life the way it should be lived (for the most part). They have helped me to realize how beautiful it all is, in good times or in bad. If I stopped taking them today, I am confident that I would never lose that, as deeply ingrained as it has become.

So why do I keep taking them then? Well, because it's fun and exciting to see your views on consciousness and existence viscerally confirmed time and time again. Tripping can be great fun and really puts the spring back in my step when things start to feel a little stale. It's the kind of experience that provokes a lot of thought, which helps me to continue to question everything and not assume or take things for granted. It gives me new ways to express and enjoy my artistic desires, from writing to music to painting.

And hey, it hasn't done anything bad for me yet. In all honesty I can't think of a single experience that I wish I hadn't had, even if there were a few that I wished that about at the time. If I were to notice negative effects start to appear in my life, I would weigh the options and probably decide to discontinue use. I would do the same if I decided they weren't doing it for me anymore, too. But until that day, I see no reason not to keep using them.

 

[swilow]

That's the possible difference, I never see it as some new, different reality, just seeing everything from a much different point of view (as an analogy, you can know how to get from one place in a city to another just by following left or right at a certain cue but without ever knowing how these places are arranged w.r.t. each other. Once you've been up a high building or in an aircraft, you can see it all in plan/map form which gives you a completely new understanding of the spacial relationship - nothing has changed except the point from where you're viewing everything)

I really like that analogy, it works perfectly. It sort of confirms or works with one of the only good things Carlos Castaneda said- desribing hallucingenic experience as "non-ordinairy reality". When you ingest the drug, nothing essentially changes ie. you don't grow extra limbs or gain 360 degree vision (though it may appear that way)- but what does change is the lens through which the drama is enacted.

And seeing as this thread has become slightly alchoholic, I thought I'd just like to mention the nice synergy between hopped beer and its botanical cousin, cannabis. Several beers (no more then three) and spliffs seems to relax one and enable pretty far out though meanderings. Theres a partnership between the two herbs. Hops on its own is nice too

 

[Kul69]

a) do any of you take psychedelic drugs for reasons I haven't listed, and if so, WHY? ie besides "personal growth" or "learning lessons"

Experience.. just wanting to experience everything I can. I've tried a lot of drugs but never taken any of them for an extended period of time except marijuana.

b) of those who have stopped taking psychedelics, why? due to questioning their purpose like me right now, or something else?

I havn't taken psychedelics in a few months now after adding a lot of items to my experience list if you know what I mean.

It's sort of complicated to explain why I stopped but here goes...

Drugs have been a part of humanity since the start and help us in a lot of different ways. Stimulants used occasionally in dangerous situations where staying awake is critical. Opiates to dull our pain. Anesthetic to aid surgery. Antibiotics. These drugs used when their effect is needed provide us with a biological tool for our own bodies.

What are psychedelics for then? Mental healing? Spiritual healing? Expanding consciousness?

I used to think if I took psychedelics they would show me things, provide me with a whole new way of looking a things, and they did. They showed me what I needed to see the first time I took them and it changed me. However, I continued to use/abuse them looking for more "answers" or SOMETHING!

I kept thinking that way up until a few months ago when I realized that there are people in the world who could really use these drugs. Not people like me who were greedily humping the psychedelic idea of expanding your concsciousness. People who were suffering spiritually.

I kind of thought of it like this..

Someone who uses a pain killer to numb physical pain so it can be healed is a lot different than someone who uses a pain killer to numb mental pain so they can forget about it.

I became really sad when I thought of how I was abusing these psychedelics. The fact was that I didn't need any kind of enlightenment or perspective changing. I had no issues to resolve. No inner pain to conquer. I was abusing psychedelics dulling the pain of boredom and repetition by escaping normal reality.

Now, I didn't know that when I was doing it I thought I was on some kind of spiritual quest to unlock my inner self. That quest takes place every second of every day I'm alive though.

You could say I realized that the cure for what ailed me wasn't contained in any drug.

Some day in my life I might decide I need to do psychedelics again but if I do it will be because I seek them out as a healing aid and not for anything else.

e) can you attribute ANYTHING, be it positive or negative, to your use of psychedelic drugs in particular? Would you be the same or different if you'd never done these drugs? Then, what makes you think that, for whatever reason?

My whole life changed after I first had a major psychedelic experience. The main thing I can associate with it though is I stopped caring about social expectations. Whatever I did with my life after that was not shaped by what other people expected.

My first experience was also when I was 15 so part of me feels like this is one of the major things I was struggling with at that age and it sorted it out for me very nicely.

P.S.

I have quit Marijuana as well because I was using it to get rid of my anxiety and suffering surrounding not getting a lot of things done that I want to get done.

It wasn't making it easier to get those things done though it was making it easier to ignore the pain so I could ignore the things I needed to do.

The reason pain exists is to let you know something is wrong and needs to be tended to. I think that extends to mental and spiritual pain as well. If you just dull that pain with drugs and ignore it then you're also ignoring whatever needed to be fixed.

 

[Pathogen]

a) do any of you take psychedelic drugs for reasons I haven't listed, and if so, WHY? ie besides "personal growth" or "learning lessons"

I do. I used to take them for the "learning experience", but about 6 years in I had the same realization that you are speaking of. Save for a nightmarish datura trip, none of my trips ever taught me a damn thing. As of now, strictly recreation.

b) of those who have stopped taking psychedelics, why? due to questioning their purpose like me right now, or something else?

I have majorly slowed down, but not stopped. my reasons are personal, but among them being that chemicals do SERIOUS damage to the brain.

c) this is for the KIDS here, I want to know why YOU take psychedelics and what you think they POSSIBLY have to offer you.

N/A

d) for anyone over 30 years old, do you STILL take psychedelics? have you grown out of it? special occasions? and if so, why?

Only 25, but have almost 9 years of continuos experience. I do, on occasion.

e) can you attribute ANYTHING, be it positive or negative, to your use of psychedelic drugs in particular? Would you be the same or different if you'd never done these drugs? Then, what makes you think that, for whatever reason?

I know that they have changed me, in so many ways that I could write a novel on it. Some good, some bad, but definite change.

 

[Ximot]

I have quit Marijuana as well because I was using it to get rid of my anxiety and suffering surrounding not getting a lot of things done that I want to get done.

ain't that a classic *blaminingly points finger at self; self laughs and skins one up*

I like what you are saying about pain as well. I think it's true that we suffer for a reason - there's much to learn from within that state, lives can be improved.

 

[Xorkoth]

Kul69's post

That was a really great post. It rings true in many ways with myself as well. Although I don't feel that the only experience I had that changed me was my first, that first trip has by far produced the most change in me. A few others here and there have also been greatly beneficial, but for the most part it's become a novelty. I go back and forth as to whether I should even bother to continue taking them, but I generally think that I should until I feel like I shouldn't. I have slowed down quite a bit, though.

 

[Ximot]

I have slowed down quite a bit, though.

May be temporary. I have slow-down/stop phases but sometimes I begin again and sometimes also increase frequency of use. Before it all gets too much it's always good to slow down or even stop using. One can always begin again later. That's so good about them - that they're not addictive per se. But even though they provide great lessons that encourage non-attachment I can't say I'm not attached to them, though.

I think in a couple of years I will probably be using a lot less if at all. I am thinking of going to India then and practising yoga and meditation on a daily basis for a year or two. After that, I will see how I go. I do not intend to use drugs while I'm there. I think it might be a waste of time to do drugs in places removed from mainstream society (I guess India still has pockets of it) when there's so much else to be experienced just for what it is. This is not to say that I won't be using again after that. Would depend on my then state of mind and my needs.

 

[Xorkoth]

Yeah, I'm in the same cycle. Although it has generally sped up since I started using psychedelics. Back when I started I had tripped I think 5 times in 3 years. Then for almost 2 years I didn't trip at all. This past year or so I've done the majority of my tripping due to the availability of large numbers of chemicals I never had access to before, and I've also noticed myself taking lower doses for recreation more often than large, powerful doses.

On the occasions that I start to feel overwhelmed, I stop until I don't feel overwhelmed anymore, but that's honestly been very rare. Ever since I kicked myself out of depression (which was the 2 years I didn't trip during, although that was not the cause of the depression, just one of the results), I've felt better and more on top of things than ever.

Also, since I've become much more used to the psychedelic mindstate, it has become a lot more recreational for me. But I just don't see anything wrong with using them recreationally as long as I don't let other areas of my life suffer.

 

[Helios.]

People change. Life marches on.

It sounds like you have matured, but now that I'm 30 I still enjoy methamphetamine, marijuana, temazepam, hydrocodone, cocaine and the designer methamphetamines (MDMA, 3-MeO-MA, and 3-Cl-MA) as much as ever.