I look at the world in a very science based way and I do not subscribe to any sort of supernatural phenomena. Im contemplating taking acid or shrooms and would be testing the substance beforehand. Should I take a psychedelic if I do not plan to view the world in a spiritual way. Is this just a misconception that psychedelics will change me? Im very new to the topic and Id be willing to hear anyones opinions. Thank you!
Should I take psychedelics?
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LucidSDreamr
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It will likely change you in some way.
Even if you don't believe in any external supernatural beings, you'll see that there is a lot that you will learn about yourself on psychedelics.
You are likely to gain a different perspective on how you relate to other people. Specific people and just in general.
You may analyze your own mind, behaviors an habits quite a bit also.
And if nothing else you could just have lots of fun and gain a new appreciation for music and food.
So believing in the super natural is just probably something that would distract you during a trip in my opinion.
Like myself and many others....a breakthrough trip will have you questioning everything you thought to be true. I'm a scientist and I believe you can find threads on this board started by me after a breakthrough trip wondering about things like God or universal interconnectedness. I don't think the trip changed my mind but it definitely opened me up to possibilities.
Honestly no one can tell you besides yourself. People can give their opinions and speculation, but no one knows you like you. Research into things like set, setting, and substance as well as trip safety such as having an experienced trip sitter. Once you are ready you will not just know it, but feel it.
I do not subscribe to religion/"spirituality" at all, but I nevertheless found the psychedelic experience extremely valuable. IMO, the best way to describe it is your brain's novelty-, significance- and pattern-detection mechanisms going into overdrive. It can help you re-examine behaviors and thoughts that have become so deeply ingrained in your psyche that you are no longer consciously aware of them; at the same time, you also gain a new appreciation for the way our human brains manage to filter and condense all the information constantly coming in via our sensory organs.
I think I once read an atheist blogger say that taking LSD only affirmed him in his atheism: If ingesting just ~1/10,000th of a gram of a synthetic chemical could temporarily affect his thinking and perception to such an extent, then Occam's razor clearly suggests pharmacological, psychological and social phenomena (rather than supernatural ones) as the source of human spirituality.
SharedHalucination
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LSD!
The point is to alter your perception of reality so its gotta "change" you in some way.
I don't think psychedelics automatically make you focused on being a spiritual being. Ive taken a bunch of psychs and I am not really into all that. Ive grown a strong feeling within me that consciousness wants to experience and our reality is a result of that somehow. I have a lot of more researching (reading & ingesting) to make more sense of this feeling.
The point is to alter your perception of reality so its gotta "change" you in some way.
I don't think psychedelics automatically make you focused on being a spiritual being. Ive taken a bunch of psychs and I am not really into all that. Ive grown a strong feeling within me that consciousness wants to experience and our reality is a result of that somehow. I have a lot of more researching (reading & ingesting) to make more sense of this feeling.
pupnik
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judging by the kinds of threads we see in which people struggle to return to a "normal sense of self" after taking LSD or mushrooms; I would characterize this as 30-50% of experimental use based upon how many people I know who would never write any blog entries anywhere, yet who cringe in revulsion or suppress the memory altogether, yes it will change you in some way.
Most experimenters would agree that you cannot re-virginize your brain after it.
Religious people are pushed to their limits and come back with religious explanations, and possibly mythological anecdotes. Many non-superstitious and non-religious people come back forming new religions or cosmologies.
Some people are unphased (was the dosage too low?) Many squirm their way through but fail to enjoy the promise that others have suggested.
Set Setting and Dosage describe the itinerary of a journey through time and space.
Set being mindset, which is a small word for a huge territory being your mental framework, your mental state, and your inclinations both emotionally and inquisitively.
Setting being the physical containment that your senses will be exposed to - elements from which will trigger mental contents to unforeseen proportions or intensification.
Dosage is a huge influence, not on the content of the experience (defined by the two previous factors Set and Setting), but on the intensity of resonance, and the effect of this on the sense of time passing.
For me, a pleasant dosage is just a bit less to half of the common dosage - I prefer it when time does not completely stop but when it raises a surf that is dramatic yet forgiving. Times like last night in which I took 1.5 the normal 100 mic dose provide 3-4 hours of eternity seeming transitions: Experience and Awareness obtain a sustained aspect (of Mythological Proportions) and what usually passes in a moment seems to last forever.
At lower dosages, the world is refreshing and sparkly, with some time distortion, but ordinary thinking is possible.
Most experimenters would agree that you cannot re-virginize your brain after it.
Religious people are pushed to their limits and come back with religious explanations, and possibly mythological anecdotes. Many non-superstitious and non-religious people come back forming new religions or cosmologies.
Some people are unphased (was the dosage too low?) Many squirm their way through but fail to enjoy the promise that others have suggested.
Set Setting and Dosage describe the itinerary of a journey through time and space.
Set being mindset, which is a small word for a huge territory being your mental framework, your mental state, and your inclinations both emotionally and inquisitively.
Setting being the physical containment that your senses will be exposed to - elements from which will trigger mental contents to unforeseen proportions or intensification.
Dosage is a huge influence, not on the content of the experience (defined by the two previous factors Set and Setting), but on the intensity of resonance, and the effect of this on the sense of time passing.
For me, a pleasant dosage is just a bit less to half of the common dosage - I prefer it when time does not completely stop but when it raises a surf that is dramatic yet forgiving. Times like last night in which I took 1.5 the normal 100 mic dose provide 3-4 hours of eternity seeming transitions: Experience and Awareness obtain a sustained aspect (of Mythological Proportions) and what usually passes in a moment seems to last forever.
At lower dosages, the world is refreshing and sparkly, with some time distortion, but ordinary thinking is possible.
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I would say go fairly high dose LSD. You're not going to suddenly believe in God, but you're going to do some introspecting and that can be difficult. Plenty of BLrs are atheists and they've experimented with different things without "seeing the light" as it were.
Do you want to do them? If you want to try them you should try them. Only you know if you're ready.
Do you want to do them? If you want to try them you should try them. Only you know if you're ready.
LandsUnknown
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It'll change you somehow. I tripped last night actually, tripped pretty hard actually. I've done it around 40-50 times (I've lost count at this point) in the last three years that I have been taking psychedelics though, and I will say that last night's experience changed me as did the other 39-49 times I have done them. Each time you trip, I believe that it provides insights and changes in perspectives that change your outlook on life somehow. Personally, I find this aspect of psychedelics the most beautiful and wonderful thing about them. However, if you are afraid to change, then I don't recommend psychedelics. Because in some way, somehow, psychedelics will change your outlook on life. Not like "it changes your brain" sort of thing or anything like that of course, but a trip gives you a new perspective on life. Like magic almost IMO. I think it's a misconception that psychs automatically make you view "everything in a more spiritual way" for all of your life. I believe that psychedelics are spiritual, but when they wear off and life goes back to "normal" whatever that means, you just are your normal self....... yet you get new information and a new perspective on life that you wouldn't have figured out "on your own". Though, IMO, the whole thing is figuring it out on your own in a new and fascinating headspace rather than the "drug" forcing something on you (I don't consider psychs drugs but rather tools for personal development that yes some folks take who aren't ready for). If you aren't interested in becoming a "shaman" or "monk" as a result of your psychedelic use, it won't magically turn you into the next spiritual guru lol. But yes, it will "change" you in some way due to a new perspective.
This is going off my experiences with psychedelics. So, I don't know what it will do for you specifically. However, I highly doubt that you'll do psychedelics and then suddenly turn into someone you're not (e.g. some sort of "hippy" sterotype). IMO, psychedelics just make you a better version of you. That's what it did for me, but I'll say if you're nervous about taking then because of fear of what you'll "become", it might be best to hold off for a bit. The drug won't make you anything that you aren't, trust me, but yeah it'll change you. As making you what I feel is a better version of yourself.
Sorry I can't really explain it, just something that's different for everyone and defies explanation TBH. Take psychedelics if YOU feel you're ready without asking anyone to, IMO it's just something that you feel in your bones that you need to do and want to do..... and in your head unconsciously KNOW is right for you and you WILL know when or if the right time is for you to take them. For me, it's the same every time, when I trip, I feel in my bones and my soul that it is THE time for me to do it. It'll be the same for you, psychs come to you, you don't go to it. I know that may sound strange and not make sense to some folks, but trust me that's just how it is IME. Your mileage may vary and not only are psychs different for everyone but how everyone comes into them is different as well. Everyone comes into psychedelics in a different way.
TBH, as a firm believer in God and the supernatural who has always been a believer in the supernatural, I don't know firsthand how a non believer would experience psychedelics. Howver, despite the fact that I find my trips to "connect me with a greater power" that's always somewhat vague and ambigious as other believers in God who trip have described, my friends who are atheist/non believers in the supernatural have not changed their views as a result of their experiences. For me, when I trip, I'm connecting with God and the spirit world....... when my atheist friends trip, their connecting with something that I never have as they have a different religious/spiritual belief than I have. Yet nope, psychedelic trips didn't make them believe in God or change their religious beliefs in any way. Never have seen this occur. Not saying this is impossible. I feel that I have experienced supernatural things while tripping at times, and I have even experienced things like that while sober. But tripping never made me believe in something that I fundamentally do not believe in or entertain the possibility of (even on an unconscious level) while sober. So, yes they change your belief but only within your basic and fundamental framework IMO. That's just been my experience though and what I have gathered from having many convos with other friends who enjoy psychedelics. IME, it can be a beautiful and wonderful thing but only if you're ready for it. Just my 2 cents.
This is going off my experiences with psychedelics. So, I don't know what it will do for you specifically. However, I highly doubt that you'll do psychedelics and then suddenly turn into someone you're not (e.g. some sort of "hippy" sterotype). IMO, psychedelics just make you a better version of you. That's what it did for me, but I'll say if you're nervous about taking then because of fear of what you'll "become", it might be best to hold off for a bit. The drug won't make you anything that you aren't, trust me, but yeah it'll change you. As making you what I feel is a better version of yourself.
Sorry I can't really explain it, just something that's different for everyone and defies explanation TBH. Take psychedelics if YOU feel you're ready without asking anyone to, IMO it's just something that you feel in your bones that you need to do and want to do..... and in your head unconsciously KNOW is right for you and you WILL know when or if the right time is for you to take them. For me, it's the same every time, when I trip, I feel in my bones and my soul that it is THE time for me to do it. It'll be the same for you, psychs come to you, you don't go to it. I know that may sound strange and not make sense to some folks, but trust me that's just how it is IME. Your mileage may vary and not only are psychs different for everyone but how everyone comes into them is different as well. Everyone comes into psychedelics in a different way.
TBH, as a firm believer in God and the supernatural who has always been a believer in the supernatural, I don't know firsthand how a non believer would experience psychedelics. Howver, despite the fact that I find my trips to "connect me with a greater power" that's always somewhat vague and ambigious as other believers in God who trip have described, my friends who are atheist/non believers in the supernatural have not changed their views as a result of their experiences. For me, when I trip, I'm connecting with God and the spirit world....... when my atheist friends trip, their connecting with something that I never have as they have a different religious/spiritual belief than I have. Yet nope, psychedelic trips didn't make them believe in God or change their religious beliefs in any way. Never have seen this occur. Not saying this is impossible. I feel that I have experienced supernatural things while tripping at times, and I have even experienced things like that while sober. But tripping never made me believe in something that I fundamentally do not believe in or entertain the possibility of (even on an unconscious level) while sober. So, yes they change your belief but only within your basic and fundamental framework IMO. That's just been my experience though and what I have gathered from having many convos with other friends who enjoy psychedelics. IME, it can be a beautiful and wonderful thing but only if you're ready for it. Just my 2 cents.