DMT And The Dead...?

[MissAmazingRachel]

Hi kids,

In the process of tapering off opiate pain meds - they're dumb, they aren't helping, blahblahblah, but, one of my other main reasons to get off is so I can free myself of pain contracts and UA's and start experimenting with psychedelics....mainly DMT.

So, listen, long (sob) story short, my dad died unexpectedly a few years ago, right; we were close, it was traumatic to be there for it, and for whatever backwoods reason, an autopsy wasn't done and there's been no closure for me, whatsoever.

I'm neither religious nor spiritual, but I still sometimes hold out in the hope I'll receive some sort of vibes, but no dice. Some research turned up suggesting that the use of psychedelics - even something mild, such as marijuana - can help our minds open up and receive 'things' (idk what to call it; I'm not really comfortable using words like 'spirits' or 'the afterlife', et al), which I've done and figure maybe I ought to try something a bit stronger than good ol' Colorado-farmed ganja.

I've done my research, and from what I gather, DMT experiences can be likened to that of a psychomanteum - these are not REALLY visits from your deceased loved ones, but rather your subconscious mind at work. The conversations you have are simply the product of hearing what you want to hear - one famous psychomanteum case involved the mother of a man who was found strung up in an attempt to make it look like a suicide. It most likely was homicide, but there were nothing but dead ends, and the mother was tireless in searching for answers and justice, and wanted to try a psychomanteum session, to see what her son would say. In her 'vision and visitation', the son told his mother to keep fighting - keep losing sleep, keep searching, keep on no matter what the cost - and she became convinced she had to keep on it.

Now, I can't imagine a son telling his mother that - "hey mama, keep it up; don't stop looking for my killers, even though it's taking a toll on your health and our family" - and I believe it was simply her subconscious mind wanting confirmation that she was doing the right thing. She already made up her mind, and just wanted to hear her dead son justify it.

I'm skeptical that DMT will put me on the line with my dad...BUT, there might be some things in my subconscious that could help provide answers - it was a crazy, hectic night, of course, and for four years, I've wracked my brain and gone over that night, trying to remember if I saw or heard anything that would clue me in (I was a third year surgical tech student, I can spot the beginning of a heart attack at 50 paces, but sure as fuck didn't see his coming - if that is in fact what he died from).

Which is where my questions for DMT come in...
What have YOUR experiences been with it?
Have you ever used it to pursue answers from the deceased? Did you succeed? What was it like??
In terms of answers, period, get any good ones? Or were they simply a product of your subconscious mind?

Wisdom and guidance welcome; I'm planning on taking a trip in a few months, and want to be as prepared as possible.

-R.

 

[Ismene]

Book you might like Rachel called "Supernatural" by Graham Hancock that's about him taking DMT (and ibogaine) to try and contact his dead father.

I first got into psychedelics after my dad died. Found it was the best way of experiencing an emotional catharsis and help me cope. Mushrooms in particular. You do get the occasional feeling that you're talking to your dad again and feeling very close to him. Whether it's reality or just the mushrooms helping you out I don't know. I do worship mushrooms for their ability to give you just what you need - it's as if they're looking out for you and taking care of you.

A few of my mushroom trips have reminded me of this bit from "Contact" where Jodie meets her long lost father again on the beach:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pfOFCUjmEU

 

[MissAmazingRachel]

Did you have to 'prepare yourself' beforehand? - the first process of using a psychomanteum is to talk about the person, concentrate on their voice, personality, fond memories, etc, and I'm wondering if that's what ought to be done before ingesting psychedelics...

Very encouraging to hear about another person utilizing psychedelics in an effort to contact a loved one; I thought I was in a very small group, lol...did any of it freak you out at all?...I don't much believe in an afterlife, but the premise still scares me...

 

[JackARoe]

You do get the occasional feeling that you're talking to your dad again and feeling very close to him. Whether it's reality or just the mushrooms helping you out I don't know.

Wow, thanks for posting something so personal Ismene. It is fascinating and I do know what you are talking about. The good feeling of inner love as if the person were right there. Whenever I love someone it doesn't matter if they are right in front of me or not. When I am at work I still love my dog at home who is out of site. Take it a step further and I still love people who have died. So the fact the someone doesn't physically exist anymore can produce a great feeling in the present kind of means they do exist in some way or form. The emotion is produced. What that is I don't know. But it is very interesting. And on mushrooms there seems to be an amplified spirit less concerned with particles and matter and more concerned with emotion, which to me is as real.

I love that movie Contact. I can only wonder what good ideas would have come out of Carl Sagan if he did finally try a psychedelic. He spoke highly of cannabis in that matter. Contact is the perfect movie for both skeptic and believer, it seemed to address those ideas of what is real and what is not.

Rachel, I think DMT might blast you straight past that emotion due to such power and such wide open space. I think mushrooms are better for that. One piece of advice whatever route you take. Don't look to where the person you love is. Feel it deep within and smile. The emotional body is deep, and for me acts like a GPS in my life. And funny enough I read in a science magazine that emotion comes along with intelligence. If something alive and is intelligent there is emotion there. I have it think about that more. I am not sure what it means but thought it was interesting.

 

[Morninggloryseed]

I have used DMT in an attempt to deal with opiate addiction issues. I still am not sure of the root cause of my opiate addiction (and now have even less first hand knowledge having taken ibogaine which cured a 10 year addiction and 'fixed' whatever core issues caused such self destructive behaviors) but I believe 5-MeO-DMT is far better for looking at the 'self' and the relationship between self and addiction...or the self and "God" for that matter. At the time I was using short acting tryptamines for dealing with withdrawal, I did not try any 5-MeO-DMT...at the time I did not have enough faith in myself to even try. However, recent experience lead me to believe if one is at peace with what 5-MeO-DMT is and does...and has a good guide if they are inexperienced, I have to believe it has some value.

DMT (smoked and IMed) has always been a healing psychedelic, but it never has given me a 'death experience' or even a spiritual experience. I found DMT lessened some of the WD (using it via IM injection) but never enough to break the cycle.

Perhaps ayahuasca is far more useful here but I have no personal experience.

edit: I've used many tens of grams of DMT. Only my last experience did anything relating to 'this life' and the humans I know in this life surface. All of my prior DMT experiences were more along the lines of 'weird' or 'alien entity' content. I am not actually familiar with DMT even being associated with visiting the departed. The experience is so short and not easily controlled but then again, the more I learn the less I know. I certainly wish you the best of fortune.

 

[Ismene]

Did you have to 'prepare yourself' beforehand? - the first process of using a psychomanteum is to talk about the person, concentrate on their voice, personality, fond memories, etc, and I'm wondering if that's what ought to be done before ingesting psychedelics...

Very encouraging to hear about another person utilizing psychedelics in an effort to contact a loved one; I thought I was in a very small group, lol...did any of it freak you out at all?...I don't much believe in an afterlife, but the premise still scares me...

I never really planned for it, I just expected at some point to start thinking about my dad and usually cry. But the mushrooms did seem to encourage me to laugh and enjoy the trip as well. I've always found crying on mushrooms to be an entirely different feeling to crying sober. When you're sober it's just bleak and there's no catharsis whereas with mushrooms it's something magical and healing.

I don't think you'd need to concentrate much - the memories will be so intense and magical that you can just let them wash over you.

 

[Ismene]

Wow, thanks for posting something so personal Ismene. It is fascinating and I do know what you are talking about. The good feeling of inner love as if the person were right there. Whenever I love someone it doesn't matter if they are right in front of me or not. When I am at work I still love my dog at home who is out of site. Take it a step further and I still love people who have died. So the fact the someone doesn't physically exist anymore can produce a great feeling in the present kind of means they do exist in some way or form. The emotion is produced. What that is I don't know. But it is very interesting. And on mushrooms there seems to be an amplified spirit less concerned with particles and matter and more concerned with emotion, which to me is as real.

Do you get this feeling particularly with mushrooms? I always found it was mushrooms rather than LSD that I could really cry and have catharsis with. Albert Hoffman once told Mckenna that he preferred LSD to mushrooms because the mushrooms had a "presence" as if they were trying to communicate with you. He preferred LSD that doesn't really have that so intensely. I prefer the "presence"!

 

[MissAmazingRachel]

I just might try mushrooms first, to get my daddy issues out of the way, and then use DMT as more of a 'self' journey...I don't think I much care whether it's real or not (science-minded survey says no, it isn't real...nice thought, though), I just want to 'see' and 'hear' and maybe even 'hug' him again.

I do wonder about the physical dependency and psychedelics, though...idk if it'd help me, personally; I got rid of my 'mental aspect' years ago and all that's left is the physical withdrawal, and unless it can somehow take that away, I doubt my trip would reflect anything in that aspect...I wish ibogaine was available here in the states; sounds like a pretty crazy (but effective) way to get off opiates.

Ugh, I feel like a desperate chump; I just started entertaining the thought of seeking out a 'pro' to help guide me through this - I quit experimenting in high school and don't really know anyone who could
A) provide the substances
And
b) provide guidance to the best experience possible...
...this is how grieving people get taken advantage of by 'psychics' or whatever...but I can admit that I really need this.

Ok, so, mushrooms could be better for trying to get at my dad (or at least hallucinating him), DMT might be better for a self-journey, and....anything else? Any other psychs worth a try?

 

[JackARoe]

Do you get this feeling particularly with mushrooms?

Yes, specifically mushrooms. At least the seemingly contact with the dead. Not so much LSD, although there have been heavy experiences with that too. I had a mushroom experience that blew me away about 2 weeks after my brother died. He was killed when he and his new wife were looking at apartments. A drunk driver crossed over into lanes and hit him head on (PCH, a beautiful highway). But the mushroom experience caught me off guard. I was close to my brother, we had deep conversations much like this. During the experience I asked how do I know if this is real. And what I felt at that moment was much more important and real than the atoms and molecules that made up the room I was in. It was intense. I always feel a presence with mushrooms. Most of the time it seems like a wiser and teacherly form of me that gets animated. This time it was my brother. I don't talk about this much at all, but since Ismene and Rachel put out something so personal I figured what the heck.

As far as to what is real or not, bringing up the movie Contact. (or better yet the book which I have read) was perfect for this thread. Carl Sagan addresses it perfectly. In my personal opinion, I would be comfortable with death as total nothingness. I mean, I strive for that when I lay down to sleep or had the old H nod of days past. But I do believe there is much more to the picture than meets the eye, lots more. What that is I don't know. But the way consciousness reaches out and does things is incredible.

But as far as the original post, I never had that with DMT. Smoked DMT is too fast and alien. But I can for sure see some fascinating stories coming from it. Ayahuasca and mushrooms seem to be better to help with processing a loved ones transition.