Preparation for 4th Acid Trip- Little help?

[irisdescence]

Alright, so I had planned everything and was going to trip for the first time in 3 months this weekend, but then I got really sick so I'm waiting until I recover to dose.

It seems like most people I talk to say "you can't prepare" and "just go along for the ride, observe" etc.

However, I'm trying to have a trip that shows me something outside of myself. My last 3 trips have all been interesting, but all they've shown me are parts of my personality that I need to integrate. While this has all been informative (and painful!), I haven't had anything close to what the tibetan book of the dead describes as the 1st or 2nd bardo...I've been stuck in the third and below.

I know I've got to work through this shit on my own...but any advice on good ways to do it? I have a better setting than I had for my last few trips.

I notice that when I trip I either get very restless and do a lot of things, or sexual imagery comes up from my subconscious and distracts me. As far as the doing a lot of things goes, I feel anxious and need to do things like take showers or dance or draw, but it's not a creative feeling, it's more of a desperate "have to do something" feeling.

I've been meditating recently, and I'm hoping that will help with the anxiety and compulsion to do something.

Basically...any tips?

My experiences have all been with good, strong acid- first trip 3 hits, second 2, third 1. I was planning on doing 2 this time around.

 

[latentdelusion]

I like to walk through the woods when tripping. It satisfies that urge to "do something" that acid gives you. I like to just walk around and observe nature. One time I spent an hour or so watching ants eat a dead bumblebee. When I'm outside, the introspective side of the drug is seriously reduced.

 

[SpecialK_]

With acid I advise you not to expect anything, allow what comes to you to come to you, but don't force it to. A trip is an experience in itself, it may change your life or it may not, but it isn't you who can decide whether the acid does or not you have to allow it to work it's magic.

Regarding feeling restless why not trip with a few friends so your actions don't seem so restless? Or a good recommendation of mine is to stick on some nice albums you enjoy and enjoy the LSD visuals. I find LSD does give a slight feeling of anxiety sometimes itself, keep this in mind and you'll learn to relax from it and not allow it to bother you - however this may return at higher doses. If you still find yourself restless or with anxiety that is getting stronger then maybe LSD isn't for you. I actually find shrooms give me less anxiety than LSD if you don't go overboard on the dosage if you are still wishing for a psychedelic experience.

Hope this helps!

 

[irisdescence]

I'm fine with introspection I guess...I'd just like a transforming, ego-weakening (if not shattering) experience. I'm tripping alone so I'd rather be in the safety of my apartment, particularly bc I'm in a very populated city and don't have much of a chance to get away right now.

 

[irisdescence]

To SpecialK-

I've done shrooms a few times, and they actually give me a lot more visuals/better body high, but they're more confusing as well. I don't feel comfortable tripping around other people, so it's just me for now.

 

[SpecialK_]

To SpecialK-

I've done shrooms a few times, and they actually give me a lot more visuals/better body high, but they're more confusing as well. I don't feel comfortable tripping around other people, so it's just me for now.

Tripping around other people can be a very rewarding experience, more so than you may think. However, setting is very important and only trip around people you are comfortable with a life-long best friend, sibling or girlfriend/boyfriend is a good option although it is best to keep it to a small number. It will help most likely to reduce your restlessness as you have someone to talk to.

Maybe your restlessness is caused by the fact that an LSD trip is a long experience, could you sit for 8-12 hours normally? If not then that could be your answer! When I'm on LSD I like to do different things, if I'm indoors every once and a while I like to go outside, etc. Why not try watching a movie? Don't pick something disturbing or frightening, a Disney movie or a comedy would most likely be enjoyable - even more so whilst tripping.

 

[irisdescence]

I thought about tripping with my girlfriend, but I'm worried that she might respond badly to it, and if I'm having a bad trip (for whatever reason) I won't be able to take care of her as well as I'd like to. She's only tripped on mushrooms once, and she said she was up the whole night crying, so I'm wary of introducing her to LSD, particularly with my own uninspiring history with it. And I don't trust anyone else enough to be comfortable around them lol.

 

[irisdescence]

Also as far as restlessness- isn't LSD supposed to make everything interesting; )? A lot of the things I'd normally do to pass the time- tv, read, write, play video games- are either too dull or impossible while on acid for me.

 

[Roger&Me]

Take time to explore music.

Hand drums, harmonicas, melodicas, etc. Any fun little instrument can yield hours of mind-bending fun. Try playing along with old records or odd recordings, deliberately play out of key or out of time, make space-noises... all that kinda fun stuff.

Also: Grateful Dead -- The Complete Fillmore West Recordings, Spring of 1969. No tripper should be deprived of these particular tunes.

 

[irisdescence]

Haha yeah my initial plan was to start off by listening to a couple shpongle albums then see what I felt like...also picked up bbc life (documentary like planet earth) in blu ray.
Last time I tripped I tried dancing for a little while (to house music), but it felt weird and not that rewarding dancing alone lol.
i don't play or have any instruments...

 

[Roger&Me]

i don't play or have any instruments...

Haha come on, get creative. Fill a tin can 1/4 full with dry beans and cap the can with a lid; suddenly you've got yourself a surprisingly versatile percussion instrument. Music is just art sculpted from sound: anyone can do it, and there aren't any rules.

 

[shulsd33]

BBC Life is an excellent choice! I've seen every episode (many while tripping) and I must say it's a great thing to watch towards the end of an acid trip. Don't try to watch a movie during the come up or peak, you'll be much too distracted.

 

[irisdescence]

Yeah I was thinking the same thing...good call: ). I wanted to check it out sober just to see how it was and ended up watching for hours lol.

 

[Raw Evil]

Shpongle is great .

So are djembes :D

And of course, playing djembe to Shpongle is... well, there just aren't enough words for it.

It seems like most people I talk to say "you can't prepare" and "just go along for the ride, observe" etc.

That's because it's absolutely essential advice. Even if you're tripping with an objective as vague as "wanting to have a spiritual or mystical experience", you still need to remember to ride out whatever your mind / the cosmos / God / etc comes up with.

However, I'm trying to have a trip that shows me something outside of myself. My last 3 trips have all been interesting, but all they've shown me are parts of my personality that I need to integrate. While this has all been informative (and painful!), I haven't had anything close to what the tibetan book of the dead describes as the 1st or 2nd bardo...I've been stuck in the third and below.

Sounds like someone's been reading The Psychedelic Experience. Don't forget that both the Bardo Thödol and Leary's interpretation of it are approximations of real experience. By their nature as works of text they are limited in what they can convey. Don't get me wrong though, they are immensely valuable. Just remember that the map is not the territory.

I know I've got to work through this shit on my own...but any advice on good ways to do it? I have a better setting than I had for my last few trips.

Advice, hmm....

Not terribly sure I can offer much useful advice in terms of this upcoming experience, but here's a tip if you ever decide to dive deeper into acid:

Don't resist anything. Yes, I've said it twice now, but there's a reason behind that. Whatever you think, whatever you feel, you must let it happen. Trying to suppress emotions can lead to experiences like this. Having had some time to integrate that shattering night, I'm fairly confident that my knee-jerk reaction to suppress a (commonly self-inflicted) guilt trip was the primary trigger for the hellish experience that followed.

Other than that, it's important not to get hung up on the specifics of mystical experiences by trying to process them with raw rationality. Real entheo-trips, wherein the experiential subject finds themselves confronting knowledge they don't quite "get", can take a lot of time to fully understand. If you find yourself in such a situation, don't feel that you need to immediately make sense of it. Trust that you'll understand before the end.

I notice that when I trip I either get very restless and do a lot of things, or sexual imagery comes up from my subconscious and distracts me. As far as the doing a lot of things goes, I feel anxious and need to do things like take showers or dance or draw, but it's not a creative feeling, it's more of a desperate "have to do something" feeling.

I've been meditating recently, and I'm hoping that will help with the anxiety and compulsion to do something.

I too have felt the need to "do something" many times while tripping. I've found that usually going for a walk helps. It doesn't need to be far. Usually the feeling just means you can't quite just sit-and-be-introspective just yet. Sometimes it's not enough to simply be; one must do! So go for a walk, or check out the world of your floor or the towering blades of grass from the perspective of an ant. Or just watch the sky for a while. The choice is yours.