Psychedelics and Language

[SomaResearch]

I'm fascinated by the idea... or perhaps I am reading more into it than what really exists.

In McKenna's book ''Food of the Gods'' on page 53 (paperback version), McKenna quotes a passage by Henry Munn, ''The Mushrooms of Language."

Language is an ecstatic activity of signification. Intoxicated by the mushrooms, the fluency, the ease, the aptness of expression one becomes capable of are such that one is astounded by the words that issue forth from the contact of the intention if articulation with the matter of experience. The spontaneity the mushrooms liberate is not only perceptual, but linguistic. For the shaman, it is as if existence were uttering itself through him.

So, out of curiosity, has anyone noticed changes in either language ability or new vocabulary after psychedelic use? In a lot of material, language is again and again mentioned. Mostly from the evolutionary development of humans.

Or perhaps the experience was such as where no language could describe?

I am asking because I have almost zero experience with these sorts of things, and hope that some of you might be able to add to this discussion, or share insights and help me understand more.

Has anyone experienced anything like what Graham Hancock said regarding his fiction novel Entangled? He said his ayahuasca experience ''told'' him to write the story.

 

[trewqpoiuuy]

I find that most psychedelic experiences cannot be expressed in words. I understand it in my own mind, but when it comes to talking about it, I can't even begin to find the words.

 

[zn13bt]

I like to write while under the influence of various substances, it gives me an idea of how they're affecting my mind. (In fact I rarely post to Bluelight sober :D) I also have a journal I write in while I'm tripping, and afterwards I look at things like vocabulary, grammar, word play, and so on and see how it changes depending on the substance I took.

 

[Clocktower]

+1 to journaling while tripping!

I don't really notice any difference in my vocabulary after tripping. While tripping, on the other hand, I tend to blather all kinds of nonsense like "this is bat country."

 

[edzeppelin]

At times, I feel stupefyingly inept at verbally expressing my "normal" inner states. Psychedelic states are beyond my language abilities, and it hasn't gotten any easier with experience. In fact, it was somebody describing their trip as "existential terror" that really sparked my interest in reading BL in the first place. Perhaps the verbally adroit find an increased ability, but mine actually decreases (like my ability to roll joints) when tripping.

Some poster's trip reports are like good literature, though, and I really love reading them.

 

[Pony10]

my friend describes this as "a wee dose of patter"

 

[CapnCannabis]

The psychedelic experience is itself ineffable. Words cannot convey the profound feelings one experiences on a trip. But I do think that psychedelics unlock your mind's potential. I personally have become a much more articulate and thoughtful person since experimenting with psychedelics. That being said, tripping has also made me realize that every sentence is a failure. Words attempt to convey thoughts, so they can never be their pure source. Thoughts are the root. Telepathy is the highest form of communication. It is an art in itself though to describe thoughts as eloquently and precisely as possible.

Sometimes when tripping though I get so fucked up that I struggle to piece together coherent sentences. But when you're that high on psychedelics words don't mean shit compared to the profound things you are experiencing.

 

[SomaResearch]

Ah, I envy you all... those that have a chance to experience. Where I am located, nothing is available except cannabis. I wanted some shrooms for Dec 21st but alas, nada.

I am confused however. McKenna said over and over again that he thought humanity went through a huge burst of evolution because of psychedelics. I understand that whilst under the influence, language may not take priority and some babbling may result. But what about after? What novel ideas have you experienced?

 

[edzeppelin]

That being said, tripping has also made me realize that every sentence is a failure. Words attempt to convey thoughts, so they can never be their pure source. Thoughts are the root. Telepathy is the highest form of communication. It is an art in itself though to describe thoughts as eloquently and precisely as possible

Yes! Psychs have made me see the utter imperfection of using words to communicate thoughts. Other people have pre-conceived notions of many words(eg. "ego" as in ego-death) and that makes it frustratingly difficult tp precisely convey an idea. Sometimes the more you try, the worse it gets. I have also longed for a way to bypass words entirely, especially when communicating with the opposite sex; it can feel as if your in a minefield. A bit off-topic, but very important nonetheless.

Once, a casual friend(a first time tripper) was very disturbed by the realization that we had just spent several minutes in incapacitating laughter about something that was said, and it turned out we were laughing over different things. I think it was his first exposure to the fact that togetherness and connection can often be an illusion, and we ultimately live and die alone, stuck in our heads, with only highly imperfect language and non-verbal cues to "connect" with one another.

I very much admire verbal eloquence in others. I wish someone like John Updike had written about psychedelic experiences. If anyone cares, some good interviews with Updike with many examples of verbal dexterity here

On the whole, I think Brits are better at using English. After all, it is their language. Some Americans are unable(or unwilling) to admit this, but I constantly see examples, even on BL. But perhaps individual ability still trumps all. Oh well. Sorry for getting too off-topic.

Add - How do you correctly quote a sentence out of a post without deleting the rest of the post manually(and screwing up like above)?

 

[Druidus]

Add - How do you correctly quote a sentence out of a post without deleting the rest of the post manually(and screwing up like above)?

In the quick reply, there is a button that looks like a "speech bubble" from a comic. Select what you want to quote, paste it in your reply, then click on that button while your quote-to-be is selected with the mouse. It'll wrap quote tags around the words for you. If you want, you can also type them out yourself: (remove the 5 ->) [Quo5te] [/Quo5te]

Just put the first quote box before your selection, and the second one after it. That's the "hard" way to do it. I just click the speech bubble.


As for the topic...

I absolutely adore language, especially the written word. When I take a psychedelic, this is only amplified by many orders of magnitude. One of my favourite experiences was actually with LSA, when I took far too much. I was reading a book, and it was exquisite. But finally I couldn't focus on the words anymore, too much psychedelic-space in my head and visual distortions. So I stopped, and closed my eyes. There was an infinite, and infinitely scrolling, tapestry of words behind my eyelids. Like, every frickin' word I know, and I know a lot. They were all there, jumbled behind my eyelids, and it was beautiful.

I don`t know if anyone else has gotten similar effects, but I love what psychedelics do with language for me, especially written words.

 

[MrPorter]

Tried journalling on mxe and it looked like someone was learning to write their name for the first time.
I often cannot read at all on anything. Sucks really.

 

[freehugs]

So I stopped, and closed my eyes. There was an infinite, and infinitely scrolling, tapestry of words behind my eyelids. Like, every frickin' word I know, and I know a lot. They were all there, jumbled behind my eyelids, and it was beautiful.

I don`t know if anyone else has gotten similar effects, but I love what psychedelics do with language for me, especially written words.

Sounds like a beautiful experience.

Psychedelics have effected my language by allowing me to better convey my thoughts.

 

[dextrorfan]

Tried journalling on mxe and it looked like someone was learning to write their name for the first time.
I often cannot read at all on anything. Sucks really.

I'm waiting to try mxe now, but I think I generally know what you mean from taking large doses of ketamine. I'm specifically reminded of a K trip a month or two ago where I suddenly thought I had to be somewhere, but when I looked at the clock I literally couldn't understand what the symbols meant. Like I was pretty sure it was 4, but I just couldn't be sure what that meant.

I sort of feel like an exception to most folks here with psychedelics, they just make me want to shut myself off to people and not talk much usually, and when I do try to talk I usually get frustrated because I can't explain anything effectively. I think what ol' Terrence was talking about with the psychedelic experience helping language to develop was the tendency of the mushrooms to induce glossolalia. It's easy for me to imaging proto-humans sitting around bemushroomed making utterances at each other, I can imagine them having some pretty cool trips.

I wish I could trip balls and sit around inventing language, that sounds sweet.

 

[zn13bt]

A couple of things I've scribbled down during 4-AcO-DMT trips:

"There is a wave coming that will sweep everything away...a wave, away, a way"

"Wormholes connect different points in space and time...I am a worm hole, a warm hole, a warm whole."

 

[Serotonin101]

I've always had a knack for conveying thoughts and ideas from the time I was young. psychedelic usage has improved my speaking skills and ability to illustrate thoughts and ideas as well as not getting hung up on words when trying to describe things such as imagery (dreams, trip visuals and sensations), directions, etc.

 

[Foreigner]

My language skills go down during a psychedelic high. During a mushroom peak I can't talk at all.

I do believe that psychedelics have improved my linguistic skills though. I notice that my articulation ability goes way up around mushrooms, which can be seen in my forum posts during those times.

 

[Anon0631]

McKenna said over and over again that he thought humanity went through a huge burst of evolution because of psychedelics.

Was this based on any anthropological/archaeological research or was it just a guess presented as fact and independent of any evidence? It's a bold claim for an undergraduate biologist to make.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Read my IV DMT + LSD experience here.

It goes over this subject partially during this experience.

 

[dextrorfan]

Was this based on any anthropological/archaeological research or was it just a guess presented as fact and independent of any evidence? It's a bold claim for an undergraduate biologist to make.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PucjQXO2k0

He obviously isn't proving anything, but he makes some pretty interesting points. This video is really long but I think he's got a pretty compelling argument.

 

[elr]

+1 to journaling while tripping!"

i second that. i have some great memories with colored markers, a notebook, and cactus. writing poetry and drawing pictures was so fun and relaxing. i highly recommend it to people that haven't tried it.