The Big and Dandy Basic Mescaline/Cactus Questions Thread (Archive 3-19-07 - 4-12-08)

[thoughtsUnThought]

i do think that a tea would get most of the 'wholeness' of the experience. originally i was suggesting that more refined extractions should be avoided.

its at least equally as presumptuous to assume that it cannot teach you as it is to assume that it will. but in all realism suggesting that anything will or will not happen is waste of time, because the potentials are infinite.

even with my preconceived mystical beliefs, i would not suggest that eating a mescaline cactus entitles one to a cactus lesson. however, from my experience, when approached respectfully 'guidance' can be acquired.

the main difference i can note between sitting and pondering for myself and being 'told' something is that my brain is struck with what feels to be external stimulus. or a more subtle means of myself 'feeling' the guidance is kind of like reinforcement of my thoughts, for instance if i am pondering on something which has 2 potential outcomes (a fork in the road for instance) i'll feel a rush of energy or warmth whislt considering one of them.

the way the mushrooms express themselves to me is almost unsettlingly bold at times. i'll be sitting there pondering on my own, feeling a drawn towards certain thoughts (the aforementioned reinforcments), and then my thoughts will lead up to a question which requires a fairly direct answer which is not in direct sight of my thought processes (a few neurons away perhaps). when this comes up in for an instant i feel a wave of lucidity followed by a strange sense of inevitability (salvia-esque), followed by what sounds like someone whispering in my ear. creepy

obviously this could be denied as either superstition or trip-psychosis, but after quite a few experiences that 'seem' as 'tangible' and 'legitimate' as my other experiences (of not talking to plant spirits ) i cant help but hold this as a profound and integral aspect of the psychedelic experience being induced.

after i had been 'talkin to shrooms' for a while (more than a handful of experiences) i read that the mazatecs would talk to the spirits to gain information and sight into illnesses or lost objects, but apparently the spirits stopped talking to them when they gave the mushrooms to wasson and he brought them to america for us to partake of.

they (mushrooms, sorry to extend off-topicly) said i should spread the word that they want to teach us and grow with us, if we're willing to respect them and to accept our fallability. though, even if one just eats mushrooms for fun or whatever, they will learn in time, even if they only eat them once.

the question is: if you Could talk to a plant spirit would you want to?
and if yes, try asking sometime, who knows what could happen....

 

[Obyron]

its at least equally as presumptuous to assume that it cannot teach you as it is to assume that it will.

Not really, but I suppose it's a matter of paradigm. If it is your accustomed mode of thought, every single day, to think that plant life is talking to you and sharing helpful hints about how to live your life, then I submit that it's logical to think eating whole cactus will be more instructive than just taking mescaline. People who've seen me post in other threads where this has come up are probably sick of hearing me talk about it, but I find the belief that there are magical spirits inhabiting plants whose sole purpose in the universe is to teach people moral lessons when they eat enough of that plant kind of farcical.

I respect that this is your belief, even if I disagree with it, and I respect that it's not even an especially uncommon one. But I still don't agree with speaking it to the uninformed who have simple questions as if it's a basic truth. How do people manage to have profound experiences on LSD, or on extracted mescaline, or even synthetic mescaline? I agree that there could be a difference between whole cactus and mescaline, but it'd SOLELY be a matter of the whole cactus containing other active alkaloids that are modifying the experience synergistically with the mescaline. No spirits necessary. It makes more sense for me to think that psychedelics have opened my mind and allowed me to make important connections myself than to think that I have pushed the Easy Button and that Huitzlopochtli will now speak Cosmic Truth in my left ear.

I'm a spiritual person, and I think that the way I interact with the world says a lot about me, but I don't let that extend to believing there are magical spirits in otherwise-ordinary plants whose sole purpose in the cosmos is to show The Light to college students on Spring Break.

 

[FreedomOfTheMind]

Does anybody have a good preparation method for cactus tea (used with peruv torch)?

 

[Xorkoth]

I'm getting powdered peruvian torch, is it fine to just chug the powder mixed with orange juice?

When I was in college I got the nickname "Iron Man" because I could chug straight vodka and then chase it with tequila. My intestinal fortitude is the stuff of legend. From everything I've heard about eating cactus or trying to mix the powder with stuff, if you can keep this down without getting nauseous I'll hand over the crown to you!

The cactus may be a teacher, but the mescaline is its textbook. I fully plan on extracting to a tea when I try San Pedro. (Probably after I get my tax check. The thought of the government giving me my money back so I can do drugs really amuses me. I know, I'm easily amused.)

You know, I've always heard that as well, but the last time I consumed cactus, it was powdered peruvian torch, and in fact the exact method I used, due to lack of perparation time, was to put the powder into three shot glasses, fill each with warm water, mix well, and take each shot with about 5 minutes between. I chased each with water and peanut butter right afterwards and I was fine. I got a tiny bit of passing nausea as it came on but I have gotten that with every other method as well.

Keep in mind though that my stomach is also made of iron.

 

[feelgoodhit]

yeah, i've never vomited from any psychedelic ever, i'm pretty sure... & i ate a 1ft cutting of peruvian torch like a big green bitter cucumber. i tasted bad, & grossed me out, but the nausea was containable.

 

[-SB-]

thoughtsUnThought said :

they (mushrooms, sorry to extend off-topicly) said i should spread the word

Being "chosen" to become a psychedelic prophet is not exactly an uncommon psychedelic experience it seems - either to spread the "word" or "sacrament".

Maybe it says more about us than them.

followed by what sounds like someone whispering in my ear. creepy

Yep had that too, I'm male and it's sometimes female sounding even. Quite strange! It really does feel separate or outside from your own thoughts.

 

[-SB-]

This has been sitting on my mind for a while. The last time I tripped on mescaline I took 15g of powdered peruvian torch. The bodyload was very intense and I struggled with severe nausea for over half the trip. During the comedown my muscles felt terrible and I felt all around physically ill. Mentally I felt ok.

The next day I didn't feel right. I felt like my mind was at a flatline. It felt the same as the day after MDMA, only worse. I didn't feel right the second day afterwards either.

By the third day I felt fine, and after a week I am back to normal. Psychologically the trip was very smooth and euphoric so I am really surprised at the hangover I experienced. After taking mushrooms I find myself energized and recharged, but after taking mescaline I felt drained.

I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this? I would also like to know if anyone has any ideas about why this would have occurred.

My theories are
1) the cactus was at least 2 years so perhaps it went bad
2) the cactus itself made me feel sick (not the mescaline)
3) Both MDMA and mescaline are PEAs, so maybe mescaline caused a drop in my serotonin levels for a few days

Thanks in advance!

I'll go with it being something like 3).

Again, this is not uncommon and affects some people more than others - individual brain chemistry? Try dosing a few days before and after the fact with Tryptophan & Tyrosine.

 

[thoughtsUnThought]

all we have to eat is what we've been fed. (and whose to ask questions when there's a nice plate of food in front of you>>?)

glad to see we've been fed similar prophetic meals SB. they said they were recruiting the open-minded, but i wasn't sure how many they'd picked up.

best of luck w/ your duties....

 

[thoughtsUnThought]

about the male or femalesness, i tend to get mixed understandings regarding this. the voices are always some-what high pitched (kind of cartoon-like almost), so they sometimes seem female. and also, their general empathetic and caring personas tend to make me think female. but i don't even really know if i can pin-point any gender, for i've definitely seen some male-attribute from them as well.

maybe it depend on the specific mushroom..?? i've noticed a big difference between the 'message' or 'responses' from them depeding on whether i ate one mushroom, or a bunch of shake (consisting of piecesof many mushrooms i'm sure)

now the cactus (san pedro mostly) i've only ever gotten male presences with. i've pondered that the mushrooms could be non-sexual or non-gendered, especially considering there means of reproduction.

 

[-SB-]

I can't comment on mushrooms as it's been years but I experienced it quite recently on cactus. It was like I flashed onto a mushroom feeling for a very short period of time and the voice was gentle, poetic, ethereal & female sounding.

Maybe it was the Good Fairy!

Actually that's it.... Disneyland, it was the kind of voice you'd expect on a Disney cartoon. Weird.

 

[colors]

when you use just ethanol for extraction (soak dried powder, evaporate off and scrape the tar) you're left with the freebase, correct?

should you convert it to a salt somehow before dosing? from what i understand it will be converted in your stomach anyways, but what about plugging the tar ... would you need to convert it for that?

if so, what's the best way to do this?

edit:
someone asked earlier in this thread if you can do a freeze precipitation by adding acid to the alcohol, rather than evaporating. was not addressed afaik. would that work?

 

[thoughtsUnThought]

an ethanol extraction produces a freebase mescaline, but the freebase form is unstable, so it reacts with the air to become mescalne carbonate.

i've never tried plugging any cactus, and would probably suggest just eating it. i think cactus tar is an espeially strange psychoactive to plug (moreso than the avg taboo of plugging anything), but thats just my subjectivity.

interesting question about the freeze precip, i've never tried taht one....

best of luck,
learn much :D

 

[colors]

was considering plugging due to some posts about extreme stomach distress from taking the tar orally. also poppy tar works well that way.

anyone tried the freeze method? i was thinking it would allow you to recycle your ethanol. don't have enough to experiment right now :/

 

[therapture]

It's not much like LSD at all. it shares some similarities to the 2C-X class of drugs as they are chemically similar, but it is also quite different from them. Mescaline is a little hard to explain. It's extremel;y warm and earthy and natural-feeling. It's also quite spiritual, but not in the same analytical way as LSD. it seems to focus on beauty and light and pastel colors. Visuals don't really develop much until higher doses, which I have yet to experience. But people mostly report the visuals as breathing, shape changing, and pastel blobs of color, rather than intricate patterning and fractallizing.

sounds fantastic.

 

[CozmoNz]

Growing San Pedro - Glasshouse?

Due to the heat that the cactus plant is "used" to, would it be wise to aid growth to grow them in a glass? / plastic glass house?

Im just wondering if its worth investing in one.... a real glass one is close to $1000+ were as a plastic unit can be brought for around 100-200, however they can be easily destroyed by tipical qld weather.

Id just like to grow em as fast as possible . Any tips guys.

 

[chicpoena]

Of course, you're just speaking hypothetically right? You might want to edit your post.

Sorry I don't know anything about growing cacti but I figured I'd help a fellow BLer out by givin ya a heads up.

 

[CozmoNz]

Nothing illegal about growing san pedro in australia. Its only illegal to grow for the purpose of consumption .

and cactus may be one of the few plants i can grow without killing hahah

 

[swilow]

I don't think you'll need a hothouse/glasshouse in QLD man....pretty hotses up there yeah? I grow San Pedros down in vic with no real problem. Its actually very hard to encounter a problem once they've taken root. Just make sure that they have some shelter if its all stormy and whatnots....san pedro's can sit in pretty direct sunlight, but you need to slowly acclimatise them or else they get sun-burnt... Have fun growing. They are a great ornamental plant

Merging with mescaline thread...

 

[Immortal Teknique]

I will hopefully be delving into the world of Mescaline soon! I've tried heaps of other psychs, but i have been told by many that mescaline exceeds them all. Cannot wait.

 

[cakehead]

has anybody tried cooking with cactus? i have done the whole blender/boil down thing and drank it but have another batch of cactus coming along and thought it might be fun to use the extract in a hash cake or something? im assuming i can use it instead of water?