THE HIGH:
Ecstatic feelings of love and happiness, affinity for other people, feeling of being at home with one's self and the universe, flowing visions with more intricacy, beauty, and color than anything found in nature, sound which one can taste and feel with heart and soul, a sense of suspension in time and feeling akin with eternity and infinity, a brilliantly lucid mind able to see itself from vast and novel perspectives, an overwhelming tide of emotions... These are the feelings that are common with LSD and most other psychedelics. One should also be prepared for the negative side: confusion, frightful visions and images, fear of dying or losing control, feeling controlled by and unable to escape from the definitions one has grown accustomed to, or being overwhelmed by the immensity of life.
The possible experiences on psychedelics are endless, and no two are ever the same. In the definitions I give for "THE HIGH" of each substance, I will try to describe the attributes that are frequently felt and distinguish the experiences produced by the different psychedelics.
LSD is the most transparent of the psychedelics. It has the least "signature" to it. Most users report that their first few trips are like a ride through the funhouse. Everything seems bizarre and completely unlike normal reality. After becoming familiar with the experience some people drop acid to perform complex computer programming, perform live music on stage, or do other tasks that require control and a strong connection with the physical plane. Frequent users may be able to blink their eyes, snap out of the high, and see things as they do in regular consciousness while on the peak of a 500 mcg. trip.
LSD's transparency makes it possible to have almost any type of experience. Users may guide themselves toward a particular flavor of experience using either internal focus, like meditation, or external stimulus like music or art. LSD's intensity is also quite variable. A 200 mcg. trip may feel more intense than a 500 mcg. trip from the same batch, and intensity can fade in and out during a session. Generally one will feel "higher" if taking the same amount of LSD, or any other psychedelic, in an unfamiliar environment. One aspect of dosage that seems consistent is the length of the trip. 100 mcg. Iasts me 5 to 6 hours, 200 mcg. - 8 to 10 hours, large doses have lasted up to 20 hours.
LSD has the ability of allowing one's mind to penetrate things very deeply. I find this most prevalent listening to music, looking at artwork, or making love. With LSD one can "lock on" to something like a piece of music and allow it to guide them on a sensual journey through a garden of liquid sound. One can lavish a feeling, thought pattern, or emotion with similar intensity. It's also possible to latch on to negative feelings. If one finds themself on a downward spiral they can usually redirect their awareness to something else with little effort. Most people tend to spend the majority of their experience in a positive groove, because once in it they can remain there effortlessly for hours. The negative aspects of LSD's signature that many users report are a " metallic edge " (a slight grating on the nerves), and sometimes an overbearing intensity that some psychedelics, such as mushrooms, tend not to produce.
