DOSE:

6.0 g

oral

Mushrooms

(dried)

People: J, K, Ea, Ei

Setting: Separate 4-person cabin at a hostel, relatively far from other people. Mattresses & sleeping bags on floor, CD/cassette player and plenty of music. Fresh snow, forest, open fields and lake right outside, with temperature just barely below 0°C. Excellent setting!
Time: Started at 20:30 (+0), lasted until 02:00 (+5.5)


*** Overall comments by J

Descriptions of experience have been given by all 4 people present, and I think this shows nicely how individual tolerance to the drug and mental set can change a trip's character even when the dosage and the setting are identical. For example, note how the weather outside was 'beautiful' to Ei and 'pristine' to J, but only 'a little strange' to Ea and positively 'dreadful' to K. Similarly, the effect of the music was interesting, with some people concentrating on it entirely and for others it being just background.

In the 'header' of each description, I've indicated the tripper's level of experience with psychedelics, and given an approximate rating of the trip's 'psychedelic level' on a scale of 0-5. The trips are ranked in approximate order of cosmicity, from a strong level 3 to a mostly level 1-2 experience.


*** Report by Ei (first trip; level 3)

A detailed, accurate description of what I saw, felt and experienced during my maiden trip into the wonderful world of 'mushies' is impossible. Some of the visions that appeared into my mind were so vivid, so full of colors and so different, that words are not enough to explain them.

We started to ingest the grained mushies at around 8:30. As this was my first time, I felt hyper and excited, even a little nervous. The actual ingestion was no problem; the mushrooms - despite a yucky smell - did not really taste like anything, and it was easy to swallow them with water. During the first few minutes nothing happened. I even tried to meditate with Ea, but it was rather impossible to concentrate. Then (probably after 15-30 minutes; I couldn't track time), I started to feel a strange, yet nice tingling sensation moving in waves around my body. I closed my eyes, and the tingling changed into a feeling of 'heaviness,' I felt languid and at ease. Then the tingling sensation took over again, this time stronger, and I sensed a light buzziness in my head. I opened my eyes, and focused on the little, round, white fire alarm situated on the ceiling right above me. I began to see tiny red and green squares dancing in front of my eyes. All of a sudden there was a red flash of light. It was in the shape of a small, 'multi-horned' star, that blinked for a fraction of a second and then disappeared. Wow! I closed my eyes, thinking 'Here we go...,' and the letters fused into squares that sank down as if forming a staircase...

Then all kinds of weird and exciting figures started to form in psychedelic colors ranging from light green to violet and red. They were of numerous shapes, but each seemed to follow a certain pattern, much like those found on Japanese or Chinese paintings (a lot of beautiful flower-like structures).

I swallowed and realised that I could actually feel the saliva moving down my oesophagus (it did not feel gross at all). The oesophagus, however, resembled a water pipe, and at the end there was actually a cute, little tap, ready to be turned on! The saliva was coming out of it in drops, and falling into my stomach, which was - indeed - a pool of water. Simultaneously

I felt my left big toe transforming into a thick white arrow, that began to spiral upwards! At this point I was still able to discuss what I saw with the others, and we laughed at each others' observations. Every time I opened my eyes, I could see the flashy star (which I had named 'my little red thing'). It made me feel calm and peaceful, and drove away the twinge of fear I occasionally still felt. This star was, in fact, to be my 'guardian angel,' to which I could return in between my jumps from one world (or scenery) to another. In my mind, I could analyse almost everything I saw, and felt to have a certain control of which figures to look at (yes, I have read Castaneda!).

All this time we had been listening to Orb. As the mushies started to have a tighter grip (iik!) on us, we decided to switch on some meditative music. Correct choice! I can't tell when the music started to control my thoughts, but as I neared the peak of the trip, my visions changed acccording to the music. Beautiful sceneries, each colored according to the particular song being heard, entered my mind, and I let go... The feeling that was to follow was the most beautiful, warm, safe, amazing euphoria, that could never be expressed in words. All I can say is that I was floating in a roundish space, colored light blue (but unlike any blue I had seen before), filled with beautiful, soothing things I thought were strawberries! I completely lost track of time -hell, I lost track of myself! I was snuggled warmly under my blanket, feeling perfectly safe and comfortable. The music seemed to cradle me in her arms, rocking me the way a mother rocks her child.

My fingers were in contact with something warm and soft, like the fur of a bear, and this added to the feeling of security (I did vaguely realize that this fur was in fact K's hair (!), but that had no meaning whatsoever). I was floating, floating, floating... But as soon as I became conscious of what was happening, the feeling of utter happiness subsided. I could still sense what had happened, but no longer felt it. The blue world seemed to slip away. The song ended, and the next piece brought with it a light green world that was filled with flute/violin music. I could actually see the blue world leaving me, fading into the distance below. A helpless longing filled me; I did not want to lose touch with the blue world, but knew that I had. I felt like crying, but no tears came. I felt sad, helpless and alone. The song ended. The next piece of music transported me into yet a new world, into a series of new worlds, in fact. Every time the music changed, I entered a different world. I have only vague flashbacks of those worlds, one of them being a beige one, where beautiful flowers danced ballet wrapped around one another...

At one point the scenery in front of my eyes turned into a purple sunset, in which a strangely beautiful woman (nymph?) was doing a strangely beautiful, swaying dance. Much to my amazement the nymph was suddenly transformed into one of my closest friends with whom I had unfortunately lost contact and whom I worried about. I was overcome by a joyous feeling; I knew that my friend was fine, and that she could somehow feel my presence, as well.

I opened my eyes for a while, and for some reason began to examine my fingers. To tell the truth, they were no longer fingers, but like the horns of a black starfish, wavering in the swing of the ocean's waves. When I put my hand into a fist, again, it turned into a yellow lotus, which came to full bloom as I slowly uncurled my fingers. The thought of my body as the body of a human being disgusted me.

I closed my eyes and entered a new world. I can remember a dark blue, thick wave that swept along with it everything that it contacted. Suddenly a collection of dead animals, preserved for show, appeared in my eyes. I stared at each animal in the eyes, feeling utter hopelessness and pity towards them. Despite the fact that they were dead, there was a feeling of togetherness. No wonder I'm a vegetarian!

Most of the time I was feeling either fine or euphorious (physically), but there was a time when I felt as if someone was tearing my guts apart. There was a feeling of acute pain, and I started to get a bit panicky. But as I faced the ceiling and saw 'my little red thing' again, the pain subsided, and I felt fine. Slight feelings of nausea did appear once in a while, but they lasted only for short monets.

The peak of the trip had evidently passed (23:00?). I still had some hallucinations, but mostly we just fooled around with various 'trip toys' that we had brought along. Interesting. I felt hungry, and decided to peel an orange. I felt sorry for it, and despite the beauty(!) of the flesh, felt bad about eating it...

We decided to take a walk outside. I saw everything in a new light, and the nature looked more beautiful than ever. I threw myself on the snow, and felt the earth round up around me. There was no clear division between the sky and the land. Woooow...

I could go on forever. It is, however, such an impossible task to describe all the visions and sensations, that I won't even try. The trip was totally different from what I had expected, but then again, certain parts of it greatly exceeded my wildest hopes. Despite the fact that I had stomach aches throughout the following morning, I was more than satisfied with the mushies + felt energetic and happy. I still keep on bursting to laughter all of a sudden. Strangely enough, none of the other trippers had experienced anything so earth-moving. Do I recommend this for others? Hell, yes! Nothing will ever be quite the same again...


*** Report by J (fourth trip; level 1-2)

After getting comfy, we all munched on the mushroom powder and washed it down with 7-Up and water. Within 15 minutes, the first physical effects of slight queasyness, heavy weight and drowsiness could be felt, and the first CD of The Orb's _Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld_ was popped in the player. Red-green-blue blips soon appeared, as well as tiny floating boxes of the by now familiar pattern that seems to only occur with Ps. cubensis:

_________ |o o o o o| (blips of green and red alternating in vertical rows, |o o o o o| background of box metallic light blue, the box floating |o_o_o_o_o| at an angle against a black background)


I relaxed and let my mind drift, and the first hour passed surprisingly rapidly. Other than the RGB-blips there were practically no visuals, just the faintest hint of 'wave interference'-type patterns in the background with eyes closed. The only detail I still remember was the sound of a jumbo jet passing overhead; the immense, building noise filled my head completely for a few seconds. The Orb was then changed to _Meditative Music_, a CD of reworked Chinese meditation tunes, which was absolutely brilliant. The music transported me to another world. While I could not really _see_ where I was, I could _feel_ the music, the emotion behind every note of saxophone or flute, and even though I speak no Chinese I could understand the singer's chant as an expression and celebration of the joy and ecstasy of existence. Words fail me here, I cannot describe my state of mind other than to say that it was incredible.

When the CD ended it was around +2, and the second CD of Orb was popped in the player, starting from the third track. (My time sense was gone, I am dating the events by the lengths of the CDs.) By now, the peak of the trip was ending, and we were all starting to play around with the various triptoys we had brought. Stuffed animals, especially my big fluffy sheep Flossy, were tons of fun when petted, hugged or thrown at other people. Kooshes felt completely cosmic as well, although it was too dark to see the pretty colors or the wobbling of the little strands. Ea's braided long hair felt extremely strange, with the individual braids feeling like little squishy wooden beads tied together. I was starting to pay attention to my body again, after basically forgetting its existence for two hours, and now it felt like it formed a network with my mind at the center. My mind could 'ping' each body part, for example my big toe, which would then twitch and send back a status report describing the surroundings in surreal detail. 'Roger, brain, left big toe here! Sending out exterior probes... A-ha, we are currently leaning against what appears to be a wall, whose tactile nature resembles that of wood. Estimated distance to right foot 10 centimeters. Over and out...'

At +3 the few hallucinations I had had were almost all gone and we decided to go outside. Getting up and getting dressed was difficult since coordination was less than optimal, but we managed it and stumbled outside into a world covered in pristine, white snow. I tasted some, it was fluffy and delicious. After walking around outside the cabin a bit, admiring the tactile squishyness of mud underneath the snow, we decided to go take a look at the lake. We made a detour to the bathrooms, where the hot-air dryer and a stream of water falling from the roof proved to be fascinating, and then continued on our way. A bank of snow maybe half a foot deep on the side of the road proved to be a formidable obstacle, but I gathered my courage and stomped across it and Ea and Ei followed, K having returned to the cabin to listen to more music. Ei then collapsed into the snow, lying on her back and staring at the sky, and Ea & I went to investigate a strange sight. In the middle of the field there was a circle of stone, with a metal grid in the middle. I'm still not quite sure what it was, suggestions ranged from an alien artifact to an outdoor grill for munchkins to a well designed for sunbathing. (Concept.)

Ei then returned from the dead and we trudged onward towards the expanse of ice, with some scary moments when going down a hill which has drifts of up to a foot of snow in parts. We reached the lake, and were mystified by a strange field around us covered in positively alien geometric shapes: triangles, pyramids, circles, octagons. We were also a bit unsure about where the land ended and the ice started, so we erred on the side of caution. Ei flopped into the snow again and we went to explore the mysterious shapes, which turned out to be a miniature golf course. Pretending to be a golf ball and walking around the course was amusing.

We were getting a bit cold, so we headed back, but only after stopping at a children's playground and testing out the swings, which were, as expected, extremely crunchy. Once we got back, the effects were starting to subside, so Ei peeled a few oranges (naturally causing lots of joking 'Help! Don't peel me! EEEEK!'-comments around the room). The oranges were quite tasty, even if the orange peels reconstructed into a hollow sphere did look rather unhappy. I tried to read a book of poetry, but it wasn't too extraordinary. At around +5, K & Ei headed back outside and Ea & I attempted to sleep, which was an exercise in futility, so we just talked about what had happened, it being finally possible to do so without bursting into paroxysms of giggling every three words. Eventually K & Ei returned and we all drifted off to sleep, ending what was for me a very pleasant, albeit not breathtaking, trip.


*** Report by K (third trip; level 1-2)

Setting was a nice cabin by a lake and mostly perfect were it not for the dreadful weather outside: the night turned out gloomy and wet. The day prior to ingestion had been occupied by various activities and on the whole the day was not IMHO the best day. I would have postponed it by a week but the arrangements were carried out because three other people were attending.

The powdered dry shrooms were easily swallowed with the aid of 7UP. The carbonated drink resulted in an odd burpy feeling in the stomach. The taste was distinctly shroomy. Actual noticeable effects came surprisingly early; after 20 minutes of ingestion an increasing awareness came over me. Sorta of like an awakening to reality: hey! I am going to trip now. The initial reactions were of intense anticipation and the rushing feeling of familiar effects was purely euphoric. Quickly, however, I came to realize that the dose (around 6ml of fine powder) was actually very low but definitely higher than on my 2nd trip (1 lvl). This caused my joyfulness to reduce dramatically as last time, for my expectations were higher.

The trip itself proceeded with a very mild peak, visuals being almost negligible. Thought activity was also quite slow, perhaps due to the mild depression I had had all day. Thoughts ran along a single line and I could not concentrate on the music. My physical position during the trip was in the most awkward of postures, nevertheless I was successful in forgetting my body. The trip was extremely low in any kind of revelations or the sort, for I was not set for meditation. Only a few things of significance crossed my mind: if only I could get hold of some DMT - let it be the only and sufficient motive why I would study to be a chemist. Also, I confronted another minor problem of mine. This might sound schizophrenic, but it is actually nothing really serious. Sometimes I think I have two mes: one living life and socialising and enjoying, feeling, the real me, and sometimes I sort of flip to this other more undesirable state of mind: I am confused, unsociable, more afraid of everything, criticizing the actions and thoughts of the other self, watching my own physical actions and almost everything else very evil and unwanted. This other me seemed to occur when I was fundamentally depressed a few weeks ago with a lot of pressure due to the upcoming exams. This same state faced me during the trip at certain times

with a much greater intensity and I was able to analyse it. Without going into details it seems the trip seemed to help me keep away this other state or more like 'make friends' with it. Consequently, it has never occurred since for the past week. Perhaps the only good thing during the trip was this psychologic insight into schizophrenic cases where the identity has sort of separated into two or more. It also serves well to understand other people with similar problems.

Music was not very good during the trip, for I was feeling quite low. The Eastern meditative music which is almost excellent sounded actually very boring. My physical body was feeling very lethargic and somewhat shaky. I was dreaming of the next upcoming rave and how I could have spent this trip time more usefully dancing rather than suffering in this condition. Although the trip was not very successful, the happiness and mood changes it brought about as post-trip effects were highly rewarding.

The DMT desire during the trip goes to show that I was looking for something much more intense. My first trip on shrooms was without doubt the best most incredible experience I have ever met. With a marvelous setting and all, the revelatory content was extremely high. I saw myself as virtually nothing in the whole universe and the tremendous unity with all of it - this on the other hand brought the greatest euphoria I have ever felt and was carried on for many months to come. It totally blasted my life at that time. In comparison, the third trip was nothing and very superficial. Ei who had a first-time experience in mind-expansion was totally bewildered and had a truly good trip. It goes to show, that doses do not necessarily have to be large and effects are highly individual dependent. The trip was very visual-free which again subsided the euphoric side to everything. Visuals were more like square pixels forming figures, which I thought were not very interesting. Again the first trip had been swarming with color and spirals with a great intensity.

A post-trip comment after 2.5 weeks: Mood changes have been quite dramatic at times. Sometimes feeling highly elated and sometimes dreadfully depressed. A week ago I suffered mentally from bad schizophrenic depression. Thinking became very superficial and highly critical of myself. As if I could not concentrate on anything. Doing something interesting or getting something to 'boot' life helped me out of this state into a much more desirable state. Feels as if life is smiling again. Now that I have my final exams coming, my thought activity is safely bound to these realms. Escapism rules.


*** Report by Ea (first trip; level 1)

I picked Ei up at her house before we were meeting K and J. Talking about our feelings, it was clear that we were both a little nervous, since this was the first trip for both of us. I had expected myself to be hyped up, as always when I am about to experience something new and stimulating. However, as I had spent the day trying to smoothen and open my mind and to meditate, I was very calm.

After settling down at the small, yet cozy cabin by a frozen lake, I proceeded with some meditation practices with Ei while K and J went out to buy batteries for the CD-player. Again, I experienced a slight calming effect.

When K and J had returned, we swallowed the mushroom powder with 7up and water. I had high hopes for what I was about to experience. After about a half an hour the others started to voice their strange sensations and visual effects. This annoyed me a little, since my vision was unaffected. However, I could feel myself sway in a wave-like motion, the waves moving along my body from feet to head. When I talked to the others about my lack of visual effects, they suggested that I simply concentrate on the music.

We were all lying down silently in the dark room, listening first to Orb, then to Meditative Music. Too often I let my thoughts wonder off to the people present and what they might be experiencing. For example, when an aeroplane flew by, I listened to the others voicing their awe. However, I heard it simply as the passing of a large aeroplane. I also had a tuft of someone's hair in my hand, this human contact being distractively lovely and comforting. At some point I lost my human contact, which brought some memories of the past into my mind and made me sad. It also gave me the ability to 'feel' within myself a fact of life in which I had believed already before, yet only rationally. Then I started thinking about trips of which I had been told earlier. I recalled hearing how high expectations and the subsequent let-down can make you miss much of a trip and cause sustained depression. Also, underrating a trip by assuming you are in a normal state of mind can lead to problems. Consequently, I pulled myself together and decided to make the trip the best it could be. I suppose it was still quite early on the others' trips. However, for me, it was only the beginning.

I went into myself, concentrating on me only. I put all my effort into taking pleasure in myself. I enjoyed the sensation of extreme, sensuous warmth, being cuddled up in my sleeping bag. Concepts such as being in the womb of Mother Earth and similar experiences by Allen Ginsberg came into mind. I noticed that the imaginative potential of my mind had increased significantly. For example, with only little effort I could vividly imagine myself being in the womb of Mother Earth. However, I could still easily rationalize that I was, in fact, not in Mother Earth's womb. The nature of the experience can be described to some extent in the following way: I felt, for example, what it would be like to smell Mother Earth, but I did not actually smell her.

However, the most important aspect of the trip was the music, Meditative Music, to be precise. Simply saying that I could feel the music is a crude understatement. Yet there is no other way of describing what the music meant to me. I appreciated and venerated every note at a time. There was communication between us as each note spoke to me. It was as if I was celebrating something, companied by the music. The duration of each piece of music was insignificant, although I did not even pay any attention to such a matter. However, one piece slowed down noticeably near the end.

When the CD came to an end, Orb was put on. It did not have the same effect on me as Meditative Music had had. By this time the peak of the trip was over, and the others started talking and playing with trip toys (ie. throwing them at me). By concentrating, I still tried to recreate the intensity of what I had just felt in the music, but with limited success.

After a while we went out. Although my senses were quite normal, the surroundings seemed a little strange. Exploring the environment was intriguing. The strange feeling diminished all night and was practically gone the next morning. Instead, I felt joy and happiness, which coincided with beauty of the early- spring morning.

POST-TRIP FEELINGS: I have experienced a regression back to adolescence on an emotional level [Oh no, not again!]. My feelings have ranged from depression to elation, initially with a period of about half a day of each. I have also noticed unusual responsiveness to different hormonal levels, and have occasionally responded to music with unexpected vigor. Fortunately, after a couple of weeks and a few teen-like stunts, I seem to have become my normal (?) self again.

CONCLUSION: The trip was very comfortable and stimulating, although not as intense (only level 1) as I had expected. I would not want to have missed it, though, and I definitely want to trip on a higher dose in the future.

Exp Year:	ExpID: 2086
Gender: Not Specified
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jun 24, 2000	Views: 5,331
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Mushrooms (39) : General (1), Small Group (2-9) (17)