DOSE:

3.5 g

oral

Mushrooms

BODY WEIGHT:

115 lb

I have been tripping on mushrooms, as well as several other drugs, for a few years now but nothing ever compares to the first time...

One day while I was just sitting around, bored to tears, my friend Dan calls me up and asks if I'm interested in trying mushrooms. He had just gotten some and was ready for a night of head-tripping. At the time I was 18 and smoked weed regularly as well as drop some E every so often...But I had never hallucinated. Since I had been curious for a long time, I was quite eager to shroom.

Around 9 pm at night, Dan shows up at my place with a big grin on his face. I can barely contain myself either! He starts going through my things, putting stuff we were going to use aside.... my bong nestled safely in its bag, a gram of weed, bottles of water, blankets, pillows... He asks if I have a sleeping bag. Why, where are we going? ...to the woods. He explains that mushroom trips are always best outside. I'll take his advice since he has tripped many times before this. So I grab my backpack and we set off for the woods in his car.

Once we get there, we park the car and hike about half a mile up this trail. The 'home base' we decide on is absolutely beautiful. The moon is full, or at least very close to being full, and is bathing the entire area in a soft, milky glow. Everything is very lush and green and colorful wildflowers are scattered in bunches everywhere. Nearby we can hear a stream flowing and the sound of crickets are everywhere.

I start spreading out the blankets, sleeping bags and pillows while Dan gets the mushrooms ready. 'Here...' he calls and places some dry brown mushrooms into my waiting hands. Inspecting them closely, I notice that the caps are a vibrant orange. 'Just start chewing them up and chase it with some water.' Dan tells me. So I pop them in my mouth and start chewing. They aren't the most pleasant tasting things, but they're tolerable. I drink some water and start to feel nervous. What am I supposed to expect?? Dan was careful to give me the low-down on how to have a pleasant mushroom trip before we got here. 'Be prepared that your mind will be leaving reality for awhile.' He had told me. 'And remember... it's not real.'

We had eaten the mushrooms around 10 pm. Fifteen minutes have passed and Dan hands me the bong and a lighter. Without a word, I take the bong and smoke the entire bowl he packed for me. He takes a couple hits off it as well. He then hands me a bottle of water and a pill. 'Viatmin C' He explains. 'It'll make the trip stronger.' We both take the vitamin c. Now it's a waiting game... We lay on our backs and start staring at the sky. Occasionally I'll look to my side at some flowers and stare hard at them, wondering if the mushrooms are starting or if I'm just stoned. In reality, I AM just pretty stoned but won't find out until nearly 10:45 pm.

10:45 is where it all begins. I start feeling giddy... Feelings of ecstacy and mild confusion are washing over me. Then out of nowhere, I start giggling... uncrontrollably. I'm also very cold so I curl up into a fetal position and shiver while I continue to laugh. Everything is incredibly funny to me... We are laying out in the middle of the woods, I am cold, there is a babbling brook in the distance... This is all striking me as very funny. And then I realize that these things are actually not funny at all... this makes me laugh even harder. Soon, my contagious laughter hits Dan and he rolls up into fits of giggles. Since I'm new at this, I start babbling like crazy...telling Dan what I'm feeling, asking him if this is normal, if I'm doing it right, and other sorts of nonsense that my confused brain is forcing out of my mouth. I feel like a baby, finding everything confusing and amusing.

I think it's around 11 now, but after this I can no longer relay the time, for my sense of all time perception has completely vanished. Things that seem like minutes can, in reality, be hours...or vice versa. By now the cold sensations have passed as well as the laughing fits. Everything is taking on a very colorful, surreal quality. The flowers I was looking at a half hour ago, are now changing colors slowly, from pink to green to yellow to blue... the petals seems to spiral around and the whole body is dancing. In fact everything is dancing... the flowers, the trees, the moon, the stars, the blades of grass...everything is swaying in a unique rythmn to the 'music' being played by the crickets, the stream and the wind.

It's time for me to explore. I have taken on a very brave attitude and announce proudly to Dan that I am off to explore the premises.
He hands me 3 cigarettes and a lighter for my voyage. First, I discover that walking is wonderful. It's like re-discovering my body. The next thing I discover is how wondeful nature is. The trees have such a bright, positive energy and give off a friendly glow. I smile and wave at them as I walk by. The grass rustles softly beneath my feet, the moon lights the way, everything welcomes me, happy that I am here. And I tell them how I am happy I am here as well, happy that I can share such a wonderful experience with them. As I walk, I start listening to 'nature's music' again...the crickets, the stream, the wind and now the leaves have joined in. Who knew that nature could be so hospitable? I thank everyone for greeting me with this lovely serenade. I now hold a much deeper appreciation for nature and vow that I will always respect it.

I finally arrive at my destination: the stream. And I am glad that I was so persistent in finding it because it is gorgeous. I recognize the distinct croak of frogs and hurry to pull off my shoes. First I lay on my stomach and stare into the running water. I dip my hand in and take delight in the cool water flowing over it. I watch fixated on the changing colors of the water and then splash some on my face. Very refreshing. I can see a frog, or what looks like a frog, sitting on the other side of the stream, changing from purple to blue and back again. I start talking to it...nothing important...
just incoherent nonsense...but he seems to understand. I notice an ant walking along my arm and I greet it with a smile. I feel like a part of nature with the ant walking on me and a frog conversing with me and my hands floating in the water. I get up and wade in the water a bit before leaving.

I continue on my way down the trail. I remember the cigarettes Dan had given me and search for quite awhile until I finally discovered where I had put them...in my pocket... imagine that. So I light one up and feel the smoke fill the inside of my body from head to toe. Then I exhale, watching my body fill the air with smoke. Smoke is beautiful... the colors of the smoke reminds me of a rainbow, which makes me conclude that this smoke is a piece of a rainbow. A very fine wisp, but nevertheless, a piece of rainbow. I watch the tiny rainbow swirl around itself until the sky swallows it up.

I come to a fork in the road. It looks very inspirational and reminds me of a poem or something like that, but I can't remember which one. I can see a very faint light down the right trail. The left trail is dark and sinister-looking. I choose the right trail...
Walking down the lit path makes me feel very spiritual..as if I have been chosen. I have successfully finished this life and must now start a new one, right down this path... Arriving at the end of the trail, I see some tents scattered about. It's a campsite but I don't realize that. What I see are others, like me, waiting inside these temporary shelters, preparing for their new lives. Confusion starts to set in again. Should I have a tent? Where am I supposed to go? Should I tell someone I've arrived? Do I have to sign in? I decide to walk around casually. Maybe someone would see me and let me know what was going on.

I hear someone say something and I spin around. Another human! Is it Dan? Dan! I had forgotten all about Dan! Where was he? Does he know I'm here? And who is this person? I don't recognize the person at all and it makes me nervous. I can't even tell what gender it is! I'm trying desperately to understand what this person is trying to tell me but can only seem to focus on it's face distorting right before my eyes. Suddenly my eyes focus on what's behind this peron... more people gathered in chairs around a fire...staring at me with blank, lifeless stares. It frightens me and it occurs to me that this fire must be the light I had seen at the beginning of the trail. Things don't see right anymore and to make matters worse, now eeryone's face looks exactly the same! Very generic-looking faces... masks... it's like they're wearing masks. I feel slightly panicky when I realize I probably shouldn't even be here, but decide I must leave in a very calm, casual manner... not go running off like an insane person, screaming about masks. If I show my fear, they might chase me...
So I say something... I'm not sure what, but I am sure that it makes no sense, and then go walking off calmly. I can hear laughter rippling behind me.

My next mission is to find Dan and tell him about everything I saw. It seems to take forever but I finally reach home base. Luckily I had the trail to follow, otherwise I might have gotten lost. Dan is not there when I arrive but I'm not upset. He is off hopefully experiencing the same things I had just experienced. I'm pretty sure that I'm finished peaking and I'm starting to feel more sober. The mushrooms are still working though and colors continue to swirl around me...just in a more subtle way. I pack myself a bowl and smoke and lay down, staring at the sky. I sigh, feeling very mellow. Not too much later, I hear footsteps and Dan lays down next to me. I eagerly tell him about the things I did and he tells me what he did, like walk all the way down to the road and lay in the middle of it. How dangerous! I want to scold him for doing something like that, but the thought of Dan laying in the middle of the road can only make me laugh. He gets up and smokes a bowl and lays back down. We talk some more about things that I will not be able to remember in a few hours. Finally we fall asleep around 4 am.

We wake up at 8 am...we'd much rather sleep, but the sun's heat forces us out of our sleeping bags. We gather our things so we can go home and get some more sleep, but I soon discover my shoes are missing. How long have I been barefoot??, I wonder. Retracing my steps, I find my shoes and socks in a heap next to the stream. I decide to carry them since they are soaked from the morning moisture. Not too far from the shoes I also found 2 cigarettes and a lighter, also wet. I laugh, realizing they were the ones Dan had given me last night. I guess I had dropped them and didn't even notice. I also can't help but notice how small the stream actually is. It had looked so majestic last night...

Back at home, I drink plenty of water to re-hydrate and take some St John's Wort like Dan had instructed me. 'Your seratonin will be low for the next day or two' he had said. 'Take St John's Wort to help prevent mood swings.' Then I lay down and sleep for hours, excited for my next mushroom trip.

Exp Year: 1998	ExpID: 7109
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Aug 11, 2002	Views: 11,889
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Mushrooms (39) : Small Group (2-9) (17), Glowing Experiences (4), First Times (2)