Newsgroups: rec.drugs.psychedelic,alt.drugs.psychedelics,alt.drugs Subject: Psychedelic Experience FAQ [2/3] From: [g--os--s] at [brahman.nullnet.fi] (Gnosis) Date: Mon, 22 Jan 96 18:51:11 EET <> 3: DURING ~~~~~~ What will happen during the voyage and what to do about it. <> 3.0 General advice Once you are in the air it is relatively easy to forget that you can alter the course of trip. Visuals and thoughts come and go, and everything follows some strangely familiar yet divine and unknown path. So one is left gawking at all this jaw open, as if watching TV. But changing pathways is easy - provided you don't forget it is possible =) Always decide and ponder what you want to see and where you want to go before the experience. A shamanic voyage to the underworld is a snack, as is seeing the future. Usually every tripper forms his own way, follows his own paths, be it for good or evil. _Anything_is_possible_! And remember the immortal words of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: _____ _ _ . . ___ __ . . . . _ ___ _____ / \ | \ / \ |\ | / | | | /| |\ | | / \ \ / / \ | | | | | )( )| \| | |--' /-| | \| | ( V | | | | | \___/ | | / \_/ | | | | / | | | | \_/ o | \___/ | \_____/ ******************* ******************** *** \_____/ <> 3.1 Physical interference In addition to the possible nausea in the beginning, which invariably wears off by the time the hallucinations start, the mushrooms can cause physical or psychosomatic interference. You will feel odd, weird and maybe scary physical sensations like liquid skin or distorted body-proportions. You may feel that you have trouble breathing; you may feel that you've just pissed or shit in your pants; you may feel that you're sinking into the ground or into yourself. If you really start worrying about this, you may start to feel like there are worms crawling inside your stomach, that the roof is about to collapse on you, that the sheet you are lying under is trying to eat you... You guessed it, it's a bad trip coming on. Don't panic! This is normal, and nothing has really happened or is really happening, it's just your mind exaggerating and creating things. Most importantly, YOU CAN STILL STOP IT. Learn to distract your thoughts on other tangents at moments like this. This is not easy, but it's a very important skill to learn for high-dose trips. One of the largest benefits of tripping with a well-selected group is that at a moment like this, you can reach out and touch someone and convince yourself that you are still sane. And if you have a good guide, they'll notice that you're whimpering in a corner and they'll come over, reassure you, change the music and get you out of it. <> 3.2 Flight plan [ Comments about the timing for LSD welcome, I have no personal experience with the stuff... -G ] Flight Minutes after ingestion phase LSD Psilocybin Ignition 0 0 Usually the first effects of the drug are perceivable after ten or twenty minutes. Funny or strange things may pop into your mind. One may feel very relaxed or like jumping all over the place. Next you may feel like you were blasting off, up towards the stars, rising high. Acceleration 45 20 If you get any physical symptoms, this is when they will hit. You can avoid or at least reduce nausea by not eating very much before the trip and not moving around too much during this phase. Throwing up is uncommon but not entirely unheard of; having a barf bag around, especially on the first few trips, is a good idea. If you find that your body *really* doesn't like shrooms, a motion sickness pill (Dramamine and similar anti-histamines) beforehand may help. But don't worry about it too much, even if you feel queasy the nausea will end quite quickly. Leaving the atmosphere 60 40 One will begin entering the realms of the experience; often the first real signs are simple hallucinations with the eyes closed or in darkness, little colored pixels floating around etc. If one is going to go to the toilet, it should be done now. In flight 90 70 By now the more powerful effects are starting to set in. The body will feel heavy and drowsy. Peak 180 120 The peak of the experience. Often quite awesome. Deceleration 300 240 By now one will again start to remember the concepts of normal reality and may feel like getting something to drink and eat, or talk and do some moving about. Touchdown 10 h 360 By now most of the effects have disappeared and sleeping becomes possible. Reality 16 h 12 h If you trip at night and fall asleep when the trip is ending, this is when you'll wake up... and the odds are you'll feel GRRRRRREAT! On that note, it is often a good idea to stay together with your group, or at least some members of the group, and share experiences. The day or two immediately afterwards people will tend to be somewhat inwardly focused, still analyzing what they have found out during the voyage and its importance for them, but after this initial stage of analysis comparing what has happened with other people is quite useful. <> 3.3 Differences between psychedelic drugs LSD and psilocybin, while similar, are not the same. Here's a nice article by Ellis Dee ([an 188749] at [anon.penet.fi]) summarizing the differences: "Here's a partial list of differences between the effects of LSD and psilocybin, as I see them (your mileage may vary) --- (key -- P: psilocybin; L: LSD-25) * Duration P: onset: 30 minutes; peak 90 minutes; duration: 6 hours L: onset: 60 minutes; peak 2-3 hours; duration: 10 hours * Stimulation L: pronounced stimulant effect, similar to phenethylamines P: little stimulant effect, sometimes inducing mild sleepyness * Perception o scope of effect L: all sense fields -- visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic P: primarily visual [Eds: We disagree with this one.] o perceptual integration L: profound synesthesia in high doses, especially visual perception of auditory stimuli P: limited synesthesia, even in high doses o visual = specificity L: general, wide spectrum of possible effects P: somewhat specific, with recurrent forms = aesthetics L: neutral, visuals ranging from the banal to the sublime P: visions of sublime beauty the norm = color - hue L: primary or spectral colors P: 'earthy' composite warm colors - color-object association, mobility L: abstract, colors moving and changing freely P: concrete, colors fused to objects - other qualities L: transparent, neutral P: rich, lustrous = patterns - detail L: fine detail, fractal-like quality P: little emphasis on detail - form L: great variety of form; small lines, facets elucidate structure P: broad interlocking regions containing different colors bounded by curved, clean edges * consciousness, general o ego dissolution L: profound depersonalization accompanying experience of the underlying unity and boundlessness of everything P: mild depersonalization accompanying experience of beauty in and empathy with other beings/phenomena o expansiveness L: very expansive, multiplicity of thought and emotion, sense of boundlessness P: mildly expansive o cognition and perception L: cognition and perception are intimately associated, perception seeming to be largely directed by cognitive processes P: perception is little affected by cognition o continuity L: high degree of continuity imparted (apparently) by the mediation of perception by cognition P: little continuity as one intense sensation replaces another Some of the differences are exaggerated slightly for clarity." <> 3.4 Hallucinations Describing hallucinations and visual effects is not possible; not only are they literally undescribeable but they're different for different people. But nevertheless, we shall attempt the impossible and provide the following short list of some distinct types we have run across, in approximate order of how high a dose is needed for the effect. CEV = Closed Eye Visual, OEV = Open Eye Visual. * Red/green/blue blips (CEV or OEV) Possibly the most common type of hallucination, this usually occurs at the onset. The basic idea is that a layer of red, green, and blue blips - kind of like looking at a TV set from real close - is superimposed on everything. Most visible in darkness. * Pixelization (OEV) The second stage of the RGB effect is "pixelization", ie. everything seems to be composed of separate little bits, like pixels on a computer screen. This effect is difficult to describe, all I can say is you'll know what it is when you see it. People who aren't computer freaks think it looks like a fine mesh or web placed over your field of vision. * Tracers (OEV) Moving objects that contrast sharply with their background (tip of lit incense stick against a dark room, ball flying against the blue sky, etc) leave colorful trails. * Red shift (OEV) Everything looks like you're looking at it through glasses with their lenses dyed red. Now you know why hippies loved red sunglasses so much... =) * Breathing (OEV) A very common effect at medium to high doses, the object in question starts to pulse in and out, bubble, shift, split into multiple layers, morph to the point of being entirely unrecognizable... Usually visible in bigger objects, such as expanses of sand, clouds, textured walls and carpets, etc. * Melting (OEV) The direct corollary of breathing, best seen in plants and trees. The object in question starts acting like it was made of plastic, and somebody started to heat it; it distorts, flows downwards, maybe wiggles a bit from side to side in a cosmic dance of sorts. Shadows may exhibit a special form of melting: they move by themselves. * Haloing (OEV) [description by [j--e--t] at [jkent.seanet.com]] Usually my shroom visuals start off as a "haloing" of misty rainbow colors off of anything I look at. Eventually, as the trip intesifies, I get what I call "kodaking" or "poloroiding" - the "halos" around the mundane 3-D objects begin to morph into "snapshots" - usually of family members or past experiences recalled from differing perspectives. The "snapshots" have a kind of "infinite ripple effect" around the edges, as if they are evaporating away in time... this is not exactly right, but I don't know how else to describe it. Ooh, maybe this... They are fractalized around the edges. I have studied this effect for quite some time and I have come to believe that this "hallucination" is due to a shift in the speed at which I perceive light. The "fractalized edges" tend to strobe and flicker and recede off into infinity. The closer I scrutinize the edges the more complex they become - ad infinitum. Good music, good pot, or a combination of both will "animate" the snapshots - get them morphing and oozing into different scenes more rapidly. I call this "imagination grease". * X-Ray Vision (OEV) [description by [j--e--t] at [jkent.seanet.com]] I remember riding on a bus with a friend of mine while I was moderately dosed with shroomahuasca (1.5 cubensis shrooms + 1 rue capsule). When I looked at his face, I could see the network of blood vessels pumping blood through his head and brain. I could see through his skin and see his skull. It was really creepy but really cool too. I started laughing so hard I had to put my head in my hands to stifle the noise. On another trip (similar dose - it's my usual), I was looking up at a tree and suddenly I could see every vein in the tree and the sap running through it in very slow but steady progression. I could also see "specks" like little ants coarsing through everything, including my own body. They flowed through space in organic patterns - from the tree, to the deck, to my legs, etc. I do not know what these "specks" were. I first assumed they were some kind of insect, but they were far too small. No one with me (dosed or sober) could see them so I shrugged it off as "tripper's delusion". However, when hiking once (dosed), I was lying on a rock and noticed the SAME THING. This time I scrutinized it and found that there were actually tiny little "bugs" of some kind scurrying along the rocks. They were smaller than the tiny dirt particles dusting the rocks, but they definitely moved in insectlike patterns. I showed them to my firend, who was also tripping, and he couldn't see them. Then I said "no, they're REALLY tiny, like ATOMS," and suddenly HE saw them too. We were both blown away. I still don't know what they were - mites, bacteria, etc - but they were unmistakeably there. The were eating or excreteing some type of lichen that was all over the rocks and trees in the area we were in. It was amazing. I had been hiking in the same area sober many times and I had never seen them. When I went back once sober, I could see them if I looked REALLY close, but only in the tiny area I stared at, and it really strained my eyes. When dosed, I saw them everywhere (like millions of trails of ants...) Talk about visual accuity! * The Guardian (CEV or OEV) A few people, including yours truly, are lucky enough to have a constant hallucination that lasts for the duration of trip and even afterwards; Castaneda mentions these in his books and calls them "guides" or "guardians". Two forms include a little blue lattice containing red and green blips, and a bright red star. These may or may not recur in different trips and also flash back after the trip itself is over. * Geometric patterns (CEV) One type of hallucination is the geometric pattern. There are many subtypes of these: Mandelbrots, spirals, wave interference patterns, etc. The unifying feature is that they tend to be in primary colors and of a fractal nature, ie. the same basic pattern is repeated continually. These are two-dimensional with lower doses, but they become 3D on higher doses. _Psychedelic Experience_ calls this "The Internal Flow of Archetypal Processes". * "The Fire-Flow of Internal Unity" (CEV) Another type taken from _Psych Exp_, this involves more of *feeling* something than *seeing* it, although there are undescribeable hallucinations accompanying the feelings. The distinct difference to the last one is that the visuals are not geometric and separate, but amorphous, dim shapes directly linked to the emotions one is experiencing, which can be positive (bliss, love, peace) or negative (isolation, withdrawal, sadness). * Traditional patterns (CEV) Visuals containing imagery from Aztec, Mayan, Native American, Indian and African cultures are quite common. These vary from seeing something exactly like a picture/statue of a native god to more vague visions of scriptures and temples to just a fuzzy idea of the hallucinations being 'drawn' in a specific style. * Hallucinations (CEV, rarely OEV) Actual hallucinations - ie. objects that are recognizable and appear real, but are not there - may occur on high-dose trips. If lucky, the tripper may even be transported into a literal, as opposed to merely figurative, Alice-in-Wonderland type alternate universe. This is not the same as merely feeling things like "I felt like a satellite" or "I was transported by the music", with real hallucinations the visuals are equivalent to a color 3-D movie on a 360-degree screen. * Entities (CEV, rarely OEV) Encounters with other beings are a recurring feature of high-dose trips. I will not tackle the complex philosophical issues of what they are (if anything), how they got there, and what they mean; all I know is that they exist. Some common types: - The "mantid", an alien-looking insect-headed creature that tends to appear extremely intelligent and aware and neutral/negative towards the tripper. Can be green or grayish-white. - The so-called "DMT elf", a gnome-like playful, funny and usually friendly entity. - Happy dancing little people that appear in large groups. - Shapeless, but conscious, masses of hyperspace protoplasm. There are other types, but these four seem to recur quite often. * Clear Light of Reality (CEV or OEV) Nirvana, ego loss, Non-Game Ecstasy, enlightenment, ultimate truth, "the infallible mind of the pure mystic state", etc. One thing's for sure, you'll recognize it if you get there. =) Again, while any decent trip will seriously reduce the domination of the ego and let you see quite a lot that you wouldn't normally notice, the "Clear Light" kind of total ego loss is quite rare and even experienced trippers consider themselves lucky if they've had a single one of these so-called 'Level 5' experiences. This should not be taken as a thorough or complete list. Aside from these specific types, you will almost certainly notice that everything, especially nature, simply looks *different*: new, fresh and somehow alien and familiar at the same time. The most minute details will stand out and the contrasts between colors will be enhanced. I find this ability to view the world differently to be one of the most rewarding aspects of psychedelics, and I once more strongly recommend going outside and checking it out. <> 3.5 Psychedelic level For discussions with other psychonauts, a scale for ranking the 'psychedelic level' of a trip is necessary. The de facto standard at least on the Internet is Graeme Carl's scale of 0 to 5, which has proved to be more detailed and workable than Shulgin's "3 plusses" system. Here's what Graeme ([an 43543] at [anon.penet.fi]) himself says about it: [...] In just over seven years I have "tripped" around 60 times. During this period I have been paying careful attention to the effects of various dosages and have come to the conclusion that the dosage-response curve for both Psilocybin (mushrooms) and LSD is non-linear. This non-linearity is different from person to person but the essential shape of the graph is consistent. The following ascii diagram is an attempt to portrey this information: 5 I ooooooooo I 4 I ooooooo L I E 3 I ooooooo V I E 2 I ooooooo L I 1 I ooooooo I Iooooo______________________________________ 0 2 3 5 13 20 40 D O S A G E (in Fresh Mushrooms) [...] The essential shape of the graph is all I want to get across here, since the actual dosage varies from person to person sometimes by a factor of two. [ Notes: The dosage figures given above apply only to the obscure Australian mushroom Psilocybe subaeruginosa, so ignore them; the basic idea of the scale works well enough for any psychedelic. As for individual response, an acquaintance of mine has a threshold 3 times weaker than usual, ie. 1g for her == 3g for most people. ] Level 1: This level produces a mild 'stoning' effect, with some visual enhancement (ie. brighter colours etc) Some short term memory anomalies. Left/right brain communication changes causing music to sound 'wider' Level 2: Bright colours, and visuals (ie. things start to move and breath) some 2 dimensional patterns become apparent upon shutting eyes. Confused or reminiscent thoughts. Change of short term memory leads to continual distractive thought patterns. Vast increase in creativity becomes apparent as the natural brain filter is bypassed. (*) Level 3: Very obvious visuals, everything looking curved and/or warped patterns and kaleidoscopes seen on walls, faces etc. Some mild hallucinations such as rivers flowing in wood grained or 'mother of pearl' surfaces. Closed eye hallucinations become 3 dimensional. There is some confusing of the senses (ie. seeing sounds as colours etc.) Time distortions and `moments of eternity`. Movement at times becomes extremely difficult (too much effort required) Level 4: Strong hallucinations, ie objects morphing into other objects. Destruction or multiple splitting of the ego. (Things start talking to you, or you find that you are feeling contradictory things simultaneously) Some loss of reality. Time becomes meaningless. Out of body experiences and esp type phenomena. Blending of the senses. Level 5: Total loss of visual connection with reality. The senses cease to function in the normal way. Total loss of ego. Merging with space, other objects or the universe. The loss of reality becomes so severe that it defies explanation. The earlier levels are relatively easy to explain in terms of measureable changes in perception and thought patterns. This level is different in that the actual universe within which things are normally perceived, ceases to exist! Satori enlightenment (and other such labels) (**). Notes to the above: * In order for the human entity to survive, it must learn from an early age how to shut out (or filter) the masses of information reaching the brain. This process of selective filtering allows us to become centred on a single thought. (Imagine being completely aware of all the signals coming into your body at the one moment, imagine being aware of every square inch of your skin and how it felt. Imagine being eternally aware of your tounge in your mouth, that itch on the end of your nose or the sound of the airconditioning hissing softly in the background. I believe that tripping brings back those awareness that have been shut out ever since we were three. Have you ever noticed children walking into a shopping mall? If you notice next time, they appear to be tripping, staring wide eyed at all the amazing colours, walking along looking up at the ceiling and and watching themselves in the mirrored surface. As childred age, they gradually learn to shut out the onslaught of information, they no longer seem to notice the world as their younger siblings do! By the time adulthood is reached, these sensations are even lost to memory. Perhaps this explains why so many first time trippers, seem to feel a strange sense of familiarity, a feeling that the trip reality is somehow more real than their straight reality..... ** Satori enlightenment, instant Zen, Nirvana etc etc. You may find many of these Eastern terms used in conjunction with psychedelic drugs. In my (humble) opinion, true Zen enlightenment is reached only when the ego has been completely overcome, only when the 'ox' has been tracked, tamed and ridden back to town. This, unfortunately cannot be achieved in the altered reality of the tripping universe. The 'flashes' of Satori which may be experienced by the fortunate whilst tripping, are perceived as momentary periods of absolute peace and calm, periods where for a short time, the ego is so diffused, that the mind is no longer enslaved by many of the passions that normally arise. [end of quote] The non-linearity of the scale is debatable, especially at the lower end of the scale (0-2) it's rather fuzzy. Personally, I think that an additional distinguishing characteristic between lvl 2 and 3 is that at level 2 you can control OEVs, ie. they only appear if you look, while at level 3 they appear everywhere without any effort. Also, level 5 is in a class of its own, you will not reach nirvana just by taking a gigantic dose. The entire text of the Psychedelic Levels file, which includes a number of nice examples of the levels, is available on hyperreal. <> 4: AFTERWARD ~~~~~~~~~ What will happen afterwards, physically and mentally. <> 4.0 Overview Afterglow of the experience will persist anywhere from few days to several weeks; what you've learned may change your life. Occasionally this learning will be negative and you'll be depressed for a while as you assimilate the fact that you've been wrong about something for all your life, but the depression is never extreme and - cheezy as it may sound - you will be a much better person afterwards. <> 4.1 Post-trip effects All the following effects share one characteristic: their frequency and/or intensity decreases with time. Fully returning to baseline usually takes around one month, although most of these disappear entirely within a week. Here's a list, categorized by frequency of occurance and alphabetized: *** Common effects [most people will experience these] * Alienation Sounds a bit too nasty, but perhaps this is also the most unpleasant side effect. In short, after the destruction of the ego and seeing through the games people play in life (see _Psychedelic Experience_), you often start to feel alienated from non-trippers, because they simply cannot *see* through the games they play, and that there are more important things in life than running after pieces of paper with pictures of dead presidents on them. Also, since psychedelics *are* illegal, one has to constantly maintain their guard about what one says to 'non-enlightened' people; "what if my parents/neighbors/teacher/ boss finds out I use drugs?". Even with good non-tripper friends, the overwhelming experience which you have experienced, but they have not, forms a kind of barrier. There is no cure for this, other than time and the development of cynicism; and, of course, 'converting' your friends. * Disorientation Your mind, faced with the daunting task of sorting through all the information it has been force-fed during the voyage, often feels a bit sluggish for a day or two. Concentrating on things and preventing your mind from drifting off into more interesting areas is difficult. You may even experience 'awareness flashes' where, at the most random moments, you'll start to ponder The Meaning of Life, or worse yet, Who Am I, What Am I, and Why Am I? This is why it's advisable to take a day off if possible after a trip. * Euphoria "LIFE IS WONDERFUL!!!" This is one post-trip effect that nobody should complain about, unfortunately it rarely lasts longer than a day or two. A milder form of euphoria, which I would term "appreciation of the general wonderfulness of things" and consists of being able to enjoy sights such as a clear blue sky even on Monday mornings, may last months, years, or even forever. * Insights The mind's corollary to impulses (see below), these include such brilliant observations as "Cars are machines!", "People are three- dimensional objects!" and "Mud is cool!". Don't laugh: these are all things you would never have thought of without psychedelic lubrication of your head. And some, maybe even most, of the insights are ones into your personal life and/or philosophy that are likely to prove useful. * Random impulses During the week or so after a trip, completely random desires or impulses to do something strange are very normal. Typical forms (although these vary widely) include "I *must* jump up on that rock and bounce on it!" and "Grapes! I *must* eat a bunch of grapes!". The impulses are invariably harmless ones (ie. not "I must jump off a cliff"), even if other people may look at you a bit strangely if you carry them out. Following these impulses is a good idea, because it's FUN! *** Rare [happens every now and then] * Bi-polar syndrome ("emotional rollercoaster") A form of depression. As the name indicates, the syndrome consists of alternations between mania (happiness) and depression (sadness), with no obvious reason for the cycling up and down. The period of cycling varies from days to minutes, with the amplitude of the effects eventually dying down to zero within two weeks or so. Unfortunately, there isn't much one can do about it except wait it out and enjoy the fun parts, but maybe just being aware that the depression is chemically induced and will end may help. Oddly enough, unlike other post-trip phenomena, it appears that this syndrome does not correlate with dose and this may well happen even after a non-spectacular low-dose trip. * Conversion experiences A sudden and complete reorientation of one's value system, as opposed to the more or less gentle rejiggling of priorities that psychedelics tend to cause. "Everything you know is wrong, but you can be cured." * Depression Probably the least rare of the rare effects, often triggered by a negative trip, esp. one in which you learned something unpleasant about yourself or others; but something appears for no evident reason. Like bi-polar syndrome, it will usually pass in a week or so. * 'Flashbacks' The most famous post-trip effect, and without a doubt the most exaggerated one as well. Full-fledged "pathological" flashbacks, where you for a moment relive a segment of the trip entirely and which are the only type the media ever refers to, belong to the "very rare" category. What is much more common is that something reminds you of the trip, and for a moment you experience trippy phenomena: often a simple hallucination or that cosmic feeling of floatyness. This is nearly always fun and provokes a reaction of "Wow!", frequent trippers refer to these as "freebies". In computer terms, flashbacks aren't a bug, they're a feature. * Psychotic episodes of 48 hours or more Or in other words, an episode of serious insanity that does not end along with the trip. This is quite rare, .08% (8 out of 10,000) according to one study of LSD users. Even in these rare cases, the patient nearly always had a history of mental illness, but there have been exceptions. Even a serious psychotic episode does not mean you'll go permanently nuts. *** Very rare [less than a percent of all users] * Post-hallucinogen perceptual disorder (PHPD) After their first trip nearly all trippers find that the visuals they get with their eyes closed (without drugs!) brighten or change, often permanently; this is usually attributed to being able to notice things that you couldn't see before. But very, very rarely, an extreme form of this shows up: "With PHPD, individuals experience a persistent perceptual disorder that they describe as like living in a bubble under water. They also describe trails of light and images following movement of their hands... This perceptual disorder is aggravated by any psychoactive drug use..." "With PHPD, the individual often suffers anxiety, even panic, and becomes phobic and depressed. With the PHPD sufferers, our experience has been that individuals do not have a disturbed psychiatric history prior to the onset of psychedelic drug use..." "For PHPD, drug free recovery with supportive counseling is often adequate treatment, although recovery may take several months. Antianxiety medication may be needed to treat the secondary anxiety and panic disorder that often develop when the individuals feel that they are irreversibly brain-damaged..." (David Smith et al, /Psychiatric Annals/ 24:3 March 1994 p145) * Suicide Obviously not caused directly by the drug, but indirectly through attacks of serious depression, negative conversion experiences and various forms of mental illness. Also rare in the extreme. <> 4.2 The Eraserhead Syndrome The mushrooms can be fun. One may feel like eating them every day. A - not cool, B - not good. A mental/physical tolerance builds up quite fast: usually three or four times with 7 day intervals cause diminished effect and notably less divine trip. I'd recommend visiting the spiritworld 4 to 10 times a year, for the freshness and divinity of it. Most of us know an acid- or pot-head - a drug abuser. I call acid/ mushroomheads Eraserheads (seen the movie?), as they are often bit paranoid and manic-depressive and dullheaded. It's easy to get bad vibes off psychedelics - just do them the way you drink alcohol - without respect or any care. So - remember what the foreword says, and use the consciousness of turbocharged-monkeybrain we all have. And if you only want to get your brain fucked up there are better substances for that in the world.