Introduction to Tripping
“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.”
–Bill Hicks
Think of things that change a person’s life. Falling in love, losing one’s virginity, having a child, the death of a loved one, being hurled through education and employment; considered among these could be the use of a hallucinogenic drug. The experience elicited by that of a hallucinogenic drug is known as a trip. Taking a trip across the physical plane evokes changes in a person’s character. Traveling alters perspectives on how assorted people, landscapes, and life can be as you leave your own bubble to view different versions of that same bubble.
Traveling across the psychological plane has comparable impacts on a person. Right before your very eyes hallucinogens reveal that you know only a sliver of what is real and what is possible. They enable an understanding that your subjective world begins and ends with you. Unspeakable truths concerning God, existence, the self, and the mind all flood a user’s awareness. A trip is a life-altering experience that defies explanation, confiding in a user, ineffable doctrines about the fabric of our reality. Tripping is a religious affair in the truest sense of the word.
All that allows us to experience reality is the information inducted through our senses. Hallucinogens manipulate the methods our senses employ to draw in information and relay that information to the conscious mind. The term hallucinogen is somewhat flawed because the substances mentioned do not induce the variety of hallucinatory phenomena one might expect. A trip generally refers to the ingestion of drugs such as LSD, Psilocybin “magic” mushrooms, Mescaline, or DMT (Dimethyltryptamine.) These four drugs are known as the classical hallucinogens. Together they, along with other substances, help form a unique family of drugs called Psychedelics.
Alcohol is legal, Marijuana is ubiquitous, narcotics have never-ending customers, but Psychedelics are an entirely different breed and their real effects are largely misunderstood. Psychedelic means mind-manifesting. They reveal hidden mechanisms of the mind by dissolving cognitive boundaries, cushioning the sense of a separate self, distorting sensory input, and allowing more information to reach conscious awareness than does during normal, everyday wakening. Using psychedelic chemicals should be a human birthright and the prohibition of such chemicals is a monumental disservice to mankind.
Anybody can benefit from just a single trip, but one needs to prepare before venturing into psychedelic headspace. A stable psychological foundation and a healthy observance of one’s own insecurities, phobias, impulses, desires, and complexes are in order. Any major life or psychological crises should be resolved before tripping, unless the intention is to absolve issues by means of a psychedelic trip. These chemicals are best done either alone, in the vicinity of a sober sitter, or with close peers.
Forethought and planning of the ceremony are a must. One should designate a time and place for the trip to occur long before the moment of ingestion. The days leading into a trip should be spent in some part consuming a healthy diet and reviewing the intention for having a ritual. A pending user should expect to do nothing but relax the day, maybe even two days, after the trip has concluded to allow for a gradual reintegration back into normal waking reality. Any inner adventure should be planned in accordance to real world responsibilities since one will feel drained and have plenty to ponder once it is over.
Especially for first-timers, taking drugs such as these should be done in a safe and reassuring environment like a bedroom or living room. Inside is perhaps best, but one can move outside if comfortable in doing so. With experience a person can learn to better handle the overwhelming transition in attachment to exterior reality. Journeys through the mind are a personal endeavor and all voyagers have a different calling that escorts them into participating. The majority of people will go their entire lives without a psychedelic trip, which is absolutely fine, but one could go their entire life without orgasms and eating extraordinary food as well. Until one has tried a hallucinogenic drug they will never know the valid recreational, religious, and therapeutic uses delivered directly by these chemicals. The most profound things in life must be experienced for comprehension. How would you explain colors to a blind person?
For this article I will focus on my personal favorite: LSD, also popularly known as acid. Others will disagree but I consider it to be the benchmark of psychedelic drugs. Lysergic Acid Diethylamide is a very powerful and very potent molecule; one to be treated with respect. An acid trip hits you like a rock and lasts for over 12 hours. The energy, expansion of consciousness, and sensory manipulation all make for a very captivating excursion. After using it I can see why the 1960s had such a noteworthy countercultural movement and why some degree of hype around LSD exists.
The general format for planning any trip is essentially the same, but particular details will vary from substance to substance. I will note some sibling drugs to LSD, in terms of effects and duration, are mushrooms and Mescaline. Below I will document how I usually choose to undergo an LSD trip. Expect your outline to differ from mine, as not even two trips for the same person will be exactly alike. Bon Voyage.
8:00 PM
Saturday night, my favorite night for the greatest things in life: drugs, sex, live entertainment, reuniting with loved ones, traveling, anything. The energy is high, it’s the weekend, it’s the night for big things, and you’ve generally not done anything too straining that day. Plus Sunday is the best day to recuperate and catch up on sleep. And besides, Saturday is the Sabbath, the true day reserved for religious observance throughout history.
I’m a lunar creature so I prefer tripping at night. I used to stay up until the sun came up as a teenager playing video games and now as an adult I repeat the pattern with psychedelic drugs instead. I’ve simply substituted the stimulation once provided from a controller and animation on a television screen with chemicals to make for a much more involved experience. Flashing action and gunfire have transformed into morphing surroundings, explosive euphoria, and intense vigor.
I begin to setup. I take time to brush my teeth, void my bowels and bladder, shower, and change into warm, fresh clothing. Any last minute nervousness is absolutely normal. This is a healthy acknowledgment of what I am committing to, just as before driving a car I acknowledge that it could always be my last time getting behind the wheel. I accept my hesitations and decide to progress into the mystery, taking notice of a balanced mindset. I lay everything out before me which includes a Gatorade, an orange, and my sacrament.
8:30 PM
The time has arrived for ingestion. A threshold dosage for noticeable effects of LSD is 25 micrograms, not milligrams. The average tab of acid I come across is relatively 100 micrograms, a solid standard in my eyes. For anybody’s first time I recommend 200-250 micrograms to get a full experience. Any less may not produce any visual distortion or “hallucinations,” but will provoke a shift in mindset. In my experience taking any less has been positive for intellectual exercises but very underwhelming and resulted in me being neither completely functional enough for sober activities nor inebriated enough for it to be considered a trip. I tend to choose no less than 300 micrograms when utilizing LSD alone.
I try to eat my last large meal around three hours before taking the acid. Eating sooner could dull the trip or delay the rate the chemical takes action, which is already about 90 minutes. I bring a fruit for the caloric energy and fiber so my stomach has more to digest than blotter paper. When else do you eat small bits of paper? The Gatorade provides some refreshment along with electrolytes and keeps my mouth from drying up. LSD can be administered sublingually, meaning it can be absorbed through the gums and under the tongue. You have the option of holding the tabs in your gums for a while or swallowing the tabs right away. Do not waste time with re-dosing. Courage is respected in the psychedelic experience so take the amount you want all up front. I choose too much over too little, within reason. As the journey progresses I like to keep my Gatorade or some water near-by.
The time between the moment of first ingestion and peak effects of the trip is known as the come-up. Chemicals ingested orally always take the longest since they enter the bloodstream through the digestive system. During the come-up I often do any remaining cleaning or organizing as a refreshing environment adds to the trip. I consider what my motives and intentions are behind taking the chemical. Psychedelic drugs are not an escape and will make you confront innumerable things about yourself. A negative experience, or “bad trip”, could be brought about by things like a negative atmosphere, a negative stimulus, too high of a dosage, being drugged and not wanting to trip, or confronting something about yourself you weren’t ready to handle. It is also during this time I gather my major assets around me, meaning a charged cell phone with a loaded playlist, headphones, food and drink options, and a notebook for any spiraling revelations. Alas, in the event I’m looking for the most authentic psychedelic experience I bring only myself.
The slow hold LSD takes over the span of 60-120 minutes makes for plenty of mental and physical excitement. The effect this molecule has on my body makes for complete restlessness and joyful difficulty in being still. LSD is not a stimulant drug, like that of Cocaine or Amphetamine, but produces very stimulating effects as it binds to the body’s Serotonin receptors. Serotonin is a chemical the body naturally produces to regulate many things about the human condition including sleep, appetite, energy level, mood, and perception. Most Psychedelics have a strong relationship to Serotonin for generating effects such as euphoria, wakefulness, decreased appetite, pupil dilation, and vasoconstriction. Addictive drugs have a much stronger association with a different chemical: Dopamine, the reward chemical that produces a far different internal pleasure. From moment to moment the acid gains strength, pushing me to watch my ever-brightening environment come alive with indescribable imagery. This is always accompanied by esteem, libido, relentless smiling, and beckoning laughter.
10:00 PM
Relatively 90 minutes after ingestion comes the peak which generally lasts 4-6 hours, depending on the dosage. Here, my reasoning for sailing across the inner cosmos determines my activities and the tone of the trip. If my chosen intention is recreational my go-to activity is music. Music is a human fortune parallel to that of sex. Being an ape that is able to distribute sound waves from a pocket-sized electronic device through headphones is pure magic while tripping. Different kinds of visuals can be arranged by staring at an assortment of things such as the ceiling, carpet, furniture, and walls. A lava lamp, blacklight, or plasma ball will always add a peculiar zest. Tripping with close peers to feel connected and hatch unique conversations is the pinnacle of pastimes.
Religious-based trips usually make for the heaviest. These are often performed alone or with a close friend who is on the same page. The dosage can be high and I often bring multiple substances, primarily Cannabis, to really send the effects of LSD into a godly realm. I’ll lose sense of myself and at times my body. My separateness merges with all that exists and I become the omni-being. Silent darkness is generally mandatory for me to engage in these trips. Any real world relevance can only blunt the ego loss.
Therapeutic sessions begin with me accepting I have something to acknowledge, understand, and adjust about myself. If I am not ready to accept such knowledge the chemical cannot help me unlock answers. Psychedelics are introspective. They do not take problems away, they bring them to light. Consciousness is a limited spectrum of awareness fed by the unconscious, which are two sides of the same coin that help establish the psychological construct we know as the self. The unconscious is a hidden archive of desires, fears, memories, behavioral patterns, and belief structures. By using Psychedelics as keys to access the unconscious, we can address physiological issues of all kinds. One must first be grounded enough to stomach whatever message may come their way.
Reality is a set of dimensions broadcasted for you. Information about the environment is drawn in through senses, interpreted by the brain and nervous system, and displayed for the conscious mind. Psychedelics allow your senses to draw in more information and for the conscious mind to augment to handle the new influx of data. Greater attention given to logical pattern recognition paves the way for magnified thought and perception. We identify with the information drawn in by our senses and any disruption is an interruption to our regular homeostasis. Psychedelics chemically promote hyper-connectivity between the many regions of the brain and nervous system.
Once the chemical has gained power, pronounced visual effects complement the altered state of mind. The environment slowly animates until it is in full flux and may breathe in a pulsating fashion. Shapes will bend and objects will melt into other objects. Your entire field of vision may proceed into motion and take kaleidoscopic configurations. During sober waking the world appears fixed and still. Now disclosed in the midst of a psychedelic trance is the divination that nothing is ever solid, not even matter. Inner and outer space are in constant motion. This state of information overload serves to defragment the mind, a biological computer. Behavioral patterns, belief structures, thought processes, concepts of self, and conditioned modes of being can all be analyzed and revamped. Old patterns can disintegrate to make way for new and better ones. Furthermore, sensory distortion is not exclusive to vision. All senses are capable of producing hallucinations and blending together.
Psychedelic chemicals create a state of being qualitatively similar to the mode of fight or flight. However, most do not engage the actual adrenal reactions of the body. During this vigilant state the body prepares as if there really were danger around. Severe wakefulness renders the inability to sleep, pupils dilate, appetite reduces, and muscles become tense. The relatively few physical features usher in massive psychological shifts including newly awakened perceptions, radical transformations in thought and awareness, and loosened borders of identity. It is as though new areas of the mind are opened. What was previously unacknowledged to the user is now in the forefront of their attention. Cosmic epiphanies, accelerated thought processes, emancipated margins of association, and feelings of connectedness to all life assist in creating a place of rapture that cannot be encapsulated by words; truly, sight to a blind man. Out of body experiences and episodes of psychic death and rebirth are not uncommon should one reach the outer and more unknown limits of the psychedelic experience.
I enjoy tripping at night because society stirs while I prowl around like a goddamn werewolf. Some may prefer the warmth of sunshine cast during the day or watching the sky fade to black during a sunset, but my mind is far more active at night and the overall mood the night brings changes everything. Nothing compares to witnessing firsthand the stars, the moon, and infinity cascading above you and understanding perfectly how the inner universe perfectly mirrors its outer counterpart. Although the sight of dancing constellations will leave a person lost for words, the most infiltrating psychedelic journey takes place in silent darkness. Senses are forced to draw in information through what is essentially a void so the mind must fill the gaps, resulting in intense hallucinations. This is when the imagination is fully unrested and you are taken to faraway lands. The mind spills outward and ego starts to fold.
Being human is experienced through an individual self, called the ego. Who I am, where I live, what I do for work, what I look like, how I conduct myself, are all tangents that help make up an ego identity. Who you tell yourself you are, where you reside and work, the things you do, are not really who you are. Ego identity is but a prevailing and persistent thought. We as we think we are, is an illusion. We are the universe assembled in the form of a human being. All of existence is one infinite entity manifesting in infinite ways: galaxies, atoms, bacteria, plants, animals, etc. I call this entity, God. A human being is a terminal for God to exist as being self-aware, separate from the environment, mortal, and finite. We are God experiencing itself consciously and subjectively, therefore, we must look within for answers and not outside ourselves; such is the meaning of the psychedelic experience. A collapse of ego may help people overcome the fear of death, as dying is the folding back into the universe to become everything.
There are downsides to attending the psychedelic parade. A noticeable one during the come-up is the vasoconstriction, or constriction of blood vessels, which can make a user very cold even in warm environments. Once the peak effects of the substance take hold the vasoconstriction will still be active but now the user might begin to sweat profusely. It is important to avoid raising the body’s internal temperature too high and some Psychedelics carry more risk than others. Along with sweating is the very rare occurrence that the sodium levels in one’s body drop so low that they risk the confines of death. Water works for hydration but drinking too much can work to further dispel sodium from the body. Increased heart rate and blood pressure is generally nothing to worry about in average individuals but those with previous cardiovascular troubles may share a higher risk. A user might observe a change in their entire attachment to body, possibly resulting from muscle weakness and trembling.
The entire digestive system, from mouth to anus, is a lining of muscles that function as the body’s established structure for acquiring energy. Psychedelics act as substituted chemical energy, decreasing priority of acquiring fuel from the usual methods and consequentially slowing the digestive system down. Jaw-clenching, reduced appetite, decreased intestinal motility, and increased difficulty in removing bodily wastes are all something to consider before tripping. Practicing a healthy diet a few days leading up to the trip, eating any large meals hours before taking the substance, and attempting to use the bathroom before beginning can help eliminate problems. Jaw-clenching can be relieved by carefully chewing on gum and hard candy or in some cases obtaining specific vitamin supplements.
All Psychedelics are unique and most are fairly harmless unless used irresponsibly. Of the classical hallucinogens, one would have to ingest far more than is realistic or practical to be given lasting physical harm. To introduce an interesting point of view LSD was once thought to damage DNA. LSD does not, yet alcohol does. The most harmful drugs, to both yourself and others, are legal.
3:00 AM
Eventually the effects will start to fade and enter what is called the come-down. The trip will gradually lessen in intensity, but will not completely end until you are able to fall asleep. This is the price to pay and I’m glad there is a price. Body and mind need time to settle after what they just went through. Without the come-down the experience would not be so sublime. You must simply endure feeling refueled yet exhausted, revived while deathly, and reflect on what has been learned. The come-down is important for considering how to integrate these teachings back into one’s everyday life. The psychedelic experience leaves lasting impressions on those trekking its landscapes. You are never the same person coming out of a trip as you were going in. After becoming turned on to wildly new things about reality, one begins to appreciate the influence they themselves have on it; wisdom that can help us comprehend the intricate weaving between mind and matter.
The relationship a person has with themselves constitutes the foundation to their relationships with other people. One could call this their vibe, energy, aura, or frequency, but I will label it their vibration. The vibration emitted by a person assembles the tone of interaction. Even if a person denies the claim of this vibration they cannot deny that a change occurs when shifting from solitude to encountering another human being. Their vibration extends beyond interaction with fellow humans and into how a person treats all forms of animate and inanimate life. Being aware of this vibration makes one realize they control the very tone they face reality itself with and what they attract is a direct consequence of what they are emitting. Whether a person is emitting vibrations of a playful, sexual, violent, or otherwise nature, they draw themselves to just that.
Vibration is but a symbol for transmitting messages. A message can be communicated from physical emblems of posture, action, and distance to psychic features like character, attitude, and intention. Instead of words the psychedelic experience expresses its message through feeling and perception: a person creates their own reality. Whatever exists on the outside of a person is a direct reflection of what exists inside. Subjective human reality is an illusion manipulated by imagination and experienced through ego. Reality is manifested from the mind, or psychedelic.
6:30 AM
No journey through inner space is complete until I see dawn break. The returning sun stands as my omen of not only having survived the night, but that life is an eternal cycle. The entire day returning from a trip is dedicated to relaxation and catching up on sleep. A much needed meal, water, and a shower aid in rejuvenation as peaceful silence fills the Sunday air. While light covers the land to arouse my local world, I descend into a blissful stupor. There are no words to fully describe that first moment of waking up after a psychedelic trip and seeing with reborn eyes that the world has, once more, become still again.
ToddDeVault.com