Some things I learned during the Plant Spirit Medicine (entheogenic) conference

[BaguaKicksAss]

Why yes, it was an entire 3 days of speakers about Entheogns. If you are wondering what entheogens are (as most of my friends didn't know the term either), think ayahuasca or peyote and you are most of the way there.

 

For all the times I tell people dabbling isn't good, it is sort of funny that I come to such things as a dabbler . One only has so much free time to take a few days off for a proper working with such things. However if we include all my experimentation over the years (lots in my early years lol) I guess it would add up to a lot. Scary was when I had more information on many things and was able to answer some questions. These days I only do such journeys about once per year. They are rather intense, sometimes take some physical recuperation time and just don't fit as well into my schedule these days. Damn I must be getting old .

 

The first thing I learned, and prepared beforehand, was to be even more open minded to all things and all people. Just because I had met some folks who had brought themselves to some very not good life situations in the past with such practices, didn't mean that was always the case, or perhaps ever the case, they could have just been the exceptions to the rule.

 

I was quite amazed at the quality of the speakers and the information they shared. About 20 different PHD folks, who have been doing such practices quite seriously for 40 plus years. Well this was most of the speakers anyways. What fun, doing a doctoral thesis about the ayahuasca practices in the jungles of Peru, but having to live there for a few years and participate in their ceremonies to do so. Apparently these folks also have quite a strong magical culture as well as most definitely utilize it quite a bit, with and without aya.

 

I also learned that in most of the indigenous cultures that folks start using the various plants in ceremony at a very young age. Anywhere from right away, to their teenagehood rite of passage. Then onwards throughout their life.

 

I also learned some really unfortunate things such as ayahuasca tourism and popularity really killing off the vines and in the future likely not leaving enough for the traditional folks there to be able to use it. Fortunately they are now cultivating it as well as the admixture plants in Hawaii. I don't recall how many tonnes they export each year, but enough that there are organizations taking steps to try to fix matters there. Also the corporations who are completely obliterating large areas to grow palm trees are completely devastating the natural vegetation. The growth of soy is also a problem (it's used to feed cattle so much of it is grown).

 

What I enjoyed most about the conference was an entire few hundred folks who have figured out how to work with such things, but also able to lead a functional and coherent life. Unfortunately throughout the decades I have met far to many "urban shamans" who were so completely non-functional that they could no longer be active in the regular mundane world if they wished to, but also could not practice magic in any healthy for them way, due to having messed up their energy bodies so severely . This unfortunately is far to prevalent. Enough so that I tend to avoid all such gatherings. However the speakers and their topics looked interesting enough I thought I would give it a go. Glad I did.

 

I also learned quite a bit about the studies being done, and had been done over the decades about the use of various entheogens in therapy (by Psychiatrists and psychologists). There has been much research about lsd in therapy, some good and some bad depending on the approach. Some of the government experiments didn't go so well... setting is important. But also such things as iboga to eliminate cravings and addictions is quite interesting. Some folks have also been working with ayahuasca (done in a proper traditional ceremonial context) in such scenerios, in studies with small communities. They found quite positive results with this.

 

The catch being is that the plants take over during the journey and bring out the internal things the person needs to most work on, for 6-12 hours straight. Most definitely not for everyone (even if they were more legal in all countries).

 

I also have learned that with ayahuasca (and some others to some extent) tourism, there aren't always awesome outcomes either. Of course 99% of the time it turns out well, but there is that 1% where shamans have been known to have sex with a participant during the ceremony. Definitely not cool in a group, not agreed on beforehand, setting. Also not everyone has the means or the patience to thoroughly checkout the good and legit shamans vs the not so awesome ones.

 

I also learned more about the importance of the setting and rituals with these things. This part is pretty obvious, but perhaps not for newer folks. Interesting was that most of the folks there do not partake of such things, even weed in some cases, in a mundane setting ever. This makes perfect sense to me. I don't tend to bring my altar accouterments out to parties either .

 

It was really neat to see so many folks working so closely with plants in a major way .

Edited October 27, 2014 by BaguaKicksAss

[4bsolute]

Sure, these plants are true helpers.

 

We have all the options if we want to open or close our perception with the food we eat.

 

Either manmade for man(egoic)purpose or natural foods, herbs that help us in a spiritual context.

 

Isn't it laughable? You get mind-dulling foods everywhere and you have to be careful when buying mind-clarifying foods to not get busted.

 

At least all the good herbs used in TCM and old Taoism.. Reishi, Wu Wei Zi etcetc are freely available on the market.

Edited October 27, 2014 by 4bsolute

[BaguaKicksAss]

Several of the healing herbs are being controlled one by one, it is unfortunate. I don't even mean entheogens here, I mean standard help out your health sorts of herbs.

 

But, these things do not make the drug companies billions, soooo...

 

Btw, we are very fortunate here so far in Canada, most entheogens are freely available in local stores. For example they sell peyote buttons in a store down the street from where I live!

 

If anyone does have a list of which ones are legal in the USA that would be most helpful for me, as some of my incenses do contain some of them.

[Aksijaha]

Very very cool BKA. I will definitely be hitting this conference up next year. Props!

[Flolfolil]

...

Edited March 5, 2015 by Flolfolil

[BaguaKicksAss]

Sort of fun to leave it in thread, for awareness and such...

 

Nightshade/Belladonna (I assume so as you can pick it anywhere)

Mandragora/european mandrake

Syrian Rue

Aminita (though you can find them everywhere)

Hawaiin Baby woodrose

Aconite

B. Caapi

Dream Herb

Datura

Henbane

Morning glory

 

Maybe more to come, difficult to remember them all...

 

I remember I ordered some of those from the US when I lived there before. They had to talk to me on the phone due to some legal precautions, and likely to figure out if I was at least 18 or not.

[thelerner]

Here's a cool site- http://iamshaman.com/.

Years ago a great old member (Yoda) and I ordered dried amarita mushrooms and salvia extract from it and did some note comparisons. Neither of which is available these days. Still, not a bad source for some exotics.

[idiot_stimpy]

Anyone talk about Nutmeg?

[BaguaKicksAss]

Here's a cool site- http://iamshaman.com/.

Years ago a great old member (Yoda) and I ordered dried amarita mushrooms and salvia extract from it and did some note comparisons. Neither of which is available these days. Still, not a bad source for some exotics.

 

As long as the rainforest herbs are ethically harvested and money and support goes back to the places where they are harvested from... I've gotten all picky lately lol.

 

People buy aminitas?! Wow! Here they grow everywhere!

 

So did any of your friends try the aminita, and if so how did it go for them? (one can never talk about their own experiences online when living in the USA apparently ) Everyone I have talked with, even folks at the conference has been to worried to try them due to the high risk factor. I have always heard that you take a matchstick size only. I've never tried them (I live in Canada, so have always talked freely about my personal experiences lol).

[BaguaKicksAss]

No one at the conferenced talked about it, as it was more focused on the herbs from Mexico, Peru, Africa and etc. I have heard first hand experiences from folks about nutmeg though lol.

 

I have always just felt a little not so good after eating way to much of it, nothing as exciting as something to work with for a journey...

 

I want to submit a proposal for a lecture on LOCAL, or at least can be grown in one's backyard, herbs next time around. There really wasn't much focus on european and north american (cept Mexico), herbs. They did talk about local mushrooms and hemp a lot though .

Edited October 28, 2014 by BaguaKicksAss

[z00se]

Haha i think the setting is definitely important. Going from one setting to another can change everything even in the same evening. Massive mood swings and outlook changes song by song. Certain songs are really cool, and even years later the song can bring you back there again. I like Enya.

 

I've seen awesome times and bad times, in both myself and others. I think bad comes with frequency, perhaps the 'happy' chemicals within are used up.

There was a stage i went a bit crazy with everything i could get my hands on, everything well known and several things most people have never heard of. Now i haven't had anything for almost 10 years. It doesn't draw me any more. Sometimes others can draw you into the hype but truely i just don't find it fulfilling anymore. The fun wears off.

 

Whats more you've only gotta look on bluelight.nu the dark side and it's enough to make you want to steer clear of that as a cultivation path. bluelight.nu and erowid.org both have a wealth of information. I'm not sure you need a PHD to discuss it, i think having a PHD is just a silly excuse for to make it seem legitament to get wasted. If you want to get wasted, just go ahead, there is no shame.

 

Nutmeg... man that stuff is fowl to ingest. I only had the pre-ground stuff i could find in the supermarket when i was a young tacker so it wasn't as strong and didn't get much out of it.

 

Supposedly you can get blends from those happy herbal shops and take out certain parts and have those parts all on their own and it's insanely strong.

 

Strong and short is best i think. Some things just last too long and it becomes tiring.

 

Also i think really anybody who tries anything new needs to give it at least 3-4 goes before their body learns how to use it, and gives your consciousness long enough to realize what is happening.

 

I can replicate at least 4 strong substances... without substances, using just my mind. I'm not talking about just a 'has it started yet?' feeling, i mean full blown, stronger than the substance if you want it to be feeling, although it can take a few days to build it up to this level. I plan to write a series of articles about how to do it, i just haven't got around to it yet.

 

Oh and a little warning..., i wouldn't even go near Belladonna. You'd want to have spent a few years on the moon before even having a little taste. I haven't heard anything good about it and plenty bad. That is just poison. A fool it is who wants to try a psychoactive plant and tries Belladonna even after taking LSD or something like that. I doubt it will be what anybody is looking for except a test to see if you can keep your sanity.

[Flolfolil]

...

Edited March 5, 2015 by Flolfolil

[thelerner]

As I recall we found both our wives will toss out any suspect funny looking bags. I did make a tea before losing my stash. I ate the damp colorful shroom, can't say I had any particular experience. I tend to be resistant to most drugs, ie no effect on me, which is probably a good thing. So, no loss. Still have a tiny bit of the salvia tincture, but again I don't remember it having much effect on me.

Edited October 28, 2014 by thelerner

[GreytoWhite]

Anyone talk about Nutmeg?

 

Don't use fresh ground nutmeg. If you can, find some nutmeg extract it's easier on the digestive tract. The next thing I'd recommend is to be extremely careful with it and not to mix other stuff until you're used to nutmeg by itself. A nutmeg/cacao/cannabis oil space paste was what sent me over the edge into a manic psychotic break. I was already in a hypomanic state (wasn't aware of it at the time) and it forced me to integrate experiences I wasn't ready to relive, examine, and move forward.

 

I will say that the hallucinatory experiences allowed me to feel empathy for the first time which has made my life much happier. The exact chemical process of why nutmeg is psychoactive is currently not concrete. Some believe it is an MAOi, others that the liver can metabolize it into something like MDMA. Whatever the chemical action it was certainly effective. The space paste was my third experiment with psychedelic substances.

 

I had first tried salvia and it had little effect pre-stroke. Post-stroke salvia has started to work but is not a good trip IMO. The one intense experience I had was rather interesting. Gave me a new perspective on my life but it took me about 6 years to finally understand what that experience was communicating. Subsequent experiments mainly feel as if I am splitting into multiple universes with my spine as the axis - it's uncomfortable.

 

Amanita muscaria was mild when I tried it having gotten them from a botanical research company in Northern Arizona. They got raided by the DEA shortly afterward so I don't know where to get them at quality now. I felt a good body buzz kinda like being drunk, was mildly euphoric but the next day was not fun - very hazy. I ate about 10g in the traditional method. Rip off the stalk and throw it away. Then rip the meat from under the cap but be sure not to take the skin of the cap. Break down into little bits and ingest. Some have far more intense experiences and liken it to a 10 hour salvia trip which does not sound pleasant to me. Also these work on the GABA system and that can cause some major issues with depressed individuals.

 

My experiences with psilocybin mushrooms have all been good with whatever negatives I can attribute being the people around me more than the psychedelic itself. LSD must not be what it once was or my neurochemistry is so off that it doesn't effect me much more than mushrooms, super happy, feelings of warm wet movement under the skin and that was about it.

[GreytoWhite]

Also Aubrey Marcus talks extensively about his experiences with plant medicines.

 

http://www.warriorpoet.us/

[BaguaKicksAss]

Haha i think the setting is definitely important. Going from one setting to another can change everything even in the same evening. Massive mood swings and outlook changes song by song. Certain songs are really cool, and even years later the song can bring you back there again. I like Enya.

 

In the conference there was quite a bit of talk about set and setting. Set being the person going into it, and what place they are at, and what they are up for. Both are most definitely very important factors.

 

I've seen awesome times and bad times, in both myself and others. I think bad comes with frequency, perhaps the 'happy' chemicals within are used up.

 

I have always felt that the bad times were when the person has some internal stuff they haven't worked out yet which is coming to the forefront. Or is just having a bad mundane point in their life.

 

 

There was a stage i went a bit crazy with everything i could get my hands on, everything well known and several things most people have never heard of. Now i haven't had anything for almost 10 years. It doesn't draw me any more. Sometimes others can draw you into the hype but truely i just don't find it fulfilling anymore. The fun wears off.

 

Hmmm, I'm not sure fun would describe most experiences... 12 hours of going through ones internal stuff. I wouldn't say it's bad either though. I'm sort of neutral about them all now, just the odd time to work with them. Though at first decades back I did take some of them just for the mundane fun aspect . That did get boring after a time though as it was so much the same, and was not helping with progression.

 

Whats more you've only gotta look on bluelight.nu the dark side and it's enough to make you want to steer clear of that as a cultivation path. bluelight.nu and erowid.org both have a wealth of information. I'm not sure you need a PHD to discuss it, i think having a PHD is just a silly excuse for to make it seem legitament to get wasted. If you want to get wasted, just go ahead, there is no shame.

 

Not seen bluelight, do like errowid though. However way to much random mixing a. with b. with w. on there! A more cautious and scientific approach would be good I think lol.

 

Oh definitely don't need a phd to discuss it, however it was extremely nice for me to meet folks who work with entheogens regularly who aren't homeless or ready for the psyche ward, nor looking/acting all burned out.

 

I wouldn't call it "getting wasted" as many folks who work with them, phd or not, do so in quite a sacred context and for specific work to be done. More of a becoming more aware instead of obliterating the senses.

 

Nutmeg... man that stuff is fowl to ingest. I only had the pre-ground stuff i could find in the supermarket when i was a young tacker so it wasn't as strong and didn't get much out of it.

 

The organic suppliers' nutmeg tastes way better! The reason I ate so much is with my pumpkin mixtures, had forgotten about its other affects lol.

 

Supposedly you can get blends from those happy herbal shops and take out certain parts and have those parts all on their own and it's insanely strong.

 

Why do I see this ending in "gawd I never want to eat nutmeg again ever" sometimes? LOL

 

Strong and short is best i think. Some things just last too long and it becomes tiring.

 

I think long is the essential part when journeying to work through stuff though. For short, one can just meditate into a deep state, but it's not often one can keep up a non-stop extremely deep no self, with mind barely distracting, for 6-12 hours straight!

 

Also i think really anybody who tries anything new needs to give it at least 3-4 goes before their body learns how to use it, and gives your consciousness long enough to realize what is happening.

 

I can replicate at least 4 strong substances... without substances, using just my mind. I'm not talking about just a 'has it started yet?' feeling, i mean full blown, stronger than the substance if you want it to be feeling, although it can take a few days to build it up to this level. I plan to write a series of articles about how to do it, i just haven't got around to it yet.

 

This is one of my meditation techniques (depending on what I'm after). Just remember the feeling/energy, and duplicate it into the here and now, works great . The only thing is, to do this for 6-12 hours straight without breaks isn't very doable from what I have found.

 

Oh and a little warning..., i wouldn't even go near Belladonna. You'd want to have spent a few years on the moon before even having a little taste. I haven't heard anything good about it and plenty bad. That is just poison. A fool it is who wants to try a psychoactive plant and tries Belladonna even after taking LSD or something like that. I doubt it will be what anybody is looking for except a test to see if you can keep your sanity.

 

I would completely and entirely 100% disagree about this. Have you ever tried it? You are speaking without experience on this one. It is an extremely useful plant which has been used for at least a few centuries (I haven't done any research about older instances). Just don't do dumb stuff like take random amounts, or take it without finding out doses from an experienced person (same goes for the other strong ones). All the entheogens are poisons, to various degrees. It is traditionally used topically in a salve and is excellent for out of body travel and lucid dreaming and such. Like I said though, taking it without knowledge it not a good idea at all. Oh and don't eat the berries . (they taste nasty anyways)

[BaguaKicksAss]

no no no no no a thousand times no, never buy amanitas online

 

speaking from experience, you get an awful product and the chances of poisoning yourself go through the roof

 

if you are going to buy anything entheogenic online, first look up the provider on sa fe or sc am.com (remove spaces)

 

its so easy to identify them in the wild anyways

 

 

You don't eat the mushroom, you dry them completely and make a tea. Then you boil down and concentrate the tea to a small shot that tastes awful and strain out the plant matter. About 1 large/medium cap per person is enough for a strong concentration of the tea. The effects are light from the perspective of a person who enjoys heavy doses of dissociatives, but most people do not enjoy them at all.

 

 

Also bka all of those plants are legal as long as you don't say you are going to ingest them, though several of them are illegal in Louisiana. i guess that rules out an entheogenic mardi gras party

 

I noticed the entheogen sites in the US don't sell b. caapi, I figure there must be a (legality) reason?

 

Of *course* we don't ingest these internally!

 

Actually, most of the time I do not, I have other methods for working with many of them which can often be just as strong (!!!!!) without actually ingesting them. I use these methods quite often since working with them internally that often would not be good for me personally lol. Also such things as incenses, offerings and such... Fun plants to work with .

 

I think I'm going to go collect a bunch of aminitas . I will work with them in the temple and see what they have to relate to me. I have also noticed a bunch growing very well in the local cemetery. I figured those wouldn't be the ones to ingest lol; I'll make sure to label that bag.

 

I have a wholesaler who I have ordered from for about 10 years now (recommended by another practitioner), where I get my entheogens. I like the quality of their stuff. I find that quality is just as important for magical and external use, as it is for internal use. Same with non-entheogenic spices too though.

[BaguaKicksAss]

Personally I don't find the short overly intense ones nearly as useful, as there isn't as much time to learn, go deep within and reflect while still in the state. I'm curious how others work with this though.

 

I've never been interested in salvia; I've read/heard to many experiences with it, not my thing. However one of my students did end up speaking with a spirit while on it, when happened to be the exact same spirit which I ended up talking with months later for my grimoire; in other words, had a legit vision instead of just an internally created one.

Edited October 28, 2014 by BaguaKicksAss

[BaguaKicksAss]

Don't use fresh ground nutmeg. If you can, find some nutmeg extract it's easier on the digestive tract. The next thing I'd recommend is to be extremely careful with it and not to mix other stuff until you're used to nutmeg by itself. A nutmeg/cacao/cannabis oil space paste was what sent me over the edge into a manic psychotic break. I was already in a hypomanic state (wasn't aware of it at the time) and it forced me to integrate experiences I wasn't ready to relive, examine, and move forward.

 

I will say that the hallucinatory experiences allowed me to feel empathy for the first time which has made my life much happier. The exact chemical process of why nutmeg is psychoactive is currently not concrete. Some believe it is an MAOi, others that the liver can metabolize it into something like MDMA. Whatever the chemical action it was certainly effective. The space paste was my third experiment with psychedelic substances.

 

I had first tried salvia and it had little effect pre-stroke. Post-stroke salvia has started to work but is not a good trip IMO. The one intense experience I had was rather interesting. Gave me a new perspective on my life but it took me about 6 years to finally understand what that experience was communicating. Subsequent experiments mainly feel as if I am splitting into multiple universes with my spine as the axis - it's uncomfortable.

 

Amanita muscaria was mild when I tried it having gotten them from a botanical research company in Northern Arizona. They got raided by the DEA shortly afterward so I don't know where to get them at quality now. I felt a good body buzz kinda like being drunk, was mildly euphoric but the next day was not fun - very hazy. I ate about 10g in the traditional method. Rip off the stalk and throw it away. Then rip the meat from under the cap but be sure not to take the skin of the cap. Break down into little bits and ingest. Some have far more intense experiences and liken it to a 10 hour salvia trip which does not sound pleasant to me. Also these work on the GABA system and that can cause some major issues with depressed individuals.

 

My experiences with psilocybin mushrooms have all been good with whatever negatives I can attribute being the people around me more than the psychedelic itself. LSD must not be what it once was or my neurochemistry is so off that it doesn't effect me much more than mushrooms, super happy, feelings of warm wet movement under the skin and that was about it.

 

A 10 hour salvia trip, sooo does not sound appealing to me lol.

 

The regular mushrooms though, I like those, mainly because a 4 hour trip is nice and relaxing. Instead of those 8-16 hour ones! It is long enough to work some stuff out and to go deeper, but not so long that it feels like you are going into every single last little hidden space of yourself, or the universe depending on your focus, and digging stuff up and out. They aren't called teacher plants for nothing .

 

Reminds me of something quite funny. There was an anthropology of healing class at our local college. Well for such classes during the first day twice as many students show up as there is room/seats in the class. The instructors tend to take 1-2 extra, but that is about it. So during this very first class (and it was a 2nd year course) the teacher showed a sacred mushroom ceremony video/documentary, about a group of shamans in Mexico. Well next class there was about the perfect number of students for that class...

 

I have not personally found LSD to be any weaker these days. For a time there they had the legal version (one molecule different, so technically legal for a time). In the USA I mean, it might still be legal here, I'm not sure. So I decided to try that out. I couldn't tell the difference. Well OK different from the 70's stuff (someone had saved some for 40 years, so I got to try it about 7-8 years back), but the same as the 80's/90's stuff. It also apparently came in several different types, depending on what you wanted to work on, if anything, or just have fun, or...

[GreytoWhite]

I have not personally found LSD to be any weaker these days. For a time there they had the legal version (one molecule different, so technically legal for a time). In the USA I mean, it might still be legal here, I'm not sure. So I decided to try that out. I couldn't tell the difference. Well OK different from the 70's stuff (someone had saved some for 40 years, so I got to try it about 7-8 years back), but the same as the 80's/90's stuff. It also apparently came in several different types, depending on what you wanted to work on, if anything, or just have fun, or...

 

Are you talking of LSA? It's considered a precursor here so it is illegal but the plants which it can be extracted from are not illegal. It's not too difficult to make an extraction but I won't provide instructions here. One thing I just found out is that the xtabentun seeds may also contain LSA. Hell of a drink is xtabentun and I always felt far more pleasant sensations than alcohol alone would give me.

 

A glass of xtabentun and an aged cigar made by a Mayan are two things in this life I would hope everyone gets to try. What a nice evening that becomes!

[z00se]

I have never really taken light doses, I've always had 6-7 decent sized mushys picked fresh from the forest. I think picking them is half the fun, would be good to pick and eat, while finding more, so long as you've got gps to get back to the car! And don't listen to that Cheshire cat. Like the floor was on 45 degree angle and i had to hold on from rolling off the couch. Lots of stuff like that, weird, tripped out but not really fun.

 

LSD i thought was more pure and made mundane stuff thrilling to the bone like entering a magical wonderland. Crazy but fun. Very fun like talking to plants, seeing chi in the wind and air, ripples in the fabric of reality. But it seemed like a trip, not like mushys feeling more real.

 

I agree, dissasociatives is where its at for life changing deep spiritual stuff. I couldn't get enough of them but luckily not readily available luckily. Now i can get the same result in a different way through qigong and im not a passed out mess, plus i can remember it all. I still have my madman scribbled notes back from those days though haha.

 

 

[Flolfolil]

...

Edited March 5, 2015 by Flolfolil

[BaguaKicksAss]

I have never really taken light doses, I've always had 6-7 decent sized mushys picked fresh from the forest. I think picking them is half the fun, would be good to pick and eat, while finding more, so long as you've got gps to get back to the car! And don't listen to that Cheshire cat. Like the floor was on 45 degree angle and i had to hold on from rolling off the couch. Lots of stuff like that, weird, tripped out but not really fun. LSD i thought was more pure and made mundane stuff thrilling to the bone like entering a magical wonderland. Crazy but fun. Very fun like talking to plants, seeing chi in the wind and air, ripples in the fabric of reality. But it seemed like a trip, not like mushys feeling more real. I agree, dissasociatives is where its at for life changing deep spiritual stuff. I couldn't get enough of them but luckily not readily available luckily. Now i can get the same result in a different way through qigong and im not a passed out mess, plus i can remember it all. I still have my madman scribbled notes back from those days though haha.

 

I'm curious now, which ones (if you don't mind me asking, and PM is OK) did you not end up remembering the trip after? I have never had that happen oddly enough. It's OK though, now they have the Go Pro.. .

[Flolfolil]

...

Edited March 5, 2015 by Flolfolil

[z00se]

I don't see how it could be less potent when they were fresh? What psycho actives could be added through the drying process? I think most vegetables / fruits lose some of their nutrition after they age? Dunno, can't be sure, never tried dried ones. I had a mate who was right into it and took some of them mario brothers mushys, the red ones with the white spots, supposedly taken by vikings as a test haha. He ended up in ER saying they took the wrong ones haha. Just waiting in there for ages with his other friend who had them too and ended up just leaving because they were in there forever.

 

That guy really did push things to the limit, i've never seen somebody throw up that hard or that many times, then keep going back to the thing that made him chuck up, and before he even had more he'd go back out and chuck again for another 5 mins. Repeated it several times. A great bloke, took it all in his stride, was a good and caring friend but just liked pushing the limits too much. Unfortunately he died, was only like 23 or something, but he died travelling the world and came and saw me in China not long before he went. Definately always loved life and was always up for a festival or event. Was here for a short yet action packed time.

 

The notes, well they were pretty basic, down in my garage somewhere, it was not necessarily the notes, more the deep understanding and experience behind those notes. If a picture is 1000 words, an experience is like a million pictures. It's not like these are working outs of your mind, or readings from books, it's like they're right there in front of you and you've seen the events unfold.

 

Three of the biggest things i remember were:

 

Everyone is equal, still a person. Like monks, Hitler, the pope, neurosurgeons, etc. The pedistool, or lower level we put them on is only in our own minds, really everyone is on a level playing field, all just.... people.

 

And seeing more with my eyes closed that i could with them open. That was the massive one. Just knowing and understanding everything. As to if i really did or not, well i can't know but i felt i did. I remember asking my mate, ask me a question, ask me a question. I answered a few, and i think they were all right, but perhaps not in the direct way, perhaps more like that roundabout tai chi way, if you know what i mean. That way that is inbuned in Chinese bones, where sneakiness and indirect is natural. I could see with my eyes and with my brain at the same time, like two different worlds. I would get pulled into the other one, but i could keep my concentration here. Was a bit like live 'here', but go there to search for answers. Yet you could be doing both at the same time.

 

And understanding relativity, (not really Einstein's theory) how i understood it. Best way to describe it was 'how long is a piece of string'.

 

I was only 20 or so at the time, had done some meditation but nothing like the energy stuff i know these days. Was more like self hypnosis or just relaxing with breathing. Again, these things perhaps don't sound like much. A bit like patting a tiger... you think yeah that would be cool. But when you really pat a tiger its like woaw, that thing could kill me any second with one swipe. It's different to reading, it is being there and understanding how it came to be, and all that is with it. That's in the experience.

 

For several days, almost a week after a particular time i felt different. Like i knew something really profound, but i couldn't put my finger on it. It was just an awe filled sense of knowing. Mind you i still felt a bit out of it.

 

Like i said, quick in, quick out, i think that was the best. A couple of hours to get in there of solid (i don't know what to call it) and then get out again. It's tiring. Things that linger on for ages and you can't sleep, thats exhausting.

 

And how can you not remember? Well there have been plenty of nights i've binge drank and haven't remembered big sections. Your body is dealing with the poison, it doesn't have time or energy to record the events Apart from that there is too much going on... perhaps you can know everything, but that doesn't mean you can remember everything!

 

I was super fit back then too, i trained gym 5 days a week and ran 5kms 3-4 days a week, plus did walking too. So it is easier to handle poisons when you're fit. But sometimes those things, one in particular is like smashing you're health with a sledge hammer. It's not necessary, i now know other ways to get the same results and findings.

 

That being said, i would never go back and change those days. I loved them. Perhaps one of the hardest things for me has been to move on. Not from the stopping of poisons, just the closeness and love felt with close friends. We were friends for a long time before then, a big group of us and have things and special memories we still talk about to this day. However after being in China for a few years, when i came back everybody had moved on and, now i'm lucky if i get a few boys nights out a year. It's all family now.

 

Mmmm shared housing really is good fun when you're young. I would encourage other youngsters to go out and leave home at 18 too. Drinking, or more importantly having those close relationships with friends is good for young people. There is no time, and you're body can't handle it when you're older. Live for today.

 

There are only two things that really destroy lives, and thats ice (it's like the plague here in Australia), probably like crack in US, and opiates. Those things can really take you're life away from you. Other things, well if you let it take you're life away from you, thats you're own fault / choice, but when you decide you want to stop, you're life is always waiting for you when you decide to battle out of it and come back. That is the choice people can make as adults. Those two evil nasties... they destroy you're body and you're mind, especially ice. People never recover from extended daily use of that, even years later. So then you have a choice, shitty life with, or shitty life without. Involvement with those things should carry the death penalty. It can bring a country and communities to their knees. Australian law is far too soft on drugs. I've had friends who were happy and physically strong turn to shaking skinny nothings who struggle to hold a conversation. Pretty much the only one who 10 years later after daily use is still sane never used his brain much to begin with, so i guess he never misses it now.