We need to utilise other methods in our preparation and our integration for these experiences.

Different methods can help set us up for insightful experiences, and then maximise benefits and keep us on a path of learning and growth. There are many, and some popular ones include: mindfulness, yoga, breathwork, and nature immersion.

Another one of the big boys is journaling. 

This is because journaling can help with self-reflection, emotional processing, and integrating insights.

As such, journaling is one of the best things one can do to support their psychedelic-assisted growth. 

So, how does it work? What are the benefits? And how can you get started today?

In this blog post, I will be talking about the benefits of journaling and how they work synergistically with psychedelic processes. Then I will be offering you a few different journaling methods to support your psychedelic-assisted growth. I will also add a few tips on each so that you can start journaling today.

My intention with this blog post is to highlight the benefits of journaling in the hopes that you might be inspired to try it yourself and to give you some concrete examples of things that you can do so you can get started today.

Let’s dive in.

Benefits of Journaling and Psychedelic Processes

Writing pen to paper forces us to slow down. Simply by taking the time to write out our thoughts and feelings, journaling offers us the chance to be aware of what makes up our inner world. We can see things from inside ourselves, quite literally, on the paper in front of us, giving us an increased awareness of them. And with that, we also have an opportunity to reflect on them. 

By allowing us to see what is on our minds and gain a deeper understanding of ourselves, journaling might even be considered psychedelic — if we are going by the literal meaning of the word: mind-revealing. 

As such, it is an excellent tool to synergise with our actual psychedelic experiences. 

Journaling can be a way to integrate a more reflective and aware way of being in our days—what we might call a psychedelic way of life. It also helps clear the mind—like mental decluttering—and has been shown to have emotional effects such as reducing anxiety. Both of these effects are also going to be beneficial when we are in the preparation stage of our psychedelic experiences.

After our experiences, journaling can help us in our integration as well. Beyond documenting them, writing about our experiences gives us a chance to further unpack them, dig out insights,  and solidify them. With insights unpacked, we also have an opportunity to make plans and move forward in the integration process.

To summarise, some of the benefits of journaling related to psychedelic use include:

• Promotes self-awareness
• Enhances awareness of thoughts and feelings
• Provides opportunities for reflection
• Aids in clearing the mind and reducing anxiety
• Helps in planning sessions and logistical details
• Assists in documenting experiences and unpacking insights
• Facilitates integration of insights
• Facilitates further reflection and planning for integration

Journaling Methods to Support Psychedelic Processes

Ready to start journaling?

Here are a few different styles of journaling that you can try today.

1. Free Writing (Basic Journaling)

This is the most basic. In the simplest terms; put pen to paper and start writing.

To gain a better understanding of yourself and your emotions, try not to focus only on things that you have done or things that you see, but write about your thoughts and your feelings.

Write about what is on your mind and use that as a starting point to write further reflections and observations.

Write about your feelings. You can write about your feelings in the moment or in different situations or significant moments in your day or life. You can write about any instances where certain feelings were triggered. 

And it is as simple as that. It does not matter if what you write is petty. It does not matter if it seems boring or nothing special. Just the process of writing will help get things out and that process will help you to reflect and introspect.

One way of incorporating this method is the morning pages. The morning pages, as originally described in The Artist’s Way—Julia Cameron’s classic book on creativity— are three full A4 pages of longhand journaling each morning. Again, about anything. Just get pen to paper and write until you fill the pages.

I have found this three full pages method to be an extremely useful practice. If I have something niggling away at me or I feel like I have too many things on my mind, I find that taking time to sit down and write my thoughts out is extremely clarifying, improves my emotional state, and gives me some actionable items to move forward.

Tips for starting a free writing journaling practice: 

• Get a nice pen and journal or pad that feels nice to write with. This will help make the process more enjoyable.
• Keep the journal private so that you know that it is a safe space for you to be able to fully express yourself without fear of judgement or any kind of repercussion from anyone else.
• Remember to write your thoughts and feelings, not just objective facts.
• It can be helpful to ask yourself questions. Think about questions that a coach or therapist would ask you. Or use them to direct them back to your values.

2. Writing Letters

Often, the difficulties or problems we have in our lives come from our relationships. As social creatures who have evolved with the need to successfully socially engage to survive, it is no surprise that relationships can be the source of difficult emotions.

Sometimes in our psychedelic experiences, insights may come to us about our relationships with others. Or it might be the case that our intention for an experience is a relational issue that we are looking to process emotions around and resolve.

Writing letters to other people can be hugely helpful in supporting these processes.

The beauty of the exercise of writing letters to other people is that you have a safe space to express your emotions without necessarily having to send those letters to the people you are writing them to. 

Just the process of writing letters can help us to become more aware of our feelings and offer a lot of therapeutic value. This can be done both in preparation and integration of an experience, depending on where it is most relevant for each person. In both cases, it can again help to process emotions and gain mental clarity. 

Tips for Writing Letters to Others

• It is usually most useful to focus on people you have some difficult emotions around.
• Be completely uncensored. If there is anger, if there is pain, if there is frustration, allow yourself to feel it, and express it in the letter. Remember, you do not need to send it to them. Just let it out, and put it down on paper. 
• If you decide that it would be good to send the letter or message you have written, you might like to make some revisions. Go back once the heat is off and think about your wording and how you would like to communicate. You might consider something like non-violent communication.
• Consider using the following questions as prompts for your letter: What would you really like to say to them? What would you like them to know? If you were going to die next week, what should not be left unsaid?
• If you want to share anything from your letter in person, you can use a bulleted version of your letter for reference.

3. Writing Letters to Self

Writing letters to yourself can also be a very useful exercise.

By somewhat externalising ourselves and seeing ourselves as another person, we can get a different perspective on our problems and a new level of awareness around them.

Often it is hard for us to have perspective on our own problems because we are too close to them. It can be the case that if somebody else were to come to us with our problems  —the exact same ones—we could easily dole out the perfect advice and tell them what to do.

As the quote goes:
“Wisdom is the ability to take your own advice.”

Letters to self can also be a means of exploring your inner dialogue by writing letters to different aspects of yourself—for example, the inner child, the inner critic and your higher self. This way of seeing ourselves as made up of many separate selves or parts, and communicating with them, is fundamentally the same as popular and effective psychological techniques used in parts work and Internal Family Systems. 

Letters can also be written to our past and future selves. This can give you a chance to reflect on your journey and to look forward. 

Tips for Writing Letters To Yourself

• When writing a letter to your present self, try imagining it is a good friend. Consider: What do they (you) need to hear right now? What advice, encouragement or support would you offer to someone in your situation at this moment? 
• If writing a letter to your future self, express your hopes, dreams and intentions.
• When writing to different parts of yourself, such as your inner critic, consider making the letter a dialogue. Ask the part what it wants and write responses from it. 

Trip Reports

Writing trip reports is, I would argue, an essential aspect of integrating psychedelic experiences. I would not say that everyone needs to do it, but I will say that most people would likely benefit from doing it.

Firstly, trip reports are great for documenting your experiences and your journey over time. Beyond that, the process of writing them offers a chance to revisit and remember the experience, refresh the memory, and consolidate it further, along with any insights and lessons. 

Writing reports also offers a chance for further emotional processing. It is not uncommon that I will be brought back to tears when I am re-listening to the playlist and writing up my report.

Tips for Writing Trip Reports

• Start with basic objective details: setting, dosage, people present, time of the session, etc. 
• Write an open-ended report about your subjective experiences. Write about thoughts, feelings and perceptions.
• Allow yourself the freedom to further reflect and riff on anything that comes up.
• If you listened to music during your experience, try listening to the same music again when you are writing your report. It can be extremely effective in taking you back to the experience.

Final Notes and Tips

I hope this gives you some ideas and concrete examples of ways that you use journaling. However, it is not always easy to get started. Common barriers to journaling include perfectionism, self-censorship, or lack of time. To combat these, I will finish with some final tips:

• Allow your journaling to be imperfect. Allow it to be rubbish.
• You do not need to read your entries back. Remember that by putting pen to paper, you are doing it. The process itself will be helpful. 
• Allow yourself freedom of expression. When you are writing, do not think about sharing your deepest feelings or forbidden thoughts with anyone else. Keep your journal a free space where you can say absolutely anything
• Start small. Try to find the time in your daily, weekly, or monthly routine when you can do it. 

Final Thoughts

Journaling can increase self-awareness, improve emotional states, and facilitate introspection and reflection. For these reasons, it can be a great synergistic practice to pair with intentional and growth-oriented psychedelic exploration.

I have found journaling to be one of the most transformational and supportive practices to use alongside psychedelics, helping to bring about more valuable and beneficial experiences and also aiding in their integration. 

I hope this post has inspired you to try journaling and given you some useful prompts to get started today.

Stay safe. Keep journaling.

The post 4 Journaling Methods to Boost Beneficial Psychedelic Processes appeared first on Maps of the Mind.

“When you get the message, hang up the phone.”

He was not referring to literal phones, but the use of psychedelics as a tool for spiritual exploration. 

Watts went on:

“For psychedelic drugs are simply instruments, like microscopes, telescopes, and telephones. The biologist does not sit with eye permanently glued to the microscope; he goes away and works on what he has seen”.

Watts’s point was that although psychedelic drugs can be a helpful way to open up the mind and experience new ways of thinking, they should not be used as a crutch or a substitute for true spiritual growth. Once you have learned something from the drug experience, it is important to be able to let go of the drug and integrate the insights into your everyday life.

Watt’ phrase is commonly quoted in conversations about the frequency of psychedelic use, and generally means ‘don’t trip too often’. Put the phone down, and focus on the message you’ve received.

Overuse of psychedelics is possible. It is possible to become psychologically addicted, use psychedelics as an escape, to spiritual bypass, and otherwise harm oneself from overuse. It can be good to consider taking a break, and Sam Woolfe wrote an excellent article exploring this topic: When Should You Take a Break From Psychedelics?

But on the other side of the coin, when is it a good time to pick up the phone again?

In this article, I’ll be exploring when you might consider tripping again. I’ll look at some factors we can consider to make an informed and conscious choice about when, and how you might do that. I’ll look at the integration of previous experiences, refresher journeys, lower doses, growth through discomfort, and honestly looking at our motivations.

My intention with this article is to offer an alternative viewpoint, not encourage you or anyone to take psychedelics. I hope to keep the conversation around psychedelics broad, as I believe a multitude of perspectives helps us to arrive at a more balanced perspective. 

Please don’t ever be pressured into taking psychedelics, and proceed with care and caution.

With that said, let’s dive in…

Integration of Past Experiences

The first thing to consider is your integration, or lack thereof, of any previous experiences.

Integration is a bridge that connects insights gleaned from your past encounters with your present self. It’s a process of assimilating, digesting, and applying wisdom gained during your inner voyages.

If you imagine integration as the process of tending to a garden. Just as you wouldn’t plant new seeds without nurturing the existing blooms, it’s best to nurture your psychedelic insights before inviting new ones.

Properly integrating past experiences is key. Don’t rush to pick up the phone again until you’ve processed your previous experiences and made efforts to integrate them. Try to resolve any significant things which have come up, or at least make some significant progress on them.

If there is a theme that keeps coming up during your psychedelic journeys, and you don’t seem to be making any progress on it, then it should be an indicator that continually picking up the phone isn’t helping with this. You might want to change your strategy for how to integrate this. 

Consider seeking further education, support, a coach, or some type of accountability, on this.

For example, if you keep getting insights into the importance of your physical health, yet fail to integrate and make relevant changes to your diet or go for your intended regular runs, then you might make further efforts before journeying again. You might try something new; signing up for a class instead of doing solo workouts, trying meal prep plans, asking for help from a friend, or hiring a coach.

If, however, between psychedelic sessions, you notice progress, and each one helps to further cement the learnings and offer new insights, then it’s a sign that the continued sessions are supporting you in your growth.

Some of our most profound experiences can take a lifetime to fully integrate, but that doesn’t mean we must wait a whole lifetime to re-engage with psychedelics.

Even if you haven’t 100% integrated a previous experience, have you made progress with any learnings or lessons? Then you may well be ready to embark on another journey.

Refresher Journeys: Rekindling Fading Wisdom

Just as the embers of fire require a gentle nudge to reignite their brilliance, sometimes the insights from your past journeys can benefit from a refresher journey.

This is where the concept of refresher journeys comes into play. 

Life moves pretty fast, and any wisdom gained from your psychedelic experiences can fade surprisingly, and sometimes disappointingly, quickly.

A refresher journey can help you touch base again. It’s like rekindling the fading embers of insight.

You can think of these journeys as revisiting a cherished book—one that you’ve read before, but each time you pick it up, you uncover new layers of meaning. Similarly, by reconnecting with the psychedelic experience, you rekindle the wisdom that may have faded into the background of everyday life.

Refresher journeys, or revisits to the psychedelic realm, can be a way of deepening your understanding. They can breathe new life into insights that may have grown faint.

I often receive useful reminders, bringing me back to old lessons that are helpful to remember: the importance of relationships, my family, following my heart, and living with honesty and integrity. They pull me back to my centre, and my values, and help me to relocate my North Star. It’s a continual process.

If you choose to embark on a journey again, you can honour the progress you’ve made while still allowing yourself the chance to touch upon old truths and delve deeper into the realms of consciousness.

The act of revisiting is not necessarily a step backwards. It can be a step forward and a reawakening of the insights that have the power to help light your path forward.

Lower Doses: Gentle Reconnection with Insight

When we talk about revisiting psychedelic experiences, it’s also important to remember that experiences can vary widely, and a key consideration is dose. 

Picking up the phone again need not be a high-dose affair. A refresher journey, or a revisit to psychedelic realms, might be on a lower dose. 

Lower doses can act as gentle reminders, guiding you to revisit the realms you’ve previously explored. 

Some people think that ‘bigger is better’ when it comes to psychedelic dosages. But dialling back the dosage isn’t necessarily a downgrade. Sometimes it’s a strategic move. Using lower doses to reconnect with past insights is a gentle nudge rather than a full-on conversation.

Lower doses can also help to continue processing higher dose journeys, and ‘finish thought processes’ – as one friend put it – that began in recent experiences.

It can be like a dialogue with your own wisdom, a conversation that echoes the lessons you’ve learned while inviting you to deepen your understanding. By choosing a lower dose, you’re not stepping away from the journey; you’re opening yourself to other ways of engaging with psychedelics.

You may also wish to try different styles of sessions, seeing if the experience has something different to offer you when you change your activity and setting.

For instance, mini doses can become your companions during activities that typically wouldn’t involve altered states—running, journaling, nature walks. These micro-experiences can infuse ordinary moments with extraordinary insights.

Also, if you’ve become fearful of psychedelic experiences, perhaps due to a difficult experience or otherwise, lower doses can help to reconnect to psychedelic realms with a greater feeling of safety.

This can help to re-establish trust and build a healthier relationship with psychedelics. This can be a good stepping point if you’d still like to explore higher doses of psychedelics again in the future.

Growth Occurs Outside The Comfort Zone

It’s common to hear that you shouldn’t journey with psychedelics when you’re not feeling good.

It is common to hear messages of caution and restraint, and for good reason. 

On the other side of this, there is an alternative viewpoint. A perspective that encourages you to consider journeying when you might be feeling resistance to it.

Consider this our deepest growth often stems from confronting the shadows we’d rather keep hidden.

Those uncomfortable truths or emotions, the ones we tend to run from, often hold the key to healing and transformation. When you dare to venture into territories that cause unease, you embark on a journey of self-discovery. These are moments that can catalyze monumental personal growth.

Uncomfortable truths serve as mirrors reflecting back the shadows of ourselves we’ve yet to acknowledge. They guide us to areas of our psyche that require attention, care, and understanding. By journeying into these shadows, we not only learn about ourselves, but we also embrace a path of healing and self-evolution. It’s a process of peeling back layers, revealing the raw core of who you are, and giving yourself the chance to rebuild stronger and wiser.

It can be more comfortable to avoid psychedelic journeys when there is something uncomfortable lurking in our unconscious. Yet, consider that growth comes from confronting them.

Sometimes tackling a problem head-on, even if it’s more challenging in the short term, can yield greater long-term benefits. Just as an uncomfortable conversation can lead to resolution, facing your hesitations around psychedelics may unearth insights that transform your life.

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure that you seek”
– Joseph Campbell

Now am I saying that if you’re scared to journey, then you should do it?
Absolutely not.

I am saying it is wise to look at your resistance…

Look at Your Why: Confronting Fear with Honesty

Fear can be a powerful deterrent. It can also be overblown. It’s easy to let apprehension drive decisions, steering you away from the unknown territory of the psychedelic experience. But what if your fear is a smokescreen, an avoidance mechanism keeping you from confronting deeper, unresolved issues?

If you are feeling resistance, consider why.

Is it because you genuinely think you could be doing yourself some harm? That you don’t have a sufficiently safe setting?
Or is it because you are afraid to face something uncomfortable about yourself?

Do you know that it will actually serve you, but you’re avoiding it because you know there might be a few bumps on the road? 

Being honest with yourself is essential in this process.

When it comes to examining your reasons for avoiding a trip, take a close look.

Is any reluctance stemming from a genuine awareness that you wouldn’t benefit, or is it your own resistance to confronting your reality?

Asking these questions, as well as considering the other points in this article, can help bring about clarity on whether it is a good idea to plan a session, or if you’re better off waiting a while.

Final Thoughts

Of course, deciding to take psychedelics again is a complex topic. There are no simple criteria to judge when you should or shouldn’t. 

When you think about when you might want to pick up the phone again, take into careful consideration your approach and your why.

Take a look at your integration of previous experiences, consider if you’d benefit from a refresher on your wisdom, and what dose would be appropriate. Look at your reasons why, or why not, and consider if they serve and benefit you. And of course, consider that you may well still need a break from psychedelics.

Stay safe, journey well.

The post When Should You Pick Up The Phone Again? Factors to Consider the Right Moment for Reengaging Psychedelic Exploration appeared first on Maps of the Mind.

When it comes to integration—the part of the psychedelic process after our experience where we try to consolidate any perceived benefits—remembering our psychedelic experiences can be a crucial part of the puzzle. Remembering helps us to reconnect to the experience and make it a part of our being. It helps to reconnect us with insights, impressions and important truths we may have encountered.

In this blog post, I will explore remembering as a part of integration. I will look at the benefits of remembering, its role in processing, and how it can help reconnect us to our experience more deeply. I will also look at a few different methods for remembering and recalling the experience so that by the end of the article you will already be able to begin this practice.

My intention with this post is to highlight the importance of remembrance and recall in the psychedelic integration process, and to give you ideas and tools on how to do this so that you may maximise the benefits from your experiences.

Let’s dive in.

Reconnecting with the Experience

When we remember an experience, psychedelic or otherwise, we reconnect with the thoughts, feelings and perceptions that arose during that experience. This is true whether remembering is through spontaneous or active recall.

In the context of psychedelic integration, this is relevant when we consider psychedelic integration as being able to carry over some of the wisdom and insight from our psychedelic experiences into our day-to-day lives outside of the experience.

Deep personal truths can become crystal clear to us in the psychedelic state. And those realisations about what is true and deep and important to us are not things we want to forget easily. Most likely, we want to hold onto them and carry them with us as we re-enter our normal lives. The act of remembering is a way to bring parts of them back into our psyche and our being.

Processing Experiences

Reconnecting with aspects of the experience through remembering can also help with processing. This can be especially important and helpful when we have had very dense psychedelic experiences that have contained huge amounts of content and information. Experiences may have had a high amount of emotional arousal or even crept over into being overwhelming. Those experiences, if left unprocessed, can result in other problems if they continue to exist unresolved in our psyches. Unresolved issues can lead to a manifestation of problems in other areas; mentally, behaviourally and physically.

By being with our memories in a state of remembering or recalling, we can touch the experience again and allow further opportunities for processing.

When experiences are fully processed, there is less ambiguity and more clarity around them. This is where we want to be when moving into action with our integration: beyond processing and ready to move into the deliberate and active part of the integration process.

Keeping The Experience Alive

There is a saying that says the moment someone dies is not when their heart stops beating or their body physically ceases to exist, but that it is the last time anyone ever thought of them. As long as people keep thinking of a person, some part of them is kept alive.

This is relevant in the context of psychedelic integration because, for deeply meaningful experiences, we want to keep them alive. Even though an experience may have finished, it can be seen to continue to live on in spirit, if it continues to influence us through our memory of it. 

Although our psychedelic experience may have ended and the pharmacological effects have worn off, we can keep it alive by recalling it, revisiting it, and remembering it. This helps to keep the experience as part of our being—rather than some thrilling experience we once had and then forgot about and that had no meaningful influence on the rest of our lives.

If there is some truth that has been revealed to us, some knowledge that has been transferred—some revelation or realization—we want to remember that and we want it to inform how we live. When we are living in full alignment with that, then in terms of psychedelic integration, we can consider that a success.

Integration Begins Immediately

This remembering process can begin even before a session is finished. It can begin after the peak, on the end of the downslide, when you are into calmer waters. Here you may already begin recalling and reflecting about what has happened at the peak of the experience. In what is often a calm, quiet, and meditative state, this is a good time to stay with your experience and begin integration by processing and reflecting on the content of the experience.

In this regard, the integration process can be seen as starting as soon as somebody begins coming down from their peak. At this time, it is highly important to stay with the experience as best as possible, and not be in a rush to leave psychedelic states or for the session to end. This means not rushing to go back to mundane things, but staying with yourself and the waves of experience that are still coming. Allowing whatever you have experienced to fully sink in. By allowing it to sink in, it can more easily become part of our mind and our being.

Methods of Remembering and Recall

There are many different ways of remembering and recalling to aid psychedelic integration. Here I will share a few.

Recalling Through The Senses Meditation

One means of aiding recall is a type of guided visualization exercise. This works by systematically going through each of the five senses, and recalling what you can. 

If you have an experience that you would like to remember, psychedelic or not, you can practice this now as you read. Begin by taking a breath and calming your mind. Then, move through the five senses.

Sight

Remember what you saw; the environment, things in the room, people that you were with, any visions or visuals that you may have experienced. These might have occurred in dreamlike psychedelic states, deep recesses of the mind, or the depths of inner or outer space.

Smell

Remember what you smelt. Were there any scents or smells in the space? Can you recall the smell of the mushrooms or the ayahuasca brew? Call all smells back to mind. 

Taste

Are there any tastes you remember? This is not usually a prominent source of memories, but maybe you can recall the taste of the mushrooms or the ayahuasca brew. Recall any tastes that you can.

Touch

Remember what you touched. Was there something that you were lying on? Were there any materials around? Recall as many details as you can and hold them in your mind.

Sound

Remember what you heard. Bring to mind any music that was playing and hear it in your head. Were there any sounds from nature or the environment around you?

When you have gone through the five senses, some of the experience should be back with you and you can move on to a final step.

Feelings 

Finally, can you remember how you felt? What were the most prominent emotions?

Sit with any emotions that come up and allow them to go wherever they may go. Allow them to enter into your being, and notice how you feel physically—the somatic sensation in your body.

This is an important step because meaning is usually accompanied by some kind of emotional content. Emotions can be a doorway through which we reconnect to key moments.

Expressing the Experience Creatively

Expressing the experience creatively via art or music can also be a great way to reconnect with it. A simple way can just be doing doodles with pen and paper. You may bust out some colours or crayons, or you might try a poem. Whatever method, just try to somehow capture and express some essence of your experience.

Revisiting Recordings

Another method of triggering recall is by revisiting any recordings that were made during the session. This can include audio recordings, photos and videos. Listening or watching back can work wonders to reconnect with the version of you that was having that experience. Preparing necessary recording equipment in advance can be useful for these means. 

More simply, you might revisit any notes that you have made with a pen and paper. Reading back over these notes can be a very simple and effective way to reconnect with the experience.

The Role of Journaling

Journaling can be an especially effective and impactful way to integrate an experience.

As part of many of the groundbreaking psilocybin studies done at Johns Hopkins, participants were required to write up a trip report in the form of an open-ended narrative. They were required to do this the same day of their experience, in the evening, and to bring it for discussion the next day. After learning about this and trying it myself, I was surprised by how beneficial it was and made this an unmissable part of my integration process. I do not write it on the same day but always schedule it for the day after.

The process of journaling about an experience after it has happened is helpful because it can help to unpack dense or content-rich experiences. In the act of journaling, we may find little nooks, crannies and crevices of the experience that we had completely forgotten about. This unpacking of the experience can help to facilitate and deepen any understandings that may have arisen. It is generally good practice to capture the experience whilst it is still fresh, either that evening or the day after.

Recreating The Context

Another thing to consider when it comes to memory recall is context-dependent memory. Context-dependent memory refers to the phenomenon whereby it is easier to recall memories when the context of the original experience is replicated somewhat.

In terms of psychedelic experiences, this could include, for example, parts of the setting. This might be done by listening to the same music or revisiting smells. It could also be the clothes you wear or how the space is decorated.

If you had any type of pre-session ritual, you might also revisit that. If you went for a run and meditated before, then to re-create that you might go for a run and meditate, and then simply smell some mushrooms. In some cases, you might even take a low dose to help connect with the psychedelic state and any associated insights.

If you are proactive in setting up your experience for easier recall, you might prepare a specific incense or blend of essential oils to be smelled during the experience. You will then be able to use them to help trigger memories in the future. 

Proactive Integration

Remember to Remember

We know the truth and the insights; we have learned something profound. Remembering to remember can be the tricky bit. Sometimes we just forget to remember our lessons.

Proactive ways to help retain a memory include scheduling periodic sessions to revisit or reflect upon an experience. This could be, for example, one month later, or on a monthly or yearly interval. You might create routines or rituals to support this. This could be a moment of recall at the end of a daily meditation session, or spending a day out in nature once a year, potentially assisted by a mini dose. It can be useful to put these events in calendars or set reminders so that we remember to remember. This type of proactive integration can be hugely valuable in maintaining a connection with a psychedelic experience and its insights over time.

Visual Reminders

Another way of supporting memory is by having associated visual reminders in your environment. For example, if you made a piece of artwork or drew a mandala based on your experience, you might hang it up somewhere in your home where you will see it often. It could also be an item that you find in nature which represents the experience in some way, or a house plant or a piece of art that was prominent or significant during the experience. 

You Can Not Remember Everything

After a deeply impactful or meaningful experience, it can be natural to want to remember every last detail. In reality, that is unrealistic. Although it is helpful to make an effort to remember the experience, it is important to accept that some aspects of it may be lost. Realistically, you are not going to be able to remember the entirety of the experience in perfect detail for the rest of your life. 

Accept that some details may be lost over time and that that is okay. That said, if you are actively recalling and revisiting meaningful experiences, fewer details will be lost, recall will be better, and this will reinforce the integration of those experiences. 

Final Thoughts

“Remember, remember” is not just for the 5th of November. It goes for our psychedelic experiences too.

Remembering can help to facilitate the processing of dense or overwhelming experiences and maintain a connection with the transformative aspects of a psychedelic experience over time. It can help to integrate profound insights and perspectives into daily life and it can allow for a deeper reflection on any lessons gained.

I invite you to try recalling your experience after your next psychedelic session. Try taking some time, even if it is just a couple of hours, to write up a report of your experience the day after. See for yourself what comes of it and if or how it deepens your process. If you already have an experience you would like to recall, try it today!

Do you practice remembering important experiences? Which of the techniques do you find most effective for recall and integration? Is there anything you read here that you would like to try? Leave your comments below. We look forward to hearing from you.

Stay safe, remember well.

The post The Power of Remembering: Enhancing Psychedelic Integration appeared first on Maps of the Mind.

Some psychonauts even have some level of pride around taking big doses. And while I certainly appreciate the benefits of a high-dose session, they are not the be-all and end-all of psychedelics.

Micro, mini and low doses-tiny to small amounts of psychedelics-can also bring a lot of value and benefit to our lives. It’s an area of psychedelics I’ve come to appreciate more over the last couple of years as I’ve expanded my repertoire beyond classic high-dose journeys.

Whilst high doses plunge us into deep journeys where it’s best to just lay back and take the ride, mini doses offer us the chance to explore activities and have other types of experiences.

Whether it’s psilocybin shrooms or LSD, in this mode, psychedelics can act as an enhancer, enriching and deepening our experience of other activities.

What type of activities? I’m glad you asked.

In this blog post, I will offer 6 types of activities that you may like to try with microdoses or mini-doses. We’ll look at nature connections, creative experiments, mindfulness, physical activities, learning, and social experiments. I’ll dive into each and offer you some ideas to help you get started. Then I’ll end with a couple of key considerations for your explorations.

And yes, I’ve tried them all!

As ever, I hope that this will help you to have more fruitful and beneficial psychedelic experiences.

Let’s get started…

1. Nature Connection

Time in nature has been shown to have many benefits on mental and emotional well-being. Adding a pinch of psychedelic to nature time is a classic combination for good reason: the benefits and enjoyment can be increased with a small dose.

The expanded awareness from a small dose can help us tune in more fully to our natural surroundings and deepen our appreciation of them. Connecting with fresh air and greenery can be rejuvenating and restorative. And something about nature can help us tune into the majesty of the natural world, the wonder of the universe, and the mystery of life. That sense of awe can be a key catalyst in positive psychedelic experiences.

The grandness and scale of nature can also help us to get a perspective on things. And, if we’re struggling with something about ourselves, in its unwavering presence, we can always rely on nature to fully accept us as we are.

You might explore parks, nature trails, national parks, or botanical gardens. If you’re heading out for the day, be sure to take the basic necessary precautions.

2. Creative Experiments

Engaging in creative endeavours or experiments can be an enjoyable activity whilst in a different state of awareness.

If you’re painting or working with crayons, you might have a deeper appreciation or joy at seeing how the colors fall onto the page, or how they mix together. I have loved seeing the ink spill from a pen and onto paper, seeing the lines appear before my eyes, like magic, to form an image.

If you’re a musician, you might like to experiment with your instrument.

Lower doses can be great for ideation, too. You might have new perspectives and insights bubbling up for your creative work. If you have a topic or project you’d like to expand your thinking or ideas on, take a pad and paper, and invite in any and all ideas. I’d recommend not to put a limit in this ideation stage: don’t judge your ideas, or put limits on them with voices like ‘that’s unrealistic’. Just allow your mind to explore.

You might try brainstorming under these loose topics:

Way to improve your social life/finances/health
Ideas for your next – song/poem/performance/drawing/piece of art/birthday gift

Your level of dose will affect the level of your ability to use specific tools, so take this into account. If writing is hard, you might dictate or speak directly to ChatGPT and ask it to summarize your thoughts for you.

If using paints or colours, just remember to take care of your setting so you don’t make too much of a mess.

3. Mindfulness Meditation

Why not combine psychedelics with another consciousness-expanding technology? I’m talking about meditation or breathwork.

A mini-dose can help us start at a slightly more expanded state to begin our meditation and may help to experience something deeper in our sit.

One study done in Switzerland, and documented in the great film Descending The Mountain, had long-term meditators take a dose of psilocybin and meditate in their monastery in the mountains. Their rates for peak experience were higher than in any other study! Though this study was done with high doses, I think it illustrates the potential of combining psychedelics with meditation.

Lower doses can also help us go deeper into other meditative practices like loving-kindness, tonglen, RAIN, or self-inquiry.

Breathwork can be used to intensify an experience, and has the added safety measure that you stop doing it if it’s getting too intense for you, and allow your experience to calm down again.

Take into account that it may be difficult to retain your focus whilst on a dose, so don’t be hard on yourself if you find it extremely hard and your mind keeps walking off.

4. Physical Activities

Of course, this comes with the usual caveat of being careful. But some physical activity with psychedelics can be a wonderful combo.

Yoga, much like meditation, is traditionally a spiritual discipline that can be paired with psychedelics. I once went to a yoga class on a mini-dose of LSD and it was a truly beautiful experience. I was incredibly present throughout the class with a great awareness of all my movements and breath. Even a few sun salutations can help to ground and become present.

You might also try tai chi. The wonderful flowing movements can help to loosen up, move energy, and find a greater sense of ease and peace. They can also help to tune into our bodies and breathing and enter a greater state of presence.

Depending on the person and the dose, psychedelics can also bring about increased levels of energy. Last year, I got quite into mini-dose runs. I take the dose and after 30-60 minutes, when I feel that surge of energy as it’s coming on, I lace up, put my headphones on, and head out. I’ve done 10-mile runs on LSD, feeling very present with running movements and flow of my breath. After a post-run bath and a lie-down, I’ve felt blissful in my body.

A mini-dose can increase awareness of the body and breath, and this can be utilized when considering any physical activity. Just remember that more complex movements may bring their own set of coordination challenges!

5. Learning and Study

Beyond using our bodies, what about our minds?

Reading philosophical or thought-provoking literature can be a great exercise on mild journeys. When exploring intellectual ideas, we may get new perspectives, a deeper understanding, or an enhanced contemplation of them. We may be open to a wider range of interpretations, seeing many ways to read the words. We might consider meanings on different levels; macro-micro, global-local, and societal-personal.

You might not read a whole treatise on ethics or society but just start with some great quotes. You can find some from your favourite philosophers or schools of thought. For example, the Buddha, Kierkegaard, or any intellectual you like.

You can also revisit some of your old favourite quotes. Reading and saying them out loud in an altered state of consciousness can help them enter your psyche more deeply.

Another way of taking in intellectual information is listening to podcasts. I sometimes like to combine a few of the ideas from this article and go for a long walk in a park with a good podcast. Podcasts you may enjoy could be around any topic. They could be dharma talks or interviews with spiritual teachers, conversations on creativity, personal growth, or any topic you’d like to explore more deeply.

6. Social Interaction

As humans, we are social creatures. Social interactions then, can also be worthy of experimentation.

Micro and mini-doses can help us to feel more connected to the people around us. This deepened connection can then act as something of a bridge to other people’s islands, enhancing our perspective-taking abilities, and helping us to see things from their vantage point.

You might try engaging in meaningful conversations with friends or loved ones. Conversations can become more than words. With the right dose and setting, they can even evolve into what feels more like a dance of souls, words penetrating a deeper level of interaction.

The psychedelic effects can help to heighten empathy and understanding during interactions. It can help to tune into and speak from the heart. This can help to deepen understanding and acceptance, and ultimately strengthen relationships and deepen bonds.

If you feel like trying something different and your company is into it, you might also try role-playing. You can play out imagined scenarios of certain interactions that one of you is nervous about, like a job interview or a difficult conversation that needs to be had. You might even try taking on the role of the person who will be opposite to you, to get insight into their headspace. I’ve done this a few times with a friend, and it’s been an enlightening (and fun!) experience every time.

Remember that when doing exploring social interactions on psychedelics, finding your own personalized and appropriate dose is important. As for some people, certain low doses may make them feel more agitated or irritated. Clearly, this won’t help to have an empathetic conversation!

If exploring this option in a one-sided format – with one person on a psychedelic and the other not – I’d suggest not doing it on the sly, but letting the other person know that you are on a psychedelic! That can help to keep a space open for understanding if the conversation becomes more challenging than anticipated, and the allowance of stepping away and taking a break.

With this in mind, it’s important to remember to be mindful of people’s boundaries and allow space when needed. Having a quiet room, or some agreements around the session can be helpful to create a safe space.

Considerations for Micro and Low-Dose Experiments

When considering your adventures in small doses, remember the importance of a safe and comfortable setting for you and any company you may have. This will vary for different people, so be honest with yourself and your company about what you are comfortable with and capable of. Some people may feel fine in public parks, for example, whereas others may find this setting to be uncomfortable. Some people may find talking to be easy, whereas others may find it very challenging.

If at home, create a conducive space for your experience. Try to create a clean environment and have any supplies you may need ready, like pens, colours, or instruments,

After your experiences, taking some time to reflect on them can be useful. You can highlight for yourself any key lessons or insights and make a plan to incorporate them into your daily life moving forward.

Final Thoughts

Exploring the realm of micro and mini doses of psychedelics can truly enrich our lives. Compared to higher doses, these smaller amounts have their own unique benefits. When used in this mode, they can enhance and enrich our experiences.

They can take our ordinary activities to new heights, deepening the connection we feel and intensifying the overall experience. They can help deepen our appreciation of nature, increase mindfulness, improve our relationships, and enhance our efforts to learn, create, and be present in our bodies.

Working with lower doses can also help to develop a healthy relationship with psychedelics, building the confidence to work with progressively higher doses – if that’s something you wish to explore.

Overall, I think it’s good to balance micro, mini, and larger doses. Working with psychedelics at the levels and in a rhythm that best suits you. If exploring psychedelics at the lower levels, then why not consider combining your dose with one of these activities?

If you already dose in this range, what are your favourite activities to explore with psychedelics? How do you spend those lightly bathed experiences? Did I miss something? Let me know.

Wishing you safe and wonderful experiences!

The post 6 Activities to Try on Micro to Low Doses of Psychedelics appeared first on Maps of the Mind.

Many people will tell you that it can. And not only that, but that it has already changed theirs.

Most people who know me know that I typically expound the benefits of larger doses, but I always like an experiment, and if that experiment includes psychedelics, even better. So I thought I’d give it a fresh go, and I recently finished a month of microdosing psilocybin.

In this post, I’m going to share a report of my experience. I’ll also share my protocol, how I incorporated it into my routine, and overall what I experienced during the month, including positives and negatives.

Let’s dive in.

My Motivation and Previous Microdosing Experience

Honestly, I didn’t have a specific intention for the microdosing month. The experiment came about because I wanted to incorporate taking Lion’s Mane mushrooms into my routine (a mushroom touted for a whole host of health benefits). Lion’s mane are regularly taken with psilocybin as part of the now fairly well known ‘Stamets Stack’. So I thought ‘why not give it a go’?

I’ve done microdosing experiments before with LSD to positive results. I’ve also experimented before with micro and low doses of psilocybin, but never consistently or on any kind of regimen.

As the results of microdosing are subtle, it’s hard to pinpoint what’s working exactly. And so far, there is no solid science that tells us that microdosing is more than a placebo.

That said, there is a whole, whole lot of anecdotal evidence that reports on the positives.

The best way to find out if something works for you is to try it yourself.

So, that’s what I did.

My Protocol

Here’s a high-level look at how I conducted the microdosing experiment. I’ll go into more detail on each below.

• 5 days on, 2 days off
• Taken in the mornings with mushroom coffee (including lion’s mane, chaga, and cordyceps)
• Part of my morning routine
• Kept a log

5 days on, 2 days off

I dosed Monday – Friday and took weekends off. This is the pattern of famed mycologist Paul Stamets’ microdosing protocol I mentioned before. The main difference is that I didn’t take niacin, where Stamets’ recommends this. I typically work Mon-Fri so this fit in with my working schedule.

Served With Morning Mushroom Coffee

I incorporated my microdosing into my morning routine. Y’all know I love a good morning routine.

My morning routine for this period was:
– 3-5km run
– Shower
– 10 minutes Box Breathing
– Smoothie
– Microdose Mushroom Coffee whilst reading
– Start work

I would weigh out my dried and ground mushroom dose the night before and put it in a mug with a teaspoon of mushroom coffee. I’d cover the mug and leave it on my sideboard so it would be waiting for me the next day.

I used Mushies mushroom coffee. On weekends when I wasn’t microdosing psilocybin, I still took lion’s mane by way of their capsules and extract tincture.

Keeping a Log

I kept a log during the period. Y’all also know I like to keep drug logs.

I made a makeshift table in my bullet journal with columns for:

• Day and date
• Dose
• Strain
• Time taken
• Notes on the experience (with timestamps where relevant).

Notes on the experience included anything that seemed notable, and if nothing, just a few words about how I felt the day went. This included things like ‘good mood’, ‘productive day’, ‘tingling sensations’ etc. I included timestamps where they seemed relevant, like ‘tingling sensations’, so I could see how long after taking the dose I felt them.

Days 1-4: Finding The Dose

I generally have a higher-than-average tolerance for psilocybin, so I started with a decent dose of 0.3 grams of JMF psilocybin mushrooms.

I planned my first microdose day on a day when I had flexibility regarding my work schedule, just in case it was a bit high.

It was a good idea. I felt a slight tingling even before I had finished my coffee and thought ‘hmmm’. I then noticed the floor moving on a bathroom break not long after.

I knew that I’d taken more than a microdose and wouldn’t get much of the work I’d planned done, so I got comfortable, lay down, and put some music on my headphones. I did find it annoying as I had work I wanted to do, but there was nothing for it.

It wasn’t a real trip (basically level 1.5), so nothing major to report on. I just lay there listening to music. It was light enough that once it worn off, I was able to work in the afternoon.

The next day I scaled right down to 0.03g. I didn’t want to have to skip work again! It was a productive day.

On the third day I went up to 0.04g and reached a threshold experience. I was surprised that I could feel something from so low a dose, but it was unmistakable.  I could feel tingling sensations through my body, a slight sense of discomfort, and I needed to pee more often (which I’d experienced on threshold doses of LSD).

On day four I went down to 0.03g and had a good day, so I settled on this for the rest of the month.

My Experience

Positives: Good mood, positive, productive, focused

Overall, I had a good month. Most days I have notes which read ‘good mood’, ‘productive’, ‘positive’ and ‘good focus’, or some combination of those words.

To sum it up I would say I experienced good focus, good mood, general feeling of being upbeat and positive, and forward flowing with motion.

Microdosing by its very nature is very subtle, so it’s hard to say if I would’ve felt like this anyway, but regardless, those are the results. In general, I’d say these are typical of my days, but maybe not quite as noticeably. A friend of mine says he notices his microdose days more towards the end of the day when he reflects back and thinks ‘that was a good day’. So it could be something like that.

This fits in with a lot of the anecdotal reports and the general gist of Ayelet Waldman’s microdosing memoir: ‘A Really Good Day’, if not as radical.

On a smaller note, I also found it easier to make good decisions on a small level, such as making healthy food choices when shopping in the supermarket. That connecting-to-the-big-picture psychedelic effect.

Negatives: Anxiety

I did experience some unwelcome anxiety on two of the days.

One was on a travel day at the end of the month when my train was delayed multiple times as I was heading to the airport. I got fidgety and worried I might miss my flight.

Whilst this is understandable, I would say that I don’t usually feel this level of anxiety in this situation. I would guess that without any dose, I would’ve been more composed. This time, I did some box breathing via a guided audio on my phone which helped cool me down, if only a little.

There was another morning when I read an email that a payment processor was closing my account because of the nature of my business. I don’t normally go into my inbox in the mornings but I needed to get something out of there and the email caught my attention.

As I already had money sitting in that processor’s account, I found this stressful and worrying as I wasn’t sure if this would cause complications with getting said money out. It derailed my morning a bit and put me a bit out of whack.

Again, this would normally be stressful but I think the microdose intensified this. I was actually sweating! I’m not uber cool but I don’t think that would be my reaction on a normal day. It was only a few hundred bucks, not a huge sum.

Aside from my first days when finding my dose, these were my only two negative experiences in the month.

Final Thoughts

My conclusion from this month is that microdoses of psilocybin can intensify my present mood.

If I’m focused and positive, more so. If I’m anxious or worried, more so.

This fits in with psychedelics’ effect of state amplification, though I do find it surprising this happened on so low of a dose. It might have been due to a build-up of subtle effects over the month.

Overall it was a positive month. Even if it was nothing I would personally call groundbreaking, I have continued to microdose on carefully selected days in the meantime.

I would like to add that people experience microdosing very differently. A lot of people report that it lowers anxiety, or helps with depression. Or any other host of effects. This is just one man’s report.

If you’re curious, I would say, try it for yourself!

–

If you’re looking for a good source of mushrooms, I can recommend Mushies. I really enjoy their mushroom coffee!
Use code MAPS for 10% off!

The post One Month Microdosing Psilocybin: My Report appeared first on Maps of the Mind.

MDMA and live music: Now we’re talking.

Concerts, gigs, shows. Whatever you call them. MDMA can heighten the experience beautifully.

The combo is a popular choice because it goes down so so well.

As the psychedelic revival continues to grow, much talk on the use and application focuses on the idea of using psychedelics in a medical or clinical context. While some argue that psychedelics are only good when used for treatment or healing, I believe in cognitive liberty. 

Citizens should have the freedom to alter their minds as they choose. That includes taking MDMA for enjoyment, fun, therapy, and mental health interventions.

I am a huge believer in using both classic and non-classic psychedelics for healing and therapeutic purposes, and at the same time, going to gigs on drugs has been one of my greatest joys in life.

So I wanted to write a blog post to help others have some amazing and memorable experiences. This post will contain some tips to help you make the most of your experience. Of course, many drugs can be enjoyed with live music, and most of the tips here will apply across the board. I’m just keeping on theme for MDMA month on the blog.

We’ll go in three sections, in chronological order: 1. Pre-show, 2. During, and 3. After.

Let’s ago!

1: Pre-Concert

Before getting into concert specifics, follow these standard MDMA best practices to help ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience.

1.1: Prepare Doses

Save yourself the hassle of fumbling with tiny crystals while you’re out and about. Pre-weigh your doses and have them ready to go in capsules. I generally like to dose before entering the venue if I can so I don’t have to think about any security checks, but in my experience, those are usually pretty lax.

1.2: Create a Basic Schedule

Timing the dose well is key. This prevents the need for redosing, or not being high when the band plays.

To time well, knowing the stage times is crucial.

Reach out to the band on Instagram or Twitter, contact the venue, or arrive early to find out, where stage times might be posted around. Otherwise, you might ask the sound guy or whoever is at the merch stand, as they’re usually wise to this info. If you can’t get this info before, you can make a best guess. Based on doors opening, how many bands are playing and recent gigs at the venue. 

Once you have the stage time, you can work backward to create a basic schedule and plan your time of dose accordingly.

I typically aim to be up and feeling the effects about 15-30 minutes before the band I am there to see steps on stage.

For example, say I’m seeing the Oh Sees, and they’re on at 9:00pm.

I like to dose on a more or less empty stomach, and MDMA takes about 80 minutes to kick in on said empty stomach. So I’d make a basic schedule that looks like this:

5:00 Dinner
7:15 Dose / Leave
8:00 Arrive venue
8:00 Opening band
9:00 Oh Sees

1.3: Essential Packing List

Make sure you have any important items with you. Here’s my standard packing list:

• Wallet
• Keys
• Phone
• Earplugs (I’ll usually use these for opening acts to save my ears)
• Chewing Gum
• Water (note that some venues won’t allow you to take this in)
• Weed vape

Make your own with items you’ll need or want and know where you’re keeping them for the show.

1.4: Scouting the Venue

It can help to get familiar with the venue before the concert.

You might find out if sections are standing, or if seating is unreserved or reserved and choose your ticket type accordingly. This can help avoid the stress of searching for seats while under the influence.

1.5 Cloakroom and Jacket Considerations

To ensure maximum comfort during the concert, consider the cloakroom options. Some venues offer cloakrooms or garderobe where you can store your belongings for a small fee. Some don’t. Again, you might try and find this out before, but if you can’t you’ll need to be prepared for both scenarios. 

If it’s not available or practical, you might wear lightweight clothing and keep your valuables on you.

I’ve just placed my jacket in a corner or on the stage at some shows and picked it up after. If you do this you might take an old jacket so that you won’t be too worried if it disappears (it has happened to me once!).

2: Navigating the Concert Environment

2.1: Scouting the Venue on Arrival

When you arrive, familiarize yourself with the venue. Knowing the layout and key locations will help you feel more at ease and in control of your surroundings, help allow you to fully immerse yourself in the concert experience.

Here’s a few basics:

• Locate the toilets: Knowing their location will save you time and prevent any unnecessary wandering around in search of them. Also good to have this knowledge when MDMA might increase your need to use the facilities.
• Identify water sources: Staying hydrated is obviously important, especially if you’re going to be dancing or sweating. However, sometimes the bar queues are a joke. So you might like to keep a small bottle on you. One trick I use is hydrating from the bathroom taps if they’re accessible and clean. If you’ve been able to bring in an empty water bottle you can top this up there. It can also be nice to splash water over yourself to cool down.
• Explore the outdoor area: Fresh air and a change of scenery can enhance your experience and provide a brief respite from the crowded concert environment. Also can be a good spot to meet up with friends or take a breather between sets.
• Other places: Places to sit down: Good to know in case you need it.

Also good to familiarize yourself with the entrances, exits, and any other noteworthy features or spaces. 

2.2: Empty Your Bladder

I like to do this directly before the band I wanna see cause y’know, I don’t wanna go in the middle of their set.

2.3 Finding Your Spot In The Crowd

If standing, where are you gonna stand for the show?

This is entirely up to you, but if you’re with friends you might like to briefly discuss it before.

Will you attempt to stay together? Will you maybe lose each other in the crowd? Some people like to be closer to the action, some people prefer to be in spots where its less crowded. You may also split up and reconvene later. Some clarity on this can be useful though.

For most gigs I like free reign and then to catch up with friends again after. If you like to be close to the front, one trick I’ve found that works well is to wait until the band starts playing, and then just move forward to the pit. It helps prevent the old sliding past people and then just stopping awkwardly infront of someone.

If you’re close to someone in the crowd who’s bothering you for whatever reason, I’d suggest moving to another spot sooner rather than later.

If you’re in unreserved seating, you might like arrive early and claim your spot.

When choosing or booking seats, you might consider if you’d like to be close to the aisle for easy access and not having to trample and squeeze past people when you wanna get out.

2.4 Placing Your Attention

Where you put your attention can massively change your experience. It’s consciously filtering the intake of your setting.

This might be from watching the band, closing your eyes and tuning in to the sounds of the music, taking a panoramic of the light show, or watching a particular band member. If there is a band member whose energy you’re vibing with, try and get in a spot where you have a good clear view of them. Or just remember to keep your eyes on them.

3 After The Show

3.1: Establishing a Meeting Place

Designate a meeting spot for easy reunions with friends. Make sure it’s a location that everyone can find without difficulty. You might choose somewhere inside or outside the venue.

3.2: Planning Transportation

Don’t leave yourself stranded in an unfamiliar city late at night and high. Figure out your transportation options before, then plan your transportation to the degree that you’d like to., considering timings and availability of options.

3.3: Preparing for After the Concert

If you’re heading home after the concert, have your preferred food, drinks or whatever else you’d like ready and waiting for you. 

Final Thoughts

Some of my favorite and most memorable life experiences have been at concerts, with substances, and in a combination of both. That includes being obliterated in a tornado of Ty Segall’s guitars (2-CB+MDMA), feeling universal love with Sigur Ros (1p-LSD), and rocking out to the Oh Sees (MDMA – yes that example was from last month).

I hope this guide will help you to have some incredible and joyful experiences, too.

Remember basic safety, plan your schedule, pack the essentials, and navigate the concert environment like a pro. With these tips, you’ll be well-prepared to have an awesome time. 

If you have questions, feel free to reach out. I’m here to help you have an amazing concert experience!

Stay safe, and best wishes out there.

The post Practical Tips for Going to Concerts on MDMA appeared first on Maps of the Mind.

If used wisely, it’s a substance that can help heal trauma, actively improve relationships, fire up creative inspiration, and just have a really great time.

It also serves as a great entry point for psychonauts wanting to explore altered states because it’s tremendously easy to have a good time. This opens the door to deeper experiences in the corridors of consciousness and widening worldviews.

I’ve enjoyed and benefited from taking MDMA for a number of years. It has also been popping up in my field more recently and I see it’s time to shine coming to the forefront. So I’ve decided to write a short series on the wonder drug that made it into Shulgin’s magic dozen this month on the blog.

We’ll be exploring different modes of use, supplements, and concert experiences, and combining with classic psychedelics.

But today I’d like to start us on a firm footing: sharing some general best practices for safe MDMA use. These will help to reduce harm and maximize benefits.

To maintain a logical flow, I have organized these practices chronologically into three sections: Before, During, and After.

Follow these steps, whatever your session, to set yourself up for fruitful, beneficial, and dare I say, really fun times in your mollified states.

MDMA Best Practices

Before

Check Your Contraindications

If you’re taking any medication, be sure to check that there are no contraindications as this can be very serious. Also check your physical health, as MDMA can increase heart rate and blood pressure. Consult with your doctor when necessary, or one of those psychedelic consultants. 

Test Your Substance And/Or Know Your Source

As MDMA is currently unregulated, you almost certainly won’t know what it includes. Testing can help you be sure that what you have doesn’t contain something dangerous like fentanyl. You can find test kits online (UK) (US).

I’d recommend testing each batch. Or knowing and trusting your source. Who is the provider? Do you know them? Do you trust them? Is there any consequence for them if what you have isn’t actual MDMA? Consider these and have peace of mind from the outset.

Be Familiar With Basic Info and Possible Effects

Stuff like how long it takes to come on and the range of effects. Basic education. Important for any conscious drug user. PsychonautWiki is my go-to for such information.

Understanding that things like sweaty palms, increased heart rate, and clenching jaw are often par for the course helps to roll with it.

Find Your Dose

Dosage matters, and it’s personal. What is high for one person may be low for another, and vice versa.

A general rule to start is 50 mg plus your weight in kg. For example, if you weigh 77 kg, your dose would be 127 mg. 

Take Your Stomach Contents Into Account When Dosing

This can affect the time of onset and the strength of the effects. Taking on a full stomach will mean diminished effects and a longer time of onset.

I like to have something lightish (decent smoothie or bean salad) 2.5-3 hours before a first dose. I’ve found this to offer a predictable onset and effects at the doses I work with.

Also, save your nostrils the burn, and swallow rather than snort.

Weigh Your Dose

Get a milligram scale. The AWS Gemini is a decent, affordable option that will do the job.

You can buy empty capsules online and put your doses inside for convenient storage, transport, and ease of dosing.

During

Don’t Re-dose Excessively

MDMA largely feels good. Sometimes people just want to stay in that feel-good serotonin state, so they want to keep on dosing.

But your body will pay the price, and the more you consume in one session, the more serious any neurotoxic effects will be.

I would suggest choosing the number of doses in advance (not more than 3), and then just sticking to that.

If you’re an aging nerd like me, staying up all night and being completely toast the next day has less and less appeal over the years. I like to have the session, make the most of it, and then wind it down and get my rest.

So now I usually like a single decent dose, and then maybe one booster (around half of the original dose), after 60-120 minutes to prolong the session, if desired.

You might like to try the same.

Don’t Mix With Booze

Booze can dampen the effects of MDMA. It can also contribute to a hangover and feeling tired and exhausted the days after.

If you insist, try to at least go easy on it. 

I do, however, understand the joys of a cold beer. You might try drinking alcohol-free beers. They can offer that delicious taste and you won’t lack the feeling of getting drunk as you’ll be high anyway.

Stay Hydrated

Especially important if you’re dancing or sweating. Taking electrolytes can help.

If you’re not, however, this won’t be much of a concern. You don’t need to overdo it and drink so much that you’re continually having to go to the bathroom. You can use the color of your pee as a hydration guideline.

Be Mindful of Body Temperature

Again, dependent on what you’re doing and where you are, but overheating is one of the biggest dangers with MDMA, as it raises core body temperature. This is especially important to consider if out dancing or in crowded or otherwise hot places.

Be sure not to overheat and remove clothes or head to cooler or shaded areas as needed.

Supplements

There are a few different theories about supplements and I’ve been down a bit of a rabbit hole with research. I will return with a whole blog post on this soon. Check back to find it (or join the newsletter to stay up to date). In the meantime, you can check out this MDMA supplements guide. 

After

SLEEP

Yes, I put this in capitals because so many people miss this.

The importance of sleep in overall physical and mental health has been highlighted in recent years. Molly can be quite taxing on the nervous system so it’s especially important after a session.

Rest is crucial for recovery. Sleep is an essential part of this.

Take a lie in the day after, or get as much rest as needed.

I also recommend having that day after as an easy day, with the option to head to bed early again.

Do not renege on your sleep and rest in the days after an MDMA session.

Many people like to smoke some weed to help drift off to sleep a little easier. Some people recommend taking melatonin.

Keep an Eye on Your Frequency of Use

Don’t overdo it.

Overuse can lead to a higher risk of neurotoxic effects, gradually increasing tolerance, and ‘losing the magic’.

Using MDMA once every three months (four times a year) is a standard recommendation found online.

However, closer intervals have been used in MAPS studies (two sessions over a four week period [1], two or three sessions placed a month apart [2], and might be experimented with caution).

I have personally done it more frequently myself with no noticeable ill effect – taking into account the rest of the practices on this list. For example, once a month for a few months at the first lockdown, and two sessions on consecutive days on a summer mini-break with friends in the countryside. 

I should add that I seem to tolerate it well compared to most people – I’ve never really had the comedown or low mood in the week after that many people report. 

Stay Safe, Session Well

As always, take a thought to your setting and your company.

MDMA is a remarkable substance with vast potential.

Follow these basic practices for safe, healing, and wonderful experiences with this magnificent molecule.

The post Maximize Your MDMA Adventure: Best Practices for Safe and Optimal Experiences appeared first on Maps of the Mind.

Honestly, it felt amazing.

See, I love music. I love listening to it. I love playing it. And I’ve been wanting to perform again for years.

I played in a punk band as a teenager, and a rock band as a student, but I hadn’t played or performed publicly since.

The last time was over 10 years ago.

Rocking out, c. 2009

So how did I get back on stage, shouting these songs about being a loner, an ill-fated LSD trip, and the war on drugs?

Of course, this didn’t happen overnight. I have been building back to this for a while. A key moment was stopping in Berlin, and getting back into going to live shows.

But regardless, I have no doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t have made it back to the stage already without doing The Artist’s Way.

The Artist’s Way is a course in book form. Subtitled ‘the classic course in discovering and recovering your creative self’, it is a program to be followed over 12 weeks. There are weekly reading and homework exercises to be done throughout the 12 week period.

So, wanting to use the new year’s energy as a fresh boost, I started the course on January 1st and just finished on Saturday.

The course is deep and the book covers a lot of ground, so in this post I won’t cover everything.
This will be a brief overview of my experience with The Artists Way, to give you an idea of what it’s like and if it might be for you.

The Tools

Outside of the weekly reading and exercises, there are two main tools in The Artists Way, The Morning Pages and The Artist’s Date.

The Morning Pages

The morning pages are three pages of longhand journaling to be done every morning.

A4 pages.
So about 30 minutes of pen and paper journaling every single morning.

I definitely felt resistance to this amount of journaling at times. But when I commit to something, I like to stick with it. So I did.

Generally, the pages can be about anything and everything.

For me, I found they were a chance to check in with myself, see what’s on my mind, dump it onto the page (I see notepads somewhat like therapists – in their non-judgmental receptivity), and actively think through things.

The pages gave me a chance to think actively and somewhat consciously, about areas I want to focus on in my life.

One section of the course involved writing down areas you need help or guidance on before you sleep and then journaling about them in the morning. This was like active brainstorming and problem-solving. I put key areas of my life I wanted to focus on: business, romance, and music – and fundamentals: eat, move, sleep.

As directed, the pages were also used for affirmations, exploring personal beliefs, and open-ended brainstorming.

Though the pages were quite a commitment, I found them to be hugely helpful.

I felt mentally clearer, and more ready and eager for each day by the time I finished them.

I could also see which topics were recurring, giving me insight into the contents of my mind.

Will I keep them up since finishing the 12 weeks?

Definitely.

Not every single day, but more as needed. Maybe a couple of times a week.

The Artist’s Date

The second main tool is The Artist’s Date.

The Artist’s Date is a weekly activity, say 2 hours, where you take you – and your inner artist – on a play date. It’s something to capture your imagination and nurture your creative consciousness. And the emphasis should be on fun.

It is to be done alone, with the idea that you are able to receive thoughts, and ideas – to hear your own inner voice.

I will admit that I found this surprisingly hard to keep up. I was also a bit unimaginative.

Still, I found it worthwhile. I went to the cinema a few times, a great hobby that I haven’t been up to much in the last couple of years. (and at a local cinema, for £5 a film, it’s a steal really).

Birmingham Artists Date

My funnest and most story-worthy artist date was heading over to the city of Birmingham, booking myself into a hostel for the night, and taking MDMA to go and see Titus Andronicus, a punk/indie band whose album An Obelisk has one of my favourites of the last few years.

The gig was a poignant experience in an unexpected way – but to save turning this into a trip report – the highlight was meeting one of my heroes after the show.

At the merch stand, I told ringleader Patrick that his music has been important to me, and thanked him. He visibly softened, expressed his appreciation, and extended his hand to shake in a tender and meaningful moment that’ll stay with me.

Honestly, I get a little misty just recalling it now.

After the gig, I went back to the hostel and ended up playing guitar in the common area for the travelers staying up and hanging out. I felt nervous before, but 7 weeks into the course, with the exercises I’d been doing, reflecting on my creative dreams, and plotting steps to get there, it pushed me over the edge in terms of picking up the guitar. Those continued steps got me to the first open mic a couple of weeks later on.

Weekly Tasks

Through the course, I would go to a cafe each Sunday and do my weekly reading and any journaling or written exercises.

This was a highlight of my week. It got me excited, inspired, and dreaming. I reflected, and wrote out action plans and small changes I would make.

Outside of journaling and reflection, other homework tasks included clearing out old stuff, writing letters to yourself, and mailing postcards to friends. An interesting one was a ban on reading for a week! There was a tonne of others. I won’t spoil the surprises but a few others were making collages, saying prayers, collecting pretty rocks, and treating oneself to childhood favorite foods.

There was a wide range of topics explored through the twelve weeks, really too much for me to dig into here, but one that resonated with me was perfectionism, process, and balance.

Perfectionism and Process

A key returning revelation was that we must allow ourselves to be bad artists if we are to be artists at all.

We must allow ourselves to make mistakes, understand that doing so is a necessary part of the process, and know that we won’t start great. This shifts the framing to process over result.

Balance

The Artist’s Way emphasizes a point of balance. It’s not all directly about creative work – in fact, very little of it is.

Sure, there is inner therapeutic work that includes looking at previous and childhood experiences and how they may have conditioned us. And the exercises include establishing a support system. And I can see why the process has apparently been used by therapists.

But a lot of it is about personal growth and self-care, bringing fun into life, and understanding that this leads to creative lives. Creativity is about festivity, enthusiasm, joy, and dreams. This was one of my favorite things about it.

One part I liked was that we surveyed six areas of our life. These were: work, exercise, romance/adventure, spirituality, play, and friends. These were rated three times throughout the course to check progress. Although I did go down in some areas (spirituality, exercise, and work suffered losses), overall, I gained 7 points across the board between week 2 and week 11, and this was hugely encouraging. Honestly, it felt great.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the 12 weeks on The Artist’s Way has been an amazing experience.

In general, I really enjoy committing to a guided growth process and allowing it to unfold as it will.

A couple of years ago I did a course in creativity: Amplify by Steve Pavlina, and the fruits were largely directed toward my psychedelic work. It was also hugely rewarding and had a big hand in the creation of the first version of The Conscious Psychedelic Explorer course, now three cohorts in and with plans to grow.

This time it was great for the focus to be on music, a love of mine that has been somewhat dormant but crying for attention in recent years. The fact I’ve performed solo in public now 5 times in the last 4 weeks (after 0 performances in the last 10 years, and never solo), with a childlike eagerness to continue, and a tonne of fresh ideas for songs and performances, speaks for itself.

I will admit that my enthusiasm for the process did wax and wane over the 12 weeks, and at times I found it quite hard to keep up. I didn’t do all of the exercises, not even close. But as Cameron writes, you can’t do the course perfectly, and as someone with sometimes obsessive tendencies (I like to be really thorough when I do things like this), I took this as a chance to practice letting go of perfectionism.

That said, I also think I will cycle back around for a second time, and do the things that I didn’t manage the first.

I have seen it dubbed: “A revolutionary program for personal renewal, The Artist’s Way will help get you back on track, rediscover your passions, and take the steps you need to change your life.”

I absolutely agree.

Overall, it’s been a great reminder of how much growth can be achieved in a short time when one is committed. And just as importantly, how fun, interesting, and exciting our lives can be.

Do The Artist’s Way With My Support

I’m hugely excited about the idea of offering a group process with The Artists Way, with weekly meetings and check-ins with a group of fellow explorers to share the journey with. I have some ideas for incorporating psychedelics into this course that I’m massively excited about too.

If you’re interested in doing this with a group of psychedelic-friendly folks, get in touch or join my mailing list.

In the meantime, if you’re interested in doing this in a 1-1 coaching format, just send me a message. I’d love to support you in your creative life!

The post My 12 Week Journey with The Artist’s Way appeared first on Maps of the Mind.

Strangeitude by Harry Pack @harrypackart

by The Archaic Revival

Most people read a travel guide before they go somewhere new.

But what if the place you’re going to features inter-dimensional travel, hyper-intelligent design, and a variety of sentient entities?

Here’s how to prepare for travel to DMT hyperspace:

Create a Comfortable Setting

Make sure you are in a comfortable, private setting.

Bonus points if it is also aesthetically pleasing. You want this space to feel grounded and safe.

If you’re using a room in your house, clean it. Light a candle or incense if you please, do anything that makes the setting feel warm and inviting. The spot you choose should allow you to go from sitting to lying down immediately, make sure you have something soft to lay on and a pillow. Optionally you can use a reclining chair.

Have Someone With You

This step is optional but recommended: have a trusted friend or loved one with you.

You can journey alone, but having someone by your side can help you stay grounded and reassure you of your safety. If you talk aloud during the experience, your sitter can help you navigate your experience or record what you said to tell you afterward.

Get Comfortable Physically

Wear loose-fitting clothes. The last thing you want while traveling through different dimensions is to be bothered by physical distractions.

Another optional, but helpful step is having a blanket over you during the experience. I find it adds comfort and a feeling of safety. A weighted blanket can also be used, the extra pressure puts your nervous system into “rest” mode which may reduce some symptoms of anxiety as you lift off.

Choose a Quality Vaporization Method

The last thing you want while reality is being ripped away from you is to have a coughing fit or to taste burnt DMT in your mouth.

My personal favorite vaporization methods are glass vapes(I use Eclipse) that are water-filtered & homemade vape pens, but everyone has different preferences.

Use whatever method seems best for you, but be aware that the “sub-quality methods” are significantly less efficient and often waste DMT.

Vapor Genie – DMT Vaporization Pipe

Top methods:

• Homemade vape pen or mod (propylene glycol+DMT)
• E-mesh vapes
• Dry herb vapes with changa or enhanced herb
• Glass Vapes (Eclipse, Vapor Genie)
• Dab Rig with electric nail (controlled heat)

Sub-quality methods:

• The ‘Machine’ (small glass bottle with hole in bottom & steel wool in the neck)
• Oil Burner (the thin glass makes DMT easy to burn)
• Sandwich method (DMT sandwiched between cannabis)
• Dab Rig with Torch (hard to control heat)
• Burning enhanced herb in a joint (not as efficient as vaping)

Avoid at all costs:

• Lightbulb
• Foil and a plastic bottle

Set a Simple Intention

An intention does not need to be complicated: “I hope I meet an important entity”, or “I want to learn something new”.

You can write down your intention or simply say it aloud. By setting an intention, you are acknowledging your role in the future experience and helping anchor your psyche before hyperspace.

Practice Breathing

Practice your breathing.

Counting in your head, breath in for 5 seconds, hold for 10, breath out for 5.

Repeat at least 3x.

Use this time breathing to clear your head & mentally prepare for the journey.

Measure Your Dose

The doses and descriptions below are general descriptions.

The doses below are based on a moderate tolerance, pure DMT, and a 100% efficient vaping method. If you’re using a less efficient vaping method, you may need a slightly higher dose for the same effects.

Personal tolerances vary widely, and these doses may be too low for some or too high for others.

~5mg [Threshold]

At this stage your vision is enhanced and your setting feels much more important and aesthetically pleasing. You feel slightly stoned- but with a feeling of great significance.

5-10mg [The Chrysanthemum]

DMT HD by Symbolika @symbolika_art

Mandalic closed-eye visuals, intense colors, complex geometric overlay, visual morphing during open-eyed visuals. A body high that is euphoric but out of body, quickly growing in intensity. An organic humming/buzzing noise.

10-15mg [The Transitition]

Increasingly complex visuals, accelerated out-of-body movement, an intense body high & a feeling of being sucked towards *something*.

As the visuals increase, so does the sound. As the humming reaches a crescendo, there is a sudden switch. The humming stops. A new world is created out of the previous scene flawlessly.

Butterfly Morph by Symbolika @symbolika_art

15-20mg [The Waiting Room]

The final space before a full breakthrough, the waiting room feels like a liminal, hyper dimensional version of ‘The Backrooms’.

At this point, if you open your eyes, your scene will not change. You are fully immersed in hyperspace.

Waiting rooms vary in style immensely and entities may be present at this stage.

Cosmic Corridors by AyJay @ayjayart

20-25mg [Breakthrough]

Hyperspace feels “more real than real”.

There is a feeling of intense familiarity combined with absolute amazement. The body transforms into intense euphoria. You will be thrust into an otherworldly environment and likely will be approached by entities of some kind.

Guardian 2 by Harry Pack @harrypackart

+35mg [Approaching OD]

Taking too much DMT typically results in full dissociation and being unable to remember the experience. Overdosing on DMT isn’t dangerous to your physical body and rarely has any lasting effects on the mind.

• A Thread on What a DMT overdose is like

Begin Smoking

No matter your method, be careful not to burn the DMT as you heat it.

Famously, it is supposed to take 3 hits to break through. Ignore this.

Mimic the breathing practice as you take your hits- holding the vapor for 10 seconds or more with each hit. It may take 1 hit, it may take 10. Keep inhaling DMT until no vapor remains or it is no longer possible to smoke.

Don’t Panic

Spirit Molecule by AyJay @ayjayart

DMT is intensely disorienting, particularly when you first enter into hyperspace.

“What you resist, persists” – struggling or fighting against the effects won’t bring you back to reality. You signed up for the ride, time to buckle your seatbelt & look out the window.

Remind yourself: no one has ever died from smoking DMT and the experience will be over in about 10 minutes.

Interact With DMT Entities

About 95% of entities are benevolent and often approach you with curiosity, surprise, and love. They often say “welcome back, where have you been?” and can speak telepathically or verbally.

This is your chance to be curious- ask them questions, interact with them, who knows what you’ll find out!

Smoking DMT is like waking up as an alien, to a room full of other aliens who are throwing you a surprise birthday party.

'It's so great to see you again!"
"Look at my gift for you!"
"We've been waiting so long for you!"
"We love you so much, you're doing great!"

— The Archaic Revival (@FatherMcKennaa) May 10, 2022

Different Entities

Hieroglyph by Harry Pack @harrypackart

There are a huge variety of entities, and essentially no limit to the different forms they take.

There are a few common types like Machine Elves, Fairies, or Jesters. Mythological and archetypal creatures from various cultures are another common type of entity. Entities vary in not only appearance but also motivations and power.

Some have the ability to create objects with their voice while others simply want to help you learn about yourself.

• A Thread on DMT entities

Dark Entities

Aya by Symbolika @symbolika_art

While rare, simply thinking about dark entities makes them more likely to appear.

They appear more often when you don’t treat DMT with respect. Seasoned travelers call these uncomfortable experiences (not always related to dark entities) being ‘hyperslapped’. If you do end up running into an entity with dark energy, focus on feelings of hope, love, and light.

Explore & Learn

Celestial Stairway by AyJay @ayjayart

Every DMT trip is different, though some people have traveled to the same places and met the same entities.

Approach each trip with curiosity, entities often have something to show or teach you. Sometimes what they show you is so complex that it can’t be explained with conventional language. You can also try to learn things on your own by traveling through different environments and not interacting with the entities.

Record Your Experience

Just like a dream, a DMT trip begins to be forgotten the moment you wake up.

Use a journal, voice recorder, digital method, or create art to begin recounting your experience. This can be valuable information for personal development or for other travelers.

Share Your Experiences

If someone had the key to alien communication, wouldn’t you want to know about it?

Share your journeys on online forums (Erowid/Reddit/DMT Nexus) and with people that you trust. The entities try so hard to communicate and have important things to share, the least you can do is to help them out a little!

My sources were personal experience and “Hyperspace Lexicon” on DMT Nexus.

Best wishes

Thanks for reading. I hope this guide helps you explore hyperspace in a safe, fun, and efficient way. DMT is a challenging yet incredibly rewarding entheogen. If you enjoyed this article, please follow me on Twitter @FatherMcKennaa

I discuss drugs, psychedelic culture, and will hopefully have another article out soon.

Also a huge thanks to the artists Harry Pack, Ayjay, & Symbolika who graciously allowed us to use their art and do a great service through their visionary artworks. Finally, thanks to John Robertson who inspired and assisted me on this article!

• Check out: How to Integrate a Difficult-to-Remember DMT Experience

Credits

The Archaic Revival 

I write about the history, culture, and use of psychedelics and other drugs. My goal is to educate others, promote safe entheogenic use & advocate for drug decriminalization and related policies.

Twitter @FatherMcKennaa

Harry Pack

My work encourages the viewer to turn their mind from the fragility of the material world and towards a contemplation of something more stable and infinite. The kaleidoscopic paintings depict a visual realm at once fantastical, foreign and strangely familiar. Three-dimensional, dream-like landscapes composed of fractal shapes and ordered geometric patterns are populated by extra-terrestrial forms: strange humanoids, anthropomorphic machines, animals and plant-life moving purposefully throughout spaces that operate as portals into the personal and psychological.

Symbolika

Fabian, the creator of Symbolika, is a graphic designer who has turned his passion for psychedelics into a unique clothing brand. As a “psychonaut”, he has explored the depths of the mind through the use of psychedelics and has drawn inspiration from his experiences to create bold and vibrant designs. He has combined his skills as a graphic designer with his love for psychedelics to create a brand that is both visually striking and spiritually meaningful. Symbolika’s clothing is a reflection of Fabian‘s personal journey and his desire to share the transformative power of psychedelics with others through his designs.

Ayjay

Ayjay is an Australian digital artist known for incorporating his psychedelic experiences into his art. His work stands out for its vivid and precise representation of the DMT experience. His art showcases the bright colors, strange entities, alien machines, and patterned surfaces characteristic of the DMT world.

The post The DMT Hyperspace Travel Guide appeared first on Maps of the Mind.

What societal forces are shaping its course?

How will this in turn affect our culture and society’s evolution?

These questions were brought to my mind recently as I finished listening to the audiobook version of The Nature Of Drugs.

The Nature of Drugs is a series of lectures from a class that legendary folk chemist cum psychedelic lore legend Alexander ‘Sasha’ Shulgin gave. It has been lovingly transcribed and put together by those wonderful folk at Synergetic Press. Through the series of lectures, Sasha details a lot of biological knowledge whilst touching upon politics and culture, and mixing in some funny and insightful personal anecdotes.

It was one of those personal anecdotes, in one of the last chapters, that got me thinking about this topic of cultural values and reward systems in regard to psychedelic work.

Sasha and his wife Ann contributed massively to the psychedelic world. They were true pioneers. Sasha was known as the ‘godfather of MDMA’, and he discovered over 200 psychedelic compounds, including 2-CB. Sasha even created his own scale for measuring the effect of a drug: the Shulgin scale.

Something that I found to be thought-provoking is that Sasha, one of the greatest figures and contributors to the modern psychedelic movement, was only able to do the depth of work that he did because he developed a drug for industrial purposes.

How Sasha Gained Freedom

Shulgin acquired the freedom to do his independent research because of a prediction he made that helped chemical corporation DOW to develop a hugely profitable insecticide. In other words, he was able to help a commercial company make tons of money out of drugs. Because of that, DOW rewarded him with free reign and the resources to do his own research. 

‘Sasha’ Shulgin – Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

With that freedom, he was able to do the work that he really wanted to do and was passionate about: drugs of the mind. He cooked them up in his shed/lab in his back garden and tested them on himself. He was able to do his research fully legally and had a license under state law for everything he was doing. 

I think this mixing of a commercial interest with psychonautical passion illustrates something about how entangled everything we do is with commercial prospects. With big money, commercial interests, and pharma-like corporations already having entered and influenced the space, I think this is a worthy consideration. This topic was explored brilliantly in the online comic We Will Call It Pala.

What If?

What if Sasha Shulgin had never developed that insecticide? How much contribution from him would we have actually seen? Where would the psychedelic space be without his and his wife Ann’s contributions? 

To tie it into our current reality, how many potential amazing underground researchers, activists, artists, and creators are out there, who might be deprived of contributing their gifts to the world because of financial interests? Because they’re not able to make fat stacks for a big company?

How many choose paths that aren’t to their heart’s calling, because of how our society rewards and incentivizes financial profits? Or status via money? What ripples are we missing out on? What revolutionary and groundbreaking work for humanity is going unrewarded and unrealized? 

Maybe it’s the case that brilliant minds find a way to bless the world in their own ways regardless of circumstances. Perhaps if it wasn’t through an insecticide development for DOW, Shulgin would’ve discovered another way to do his work. Maybe there is some truth to that.

But what about all of us with less-than-genius philosopher-chemist minds? And what about all the big hearts? How might the world look different if we found a way to encourage and foster the ability for all of us to do work that lights up our souls?

There are a lot of questions here. And this isn’t something I pretend to have the answers on. But when we consider the type of world that we want to create, they are topics I think we should all be thinking and talking about.

.

The post How Will Our Value Systems Affect The Psychedelic Movement? appeared first on Maps of the Mind.