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Tips for your first psychedelic experience

Welcome to your own personal initiation into The Other. This is written to provide information to those taking a psychedelic for the first time in hopes that it may help others along the path as gently and smoothly as possible. You are embarking upon an inner journey that many people have come to call one of the single most important experiences of their lives. Understand that you are about to be placed in a state of mind that you previously could not conceive even existed. During the experience it may appear that all your previous understanding of physics, space, time, and the way things are put together and function are being challenged, or expanded to allow the impossible to manifest in the most unexpected of ways. You are about to be given the chance to look deeper into yourself, to learn more about who you are and how you relate to the people and places around you as well as your place in the world (and/or universe and galaxy). I feel like the psychedelic experience allows us to venture into the true richness of the very heart of what it is to be human, to touch it and be changed by it. Psychedelics are extremely powerful substances and should be treated with respect. Because they have such raw and unbridled power, psychedelic substances have the ability to open us to the heavens, or walk us right down the path into darker and scarier realms. They can be unpredictable and each experience is totally and completely unique. The experience is affected by so many variables that many times are impossible to reproduce. Some of the variables include; your personal body chemistry at the moment you take the substance, any medications you may be taking, your level of hydration, your mood, the things going on in your life at that moment, the food you last ate, and how long ago you ate it, environmental factors, like weather and temperature, and so on. I believe with the proper preparation and foresight that you certainly are stacking the deck in your favor to have the experience go the way you want it to (and even some places you never knew could be conceived). Below I will present you with a few tips and ideas for your own adventure down the path. Please realize that for each item I describe below, there are going to be many people who totally disagree with me. These are just my personal thoughts and I hope they are valuable to you. As you go into this experience, I think you should treat it as one of the more important things you may ever do. It is a big step into the unknown, but it one of lifes essential experiences. Terence McKenna once said that going to the grave without ever having a psychedelic experience is like going to the grave without ever having sex. That thought has always resonated with me, since the experiences I have had have totally guided my life and changed it forever.

CONTENTS
1. Know your Source 2. Do some self-education 3. Set and Setting 4. Plan enough time to be in one place and not have to drive 5. Minimize Distractions 6. Minimize (unintentional) contact with others 7. Plan to minimize the use of money/transactions 8. Thoughts on using with Friends/ alone/ sitter 9. Music Selections 10. Empty Stomach 11. Setting intention/asking for a smooth ride 12. Entertainment Options 13. Duration 14. It Comes in Waves 15. Come Down 17. The Next Day 18. A note on Bad Trips 19. Prescription drugs and psychedelics 20. Hot/Pointy/Sharp things

1. Know your Source

I put this one at the top, because it really is one of the most important things for ensuring a good journey. Whoever you are getting your psychedelic substance from, there is no second best for having trust in that person. Due to the political climate of the world at this time in relation to the personal use of psychedelic substances, they are, in most places, illegal to obtain and must be purchased on the black market. This has many downsides, not the least of which is a lack of quality control and standardized and labeled dosages. With prescription medication, a person can expect a specific amount of a specific active ingredient, and has good access to knowledge on how to expect that substance to affect the body at different dosages. With psychedelics, your supplier is like the pharmacist/shaman, and you should not only trust that persons intentions, but also their knowledge of their substance. They should be able to give you the best idea of the strength and (their opinion of) the purity. Give them an idea of the type of experience you are looking for (mild, mid-level, or strong), and ask about their suggested dosage. You should understand that their suggestions are based on their own personal perceptions, and may be different from yours, but theyre the best place you have to start. The better you know this person, the better you understand their communication and easier it is to compare to your own barometer of that individual. In a way this person is doing you a huge favor by allowing you access to this material, always be thankful for them and what they are doing for you. 1a. If you cannot find someone reliable or any reliable materials, and you live in an area where it is legal to do so - you may want to consider growing your own mushrooms. You can learn how by visiting www.Shroomery.org. This site is a wealth of information on that subject. There are several benefits to growing your own mushrooms firstly you know your source it's you. Secondly, you can be assured that the molecules in the mushrooms are "pure" or correctly made, as nature tends to be very consistent in it's bio-synthesis of molecular substances. Also the act of growing your own takes a little while, so you will have time to contemplate the experience on a much deeper level and really take your time getting into "it." You will learn patience and you will have a relationship with your psychedelic material that is unattainable in any other way - you have taken the potential for life (spores) and assisted in bringing it about and nurturing its growth. This relationship can be very rewarding.

2. Do some self-education
Once you have your material (well assume, LSD, psilocybin, mescaline or even DMT), or even before you have your material, do some research. Of course you should do plenty of research in general on psychedelics and specifically the one you plan to use. Read trip reports online, go through the Erowid pages on your substance, check the Recent LSD Prints thread at the Shroomery to see if anyone else is getting the same blotter as you (Shroomery.org, for ecstasy you can check pillreports.com). You may be able to find people in your geographic area getting and talking about the same substances you have access to. This can be an invaluable resource, but like anything else, take a look at the source of the information and use your best judgment. I truly feel that it is important to familiarize yourself with as much information as you can on psychedelics. But that being said, as much as you read, you will never know the experience in its fullness until youve had a few (at least one) experiences with it yourself. The psychedelic experience is one of the truly and utterly indescribable things in this world because words along with all our technology are still too clumsy an instrument with which to capture the ineffable. So do some research, but understand that it cannot prepare you for the experience.

3. Set and Setting

Okay here is the classic teaching that flows down from some of the psychedelic forefathers Set and Setting. Set talks about your mental and emotional state at the time. Psychedelics amplify emotions and thoughts, so it is important to go into the experience with as few external stressors as possible. You should be in a good mood, and you should be in a good place in your life (not in the middle of divorce, tragedy, upheaval). Amplifying a bad mood or related general unease can have the obvious drawbacks. (On occasion of course there are going to be those in these situations that get a glimmer of hope and new life from an experience at a time when they are down but for your first experience, make sure you go into it with the right Set.) Setting refers to the place in which the experience will occur, but it also refers to the people that will be there, the music playing, and any other environmental variables. Finding the right place for your first experience is very important. Think of this in terms of losing your virginity you only have one first time so you may want to make the effort to find the right place. This place can be out in nature camping in a remote area, or private property. The benefits of using private property are discussed in more detail below, but the key is that private property allows you a safe space within which you can reasonably have an expectation of privacy. This is important because you are going to be in a heightened state of awareness, so you will be hyper-aware of everything around you, and your thoughts will be moving very quickly into and out of new areas of consciousness. You may find that speech can be somewhat clumsy and confusing, and you certainly wont be able to speak as quickly as you are thinking, so there is a time-lag phenomenon as well. This is not to say that you wont be able to talk during the whole trip, but at some points on a good dose, it is not unusual to find it hard to speak in a way that conveys your true meaning, making communication work in different ways. So find a nice private place where no one who is not part of your intended group of travelers will bother you. Make the environment as comfortable as you can, and have it well stocked with whatever you think you may need for the duration of the experience. Have some nice music (and instruments if youre that type of person/group)and some nice food/drinks (like fresh fruits/juices/water), you may find that you do not get hungry at all, but it is good to have (not to mention that eating can be one of the most amazing/stimulating sensory experiences when on psychedelics). Ideally it should be a nice temperature (or temperature controlled). Burning candles is probably not a good idea for the novice tripper; though lighting incense can be very rewarding to the olfactory and visual senses (smoke can be Very interesting to watch). It seems like an entire book could be devoted to creating the proper setting, but I think at this point youve got a general basis to start from.

4. Plan enough time to be in one place and not have to drive

Another thing to think about in terms of setting is that you should find a place that you can stay for the duration of the experience. This means to plan to stay in the same location for 8-12 hours depending on your method of travel (Mushrooms last about 6-8 hours, while LSD is closer to 8-10 hours). Now obviously if you are camping, you can certainly go on hikes, but be very aware of where you are in relation to your campsite (take it from someone who learned the hard way). Walking around in neighborhoods while tripping can be quite an experience, but it puts you in a situation with many other variables. You may run into strangers, neighbors, or others you may not want to be a part of your trip. Theres not necessarily anything wrong with walking around, but if you do, take only what you need, empty your pockets before leaving home (leave drugs, phones, anything you do not want to lose), and just bring your ID and keys. Driving should be out of the question it would be highly irresponsible and could end up as badly as you can imagine. I will say it again because it is just that important driving and tripping do not mix. Plan to have everything you think you may need or want with you in your setting so that you do not have the temptation to go out and get (or do) some XYZ thing.

5. Minimize Distractions
I think that minimizing distractions is the best way to enjoy the flow of your trip. Turn off your phone talking on the phone can be a very weird thing on psychedelics. I call it intersecting realities because someone else is calling you from a place that could almost be called a separate reality (that person is immersed in totally different environmental situation), and that call is interrupting what is going on for you in your Here and Now experience. Also assuming that someone on the "outside" has an emergency, you will not be well prepared to help, and it can end up really ruining your experience. Let your friends/relatives know that you'll be unavailable, or change the message on your phone for a few hours to let people know you are unavailable for the day and have no access to phone/e-mail. In addition to turning off your phone, turning off the internet and TV also can be a good idea. While these can have immense value to the psychedelic experience, they can also introduce very intense elements and scenes into your trip. If you have some specific movies to watch that youve pre-selected give them a shot at some point in the trip if you feel the desire, but make that just a part of the experience. Basically you want to set it up so that you are not interrupted during the trip it will feel a lot more comfortable that way.

6. Minimize (unintentional) contact with others

Planning your trip to minimize unintentional contact with others may sound like an odd idea, but it is something to think about. If youve turned off your phone and planned the trip in and around private property, youre off to a great start. The reason I mention this is because while communication within your group of trippers (and/or nontrippers) will be very rich and lucid during most of the trip (or all of it), sometimes people get weird vibes when others outside the planned group show up and begin interacting with everyone. There may be no problem, or sometimes it can make some people very uncomfortable. Its hard to describe the sensation to someone who hasnt had the experience, but many times people end up having the wildest conversations with total strangers in the oddest of circumstances. If you venture out of the property and into the world, be prepared for the unexpected to occur in mind-bending ways. Usually there should be no danger in going out into public tripping. In fact most people would never know that you are tripping at all (unless you have the endless giggles), but the funny thing is that many people on psychedelics who do go out in public have the feeling that Everyone Knows!!! when in reality, probably no one knows. Staying out of public also minimizes contact with police. You may think it is a fine idea to take a walk at 3:30 AM, but you may arouse some unwanted attention. So to the best of your ability try to minimize your contact with people you do not want around you during an intensely personal and moving experience. The people you do want around for this experience should be chosen with thought and contemplation if you dont feel right about someone in the group, you just have to trust your instincts. People who tend to annoy you in your everyday life, may REALLY annoy you on psychedelics. Also psychedelics are not for everyone, so if you choose to have others with you during the experience, choose wisely.

7. Plan to minimize the use of money/transactions

This one fits in with the pre-planning to have everything you think you may want or need during the experience and minimizing unintentional contact with strangers. It is best to just not have to deal with money during a psychedelic experience. Your concept of its value may be different, and your math skills may be a little more multi-dimensional and distracted (though some people get hyper-mathematical on certain psychedelics, mostly LSD). By minimizing your use of money during the experience, you take a lot of variables out of the picture. It is best to wait until after the trip to get involved in financial discussions or transactions.

8. Friends/alone/sitter
One of the things you need to decide is whether you want to go on this voyage alone or with others. If you are going to do it with others, is everyone going to take psychedelics? As mentioned earlier the people you choose to have with you for the ride should be carefully chosen, you should feel good about them. You dont have to know them intimately, but you should enjoy their company and believe they are going to be good traveling partners. This is true whether or not they are going to be taking psychedelics with you anyone who is to be included in your circle should be people everyone feels good about. If you have someone who fits into that category, and who is also experienced with psychedelics and is willing to either take them with you, or to participate as a sitter/guide, that can be a very valuable person to you. There are many schools of thought on having a trip sitter, or someone who stays sober while one or more people take a psychedelic. The thought is that this sober person will watch over the tripper and make sure there are no problems. Unless the person acting as a sitter is very experienced with psychedelics, that person may not know how to react to certain situations that may arise during the trip (in relation to mental functioning, behavior, physical reactions), so the value of a sitter may be directly related to their understanding of the experience and how to handle situations should they arise. I personally have never had a trip sitter so I feel unqualified to say too much about that. To me a well-chosen group of friends would be the ideal.

9. Music Selections
I dedicated an entire little section of this guide to music selections, because music and psychedelics create an amazing synthesis. You should have access to many varieties of music that you enjoy, some fast, some slow, some of several genres, because you may not know what mood you will be in. Also you may find that suddenly, what you are listening to needs to be changed, and that change may be drastic, so having a wide variety of music to play is essential. People should agree on the selections beforehand, because music that is annoying you while you are tripping can be very uncomfortable to listen to. Something like Pandora.com or other internet radio programs can be great, because you do not have to bring any selection of music with you, but it still can be playing an extremely wide variety of music (not to mention that the programs are intelligent, so you can teach them to play music you like if you dont know about this, check it out). Anyway, whatever you do, I would suggest having some music you enjoy with you along for the trip. You may be surprised at how it sounds on psychedelics. If you play instruments, bring them along, you may be inspired.

10. Empty Stomach

It has been recommended to have an empty stomach before taking a psychedelic. This is because if you have a full stomach, it may take the psychedelic a long time to move into your system if it is sitting on top of a lot of undigested foods. This would mean that the effects will most likely be lessened because of the slow absorption into your body. This is truer for mushrooms than it is for LSD, since LSD can be mostly dissolved in the mouth.

11. Setting intention/asking for a smooth ride

Once you have made all the proper preparations, you have obtained good psychedelic material, created a good Setting and are ready to take the psychedelic; it is good to take a moment with yourself and the substance. This can be something you do with others in the group, or you can do it totally silently (or not at all, if you dont feel the need). In the moments before you put the LSD or mushrooms into your mouth, you still have time to make a choice. Once youve eaten them youre invested in the experience, youre onboard for the duration of the trip, and in some senses, there is no turning back. Whenever Ive eaten psychedelics I get a feeling of See ya on the other side at the moment the dose hits my tongue. At this moment I take a second and set my intention for the trip, I think about what I am trying to get out of the experience, and I also ask (the universe, the substance) for a smooth ride. This probably isnt for everyone, but for me I treat the opportunity to have an experience like this as a very special thing. I have great respect for the unimaginable power that psychedelics can channel through people, and before I become intertwined in that flow, and become one with it, I just take a moment to give thanks and set my sights toward where I want this experience to take me. Once Ive taken it I always hope I havent taken too much or too little in relation to what I am looking for that particular day.

12. Entertainment Options

I dont really know what you are into, but whatever it is, use your best judgment. You may want to have some of your hobbies or interests to delve into using a different frame of mind. I would say that the best entertainment would be music in the background and good conversation, but there is really so much you can do. It would probably be good to have a few pre-selected movies just in case you feel inclined. Many people say to stay away from TV and I have to agree commercials and the random programming that you are likely to come across are not the kind of quality entertainment you should be looking for. Dont fill your time with junk food for the mind. Use carefully chosen, highly interesting, well made movies/videos. Even something like YouTube may be great since you can self-select the imagery entering the space of your trip. Many people would say to stay away from movies/videos all together, and I also agree, but that being said, it is better to be prepared (like everything in life). I cannot recommend fishing as a good activity for your first trip (the less sharp, pointy things the better).

13. Duration
The duration of your trip will depend on a lot of factors, but for most of the psychedelics you can find pretty reliable information as to their normal duration. You can use sites like Erowid to get an idea of a range of peoples trip duration. I would say that LSDs duration is around 8-12 hours, psilocybin about 6-8 hours, mescaline about 12-15 hours, and DMT (smoked) about 10-15 minutes. The thing about these durations, is that time is experienced differently on psychedelics. There is an experience known as time dilation in which time seems to stretch out, and minutes can sometimes seem to take eternities to pass. I believe it is always a good thing to note the time you take the psychedelic, so you can know where in the trip you are at any given point, and also when you should be coming down. Say you take LSD at a specific time. You know in about 30-45 minutes you should be feeling the effects of the drug, and in about 3 hours you will be at the peak of the experience. That will last for a while (1-3 hours) and then you will start to come down. By about 10-12 hours after ingestion, you should be almost completely down. It is not unusual to have an "after-glow" or minimal effects still lasting until you have gone to sleep for the night (or whenever the trip is over). Also smoking cannabis at this time can bring back the psychedelic effects for a short time.

14. It Comes in Waves

An important thing to know is that the intensity will rise and fall like waves. You will have times during the trip that will feel extremely intense, and then these are followed by periods where you may feel completely sober (youre not). You may begin to wonder if the experience is winding down, and then another wave of intensity washes over you hurling you back into the vortex. These waves will come and go from the time you start feeling the substance hitting you until the end of the peak of the trip. After the peak of the trip, the waves seem to subside and you slowly begin to reintegrate into normal reality again. You may want to write down ideas or thoughts if you can, as many times the epiphanies and inspirations get lost in the flood of thoughts and emotions. You may not be able to get anything written down at this point, but it may be interesting and rewarding to try. (It can also be frustrating, because then you see how little information words convey in relation to the meaning you want to infuse the words with.)

15. Come Down

During the period after the peak, you will still be tripping, but the effects will be much more muted. This is a nice after-glow period in which you can really reflect on all that you saw and experienced. It is a great time to compare notes with the others (if you are tripping with others). You can use this time to relax and think. One of the hardest things for even seasoned trippers is to take the insights learned during a trip and export them into everyday life. You may want to review the things that seemed important or moving during the trip and see if there are things in your life that you can apply those insights to that may help bring you to a better place in some way. Again, you may want to write down some of your thoughts and inspirations during this quieter time as it may be much easier than when you were riding the waves. You will most likely not be able to sleep until you have fully come down. Many people have laid in bed for hours just thinking that they should be able to fall asleep, but theyre really still tripping. You should not drive until the effects have fully worn off, but this may be a great time for a walk outside in the last hour or two of the trip.

16. Nutrition
Nutrition is an important component that can be easily overlooked. Many people do not feel hungry at all on psychedelics, and others feel turned off to the very idea of food during the experience. Others can eat with great enjoyment, but they are rarer. The psychedelic experience can consume a lot of energy; mental, physical, and emotional. So not only are people not eating, but they are burning a lot of calories and using a lot of nutrients to fuel the experience. Before you go to bed after the trip, you should make it a point to have a good meal. This will allow your body to recharge properly while you sleep. If you cant eat, at the very least take some vitamins/antioxidants. These are protective of your bodys systems, so dont forget to take care of your body after it has just gone through so much with you.

17. The Next Day

You may find yourself tired the day after the psychedelic experience, especially if you took it late in the day and the experience ran into the wee hours of the morning. I would recommend leaving the day after your first trip totally open. Dont make plans for that day. Just allow yourself to rest, think, and enjoy yourself. You may feel great and highly energized the next day or you may feel very tired and that depends on so many different factors. You do not get any kind of hangover like you might from alcohol, in fact many people feel well rested and better than before the trip. Either way, I would recommend leaving the entire day after the trip open so that you are not obligated to do anything. You should do whatever feels right that day, but by leaving the day open, you allow yourself to find your own path for the day as it develops.

18. A note on Bad Trips

There are many factors that can lead to uncomfortable feelings during a trip. If you find yourself or someone you are with becoming uncomfortable with the direction the trip is going, there are several tips for working through that. Many times if you find yourself in a bad place, simply changing your environment (change the music, go into a different room, go outside), can have an amazing result. Your breath can also help you to change your trip, but that is a harder one for some people to remember. Slowing your breath can have a very calming effect on your mental state. I like to take breaths that I inhale for 7 seconds, hold for one and then exhale for 7 seconds. Even when sober, doing that can bring me soothing calmness. Some people get a worrisome feeling that theyll be stuck in the psychedelic experience and that theyll never come down. This happens when the time dilation becomes magnified and the effects are very intense. Here it can be VERY helpful to note what time you took the psychedelic and what time you should be coming down. Most of the time, that will show you that you are still just in the middle of the experience, and within a few hours you should be back to normal. If this happens, a change of scenery is the first thing you should do (change the flow of the thoughts, concentrate on something else). If you find yourself coming back to the same negative thoughts time after time, and youve tried breathing and changing environments, you should not fight the experience, let go and flow with it. You may have something that needs to be confronted or dealt with, and sometimes these things bubble up from your subconscious during a trip. Instead of hiding from it in your mind, (which can be frustratingly impossible at times) in fear, by letting go, and letting the trip take its course, you find you can see this part of you in a new light and it may lead to changes in the way you behave or see the world. This can be part of a death-rebirth experience that happens on psychedelics, where the old you dies and is reborn into someone new, you just have to know it is okay to let go.
Another thing to keep in mind is that benzodiazepine type drugs can have a very calming/sedative effect on the psychedelic experience. I know many people who will not take psychedelics unless they have a parachute (Xanax, Valium, rophynol) as a just in case. Ive heard the benzos being called a parachute, because they are like a way to get off the ride, or jump out of the experience. If you find yourself in a weird state of mind and you just need to get out of the trip, there are few things better than benzodiazepines. Usually within about 20 minutes or so of taking the benzo, you will feel the trip starting to calm down, and get much more under control. The only thing about this, is that if things are coming up that you need to deal with and you avoid them by taking the benzos, well then you will still have those issues hiding in your subconscious. So some people will say that this is cheating, but I can tell you, sometimes, a person just needs to calm down and get a grip, and these medications are wonderful for that. You can always go back in another day.

Another thing that is very important to point out is this; on very rare occasions, a person may have a period of time during the trip in which they totally lose themselves. There is a break with reality and the person begins saying very weird things, and acting totally unlike themselves. They may become agitated and even sometimes aggressive or violent. They may not know or trust you, and seem to have had a total break with reality. Again I want to stress that this is a very rare situation, but it comes up. There are many threads on this board of people going through this type of experience. The number one thing to know is that calling the cops or emergency medical services should be the very last resort. The person WILL end up being restrained against their will, taken to a hospital and be strapped to a bed for the duration of the trip - as you can imagine, this has some very negative effects on the psyche, not to mention the person's family. If that person has any drugs on them, they most likely will be arrested upon their discharge from the hospital. So if you have to call for help, do your best to make sure that the person will not be charged with anything criminal as a result of your call. The best thing to do is try to keep the person quiet, safe, and inside - away from strangers and the randomness of the outside world. In most cases, this phase of the experience passes within a few hours whether the person is in the hospital or not. If you can keep them out of the hospital, they should be fine in a few hours. If you have the benzodiazepine drugs available - don't wait - USE THEM NOW! There is a lot more to be said on this subject, so anyone with any insight is encouraged to do so.

19. Prescription drugs and psychedelics

It is important to note that some of the prescription medication you may be taking can have an effect on the way that the psychedelics affect you. This is extremely important in regards to SSRIs and anti-depressant medications. By inhibiting the pathways for serotonin re-uptake, they block the activity of the psychedelics as well. If you are taking anti-depressant medications, then most likely the psychedelic will not manifest very well, and the experience can be very weak. Also it may be important to note that psychedelics are amplifiers of senses and emotions, so if you are on anti-depressant drugs for a reason, it may not be the time in your life to embark on the psychedelic journey. Only you can decide for yourself. But if this describes you, just make sure you put that much extra thought into your decision. Other Rx medications may affect the trip as well. You can search around or ask on the forums about the interactions of your specific medications and get some good feedback.

20. Hot/Pointy/Sharp things This one should go without saying, but due to an article that popped up in the News section of an online forum I frequent, I figure I will throw in an extra section here. THERE SHOULD BE NO UNLOCKED WEAPONS AVAILABLE TO TRIPPING PEOPLE. Sure there are cowboys who can successfully mix six-shooters and LSD, but...the potential for danger is real, so you'll want to exercise extreme caution with anything that is Hot, Pointy, Sharp, and of course, loaded weapons of any kind (crossbows, guns, tanks, anti-aircraft missiles - okay getting very Apocalypse Now! here...). I don't think this section needs much more details, this is very self-explanatory. Please be safe. www.ShamanicHarmonics.com