Beginner's Guide to Safe Tripping

[GregKasarik]

It has been a while since I visited, but in the meantime I have written a beginner's guide to safe tripping.

It can be found here: http://www.kasarik.com/Beginners-Guide- ... ipping.php

Any comments, or suggestions for improvement are always welcome!

 

[sapientastellarum]

I enjoyed reading your article! It is very balanced and filled with wise and insightful advice. I wish more people would use entheogens as sacraments rather than simply party drugs.

 

[ophiuchus]

i liked it. i think it might be useful to mention how the experience usually comes in waves in order for someone to get a good grasp on how sober they are (and also in regards to driving). also, you gotta make the page more narrow, i almost didn't read it due to having to scroll left and right the entire time...

good to see your back

 

[dirk.bruere]

As a followup to the sacrament thing - purification.
Have a crap and have a bath/shower before you take it.
Sense of smell and other senses are heightened, and you don't want to be distracted by your own stink.
Do not eat before tripping - have an empty stomach, at least at the start.
Have some snacky things around for later - but probably not dead animals!
Have some different drinks around as well, wine, cola, tea, coffee - test your senses (but do not use anything you have to make yourself while tripping eg boiling a kettle or messing round with boiling water)

 

[shellyleopard]

Thank you for this. I wish I had read something like it
before I tripped for my first time.

Under the section Communication and Confidentiality
section you wrote
"During a trip all sorts of strange things might happen and you might find yourself saying, or doing things that don’t entirely make sense, or which you might not otherwise have told anyone."

I have experienced some awkward moments during trips that
have made me uncomfortable or uneasy and I'm not exactly sure how to handle it.
I was wondering if you could elaborate.

 

[IJesusChrist]

Hi shelly - I don't think greg is going to show up anytime soon.

There are many posts on this site about "bad" or "uncomfortable" trips - that's nearly half of the reason we're (I'm) here.

Bad trips are some of the hardest experiences to deal with - but that is what they are, simply an experience. They can make you feel insane, make you feel uncomfortable, make you feel angry, sad, you name it. The opposite goes for euphoric or happy trips, of course.

Your brain is a giant sponge of information. A giant, cosmic filter, as my dad puts it. You aren't really in control on what you pick up and don't pick up - you basically suck up way more information than you think is necessary. When you go on your first psychonautical voyage, especially if you're not ready - your brain will start to panic, and/or get confused.

Our minds are set up so that we need to know what is happening, but with psychodelics, the actual fundamentals of WHY we trip are not easy to explain, and thus a solid understanding of what is going on is nearly impossible. The layman will find this hard to agree with, and not truly understand how confusing a first trip can be.

So, when you take your first trip - and your mind starts to go down a path that you didn't know existed (but you soaked up with your sponge / filter somwhere along the line) you may start to feel uneasy and want some answers. The answers you want are not going to come because
1. you are tripping.
2. the answers literally are as hypothetical as can be
3. You are seeking something with the intentions to solve things - which in fact will worry you more - since this problem is not a classical problem with a solution that can be "found".

The more you trip the more you start to let go and allow yourself to float with your emotions and thoughts, allowing them to be expressed, but never running from them.

For example - I wanted desperately to get naked and run around my town on my first trip. I thought I was burning up and needed to cool off. A bit of instinct told me it was too cold out and I was acting "crazy" and needed to stay inside.

The thought of me burning up was something I had picked up along time ago from who knows where - maybe the propoganda about MDMA making you burn up. The thought that I was becoming "crazy" is as common as any nowadays - the media thinks EVERYONE is crazy. We get it instilled in us from birth.

I have to go now - hope that makes sense / helps.

 

[shellyleopard]

Thanks for the response IJC. I would've waited and waited for greg.


What you said sort of clarifies why I have felt uneasy.
I have a huge fear of not being in control and that's probably what is making me
feel so tense when I trip. I feel that I will say things that I shouldn't say or do things that I shouldn't do.
From what I've gatherd about psychedelics is that they can break down that filter in your mind that
filters the things you wouldn't normally project.

Another thing that makes me uncomfortable is that
at times I feel like I completely lose sight of who I am.
Is that normal ?

I don't want to give up on psychedelics but if in my next trip I can't be comfortable, I may just have to stop trying.
=/

p.s. I'm glad that you didn't go run around your town in the nude.

-Shelly

 

[IJesusChrist]

Losing sight of who you are -

Is this more of a sad view, or a confused view?

Are you sad that you cannot put a label and detail on yourself?

Or are you confused as to what you truly are?

These are two very different feelings and have two different ways of dealing with them, you'll have to enlighten me on which one you are dealing with.

I personally can not break down the stress and tenseness in a trip when it rears its head. I will be tense through a major part of it, but it is something I have learned to deal with. It is such a struggle for me, but when it is over I become euphoric, relieved, and have new motivations and aspirations. It is like wiping the slate clean sometimes. Often bad trips are symbolism that large change needs to take place, atleast in my experience.

I don't think anyone is immune to not having bad feelings once a trip begins - that isn't really possible, but once you become more in tune with yourself and more mature, you realize what is worth worrying about, and so on. That goes to say without psychodelics as well.

Perhaps I can better assess your situation with a little more detail from you?

 

[shellyleopard]

I suppose I just end up wondering
if I'm doing what I ought to be doing with my life.

If I'm headed in the right direction and if
I'm doing all that I can to better my life.
Or if my personality is what I want it to be.

 

[IJesusChrist]

Thats what psychodelics are for, mate question what you thought was a straight path - fix what you thought was 'fine'.

They are here for intense introspection.

 

[shellyleopard]

Thank you.

Another question. Do you think it would
be better to trip alone?

 

[ararat]

depends completely on you and how you feel about tripping. I always preferred tripping in beautiful places with people I'm comfortable with. most trips I went on alone were not very nice or insightful.. but then again I never really tried tripping alone, as in, do it with the intention of completely immersing myself in the experience (which I find stupid of me in retrospection, but hey, obviously I didn't know any better)

it was nice to have friends along in the first trip.

 

[IJesusChrist]

tripping alone and tripping with friends are two different thing in my opinion.

when I trip alone I visit somewhere that is unrelatable to anyone else. I cannot possibly explain myself, or it to my friends, or even myself at times - but I figure things out that have some of the most important impacts on my life.

My experience with tripping with friends is not always good. I like introspection, where as my friends are very into exo-spection - i.e. they love to talk about people and things and trees and what not. I can dig that too, but at lower doses. Beautiful places on lower doses are a wonderful thing - very inspiring and emotional. But high doses or strong hallucinogens with friends or in the outside world don't quite overlap.

That is just my opinion - it is up to you and your friends. We aren't all built to enjoy the same experiences :wink:

 

[shellyleopard]

The thing that I don't really like about tripping with people
is that I can't really focus on whatever it is they are talking about.
My mind is just on a tangent that doesn't allow me to absorb
their comments. Making me feel like an ass.

One of the most enjoyable experiences that
I've had was once when I took some fungi and
sat in my room listening to chill music and painting by myself.
It was very plesant.

 

[ophiuchus]

The thing that I don't really like about tripping with people
is that I can't really focus on whatever it is they are talking about.
My mind is just on a tangent that doesn't allow me to absorb
their comments

if people are talking to me often while im tripping, i agree, it dont enjoy it. they dont get the fact that my mind is 1000 miles away from the petty conversation about what "sarah" did last week, or how someone lost their cell phone and found it again, and even if i were involved, i'd probably have nothing to contribute to it, other than laughing my ass off about how silly conversation is...

brief acknowledging conversation with another close friend while tripping however i find to be quite enjoyable. it generally dissolves into both of us laughing histerically.

yeah when the initial effects start to take hold, i just pretty much ignore everyone (somewhat unintentionally, or rather, my intention just changes) until they finally take the hint and stop trying to talk to me. my friends now realize that i generally do this on psychedelics, and for the most part catch on quicker that i don't want to talk. still though, a new person with a boisterous personality can definitely inspire some restlessness in me. i try to physically remove myself from the situation if their narration becomes overwhelming, and the problem always goes away.

edited*

 

[ophiuchus]

i've yet to really take a trip by my self. i mean, i've dabbled with like a gram and gone for a hike/run, which was really beautiful, and i did have some insight. but the last time i took a large dose by myself it was somewhat unpleasant because i didn't really have anywhere where i could just be alone. i just wish i knew of a place that was pretty desolate that i could just get lost in, but if i were to just keep hiking for a while, be able to get back to society. driving on psychedelics is something that i'd never condone, but i ended up having to last time (4g too... :? ), because i started getting a bit paranoid because i just wanted to act silly and do whatever pleased me, but i knew that if someone saw another person that was just laughing their ass off and no one else was around, that someone would probably be weary of my mental status, and get others involved... :roll:

i think i might start looking for a suitable place on a map... :idea:

 

[shellyleopard]

Thanks for the response.
I thought I was the only one.

 

[ophiuchus]

definitely not the only one :lol:

 

[toaster032]

The guy that wrote that article is damn smart. You can definitely tell that he's experienced and I wish my close friend thought the same way. Unfortunately, it's always just 'hey duuuuude come over and let's get super high'. It's hardly ever considered a psychonautic experience by anyone anymore.

 

[spice]

and why's that?

the culture

our

idiot

culture

is not going to see the future


"it has electrolytes"


anyone?