Ayahuasca as a first time psychedelic and a recreational drug

I’m writing this article because the general consensus online seems to be the exact opposite of what all of my personal experience has led me to believe. Many people (including myself at one point) around many psychedelic communities on the internet hold quite strongly the opinion that Ayahuasca is serious business and not a sensible option for a person’s first trip, stating that it is extremely difficult to handle, with some even going as far as saying that you need to be guided by a genuine shaman to avoid being crushed. I’d like to suggest the exact opposite, as it seems to me that Ayahuasca is a much better option for most beginners than even LSD or mushrooms – providing the tripper cares enough to have a very basic understanding of how an Ayahuasca trip plays out beforehand. This really isn’t a very difficult thing to achieve.
The reasons that this isn’t considered to be the case are based on three different factors and people’s inability to find some basic solutions to them. These problems are:

  1. The Nausea, 
    Ayahuasca is very famous for its painful nausea, violent vomiting and the diarrhoea that it generally causes during the first 45 minutes or so, but this is not an effect caused by Ayahuasca – it is an effect of poorly brewed Ayahuasca, and can be avoided by some simple steps that completely remove this problem. All of them are found in the Ayahuasca recipe right here.
     
  2. The Exponential Enhancements of all Emotional and Physical States, 
    One of the biggest characteristics of all Ayahuasca trips is the way in which it enhances your present state many times over in a unique and often overwhelming way. This can be either incredible or horrifying, as it works in both negatively and positively, but most people seem to completely miss just how easy this is to control. If Ayahuasca starts to loop and enhance a simple but negative state, such as being irritated or exhausted, you can stop it by changing your state to something else by simply acting the way you want to feel. If you begin to act out and force an emotion or state it immediately becomes genuinely felt; moving in an energetic fashion will cause you to feel extremely pumped, and smiling will cause you to feel extremely euphoric. This is a completely unique effect and once you understand how this works it no longer becomes a problem.
     
  3. The Sacredness of it all,
    I don’t need to go into depth with this one as I’ve spoken about it 
    here already, but I will say this: even if Ayahuasca truly is a divine connection to a sacred and infinite universe, it’s pretty arrogant to assume that it would give two shits about small petty things such as which humans are using it, where they are doing it, and how they are preparing it, especially when I have yet to see any evidence of Ayahuasca being angered by such things beyond “but it’s sacred, bro! These substances are a calling!” With these problems gone it’s pretty difficult to find any reason stopping people from moving straight to Ayahuasca and skipping the so-called ‘starter’ psychedelics altogether, and after taking many people on multiple first trips with Ayahuasca, with all of them having positive experiences, I am completely confident in my position and would go as far as saying that it might even be a better option than LSD or mushrooms since this is something that anybody can be self-sufficient in producing – providing they have access to a kitchen and the internet – and it also has many properties that are simply not found with other trips.
     

The first of these is that judging by personal experience, Ayahuasca does not seem to increase a person’s HPPD as the visuals behave completely differently to that of other psychedelics; instead of the constant stream of visuals being fired into your face, Ayahuasca visuals only appear when you are paying attention to them, and disappear as soon as you concentrate on anything else. This is extremely practical as it allows you to do anything during an Ayahuasca trip that you could do sober once you have a feel for it, and combined with the light sensitivity of Ayahuasca visuals, an Ayahuasca-based hppd is rendered near-impossible to become any kind of nuisance in your day to day life.
The second thing that Ayahuasca really has going for it is its extremely rational head space that is surprisingly less of a mindfuck than more common psychedelics, and how it seems to completely reorganise your brain in a way that lasts so much longer than anything found elsewhere. Not only does Ayahuasca leave you with the sensation that your cultural filter has been destroyed, that your hard drive has been defragged, and your thoughts completely reorganised – for sometimes weeks after a single trip – but it literally forces you to become a better person with regular comments, such as:

  • Stand up straight!
  • Stop being an idiot!
  • Eat more fruit!
  • Spend more time with your family!

These comments feel like spontaneous thoughts popping into your head and are often snide, but envelop everything from the big things in life to the small things and force you to follow them by making you too self-aware to be capable of rationalising any other options. It is extremely difficult to fight what is best for you when it’s clearly the most reasonable option, and it’s this head space that removes your cultural filter quicker and more efficiently than any other psychedelic I have found.
Lastly, a small but very practical thing I have found is that you really can have an Ayahuasca trip on any work night with no problems. Its shorter duration allows you to fall asleep feeling absolutely pumped for the next day, and upon waking up you’ll feel extremely refreshed, clear headed and reorganised. This shorter duration, combined with its lack of tolerance, allows you to take many people on life changing trips throughout the week.
So, this drug is a great option for a first-timer – you just need to be sensible and understand how it works – but not only is Ayahuasca perfectly fine for a first timer, it can even be used in situations outside of the usual chilled-out bedrooms and nature. Many people would tell you that it would be completely irresponsible to use such a powerful/sacred psychedelic outside of a traditional environment, but as a person who makes a hobby out of taking a wide variety of psychedelic drugs in completely random places I can tell you that not once did it suddenly go wrong for no reason at all, or show any signs of doing so. For example, here are some of the things I have done and the places I have been whilst on Ayahuasca:

  • At the cinema.
  • At multiple bars with live and very loud music.
  • During a game of Dungeons and Dragons (holy shit the immersion was intense).
  • In very public places such as town centres, fast food restaurants and supermarkets.

None of these places are where I would prefer to trip, but in all of them I was tripping balls yet not once did it feel any different from being on any other psychedelic in a non-traditional environment, and the same goes for my friends – some of whom were literally on their second-ever trip. I am not saying Ayahuasca is a party drug, so go take it at a rave, but if you already have a feel for the substance and want to do so there is nothing stopping you. You just have to know your limits, and you also have to know that due to Ayahuasca visuals being so light sensitive, you’ll want to take at least double the usual dose that you would take in an environment without so many disturbances to compensate for them. People might think this is dangerous but I’ve yet to find a real reason why – providing the person doing it is comfortable doing so, are familiar with the drug and aware of their limits. Nobody is selling this drug on the street to random people, so it’s safe to assume that if somebody has gone through the effort of learning to brew their own Ayahuasca, they must have done some research.
If I had to choose a single substance for society to base its values on it would be Ayahuasca, not LSD, and certainly not alcohol. At some point this year we are going to work on a guide that would let people brew Ayahuasca and extract DMT using the extremely common Phalaris grass that grows all over the northern hemisphere. It probably grew in your school field, and it might already grow in your garden – it should be easy to do this long before our governments start to notice Mimosa Hostillis Rootbark, and once this is done there would be literally nothing that they could do from preventing Ayahuasca and DMT from being available to the masses. This is going to be so goddamn hilarious you have no idea.

Testing DMT Entities Through Math

I’ve already spoken about testing the existence of DMT/ Ayahuasca and Mushroom entities through simple questioning right here but I think that using mathematics to do this could be a much more interesting way to go even if the existence of such things are immediately shown to be a complete fabrication. Which to be honest, is probably the most likely outcome.

As a person who is completely useless at maths it would be very interesting to ask autonomous entities (particularly entities who appear to be all knowing) simple mathematical questions that are beyond my immediate comprehension such as “64 x 112” and to then time how long it takes for a response. Assuming they can answer at all I could then across multiple trips ask entities questions of increasing complexity to find the upper limit of their abilities and see just how far I could push it as doing this could teach us multiple awesome things about the nature of psychedelics and the human brain.
This will obviously have to be done with a polite attitude because entities do have the power to crush you.

There are 3 possible outcomes to performing this experiment, which are: 

The Entities fail to answer the questions.

If the entities outright fail, refuse to answer or show mathematical skills no better than that of the tripper then this is yet another line of evidence suggesting that they simply do not exist or are at least not nearly as all knowing as some of them seem to be. This combined with the results of my further questioning that I suggested in the previous article on this topic would be the final nail in the coffin in my opinion and would finally provide us with an answer.

The Entities succeed in answering the questions, but there is an upper limit.

If the entities are capable of solving with greater ability than the conscious skills of the tripper then things are really starting to get interesting, this doesn’t necessarily prove their existence (although it certainly helps) but it does let us find out a few things about the human brain as finding the upper limit of their ability to answer basic multiplication questions would essentially show us what the exact processing limitations of the subconscious mind are and just how far it is ahead of our conscious processing power and personal experience leads me to suspect that it is might be leaps and bounds ahead of what is consciously available to us.

The Entities succeed but there is no upper limit.

If everything goes perfectly and the entities pass all questioning beyond what could reasonably be considered the physical limitations of a human brain then goddamn. This would be proof that this experience isn’t just a hallucination that acts like it is in possession of a huge wealth of knowledge inaccessible to me but that it really is exactly what it claims to be. OH MAN 

Each of these outcomes would be a fascinating discovery so although it’s probably going to be the first option this is still definitely worth a try and nobody else is working on it so it’s a chance to break some brand new ground and do front line research. I’m finally ready to get working on this very shortly through a series of high dose Ayahuasca trips and you’re welcome to help out and report back if you want to but I do understand that most people are far too lazy for this sort of shit so I shall push on regardless.

The many unique components of a typical Ayahuasca trip

Ayahusca is by far my favourite psychedelic, it is extremely easy to make and offers a completely different but amazing style of trip that needs to be taken much more seriously. Here I will describe in detail each component to give new users a rough idea of what to expect before taking such a drug.

Body high/ Purge:
Depending on how traditional the method of preparation for a users dose of Ayahuasca has been kept the first physical sensation that is usually noticed is an intense nausea that gradually builds up until the user purges and vomits. This vomiting doesn’t feel particularly violent and is over with very quickly but the nausea before it can be horrible and generally makes it difficult to move without feeling like you are going to throw up for the first 45 minutes of the trip.

I’ve been thinking about the purge a fair bit recently as despite the entire internet telling me that it is a necessary and important part of the trip I have yet to see anybody experience a purge without causing an immediate and sudden end to their trip. It does feel surprisingly pleasurable if you let it happen and I know quite a few people are going to disagree with me on this but it really does seem like the purge is an unnecessary bullshit cultural construct that does not actually benefit the trip in anyway and is very easy to eradicate by means such as a few simple recipe changes (the egg whites trick), a little practice and some good weed. If it really was truly necessary to purge before a successful trip Pharmahuasca users would also experience such a thing but they do not.

The physical sensation of the real bodyhigh is a very difficult to place but genuine feeling of euphoria and a sense of being completely in touch with the animal body. At higher doses this sensation becomes spontaneous rushes of intense pleasure that envelops every single nerve ending on your body. This is intense but does not overwhelm and you even have a large amount of control in inducing these rushes if you constantly communicate, encourage and cheer the Ayahuasca on to produce a bodyhigh inside your head. All of this allows you to be fully mobile and to explore anything that you could explore sober providing that you are aware of your limits.

Headspace:

The headspace of Ayahuasca is probably my favourite of all the traditional shamanic psychedelics and seems to put you a very profound state of a completely rational objectiveness that seems intertwined with a wide array of very intense feelings and emotions. This feels as if your cultural filter has been instantly removed and gives you the power to look at any topic without any irrational biases, giving you an intense appreciation for life and everything within in it with a huge thirst for knowledge and thought patterns that generally steer towards thoughts of being human, introspection, the passing of generations, tribal thinking and increased mystical thoughts.

Ayahuasca has incredibly sharp rapid fire thoughts that feel as if a quick paced intelligent conversation with yourself is constantly happening inside of your mind. Language capacity and creativity are greatly increased just as with all psychedelics but as certain brain functions seem to go up others temporarily go down to compensate. It can be very difficult for most people to perform certain complex tasks as motor control and short term memory are usually mildly affected as well an increased sense of distractibility that is found on most hallucinogens. This is hardly a problem however unless you are planning to write a letter or file your taxes during your trip but it’s worth noting that even after a mild Ayahuasca trip you do not feel mentally withdrawn or exhausted but completely straightened out as if each and every one of your thoughts has been reordered and reorganized. This leaves you with a personality that feels altered and humbled for the better after every successful trip.

A Sensed Presence of the “Other”:

During an Ayahuasca trip it is almost universally reported that it genuinely feels as if there is an authoritative presence or intelligence that is completely guiding or directing the trip with a sometimes twisted sense of humour. It really does feel as if the Other is sitting behind the scenes pushing all the right buttons and completely directing your trip from a position that is not always on your side. This Other has a habit of punishing the irrational, the arrogant and just about anybody who goes into this with the wrong attitude and it’s this habit that in my opinion makes Ayahuasca a drug that should be seriously researched before trying.

This feeling of the “Other” as if it is controls the intensity of the trip sporadically creating a trip that flows completely differently to other substances which offer a constant stream of visuals instead of a trip that can be so fussy sometimes it simply wont happen if the Ayahuasca isn’t feeling it. This sensed presence of the “other” is the lowest form of entity contact found on psychedelic drugs and is unsurprisingly also very common on low dose DMT trips.

Visual Behaviour:

It was the behaviour of the closed and open eye visuals that really took me by surprise the first time I took Ayahuasca. At first I was expecting a merely alternatively stylized version of the visuals experienced on mushrooms and LSD which are generally described as an incredibly fast moving and constant stream of geometric patterns, fractals and imagery but instead I found a set of incredibly rich and detailed patterns that behave in a bizarrely unique way.
Apart from your typical melting, breathing, tracers, etc the open eye visuals even at lower levels look just like real physical floating patterns that stand still and slowly grow out of the air in a very organic fashion. If allowed these visuals steadily grow, build up, come together and form networks all around you that become increasingly intense as you watch them but die down greatly if they are disturbed. Visuals can be disturbed by many things but sudden changes in the environment such as suddenly having to perform a task, a light being switched on, a sudden change in music or any unexpected changes to the vibes of the room will generally reset them. But despite having been reset the visuals do not take long to grow back and can quickly take over as you immediately begin to lose yourself in them.

These visuals are also very sensitive to light and It’s this aspect that many people confuse as an incompatibility between Ayahuasca and technology as the erratic nature of technology is generally very efficient at causing the visuals to die down a fair bit. This however is definitely not a universal truth and depends entirely on the technology, a first person shooter will probably not cause you to trip very hard but a copy of Planet Earth and some appropriate music will do just the opposite.

The closed eye visuals of an average Ayahuasca trip are not simple flat veils of complex geometry but generally rotating 3D structures of limitless style and possibilities that are comprised of a closed eye visual based material. These structures show huge amounts of imagery and get increasingly drawn out and elaborate depending on the dosage, eventually becoming fully fledged hallucinations, entity contact, imagined landscapes and impossible scenarios.

Hallucinations, Transformations and Distortions:

The open eye hallucinations experienced on Ayahuasca are a common occurrence and happen even at lower doses or when you seem to have completely come down off of your trip. These low level hallucinations are actually a form of photo realistic transformations and distortions and are never created from complete scratch but are instead always based on something such as a pre-existing physical object and often present themselves when you lose focus and stare at literally anything. This losing focus and zoning in on something as it elaborately transforms into an incomprehensible anything comes completely naturally during an Ayahuasca trip and unlike the cartoony and silly distortions found on LSD do not disappear once you realize they are there. These hallucinations only collapse in on themselves once you double take but are still insanely persistent compared to other psychedelics as an ability to remain completely and constantly lost in the distortion seems to be present.

Low level distortions come in the form of the tunnelling and sectioning of objects in your peripheral vision. This is experienced as objects in the corner your eye appearing to pushed back into themselves in a way that forms a deep tunnel of identical shape. These are not very well defined despite being obviously there and always immediately disappear if you try to directly look at them.

Dreams:

Many many misinformed people on the internet believe that DMT is released from the pineal gland during dreaming and death. Although this has been shown to be completely untrue from personal experience there does seem to be at least some sort of underlying tenuous connection between the DMT molecule and dreaming as although it is generally noted by most Psychonauts that the act of tripping increases the intensity of your dreams during sober living me and others have never experienced such a sudden jump in the intensity and realism of our dreams since we started taking Ayahuasca.

Ayahuasca completely changes the style of your dreams, causing them to become elaborate and incredibly psychedelic in a far more profound way than any of its close relatives.