Having a fascination with life and existence beats at the core of humanity. From the depths of human insight spring cultural and religious ideologies, myths and legends. Our drive to understand the world around us has brought forth great technological innovations, scientific exploration and works of great art. Our own points of view often live in a state of flux between these values. Nevertheless, at our foundations we share a kind of universal synchronicity.

My personal fascination with entheogens, and specifically the tryptamine family of compounds, stem back to my teenage years. Psilocybe semilanceata, the Liberty Cap mushroom, was a seasonal visitor to the fields of Southwest England, where I grew up. They offered a free look into a strange but fascinating dimension, a stones throw from my front door. The experience itself seemed tuned to that of the frequencies which emanate from the natural environment around us, reminiscent of mythic folk-law. Until recently I haven't ventured down the tryptamine path for quite some time; a hiatus of almost twenty years. Nevertheless, a strong urge to revisit those creative realms was present again and waiting for the right moment to surface. When chance would bring the opportunity, I was ready.

Having spent the last ten years living in Southeast Asia, it seemed almost impossible to locate the experience again. Although, by chance, I was able to find a few differing avenues of exploration: The first resulted in several experiences with the entheogen Mescaline, a phenethylamine from the Lophophora williamsii cactus (the Peyote button). Later, a brush with the equally interesting Blue Meanie Mushroom (Panaeolus cyanescens), gaving me a taste of that which I had been missing for all those years. The exploration of these two entheogens reinforced my desire to find and try the ever more exotic compound N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT).

The DMT Experience:

Firstly, I would like to elaborate on some of the research behind DMT. DMT is in fact a compound found throughout nature. It is thought to be responsible for dream states in human beings and further the chemical responsible for near death experiences. It is a simple molecule, similar in structure to serotonin, with an LD50 of 110 mg/kg. The compound is extremely safe, due to its presence naturally in the human body, and further, our ability to metabolize it within a matter of minutes after a standard dose makes it less dangerous than salt. I would recommend that those with further interest view, "DMT: The Spirit Molecule (2010)" a documentary that takes a closer look at N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and its effects on the human body.

DMT Trip Report:

Experience One:

Method: Smoking 15-20mg Freebase N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT); DMT freebase saturated on rolling tobacco papers.
Duration: 5 mins..
Report: The first attempt, like most, was unsuccessful. Although, I was able to ascertain that it was active with a feeling of falling and mild changes in perception; a strange visual distortion, like ones visual field was melting. However, that seemed to be the peak of the experience at about 2 mins., which rapidly returned to baseline.

Experience Two:

Method: Smoking 30-40mg Freebase N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT); DMT freebase saturated on rolling tobacco papers.
Duration: 7 mins..
Report: The second attempt was successful in creating what has been described as a breakthrough experience. This time the DMT was concentrated towards the tip of the papers to equal three large pulls. The rapid onset of the chemical is almost overpowering. By the end of the second pull it was hard to ascertain my surroundings, with only a minimal amount of dexterity left to smoke any further. The body and spirit seemed to undergo a kind of separation which climaxed in an upload of all past memories into a split second of time. This feeling was accompanied by a deep humming noise, one that sounded distant and better described as a universal growning. My visual surroundings become somewhat overshadowed by that of a geometric formation, otherwise described as a mandala type object. This object hovers central to my field of view before giving way and/or melting away. The body now feels at a distance. The geometric visualization of the mandala is broken appart and replaced by an illumination of objects around a fixed stationary portal/void structure made of intricate geometry. The contents of which is brilliant in nature, geometric patters, symbols and for want of a better word language. This remains stationary in my field of view along an x,y axes and is the point at which you are drawn in. Now feeling completely disconnected from body I sense a pulling towards the portal with a deep feeling of movement. The objects clarity and visual architecture is stunning, both in precision of detail and colour. Objects form within it and emerge dancing out of it, emitting a language that is visually symbolic in nature. After entering the void for several moments I felt myself with-draw and slowly attain a feeling of body consciousness once again. The patterns and objects however remained with total clarity for several minutes after, before fading to a level much more reminiscent of the visual patterns seen while under the influence of psilocybin. There was a feeling that baseline was not reached for around one hour after the initial 7 min. trip.

Conclusion:

Personally, my experience of DMT was similar to what might be described as a near death experience, however more mechanical in nature. The strength of the visuals were extraordinary. They conveyed a kind of intelligence and/or universal synchronicity that doesn't seem present on other hallucenigions. This could possibly be the most profound experiences I have had on such a compound due to the disembodiment of consciousness and clarity of visual data received. I believe some of the issues I found initially with this experiment were related to the method of administration, a note for future reference. An Alexander "Sasha" Shulgin +4.