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[ShadowBoom]

Magic Mushroom Basics:
(light crash-course on what you can expect/what you should do)


.oOo. Preparation For The Voyage .oOo.

There is a lot one can do to ensure a enjoyable voyage.

* Packing
Go easy on your diet. Some fast for the previous week, others don't pay any attention to what and how much they eat. I eat normally until the day before, after which I eat mostly vegetables and fruits.

* Place

Indoors:
Clean it up. Get some fresh air into it. Tell all your friends/relatives not to visit, and disconnect the doorbell and take the phone off the wall. Make everything as comfortable as possible. Fresh flowers will blow your mind with their beautiful looks and odors. A stroboscope is also worth a try, especially at 20 to 30 Hz. Lights are probably best low or off (and of white color). Music is so important i'll touch on that in future posts.

Outdoors:
Outdoor trips are my personal favorite. Take a couple good friends and go to a park with plenty of trails and bodies of water. There is really nothing like going on an outdoor shroom adventure. Just make sure to pack plenty of water and maybe a few light snacks. You'll be amazed how in touch with nature you become. Shrooms are destined to make tree-huggers out of all of us.

* Flight

Indoors:
Loose clothing and something to put on/take off; you'll be lying down most of the time, so pick something you could sleep in. Something to drink -- see if your drinks include caffeine or other chemicals. (caffeine has been said to cause interference or lessen the effect) Water is always the best. Some light snacks to eat during the trip, and possibly something to fill your stomach after the trip. Drawing during take-off can be fun, also psychedelic videos. Anyway, for a real "trip" I say: after the takeoff, turn the lights off, turn the volume to the edge of subliminal, and relax & tune into the vibe of the Earth.

Outdoors:
Where comfortable but rugged clothing. Chances are you will be laying or sitting down on the grass or dirt at some point. Pack a bag full of necessities. Water, snacks, ipod, change of clothes. Just be prepared. Bring along anything you would on a normal hiking/camping trip. I find that finding a nice comfortable spot near a stream is absolutely perfect. I've also found that tripping in the day-time proves to be much more visual than night-time tripping. On a side-note, if this is your first time shrooming you may not want to go to a public park or any place too far from civilization. If you have a bad experience, you will be alot more at-ease in an environment which you are comfortable in.

Minutes after ingestion:

0 Ignition Usually the first effects of psiloc[ybin/in] are perceivable after ten or twenty minutes. Funny or strange things may pop into your mind. One may feel very relaxed or like jumping all over the place. Next you may feel like you were blasting off, up towards the stars, rising high. Chewing the mushrooms for about ten minutes in your mouth enables the psilocybin and its analogues to enter the brain faster -- if the mushrooms are immediately swallowed, it may take as long as 1 hour for the first effects to set in.

20 Acceleration If you get any physical symptoms, this is when they will hit. You can avoid or at least reduce nausea by not eating very much before the trip and not moving around too much during this phase. Throwing up is uncommon but not unheard of; having a barf bag around, especially on the first few trips, is a good idea. If you find that your body really doesn't like shrooms, a motion sickness pill (Dramamine and similar anti-histamines) beforehand may help. But don't worry about it too much, even if you feel queasy the nausea will end quite quickly.

40 Leaving the atmosphere One will begin entering the realms of the experience; often the first real signs are simple hallucinations with the eyes closed or in darkness, little colored pixels floating around, etc. If one is going to go to the toilet, it should be done now.

70 Flight 1 hour is usually sufficient for the more powerful effects to set in. The body will feel heavy and drowsy.

130 Peak After two hours the peak of the experience. Often quite awesome.

300 Deceleration By now one will again start to remember the concepts of normal reality and may feel like getting something to drink and eat, or talk and do some moving about.

360 Touchdown After about six hours most of the effects have disappeared and sleeping becomes possible.

12 h Reality If you trip at night and fall asleep when the trip is ending, this is when you'll wake up... and the odds are you'll feel GRRRRRREAT!

7 days Jet lag Afterglow of the experience will persist anywhere from few days to several weeks; what you've learned may change your life. Occasionally this learning will be negative and you'll be depressed for a while as you assimilate the fact that you've been wrong about something for all your life, but the depression is never extreme and - cheezy as it may sound - you will be a much better person afterwards.



WAYS TO EAT:
(If you can tolerate the taste, best way is eating them straight [alone] with some water)

* Chew & grind
For this one, toss mushrooms into your mouth, chew well and swallow. The most efficient and simple method of mushroom ingestion. Dried mushrooms taste quite a bit more unpleasant than fresh ones.

* Pizzas
Just add fresh or dried mushrooms on top. Note that eating a lot adds to physical interference.

* Shroom powder and liquids of choice
The finer you grind the shrooms, the better this works. Take a piece of paper and fold twice so you have a V-shape, and make a little pile of shroom powder on one end of it. Open your mouth and let the stuff flow in, then drink water/juice/tea/whatever to wash it down. Figure out an optimal pile size, and you can down the shrooms in record time with no taste and maximum psilocybin ingestion efficiency. Just be careful not to laugh or sneeze when holding the paper, otherwise you'll have to lick the carpet to get the powder... =)

* Peanut Butter Shroom Sandwich
Put some mushrooms on a peanut butter sandwich. The peanut butter maskes the taste very well. Some people have been known to get increased naseau when using peanut butter.

* Chocolate Covered
Melt some chocolate over a stove or microwave. Becareful not to burn the chocolate. When the chocolate is nice and melted, dip the mushrooms in the chocolate with tongs and place on waxpaper to dry.

* Honey & spices & water & mushrooms
This one is a bit sweet but does a good job of covering the taste. Take a half glass of warm or cold water, three or more spoonfuls of honey, and according to taste, spices such as nutmeg, ginger and others. Grind the mushrooms with spices into fine powder, mix everything carefully and gulp down.

* Mushroom cacao
Get some cacao beans/powder for this one. Warm some water to 40-60 C. Let the mushrooms steep in this water for about five minutes, fish 'em out and add cacao powder and mix well. Or you can grind mushrooms into fine powder. Sweeten with honey, and drink. Another variation is hot chocolate -- melt some chocolate in water instead of cacao.

* Mushroom tea
Drown some groid dried mushrooms in hot water, wait five minutes, and drink. If you seriously dislike the taste of shrooms, just drink the water (although you'll lose part of the effect). I find that this is a good way of getting the shrooms down as well though, just dump in a baggy of strong tea and you won't taste a thing.

* Mushrooms & orange juice
Blend an appropriate amount of fresh mushrooms and orange juice in a blender. The orange juice masks the taste quite well, the blender chops up the shrooms into tiny chunks so all the psilocybin is digested, and the vitamin C in the juice won't hurt either.

* Other recipes
I have heard about people making mushroom wine or mushroom chili. There are lots of foods you can put mushrooms into, but I'd recommend indulging in culinary pleasures after the trip. Also note that excessive heat breaks down psilocybin and psilocin, so always add the shrooms in after the food is cooked.

As you may have noted, except for the cheese on the pizza, none the recipes contain any milk or milk products. This is because several files and/or books have stated that calcium and/or fermented milk products interfere with psilocybin. Mind you, this is far from sure, if anybody can dig up a reference for (or against) this we'd appreciate it. But scientific proofs aside, the Aztec tradition of not eating before tripping is probably grounded in knowledge of possible adverse consequences, so don't eat too much, just enough to get the shrooms down.


.oOo. Effects of Magic Mushrooms .oOo.

A trip from magic mushrooms will give you intensification of existing feelings, visual hallucinations and transformation of experience of time and place. It gives you the feeling that things are different than usual. You will notice things you normally don't, or just take for granted. The things you see, hear or do are much more intense. You can see new perspectives or get feelings of insight, and this can usually induce a good ammount of laughter because things seem so different from reality.

Some common hallucinations range anywhere from slight discoloration of objects all the way to objects changing shape and/or morphing. Colors and lights also tend to change appearence. Lights will get halo's around them and will look gorgeous and one can occasionally experience psychedellic visuals. Reports of actually hallucinating objects or creatures that seem to be super-imposed on reality are very very rare and I tend to think anyone who says they saw little green man running around naked singing the barney theme song .. is full of shit.

The Intensity of a Trip after use of psychedelic drugs can be divided in:

Level 1:
This level produces a mild "stoning" effect, with some visual enhancement (i.e. brighter colours, etcetera). Some short term memory anomalies. Left/right brain communication changes causing music to sound "wider".

Level 2:
Bright colours and visuals (i.e. things start to move and breath), some 2 dimensional patterns become apparent upon shutting eyes. Confused or reminiscent thoughts. Change of short term memory leads to continual distractive thought patterns. Vast increase in creativity becomes apparent as the natural brain filter is bypassed.

Level 3:
Very obvious visuals, everything looking curved and/or warped patterns and kaleidoscopes seen on walls, faces etc. Some mild hallucinations such as rivers flowing in wood, grained or "mother of pearl" surfaces. Objects that are very pattern-oriented such as carpetting or wallpaper can begin to appear to wave and/or flow like molasses. Closed eye hallucinations become 3 dimensional. There is some confusion of the senses (i.e. seeing sounds as colours, etcetera). Time distortions and "moments of eternity". Clocks seem to become meaningless. (Synesthesia)

Level 4:
Strong hallucinations, i.e. objects morphing into other objects. Destruction or multiple splitting of the ego. (Things start talking to you, or you find that you are feeling contradictory things simultaneously). Some loss of reality. Time itself becomes meaningless. Out of body experiences and e.s.p. type phenomena. Blending of the senses.

Level 5:
Total loss of visual connection with reality. The senses cease to function in the normal way. Total loss of ego. Merging with space, other objects, or the universe. The loss of reality becomes so severe that it defies explanation. One feels unable to describe the experience as it is happening - but wants to describe it very badly. The earlier levels are relatively easy to explain in terms of measureable changes in perception and thought patterns. This level is different in that the actual universe within which things are normally perceived, ceases to exist! Satori enlightenment (and other such labels).

Keep in mind that these levels are just a generalization and that many times effects from each level will overlap eachother or even jump around. Everyone is different and every mushroom is different People react to psilocybin differently from other people and people react differently to each strain of mushroom.

.oOo. What To Do Incase of a "Bad Trip" .oOo.

Even though shrooms are alot of fun, things can occasionally turn very sour if the conditions are right for it. The best way to handle a Bad Trip is to take all the necessary precautions and PREVENT it from ever happening, but sometimes it is unnavoidable. I have never had a bad trip, but I notice if it is going to happen it really only happens to inexperienced users (usually only on the first, rarely, second trip).

Ok so let's say the conditions proved to be perfect for a perfectly BAD trip.. what do you do??

The most important thing to remember in the midst of a bad trip is not to panic. Bad trips can be diverted, lessened, and stopped by certain careful techniques.

if you are having a bad trip

:dance: change the music to something light and familiar
:dance: change the location: go outside, into another room, or find a quiet, non-threatening environment
:dance: talk to a friend: someone you are close to who you can trust
:dance: concentrate on your breathing: a bad trip can be worsened if you try to resist it. Instead divert your mind by counting your breaths in and out.
:dance: remember, the drug will not harm you repeat to yourself the phrase 'I am immortal'. Your anxiety is purely an effect of the drug and will pass. You will be okay. (remind yourself that it is a SUBSTANCE that is making you feel this way and that it will eventually come to an end)

and if someone else is having a bad trip

:dance: change something: the location, music, lighting. do not force anyone to move if they do not want to. Gently coax, invite or encourage instead
:dance: talk to them in a very calming and soothing manner
:dance: reassure them they have taken a drug, the trip will end, and they will be okay
:dance: tell them the time: with their sense of time distorted, bad trippers often feel caught in eternity. Give them a schedule for when they will feel better
:dance: avoid asking them too many questions that will confuse them further, say their name several times in a relaxed voice and reassure them of their actual surroundings.
:dance: relaxing and breathing are important: the fear is often heightened by the tensing and trying to resist. Letting go will make them feel better. Breathing will relax them and give them something to focus on
:dance: don't leave them alone but don't crowd them either - give them the space they need while also making sure they know u are still by their side.

I would suggest showing these steps to all who are shrooming. Knowing this information can GREATLY reduce your risk of having a bad experience.

[Pedestrian]

Mr Terrence McKenna's favorite way to shroom was to have 5 grams in total darkness and silence. I have yet to try it, but I bet it is a great lesson/ experience

[boots420]

very informative post.

[Ivdle]

Nice post.

[dbzeroone]

Mr Terrence McKenna's favorite way to shroom was to have 5 grams in total darkness and silence. I have yet to try it, but I bet it is a great lesson/ experience

Sort of halfway to an isolation tank.

Now how cool would THAT be? To completely isolate yourself from any and all external stimuli! What kind of trip would you have if nothing on the outside of your skull influenced it?!

[ShadowBoom]

That would definetly be interesting to see what your mind could actually conjure up in the situation.. if I ever shroom indoors - i turn the lights off.. and fill the room with candles and put on some very low ambient music. But without any stimuli? I think I'm in agreement with dbzeroone.. never-the-less I would still find it interesting to see what it would be like. Because I know even in darkness.. (close-eyed visuals) the mind creates things on its own..

[ShadowBoom]

Very interesting. I've done both the dark, candle environment as well as the bright outdoors daytime setting and I've come to the conclusion that I enjoy the outdoors during the day much more than sitting in a dark room with a candle.

The experiences outdoors prove to be much more visual and much more enjoyable. I think there is a common desire to want to be close to nature while tripping. Not sure where that comes from but I always end up going outside if I start indoors.

[Hippie3]

it's not so much exactly where is better
but the real issue is your feeling safe and secure
in a familiar non-threatening environment.

so at night in the deep woods
isn't for everyone.
and wandering around aimlessly in deep woods
without a map
can even be fatal, esp. at night.

so be a good boy scout
and be prepared, plan ahead
not just for fun
but for the risks that you might face.

[ShadowBoom]

Well yes I agree - I never go outside in an unfamiliar environment at night. Quite foolish..

[ShadowBoom]

.oOo. Music .oOo.

One of the most important factors of the setting is music - especially in urban environment music may be necessery to camouflage and change the every-day-soundscape. Music can tingle your imagination in a myriad different ways. Music can take you away, comfort or make you feel unbelievalably good. It can also make you sad, jumpy or angry. Therefore it is very important to make the right choice of music. There is tripping music and there is tripping music - depending on the results one wishes to achieve. I will concentrate on the deeper side; music for shamanic voyages, spacetravels and intense mushroom-magic-trips.

I speak from my own experience, thru my own frame of reference, so all of the material recommended might not be on your wavelength - I was often skeptical myself but results often are awesome and surprising. Music you like during your normal states of conciousness is probably not ideal - for instance lots of the ambient done today is not very nice for tripping, but probably ideal listening both before and after the trip. For a voyage try to find music that is calm, not too hectic or fast, not too structured and stays in the background if desired.

A usual program of tripping music goes like this:

1st hour
Relaxing, perhaps not terribly profound music. You can also try music that you know will get you in a good mood, very positive music. Bob marley, even though hes a weed-man, makes me feel good - so I sometimes throw on a little bod. Otherwise I find that music designed for meditation (soft piano/strings accompanied by nature sounds) is really great and goes hand in hand with the mushroom spirit's ability to reconnect us with nature

2nd-3rd hour
This is when the peak will occur, so the musical selection must be made very carefully. Pick something very quiet and soothing, there are plenty of suggestions coming up.

4th-6th hour
More of the same or perhaps nothing at all. By this stage the music is purely in the background and your selection won't matter all that much.

Common types of tripping music:

Ambient

Lots of music goes under this name today, and it may very hard to find something truly ambient among all those new ambient- techno/dub releases... All time favorites of mine and many others include Ashra Temple, John Cage, Cluster, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Steve Hillage, Daniel Lanois, Pink Floyd, David Toop & Max Eastley, Tangerine Dream and Tuu. All of these move on the more serious tangents - worth checking out. Many music stores lump these under the misguided heading "New Age" next to crystal-healing music, bleah. On the lighter, more techno side of the ambient - try Aphex Twin, James Bernard, FFWD, FSOL, Pete Namlook, The Orb (especially the newer releases), William Orbit, Seafeel, Sun Electric or Terre Thaemlitz for instance.

Ethno
Music from the different cultures around the world and especially music by shamen or music aiming to a religious or spiritual experience - shamanistic drumming, australian dijeridoo sounds or chantings by gregorian or buddhist monks, for instance. "Meditative music" compilations can be excellent. There are huge volumes of this sort of music published around the world. Music you have never heard before tends to really excite the mind and take you to new places.

Minimalism especially Terry Riley. Steve Reich, Philip Glass and Lamonte Young have all made "psychoacoustic music". Riley is especially- er.. "beyond words" - something unbelievalable. For connoisseurs.

Silence
Either complete or 'The music of Mother Nature' - best tripping music for as long there have been humans around to trip. The patter of raindrops falling surpasses just about any music humans can come up with. A must try. Perfect. Another great way to experience the auditory effects is to just go outside in a park or somewhere by a stream and just vibe to the earth's own symphony. Natural surround sound baby.

Other
Some people get off on listening to, for example, industrial or rap. While both are undoubtedly great when 'enhanced', they also tend to feature unpleasant or downright scary themes that are best avoided until one is thoroughly familiar with the drug. At times, more 'meaty' techno (trance, acid, progressive) is excellent - personally, I find Orbital's _Orbital 2_ to be brilliant - but usually too much percussion (beat) is not a good thing. Many people also like classical music. Basically, try out the music you normally like, but with a bit of caution. I don't mind hiphop and rap normally, but have found it to be EXTREMELY unpleasant while taking off. I had to turn it off.

Anyway, for a real "trip" I say: after the takeoff, turn the lights off, turn the volume to the edge of subliminal, and relax & tune into the vibe of the Earth.

.oOo. Triptoys .oOo.
Triptoys should only be pulled out after the peak is clearly over and your group has entered the phase where you have some energy again instead of just floating in hyperspace. Of course, some people just continue with music or more spiritual pursuits. In alphabetical order:

:heart: Books are an acquired taste. Most people find reading difficult, but for others reading while tripping is the only way to understand, for example, Joyce.
:heart: Citrus fruit, especially oranges. A mindblowing combination of smell, texture, and taste. Juice is a decent substitute.
:heart: Crayons or paints for drawing.
:heart: Drumming can provide a nice trance-inducing experience, either one person doing it for everyone (the Michael Harner shaman approach) or the group doing a drumming circle.
:heart: Gelatin-based foods, ie. Jell-O, chocolate pudding, etc. Wiggle wiggle wiggle... Gummy worms are nifty too.
:heart: Glow-in-the-dark anything, preferably not skulls and skeletons though for obvious reasons.
:heart: Flourescent anything.
:heart: Flowers (fresh ones) look gorgeous and smell wonderful.
:heart: Food is another category of its own. In addition to the perennial favorites of citrus fruit, candy and Jell-O, try ice cream, baby food (the fruit-and-berry kind), carbonated soft drinks... Only small portions are needed though, during a trip you can't really _eat_, only _taste_.
:heart: Incense, especially when it's dark and you can wave the glowing end of the stick around and create serious tracers, or watch the smoke drifting with a flashlight. The smell also adds a nice touch to the atmosphere.
:heart: Koosh balls, the bigger the better, are positively cosmic. I especially recommend the "Rainbow Koosh" which is big and colorful.
:heart: Mirrors can be interesting, but also risky. Unless you have high self-esteem, and most people don't, it's common to see your face become covered with hair/bugs/pimples/whatever when you look... but then again many people love mirrors when they trip, and there have been cases where people's self-esteem improved after an extended mirror-staring session. I recommend beginners stay away from mirrors.
:heart: Movies almost deserve their own section. Since everybody has their own favorites, I'll just list the most popular ones. _The Mind's Eye_ and _Beyond the Mind's Eye_, both pure computer animation, are classics. So are Disney's _Fantasia_ and _Alice in Wonderland_. _Koyaanisquatsi_ (sp?) is another favorite. Avoid 'mind-fuck' films like David Lynch's works, _Natural Born Killers_, _Tetsuo_ etc; they're too scary and hard to follow when under the influence.

:heart: Musical instruments, any instrument you know how to play - it will blow your mind.. trust me. I have been playing the piano for 10 years and for the first time in my life, I felt I was actually able to appreciate the music I was creating.
:heart: Nature is the ultimate triptoy, period. I extremely strongly recommend going outside, night and daytime have different experiences associated with them - both are different and amazing in their own ways; I am fully convinced that the forest at night when tripping is *the* coolest thing in the universe. Along with the beach when it's sunny outside, and a lake at sunset, and a snow-covered field on a moonlit night, and...
:heart: Stroboscopes set to around 20-30 Hz are neat. Warning: Strobe lights may cause seizures in people with undiagnosed epilepsy, test them out beforehand.
:heart: Stuffed animals are a must, they're a familiar link to reality, and more importantly they're fun to hug, play with or throw around.
:heart: Television is an ambivalent one; some people like it, others can't think of anything they'd want to do less during a trip. If you want to give it a shot, cartoons like alice in wonderland are good as you can probably imagine.
:heart: Water: you can drink it, you can splash it, and if there's enough you can even wade around in it or (eek!) immerse yourself entirely in it. I would not recommend actually swimming during a trip though, especially in unfamiliar waters.

Also experiment with the stuff around you. Nature provides a veritable plethora of cool things, even pebbles like my pet rock/amulet Herbert (discovered at the beach one day in an altered state and a faithful companion ever since) can provide hours of amusement. Sand is flippin amazing.

All in all, just be creative - there is no limit to what you can do and thats one of the reasons why I love mushrooms. It's never the same and never dull. Be safe and have fun :)

[Eldeeder]

The woods can be dangerous, for my outdoor trips, I prefer golf courses... Oh the layers!

[ShadowBoom]

never would have thought about a golf course.. that must be amazing :amazed: .. wow it would also majorly suck to get clocked in the head by a flying golfball..

[dead_diver]

it's not so much exactly where is better
but the real issue is your feeling safe and secure
in a familiar non-threatening environment.
so at night in the deep woods
isn't for everyone.
and wandering around aimlessly in deep woods
without a map
can even be fatal, esp. at night.
so be a good boy scout
and be prepared, plan ahead
not just for fun
but for the risks that you might face.

Yeah, breaking your leg in the middle of nowhere without anyone around to get help can be a real bummer. Woods are great to trip in and commune with nature but be prepared and don't go wandering alone unless you are very familiar with the area.

[TVCasualty]

I often take them in unfamiliar outdoor places at night, then go wandering off by myself for hours. Sometimes I'll hike 20 miles solo, then trip, then hike home a day or two later. But then, I am insane (and having a map does no good when the lines are all jiggly). I even try to get lost sometimes, like when I wandered off alone into the sand dunes outside Yuma, AZ, in the middle of the night while it was windy (my tracks were disappearing fast). I ended up stumbling across my own campsite 2 hours later, having walked in a perfect circle (believing to have been walking in a straight line) and having had two Border Patrol helicopters hover over me for a few minutes, causing me some concern. Note: If you walk with no reference for direction (like on dunes), you will walk in a circle. Search and Rescue teams use this fact to look for people. And, if you wander around a mile north of the border at night, you will get to see some of the US's border patrol hardware in action.

I have eaten 7 dry grams in total silent darkness, alone inside my bedroom. It was the only time that I had hard-edge open-eye visions of people and places, and some of the people talked to me (taught me stuff I really use in normal life) and I clearly remember everything that happened. It was perfectly lucid. That was 17 years ago and I still think about that night quite often. Being totally dark allows for one's visual field to be entirely filled with projections of one's own mind instead of any external stimulus, and that is the surest way to have true "visions" with fungi. That, and a mega-dose. Less than 5 grams and I can't sit inside any building. At 5 or more, I'm too overwhelmed to get up and leave. I usually fast at least 12 hours, preferably 24, before eating. I think fasting mainly helps a dose hit harder and it eliminates one source of distraction; you aren't aware of a gurgling ongoing digestive process while you trip (after the gurgling of eating mushrooms passes, that is) so your awareness more easily goes beyond your immediate physical self.

The only time I ever got truly lost while tripping, where I was wandering in circles and starting to get worried, was when I couldn't find my way out of Disneyland when I took acid on Grad Night. Then I found the exit (saved!), and when I got to the parking lot there were 20,000 identical yellow school buses to sort through (not saved quite yet!). I don't remember how I got home.

[For those of you who might not know, Disneyland (and I assume Disney World too?) closes one day a year to host tens of thousands of high school grads for an all-night celebration of their new status. I think most of them were on acid.]

[ShadowBoom]

I find that im more like you when it comes to tripping, TVCasualty. I rather enjoy wandering into a foreign environment because it seems to really amplify the sense of "going on a journey". I have an extremely vivacious imagination on a normal day-to-day sober basis.. and while on psillies.. my mind does some really amazing things (as it does with most people). Despite the dangers of wandering around unkown territory while tripping - i never go alone. I just love feeling like I'm somewhere really "new" .. if ya know what i mean.

And I have experienced complete darkness / silence as well. Although I find that very low abient music in complete darkness seems to shape and control my visuals. I've never seen people or had visions of familiar things - I always get these 3 dimensional (sometimes 4 dimensional) objects which move in all kinds of crazy ways. The reason I say 4 dimensional.. is because I often get the distinct impression that these shapes have a consiousness and I can feel their living presence in the room. Interesting stuff..

[Killjoy]

Still need to try Total darkness/ Sensory Dep.

read about one of the first psychological studies of Sensory Dep in the 60's, pretty interesting stuff.
Most interesting might have been they noticed a drastically large percentage of hippies among the volunteers. Enough the professor started researching that as a separate phenomenon. Found out most of them had heard you could hallucinate while in there. They'd had hallucinations from drugs and wanted to try it straight. Course this was at like 12-24 hrs of Sensory Dep.

Maybe I should invest in my own coffin, then I'll have it when I eventually die, and until then I can stick it in the basement and use is as a Sensory Dep chamber...
or would that take me from crazy to insane?

[ShadowBoom]

or would that take me from crazy to insane?

Hahah good question.

[St. Luke]

I even try to get lost sometimes...

Me too. I love being lost. I don't know what it is, but there's a special feeling about having no idea where you are or which way to go.

[Hippie3]

it's all good fun
until anxiety and then panic
attacks.
no one thinks it'll happen
until it does.
i know a guy who had tripped hundreds of times
over a 40 year career
who never had a bad trip
until one night a few years ago
when the phone rang.