Buzzing through the electric jungle.

The prologue:

The preparation:

I did a significant amount of research on which plants contain what amounts of various alkaloids and I settled on peganum harmala (syrian rue) for my MAOI and acacia confusa for tryptamines (contains 1-1.5% DMT, 5-MeO-DMT in large quantities and trace amounts of mescaline, amphetamine and methamphetamine).  From my research, I established basic proportions of raw materials as 6-8 grams of peganum harmala and 2-3 grams of acacia bark would be about equivalent to one dosage.  It is important to keep track of how much of each substance is in what quantities of water (especially after reducing) so keep a notepad to keep track.  As long as you do that, you can make the brew as potent or mild as you like, but understand that you should be able to calculate 40ml of rue brew = 7g of rue, etc...

I weighed out 16 grams of syrian rue seeds and about 10 grams of acacia bark (I wanted to have plenty more in case I screwed it up and needed to up the dosage of DMT).  I prepared the ingredients simultaneously but in separate pots ("do not use aluminum pots" was advice I'd seen a few places and I didn't feel like testing the validity of it so I listened).  I mixed about a liter of water with each and put them both on the stove for just one hour, keeping it just below boiling and stirring often.  I strained each brew through a separate stack of strainers.  I put a 1L pyrex measuring cup on the bottom, a strainer sitting on top of that with coffee filters, hanging across the top of that strainer was a smaller strainer with filters and above that the same thing again.  I took the strained brews and stuck them in the refrigerator.  I put the leftover acacia bark back in the pot with 500ml of water to do a 2nd extraction that was filtered in the same way and added to the other stuff in the fridge.  I poured off the top of these brews to avoid the sediment at the bottom.  I the end it came out to about a shot's worth (40-45 ml) of rue brew and about twice that of acacia brew would be what I estimated as the full dosage.

I also did not eat anything in the 12 waking hours before my trip except water and I avoided aged meats and cheeses in the 24 preceding 24 hrs.  This is to prevent tryptamines from your regular diet from activating with the MAOI in the rue.  Probably better to do a full 24 hr fast beforehand.

The trip:

I took the rue brew in a shot glass with water as a chaser.  The taste was horrible but short-lived.  I went into my mancave where I have my dual-monitor computer and recording studio speakers set up to watch the latest episode of one of my favorite shows while waiting for the MAOI to take effect.  After about 30 minutes, I returned to the kitchen and poured myself a shot of acacia brew (about 1.25 gm worth of acacia).  It also tasted horrible but was short-lived, though I did need to throw my hand over my mouth to remind myself not to immediately spit it up.  I returned to my mancave and put on some milkdrop visualizations while chatting with some friends online.  After about 25 minutes I started feeling some of the first body sensations of coming up, a mild swelling euphoria that built steadily over the next 10-15 minutes.  Between 40 minutes and an hour after taking the acacia brew, I felt absolutely amazing.  I smoked a little bit of cannabis as my body high drifted to levels comparable to a mild roll on MDMA or some BZP.  Along with that mild stimulant buzz in my brain came some pretty drastic sensory distortions.

I have tripped on LSD, LSA and shrooms but I've never had any real auditory hallucinations, but my hearing has been synesthetic in terms of music producing euphoric and warming sensations.  But on this "acaciahuasca" my hearing was blatantly distorted.  Things sounded more distant and had a strange reverberation to it.  It was almost like all the sounds around me were being played through speakers in a large warehouse where I am standing in the middle.  I had all sorts of strange noises and sounds playing in my head as a background to my cacophony of psychedelic thoughts.  My vision, like my hearing, became distorted.  Staring at my cell phone trying to send a text message made me aware that if I stared at a screen, the image would spread into triplicate, revealing the red, green and blue shadows you'd see on an old TV except this was very bright and vibrating.  Sometimes I felt as though I were staring through a thin pool of water and static that would be disrupted by a ripple or flash and my eyes would buzz back into focus.  

I looked up at the popcorn ceiling to see beautiful designs swimming, swirling and growing in intricacy  from wall to wall.  I reached my arm up to the ceiling and stared at the beauty my arm's form.  Trillions of independent creatures bonded together by the information they share all moving in concert with my mind.  I brought my hand closer to my face and could see through the layers of my skin to see the bustling society of wonder that exists in my left hand.

I watched some interesting videos online which was very much like watching 3-D content at home.  It was very interesting indeed but the experience was mellowing out a bit.

When I hit 90 minutes past my acacia shot, I poured myself about another 1/3 of a shot.  I felt things swell back up over the next half hour and decided that since I was feeling so warm I should drink some water.  When I felt it hit my stomach, I got the feeling that it might be time for la purga.  That is not to say that I felt sick or particularly nauseous, but it seemed like the right thing to do.  I had no trouble puking up a small amount of crap and I felt much better afterwards too.  I checked my pupils in the mirror; like saucers.

Not long after that I decided since I had stuff to do the next day, even though I was enjoying my trip, this test was a success and I was gonna pack it in for the night.  My bedroom was pitch black which gave the effect of not being able to tell when my eyes were open and when they were closed.  My bedroom had become a full on glowing electric jungle.  The walls were squiggly lines of vibrant blues, greens and pinks, dancing all over the place.  I enjoyed my euphoric state and CEV's until I drifted off into a great night of sleep.  I was only out for about 6 hours when I woke up the next morning but I felt great.  Well rested, not groggy or sore, not hung over, not still feeling some aftereffects like LSD... I was just me after a great night of sleep.

All in all, I rated this trip 8/10 for the powerful visuals (though I didn't quite get to meet any entities), amazing euphoria and minimal side effects not to mention the drastically easy production.