Fertile Soil for the Imagination

Before my most recent trip, I had had several experiences on psilocybin but never at this intensity. Every other time I have taken shrooms, I’ve had little or no visuals. My goal with this trip was to better develop my own visualization techniques.

I ate about an eighth of dry shrooms at around 10:30 PM.  By 11:00, I had begun to get that strange feeling of anticipation that always comes before a trip.  I used this time to calm my mind with a brief meditation session.  Although I had not begun to trip yet, my imagination seemed a little wilder.  As I lay on my bed looking up at the ceiling, I imagined my ceiling fan transforming into an insectoid dragon and flying around my room.  I still felt very sober however despite the fact that the room had taken on a tinge of color.  Glancing at the clock, I saw that 45 minutes had passed since I had eaten the shrooms. Slightly disappointed, I walked into the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror.  My pupils had not yet dilated but I had a twitch in my left eye which I usually get before a trip.

As I returned to my bed I felt the familiar wave of calm that enveloped me as the psilocybin began to work its magic.  I noticed that the room had shifted colors again while I was absent, transforming from orange-yellow glow of my lamps to a deeper purple hue. The books on my book shelves seemed brighter and more colorful than I remembered.  I lay in my bed and contemplated this shift.  Gradually, I became aware of a sound: a distinct white noise chatter, growing to a crescendo in my own head.  With this spike in psilocybin, the show began.

My mind was first drawn to the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling.  As I watched from my bed, they began to dance across it in large circular patterns.  It felt like some strange optical illusion; every time I looked directly at a star, it would cease its rotation, while the others would revolve around it.  After an indefinite time of watching this, I willed the stars to stop moving to determine if these visuals were controllable. The stars in my immediate view slowed to a stop as my mind increased its focus.  Constellations became apparent in these stationary stars as imaginary lines connected them.

Another wave of psilocybin hit my nervous system, announcing itself with another white noise head rush.  I now turned my focus to the front wall of my room.  The wall began to flicker in and out of existence. Behind it, stood eternity and nothingness.  I watched this happen with detachment from the safety of my bed.  My attention then became focused on my own hand.  Somehow, it looked different, as if all of my fingers were the exact same length.  I wiggled my fingers, confused about whether or not I was actually seeing my own hand.  The spaces between my fingers became empty fractals.  Looking past my hand, I once again noticed the analog clock on my wall. This time it was impossible to read; all the numerals had seemingly been replaced by infinity signs.  As I stared, a dark purple aura radiated from it, pulsing with my own breath.  The air around me briefly lit up with floating, colorful fractal molecules. I basked in the beauty of the world until I started to become more aware of my physical self again.

At this point I had not moved from the position I was in when I first felt the effects.  I roused my physical body and went to look in the mirror. My pupils were still dilated.  I couldn’t help but notice the fractaline pattern my stubble made.  My stomach was growling in protest of the chemicals I had ingested.  In order to calm it, I decided to go for a walk around the block. I found myself feeling like my clothes didn’t fit correctly. Jeans, socks, and shoes all felt awkward and alien when I put them on.  Walking down the stairs of my house felt like I was in wonderland.  My body seemed to have grown larger while I had tripped.  Or my house had shrunk.  Despite this, I was able to make it outside.  At this point, most of the drug had worn off but I still had a few paranoid tendencies.  I walked past a house that had unlit Christmas decorations.  In my mind’s eye, I wondered if the Santa Claus hiding behind the tree was actually a midget that was trying to sneak up behind me.  I quickly put this thought out of my mind. When I returned home I felt refreshed and relaxed and quickly went to sleep.