My First Time

I've been interested in mushrooms for a long time now. I've been smoking cannabis for 7 years, and while I've shunned all man-made drugs, I'd always liked the idea of taking shrooms. Well, last night, I got my chance.

We bought our shrooms wet and unprepared from a shop. In the UK, it's legal to buy magic mushrooms as long as they are unprepared. We got 190g for 7 people, at the recommendation of the shopkeeper. I'm not sure about the latin names, but the mushrooms were marked as: Colombian, Ecuadorian, and Hawaiian.

I had these people around my house after a long day of chilling, and mentally preparing myself for the trip. I read a lot of information on this site, and it was very helpful about what to expect, how long it should last, etc. It was very accurate, and kept me calm throughout the experience.

We made 30g of the mushrooms into soup, and had the rest in bread rolls with ham and cheese. They weren't bad at all after they'd been chopped up finely, and went down a treat. About an hour later the effects started to kick in.

I'd rolled some joints in preparation and was waiting for the shrooms to hit me. I decided to go out to the patio to smoke a joint and have a look at the sky. I live in the middle of nowhere so it's very peaceful. For the first half hour or so, I felt numb, I couldn't stop smiling, and I wanted to touch everyone to let them know that I was there for them. It was a very reassuring experience.

The first visual effects of the shrooms kicked in after about another half hour and another 10g. I went out the the patio again, as I was feeling restless, and the paving slabs were glowing, as if they had neon lights under them. The sky was changing slowly from orange, to green, back to black. I felt very comfortable with the feeling and kept telling myself "It's just the mushrooms, it'll be over soon. Enjoy it!" Well, what can I say, it worked.

I remember soon after feeling that I was very tall, and that the sky was huge, ("Bigger than anything else in the world!") and that I was starting to feel a little queasy. I quickly vomited on the lawn and it felt good. I suddenly became very hot and sweaty, and decided to have a lie down on the patio. I looked at the sky and it looked like hundreds of fireworks were going off just above the house. It was beautiful. My friends reassured me and I was soon on my feet again and off to a darkened room to ride it out.

I went to my bedroom with my girlfriend and tried to get some sleep. Every time it seemed like I was drifting off, I'd hear music, like electronic sounding music, think Aphex Twin. It was actually the other people talking downstairs. The room was not entirely pitch black and I was convinced that the curtains were alive, but that they were supposed to be so it was OK. The ceiling seemed to be distorting and dancing in front of my eyes.

I remember very clearly the feeling of "nothingness" that people always talk about. I hate to sound cliche'd, but there really are no words to describe it. I felt as if I was infinately small and yet infinately large at the same time. The universe seemed to disappear, and seemed to be flowing through my head. I felt the vastness and emptiness of space. I felt nothing. I saw lights flying past, pulsing gently through so many colours. I thought it was beautiful and was really enjoying myself at this point.

I nodded off for about 15 minutes, and woke up about 2 hours after taking the mushrooms. I felt cold, and I couldn't get comfortable. If I moved my head too fast, the room seemed to slow down as it moved around me. I still felt unattached from my body, but throughout the whole experience managed to keep a grip on reality. I knew I was home, we were far away from anything dangerous, we had our best friends there (who, helpfully, had a lot of previous mushroom experience!) and we were all living out our own little fantasies in our heads. It's like being blind, stinking drunk for the first time, the feeling of loss of control, but unlike with alcohol, it feels really good.

I sat with the window open, listening to my friends talking and smoking joints on the patio. I felt wonderful, like I could run down there and kiss them all for helping me have such a great time. I shouted to them out of the window that I was ok and I'd stopped seeing things, threw my clothes on, and made my way carefully downstairs.

I grabbed one of my previosuly rolled joints and went outside to talk to them. I knew it was cold, but it didn't bother me at all. I felt warm and glowing inside. Everyone's pupils were contracted which made them all look like cartoon characters, which was non-threatening, at least! We'd all come down and were talking about our experience. Everyone had had a good trip, even the other guy that hurled in the garden. We stayed up 'til 6am playing Halo on 3 xboxes we'd conveniently networked together earlier that evening. That was some of the most intense xbox we ever played.

I'd highly recommend mushrooms to someone considering they were prepared. I'd say that experience of softer drugs, such as cannabis, really helps you to handle the loss of control. I'd also recommend reading up on the subject. Apparently, what I was experienced was quite normal, if a little intense, for a first time. I feel awesome some 20 hours later, dazed and confused, and xboxed out. I feel a lot closer to my friends and feel that they care about me and we're all looking out for each other. I go into the garden now and the flowers look so vibrant, the grass so green, the patio so messy... although I imagine it will wear off.

The best tip for a first-time shroomer is to get intot he right mindset and stay in it. Have a chilled day, and when you do take the shrooms, keep an eye on the time and expect what to happen. Tell yourself that millions of people have done this before you, and lived. That the shrooms are good, and that you're ready for a life-changing experience. Keep in this mindset and you're good to go!

Thanks for reading all this, I wanted to answer some questions for people who feel like I did a few days ago... Ready for the shrooms! "Bring it on!"

| The people involved were between the ages of 21 - 24.
| 6 males and one female, all average size. Some people
| Had more shrooms than others, depending on experience.
| I'm 21, Male, and live in Leicestershire, England.