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TheEschatologist
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Ketamine, cannabis edibles, and the shamanic wisdom of Tool
#27100992 - 12/21/20 02:13 PM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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Happy Saturn/Jupiter conjunction to you dear reader!, and thanks for stopping by.
I posted this on the music board but it's more of a trip report so I thought I'd drop it here as well. Apologies if this is the second time anyone is seeing it.
Doses: 35mg ketamine intramuscular + 60mg oral cannabis. I ate the edible and then injected the k shortly after, so the comedown from the k would overlap with the come-up of the edible. In retrospect, it would've been better if there was more room between them. Either taking the k an hour or two before taking the edible, or taking the k on the edible comedown (i think the former option would work better, as being fully dissociated while on an extreme cannabis high is just extremely weird and intense, and not particularly rewarding).
Anyone who’s done edibles before knows it can be a very full-on experience, not unlike mushrooms or oral DMT, i.e. it involves a lot of anxiety, unconformable body sensations and over-sensitization to stimuli. For me at least, it feels like the edibles trip needs to be channeled through a musical medium or else it’ll almost definitely go into a bad/looping mental space.
So for this trip I had prepped a 3-4 hour playlist of Tool songs, starting with The Grudge. I'd listened to their music while sober or only slightly high before, and it never hit me like it did this time. I experienced what can only be described as a 'synaesthetic idea-gasm'. I say it was a shamanic experience because it felt like the music and lyrics were specifically guiding me through this hyper-open and vulnerable headspace.
For example, while listening I came to the insight that 'The Grudge' is a metaphor for all the psychological negativity we carry with us, generated initially by the need to control our lives and protect ourselves from reality, but which eventually grows into a subconscious reserve of fear or feelings of disempowerment. This eventually ends up defining our behavior and identity - we are trapped and “wear the grudge like a crown” as the song says.
But our true freedom lies beyond breaking though this self-made mental prison, and the only way out - is through. This is captured in the lyrics:
“Desperate to control, Unable to forgive and sinking deeper”
Eventually, we get forced by circumstances to face our own blockage when our existential discomfort becomes too great. The song references the theme of Saturn returning, which is generally understood as a period in life where a maturing person needs to face who they really are in order to go forward and keep growing, or otherwise descend into the hell of arrested development and the denial of destiny. This resonated a lot with me just personally in terms of where I’m at in my life at the moment, and what I've been going through over the past three years:
"Saturn comes back around. Lifts you up like a child or Drags you down like a stone To consume you till you choose to let this go Choose to let this go"
As the edibles were getting stronger I was starting to panic a bit (my heart-rate always goes a bit haywire at the front end of the peak). So I had to focus intensely on the music as if it were a lifeline in a sea of sensory chaos. At that point the lyrics conveyed to me that, at the most sincere level of our minds, we are basically making a choice to be afraid, to be closed off, and to hold on to the things that are dragging us down. Nothing is keeping that fear and pain in us but our own selves, and it’s possible to simply choose to let it go and achieve freedom from previous suffering, if only we can fully muster the power of our minds:
“Give away the stone Let the oceans take and transmutate this cold and fated anchor Give away the stone Let the waters kiss and transmutate these leaden grudges into Gold"
And then after this, when the lesson was made clear by the previous lyrics in an intellectual sense, there comes a soul-shattering scream that lasts for about half a minute towards the end of the song. It was almost overpowering, and it felt like I was being called to step up to the plate and really apply and internalize what I had learned from the song up until that point, to really go into the source of my suffering and look at it without fear. Just when the tension started getting too much, the scream abates and is followed by a rhythmic loop of him saying “let go, let go, let go…” which became almost like a mantra carrying me to liberation.
So yeah, it literally felt like the song was a shamanic guide of sorts. I understood what the band meant they said the name 'Tool' comes from the intent that their music should be a tool for people to use in any way they need on their journey.
The Grudge was just the beginning and set the tone for the rest of my 'Tool trip' which went on to get more deep, meaningful and just generally more awesome, especially when the playlist started getting into the 10 000 Days album. I could literally see the structure of the music - with some songs having triangular motifs, some having parapet-like forms and others having spiral patterns. I think this is because the band specifically writes songs with complex musical structures, as I’ve listened to other music on edibles and never experienced this kind of pattern recognition.
Anyway, I’m probably preaching to the choir by talking about Tool on a psychedelics forum, but if you’re into tripping and also like rock/metal, PLEASE consider combining the two and listening to some Tool while tripping.
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Socrateshroom
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Re: Ketamine, cannabis edibles, and the shamanic wisdom of Tool [Re: TheEschatologist]
#27101075 - 12/21/20 03:08 PM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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Awesome read!
All of my trips involve Tool (they're my favorite band) and the last time I saw them I had a mid-dose at the concert and it was pretty shattering (in a good way). I felt so primal, the stadium disappeared and I rocked out on the stairway by my seat.
My last APE trip I made a special playlist in which I tried to align the music to take me through each "phase" of the trip, each phase ending with a Tool song (and the final phase was just a ton of Tool )
At one point during my trip, as my reality was bending, all I could think of was "I love Tool but this is too much Tool" 
It was just so intense, so energizing and primal.
Must songs, IMO, for Tool tripping
Parabol/Parabola Disposition/Reflection Pneuma Rosetta Stoned (because it's a trip all its own)
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TheEschatologist
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Registered: 02/22/18
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Re: Ketamine, cannabis edibles, and the shamanic wisdom of Tool [Re: Socrateshroom]
#27101892 - 12/22/20 12:44 AM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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Man, Tool on mushrooms must be INTENSE. I haven’t worked up to that yet but would like to try it in future 
Yeah, I remember the transitions from Parabol to Parabola and from Lost Keys to Rosetta Stoned being so awesome during that trip. It’s just amazing how their music feels almost purpose built for tripping, and you notice so many new things as opposed to listening to them while sober.
Envious that you saw them live! Dunno if I ever will unless they come to my country
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Socrateshroom
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Re: Ketamine, cannabis edibles, and the shamanic wisdom of Tool [Re: TheEschatologist]
#27102206 - 12/22/20 09:05 AM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
TheEschatologist said: Man, Tool on mushrooms must be INTENSE. I haven’t worked up to that yet but would like to try it in future 
Yeah, I remember the transitions from Parabol to Parabola and from Lost Keys to Rosetta Stoned being so awesome during that trip. It’s just amazing how their music feels almost purpose built for tripping, and you notice so many new things as opposed to listening to them while sober.
Envious that you saw them live! Dunno if I ever will unless they come to my country
It sure is, sometimes too intense! But well worth it. One of my first "sorta" psychedelic experiences was listening to Lateralus in darkness on a high dose of weed. And they can make me "pseudo-trip" sober.
Definitely can sound completely different on psychedelics. The songs sounded completely new on my last trip.
If we ever get to have concerts again, I highly recommend seeing them live, especially since whenever their next tour is, might be their last (they're old and Maynard has expressed being "done" with Tool). I've seen them 4 times over the last 8 years (and had front row tickets for this year but it was cancelled due to COVID ) and everytime is incredible.
P.S The transition from Parabol to Parabola is super intense and super loud on mushrooms so be mindful of your headphone volume. I've almost shot my pants a few times during that transition 
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TheEschatologist
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Registered: 02/22/18
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Last seen: 19 days, 14 hours
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Re: Ketamine, cannabis edibles, and the shamanic wisdom of Tool [Re: Socrateshroom]
#27105100 - 12/24/20 01:06 AM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Socrateshroom said: If we ever get to have concerts again, I highly recommend seeing them live, especially since whenever their next tour is, might be their last (they're old and Maynard has expressed being "done" with Tool). I've seen them 4 times over the last 8 years (and had front row tickets for this year but it was cancelled due to COVID ) and everytime is incredible.
Wish I'd discovered them earlier and saw them back in the day (only got into them after FI released). Didn't know Maynard was over Tool, that's kind of a bummer. In that case I'd be super lucky if I ever saw them live as I doubt they'll come to my corner of the world. They are getting on in years but was hoping they'd put out one more record at least, will keep fingers crossed though
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