15 ms·

Mescaline’s Bio, Soberly Considered

42 points by benbreen 6y ago

justinator 6y ago
I'm surprised to see little/any comments on this reviews, as HN seems to enjoy their psychedelics. I found Castaneda's book so boring, it practically turned me off to psychedelics completely.
- mesca 6y ago
  I just left a pretty lengthy comment but it got removed.
- Synaesthesia 6y ago
  Shulgin’s Book PIHKAL, the biographical one is excellent. What Albert Hoffman wrote about LSD is also worth reading (LSD my problem child)
- justforyou 6y ago
  Casteneda wrote fiction.
- sibeliuss 6y ago
  A lot more than just Castaneda out there!
mesca 6y ago
I wouldn't recommend anyone to take psychedelics, the "payoff" that you get - for recreational use - can be achieved through sober practices like meditation. If you are already considering trying your first psychedelic and are researching which to take, mescaline is usually passed over because it is difficult to ingest, making it less popular. After ingestion, I'd say mescaline is hands down the best psychedelic experience for a first time user. For me, LSD and psilocybin - at full trip doses - alter my thought processes. My perception, emotions, actions, sense of self, objects, surroundings and soundscape all become tied to each other, pushing and pulling at each other in an obvious way that makes me realize that I was ignorant to pretend they were ever separate to begin with. There is no choice but to allow yourself to be taken by this experience, if you try and make one part rigid - maybe your sense of self, or a held belief - you deny the influence of those other things which are also being altered by the trip. Despite your firmly held position, the other aspects of the trip will continue to push and pull casually with each other for the duration of the drug, and you might invent an enemy out of some arbitrary thing, like the sound of the wind, simply because it won't listen to your request to stop interfering with some aspect of American Politics. That, in my experience, is how bad trips start. With mescaline, it respects my boundaries a little more. The first time I took it at first it didn't feel like a trip. Then visually the plants, sand and the water started to get that familiar flowing effect, and I started to witness those connections between things in the world, without them having an effect on me. It felt like I was witnessing a psychedelic experience, while still remaining my sober self. I was a little disappointed at first because I enjoy that sense of oneness. Then I sat down on the beach and watched the sunrise. That sense of push and pull between things increasing as I came up, and just let myself enjoy the trip. When I let it, that push and pull took an effect on myself the way it does with LSD and psilocybin. At any moment however I could just come to and be my original self just witnessing. My involvement in the trip was voluntary, and when I wanted to just be my self the trip would advertise itself by continuing in the world around me, waiting patiently for me to come back.
- non-entity 6y ago
  I haven't done a ton of psychedelics, and I'm on hiatus from most substances until I get some things together, but personally, I've never had the mind-altering experiences other describe. It's been interesting for sure, last time I was in bed, evaluating and analyzing my entire life, realizing I need to improve a lot of thing, and I faced a lot of thoughts that I've always had subconsciously, but never admit normally. But that was about it, and typically, I spend the next day rather calm, but also mildly down, but that's about it. A couple days after a trip, I'm back to my status-quo until the next time
  - lm28469 6y ago
    > I've never had the mind-altering experiences other describe. It's been interesting for sure, last time I was in bed, evaluating and analyzing my entire life, realizing I need to improve a lot of thing, and I faced a lot of thoughts that I've always had subconsciously, but never admit normally. I'm pretty sure that's what people are talking about. What may vary are your life experiences and if you decide to act on these reflections or not. It's not magic if you don't act on your thoughts it won't be mind or life changing.
  - mesca 6y ago
    I've had plenty of psychedelics, though I wouldn't consider myself, and never was, a frequent user. Always between a month to a year between trips, plenty of forethought beforehand with location, snacks, clothes, books picked out before hand. I think the farther away from that state of connection that a person is in normal life the more jarring and mind altering their experience is. It's common for people who use them regularly to sometimes become bored of the experience. I think that is because they are closer to that state now in their regular life already. You will see many famous and vocal members in the psychedelic community stop taking them at some point, and advocate mindfulness or eastern "religion". That's not just a BS "I had my fun now don't do drugs kids" plausible deniability cop out. My most powerful psychedelic experience - having done quiet a few high dose trips - I had was dead sober my second time in a sensory deprivation tank. I still haven't done DMT or ibogaine, though their on my list.
- 6y ago
okareaman 6y ago
I didn't enjoy my San Pedro cactus mescaline experience. The colorful geometrically shaped patterns were nice, but I quickly tired of them. I didn't like the "speediness" of it, like a few cups of strong coffee. I ended up cleaning my beautiful geometrically colored shower.
- Synaesthesia 6y ago
  Psychedelic experiences vary quite a lot. I also experienced nothing profound from my San pedro trio but my brother is a huge fan

42 points by benbreen 6y ago

I'm surprised to see little/any comments on this reviews, as HN seems to enjoy their psychedelics. I found Castaneda's book so boring, it practically turned me off to psychedelics completely.

mesca 6y ago
I just left a pretty lengthy comment but it got removed.
Synaesthesia 6y ago
Shulgin’s Book PIHKAL, the biographical one is excellent. What Albert Hoffman wrote about LSD is also worth reading (LSD my problem child)
justforyou 6y ago
Casteneda wrote fiction.
sibeliuss 6y ago
A lot more than just Castaneda out there!

mesca 6y ago

I wouldn't recommend anyone to take psychedelics, the "payoff" that you get - for recreational use - can be achieved through sober practices like meditation. If you are already considering trying your first psychedelic and are researching which to take, mescaline is usually passed over because it is difficult to ingest, making it less popular. After ingestion, I'd say mescaline is hands down the best psychedelic experience for a first time user. For me, LSD and psilocybin - at full trip doses - alter my thought processes. My perception, emotions, actions, sense of self, objects, surroundings and soundscape all become tied to each other, pushing and pulling at each other in an obvious way that makes me realize that I was ignorant to pretend they were ever separate to begin with. There is no choice but to allow yourself to be taken by this experience, if you try and make one part rigid - maybe your sense of self, or a held belief - you deny the influence of those other things which are also being altered by the trip. Despite your firmly held position, the other aspects of the trip will continue to push and pull casually with each other for the duration of the drug, and you might invent an enemy out of some arbitrary thing, like the sound of the wind, simply because it won't listen to your request to stop interfering with some aspect of American Politics. That, in my experience, is how bad trips start. With mescaline, it respects my boundaries a little more. The first time I took it at first it didn't feel like a trip. Then visually the plants, sand and the water started to get that familiar flowing effect, and I started to witness those connections between things in the world, without them having an effect on me. It felt like I was witnessing a psychedelic experience, while still remaining my sober self. I was a little disappointed at first because I enjoy that sense of oneness. Then I sat down on the beach and watched the sunrise. That sense of push and pull between things increasing as I came up, and just let myself enjoy the trip. When I let it, that push and pull took an effect on myself the way it does with LSD and psilocybin. At any moment however I could just come to and be my original self just witnessing. My involvement in the trip was voluntary, and when I wanted to just be my self the trip would advertise itself by continuing in the world around me, waiting patiently for me to come back.

non-entity 6y ago
I haven't done a ton of psychedelics, and I'm on hiatus from most substances until I get some things together, but personally, I've never had the mind-altering experiences other describe. It's been interesting for sure, last time I was in bed, evaluating and analyzing my entire life, realizing I need to improve a lot of thing, and I faced a lot of thoughts that I've always had subconsciously, but never admit normally. But that was about it, and typically, I spend the next day rather calm, but also mildly down, but that's about it. A couple days after a trip, I'm back to my status-quo until the next time
- lm28469 6y ago
  > I've never had the mind-altering experiences other describe. It's been interesting for sure, last time I was in bed, evaluating and analyzing my entire life, realizing I need to improve a lot of thing, and I faced a lot of thoughts that I've always had subconsciously, but never admit normally. I'm pretty sure that's what people are talking about. What may vary are your life experiences and if you decide to act on these reflections or not. It's not magic if you don't act on your thoughts it won't be mind or life changing.
- mesca 6y ago
  I've had plenty of psychedelics, though I wouldn't consider myself, and never was, a frequent user. Always between a month to a year between trips, plenty of forethought beforehand with location, snacks, clothes, books picked out before hand. I think the farther away from that state of connection that a person is in normal life the more jarring and mind altering their experience is. It's common for people who use them regularly to sometimes become bored of the experience. I think that is because they are closer to that state now in their regular life already. You will see many famous and vocal members in the psychedelic community stop taking them at some point, and advocate mindfulness or eastern "religion". That's not just a BS "I had my fun now don't do drugs kids" plausible deniability cop out. My most powerful psychedelic experience - having done quiet a few high dose trips - I had was dead sober my second time in a sensory deprivation tank. I still haven't done DMT or ibogaine, though their on my list.
6y ago

okareaman 6y ago

I didn't enjoy my San Pedro cactus mescaline experience. The colorful geometrically shaped patterns were nice, but I quickly tired of them. I didn't like the "speediness" of it, like a few cups of strong coffee. I ended up cleaning my beautiful geometrically colored shower.

Synaesthesia 6y ago
Psychedelic experiences vary quite a lot. I also experienced nothing profound from my San pedro trio but my brother is a huge fan