In article <21rhkd$nmi@shrike.und.ac.za>, meyer@shrike.und.ac.za (Kevin Meyer) writes: >Can anyone tell me anything useful about the potential uses of that strain of >morning glory known as Ipomoea Palmata? Well, unfortunately, _The_Botany_and_Chemistry_of_Hallucinogens_ doesn't list this particular strain. This edition is 13 years old though, so its possible that Palmata is a synonym for something they do talk about. The horticultural morning glories they talk about that contain LAA's are: Heavenly Blue, Pearly Gates, Flying Saucers, Wedding Bells, Summer Skies, and Blue Stars. Those may all just be different kinds of Tricolor, I don't know. As far as species names, for the Ipomea's and related plants they list: Ipomea Tricolor (= Ipomea Violacea = Ipomea Rubrocaerulea) and Turbina Corymbosa (the original Mexican morning glories, "ololuiqui"), which is sometimes also called Rivea Corymbosa and Ipomoea sidaefolia. At the end of the book there's a list of plants of alleged hallucinogenic effects, for which no suitable studies had yet been done. Lots of Ipomea's on this list: I. argyrophylla " batatas " hederacea " muricata " nil " pharbitis " pupurea Again, palmata is not on this list. Couldn't hurt to try, though. Let us know what happens, OK? peace, tony -- I need a new sig. ============================================================================= The following is from several sources, but the primary source is called "The Encyclopedia of Psychotropic Drugs.": BTW, If I'm posting repeats of FAQs already researched, or wasting people's time, tell me and I'll be glad to stop researching and posting this material. I don't want to waste bandwidth on something which has already been analyzed or is well known. Lysergic acid occurs in several substances called 'ergot alkaloids' found in members of the 'Convolvulaceae' (morning glory) family. Especially 'Rivea corymbosa' and 'Ipomoea violacea'. Both of these are cultivated in many horticultural varieties. In this form, they are only 5 to 10% as potent as LSD. To reach hallucinatory effects comparable to 200 to 300 micrograms of LSD (a 4 to 14 hour experience), a person would have to ingest 100 to 300 morning glory seeds. The seeds can be ground up and ingested like a tea, chewed, or swallowed whole. The Aztec indians called the species 'Rivea corymbosa' the name: 'oloiuqui' and used it frequently in various rituals. Mexican indians also used the seeds to diagnose illnesses and fortell various future events. To discourage use today, commercial seed producers treat the seeds with a poisonous coating which cannot be removed by washing. The effects from this coating cause nausea, comiting and severe abdominal pain. Extremely high doses cause psychotic reactions, heart failure, and shock. I personally feel this is terrible. To attempt to stop the usage of drugs by poisoning people is ridiculous! ============================================================================= First of all, the obvious reason why someone might use these seeds instead of LSD: they're legal. Second, I've never heard of them causing coma. Some info from the Psychedelic Encyclopedia, yet again: "When the Conquistadores subdued the Aztecs, early chroniclers recorded that the Indians made religious and medicinal use of peyote, another psychoactive plant called tlitliltzin, and a small lentil-like seed called ololiuqui. The third, alleged to have been used also for purposes of divination, came from a vine known in the Nahuatl language as coaxihuitil (or `snakeplant')." Let me paraphrase some more. Illustrations from the Florentine Codex suggested that coaxihuitil was a member of the morning glory family. Though this family (Convolvulaceae) has over 500 species all over the globe, they seem to have been used for their psychoactive properties only in the New World. In 1959, the ethnobotanist Richard Schultes sent samples of a cultivated Mexican morning glory, Turbina corymbosa, to Albert Hoffman, the discoverer of LSD. Schultes had seen it used by a Zapotec shaman. In 1960, Hoffman analyzed the seeds and said they contained ergot-like alkaloids. This was hard for people to believe since previously such chemicals had only been found in the rye fungus Claviceps purpurea (ergot). But Hoffman was right; the seeds contained d-lysergic acid amide. This differs from LSD only in that it has a NH2 where LSD has a N(C2H5)2, but LSD is some 50 to 100 times as potent. The morning glory Turbina corymbosa's seeds also have other psychoactive alkaloids in them: d-isolysergic acid amide, chanoclavine, elymoclavine, and lysergol. In 1960, Don Thomes MacDougall reported that seeds of another morning glory, Ipomoea violacea were used as sacraments by certain Zapotecs, sometimes with the Turbina corymbosa seeds and sometimes not. This morning glory species is the one with familiar varieties in America: Heavenly Blue, Pearly Gates, Flying Saucers, Blue Star, Summer Skies and Wedding Bells. (Does anyone one know if the more cosmic names are allusions to the psychedelic properties of the seeds? The idea of "flying saucer seeds" is pretty funny.) The Ipomoea violacea has the same psychoactive compounds in it except with ergometrine instead of lysergol. Ergometrine has strong uterus-stimulating properties so it's a really bad idea for pregnant women to eat these seeds. Also, these seeds are supposed to be bad for people with liver problems (e.g. jaundice, hepatitus). These seeds are called badoh negro down in South America, since they are black, and some people think these were the mysterious tlitliltzin, which is the Nahuatl word for "black" with a reverential suffix. Anyway, nothing about "comas". =========================================================================== ( This is long detailed description of the affects of Morning Glory seeds, which I hope Ya'all will find interesting. if you'd rather read about whether smoking in ones car causes more accidents, or flame Ed, hit 'n' now) Seeing as there were a few questions on Morining Glory seeds, and seeing As I *have* tried them, I thought I'd pass along some tips I've garnered on consuming them, as well as a description of the high. Earlier this year, I downloaded the 'Natutal-High' FAQ. The description of Morning Glory seeds, as well as earlier discussion about them on the net (last year some people described their experiences with them) prompted me to take them. (I've never tried LSD, and the FAQ said that the seeds constained LSA, some sort of chemical cousin of LSD. This added further impetus to my desire to try them.) Based on my own empirical testing of the commonly available MG seeds, the ones labeled 'Heavenly Blue' are the ones you want. The other seed types seemed to have little physchoative affect. I purchased the seeds from two different companies Northrop King (NK), where the seed origin is Holland, and Olds, which grows their seed here in my hometown (Madison WI.). The easiest time to find MG seeds (or most other commonly sold seeds) is in the Spring, when they are sold at supermarkets, hardware stores, etc. Play it safe. Before you consume the seeds, wash them. This is not to prevent nausea, because even untreated MG seeds are probably going to make you feel sick. The LSA, and the chemicals that make you feel sick are all there *because* the plant does not want you eating its seeds. Washing them removes any dirt and fungacides which may be on the seeds - things you probably don't want to eat. I used a strainer (the kind used for noodles) to clean the seeds. Place all the seeds in the strainer and run luke warm water over them for a minute or two. You might want to use a little dishwashing liquid too. After washing them, its time to consume them. The FAQ said LSA is water soluble, so ideally you would grind up the seeds (a pepper grinder works well) and soak them in water. Soak the seeds for an hour or two. Strain the water through a coffee filter and drink the blackish-green water. Alas, in my own experience (described below) the effect of the seeds is much stronger if you actually drink the ground up seeds with the water. I've tried MG seeds on three occasions, all within a two week period a about a month ago. The first time a friend and I consumed five 1.5 gram packs between us. We ground up the seeds and put them in tea bags, which we soaked in hot water for about 10 minutes. After a few hours we both concluded that they had done little for us. We both just felt a liitle 'weird' for a few hours. On the up side, neither of us felt sick after drinking our 'tea'. Being the stubborn person that I am (I am a programmer after all ;-) ) I was determined to see if there was anything to MG seeds. On the second occasion I consumed six 1.2 ounce packs of seeds. On this occasion I ground up the seeds and put soaked them in some water for about an hour. I then drank the entire mess. In anticipation of feeling sick, I hopped on my bicycle (it was a cold spring night) and rode around the city. I had been hoping that the bike riding would keep my mind off any sickness. I started to feel sick after about half an hour. It started to get real bad (the nausea) after 45 minutes. I had brought some pot with me just in case, and after smoking a little almost all the nausea went away. Unfortunatley, I was now high, so I could't really observe the MG seeds as they came on :-). After about an hour I still felt nothing (besides being high) and concluded prematurely that the seeds had done nothing. However, As I was riding home, I began to feel *real* weird. My field of view seemed to expand, and the entire sky looked enourmous. The bike ride home was fantastic. I really can't explain the high -- I now understand why people say you can't describe LSD to people who have never used it. The affects wore off after about four hours, but I had a lot of trouble sleeping that night. On the third occasion I was with my brother. This time I tried NINE 1.5 gram packs of ONLY heavenly blue seeds. Note that on the other two times I had mixed different types of seeds. My brother tried only other varieties of seeds. Again I ground up the seeds, soaked them in some water, and drank the entire mix. This was to be the start of a huge, often unenjoyable trip for me. My brother (who *has* tried acid) said that he felt very little (that's why I recommend the Heavenly Blue seeds), but that what he did feel was like the end of an acid trip. About an hour after eating the seeds, I began to feel sick. (we ate the seeds at about eight at night). I would feel sick on and off during the entire trip until about six in the morning, when I finally blew chunks. This did not, however, end the trip. The affects of the high/trip came on very gradually, over some hours. After staying with my brother for a few hours, I decided to try to bike home. This was something of a mistake. Riding home was difficult, as everything seemed strange and alien. I ride my bike a lot (I don't own a car) yet even my bike seemed foreign -- I had trouble telling where my body ended and the bike began. I also started experiencing visual hallucinations -- I saw red and green lights and my vision seemed soft and fuzzy. As cars passed by me, their headlights seemed to shine through the back of my head. I also started to get *real* paranoid and self-conscious. When I got to my apartment, I saw that my roommate was still up. I was feeling so weird and paranoid that I felt I couldn't deal with talking to him. So I wandered around my neighborhood late at night on my bike, paranoid sick and tripping. That part was truly awfull. I began to worry that that the seeds had been treated with Mercury and that I had permanently lost my mind. After what seemed like days (actually only about an hour) I returned to my apartment, where to my relief I found my roommate had gone to bed. Feeling I might throwup, I went to the bathroom. In the mirror I noticed that my pupils were fully dialated, and I spent several hours looking at myself in the mirror. Near the end of this time the skin all over my body seemed to be moving and crawling as I looked at it. This scared me pretty bad, so I went to my room to try to sleep. (I still don't know whether or not my skin was actually crawling, but it sure looked like it.) I coulnd't sleep - my bed, the room, everything was wrong. Also, I kept seeing these strange lights - not really in the room, but more inside myself. Some of them were pretty ornate and seemed to be moving. This may sound cool, but it was *extremely* unpleasant. At that time I would have given anything to stop the experience and roll over and go to bed. Around 6:00 in the morning I finally hurled, but I still felt weird. The REALLY STUPID thing was that I did this during a weekday, and I had to go to work the next day. Not having slept at all, I went into work still feeling pretty shook up, but I made it through the day. Overall it was a pretty nasty experience. I guess you'd say I had a bad trip. On the plus side, I did have a few interesting thoughts. The old philosophical mind/body problem seemed to become a non-problem. At one point while I was looking at myself in the mirror, and struggling with my nausea, the sick feeling suddenly became entirely a mental phenomena. I came to see my body as a mental thing, merely an extension or lower part of my entire being. This was something I actually experienced, not just an intellectual realization. So rather than having ones mind a product of the body/brain it seemed just the opposite to me. Also, I found myself thinking about the quote from (I think) Socrates which goes something something like 'All I know is that I know nothing'. I know this may sound sophomoric, but the truth of this statement dumb- founded me. All our knowledge of 'things' or phenomena is ultimately relative, referring to other things or phenomena. Science is just a more rigorous way of classifying/observing/predicting things. But ultimately we remain completely stupid -- we can never know what something is. This seemed a fundamental truth, no matter how advanced we ever get technologically. The world seemed like a very crazy, random, chaotic place - like a giant zoo, with everybody living in it for completely different reasons. These thoughts really depressed me at the time. Phew. Well, this has gotten long. In conclusion, I don't know if I'll ever try MG seeds again. The length of my last experience with them, plus the nausea and depression outweighed the positive aspects of it. If MG seeds are at all like LSD (which I haven't tried), its probably easier just to stick to acid. However, if you do try them, I'd recommend taking no more than six 1.5 gram packs of seeds. Do NOT experience the nausea. Take 1 teaspoon of FRESH GINGER before eating the seeds. ============================================================================ The substances that cause a lot of the sickness in morning glory seeds are essential oils that are irritants. These can be removed by ligroin (Zippo lighter fluid fits the bill greatly.). The ligroin would be evaporated then the seeds would be soaked in methanol or ethanol. The alcohol evaporated and the leftover residue would be consumed. This is not a hazardous nor particularly dangerous precedure except for flammability. The active constituents are largely lysergic amides but also include chanoclavine, a tricyclic ergoloid which has the ring that contains the carboxyl opened. This is the biosynthetic precursor to the lysergoids. Chanoclavine is reported to be psychoactive in man, although the studies of its action are paultry (Experientia 16, 414 (1960), Albert Hofmann). Also it's presence hasn't actually been confirmed in the morning glory species in question, I. violaceae (tricolour), but in Rivea corymbosa. But it's presence in R. corymbosa should be a hint that it is also in I. violaceae because in R. Corymbosa it is a precursor to an alkaloid that has been confirmed in I. violaceae as well. St. Anthony =========================================================================== >> >> Does anyone know with certainty which varieties of morning glory >> seeds (in addition to Heavenly Blue) are psychoactive? Was >> Heavenly Blue the only variety used among the Aztecs? >> all garden varieties of morning glory are of the species Ipomoea tricolor, also known as Ipomoea violacea. according to Wasson in "The Present Status of Ololiuhqui and Hallucinogens of Mexico,"(Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University, Vol. 20, No. 6, Nov. 22, 1963, pp. 161-212) the species identified as Ololiuhqui(the Native Mexican(he doesnt say whether theyre Aztecs) name for the plant we's all talkin' about) is Rivea Corymbosa, "a morning glory" he says. Ololiuhqui is probably what youre talking about, as it's fairly well-known and is the plant from which Hoffman isolated the active amides. However, later in the article, Wasson says that in another part of Mexico, "the Zapotec area," another related plant is used for the same purpose, and is known as Tlitliltzen(don't ask me to pronounce it) or Badoh Negro. This plant is identified as a wild variety of Ipomoea violacea, the very same species we grow in our garden. I'm led to believe, however, that this variety is quite different from the garden varieties, in that Wasson claims that both ololiuhqui and tlitliltzen are taken in dosages of 7 to 21 seeds, and all the anecdotes ive heard about getting a buzz of heavenly blue or flying saucers speak of sucking down hundreds of the little buggers. so Heavenly Blue(which I would imagine is a product of selective breeding and is native to nowhere) in not the variety used among the Aztecs, if in fact it was/is the Aztecs that use them(I thought there were no more aztecs and hadnt been for a long long time. or is that the mayans? or is it both?) ========================================================================== After reading the FAQ and seeing another article on morning glory seeds I got off the new archive, I wanted to try them. Well last Friday night I had nothing to do. My buddy I usually hang out with was out of town and I was looking at a very boring evening. So I decided, "what the hell," and I went to the local supermarket and bought five 1.8 gram packs of Heavenly Blue morning glory seeds. I wanted to grind them up and put them in water, but I don't have a pepper grinder so I dumped the five packs into a baggie, took my hammer and attempted to smash them outside on a tree stump. Well, of course, the bag simply broke and seeds started to scatter. I don't think I lost a substantial amount, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I just said, "f--k it," and chewed the seeds. It was about 9 pm at this point. As I was chewing the seeds, a friend dropped by with some alcohol. "Cool," I thought, at least I'll have some company now. This friend also informed me that he had tried morning glory seeds once and had only gotten sick to his stomach with no psycadelic effect. But no, I wouldn't be daunted that easily. Before I go on to describe the effects of the seeds, I feel the need to say that I've never tried acid, but I have eaten shrooms on several occasions. So all my comparisons will be to shrooms. Well, my friend and I made some fairly strong margaritas and were sitting outside on the lawn smoking and drinking. After about an hour and 2 margaritas (probably about 4 shots of tequila) I started to feel really, really stoned. I felt like I'd done a few bong hits of really good kind bud and drank a few beers along with it. My limbs were really heavy, I kind of felt like I was moving in slow motion, you know, a good high. At this point I lost track of time so I can't say how long things took at this point except for the couple of times I looked at a clock. After sitting out on the lawn a while more, we got cold and went inside. I lied back on the couch and started staring at the ceiling. At this point it felt like shrooms do when they start coming on. I have really great textured walls and ceilings where I live that produce great effects when tripping. So I watched the ceiling ripple and watched the ridges sway and move about a bit. Let me point out that the hallucinations were very mild. It only felt like the beginnings of a mushroom trip and nothing like I understand acid to be. It was definately pleasent though. Although it was to a lesser degree than shrooms, I got the feeling I always get that everything is perfect and in its place and exactly as it should be. Well it turns out that this would be the height of my "trip." I got tired of staring at the ceiling fairly quickly, (something that doesn't happen on shrooms) and my friend and I moved into my bedroom where we started watching some TV. After a little TV I felt that I was beginning to come down. I got this incredible desire to watch The Wall, so at about midnight I put the tape in. I've watched The Wall when coming down from shrooms and I know that the coming down period lasts much longer then it takes to finish the movie. But the seeds had pretty much worn off by about 3/4 of the way through. (Somewhere around Comfortably Numb.) It was probably somewhere between 1 and 1:30 at that point. Well the rest of the night isn't worth telling. Nothing more exciting happened. Although I will point out two things. I was very restless after the seeds wore off. I was wide awake and ready to go do something. Also, apparently the seeds hadn't completely worn off until I woke up the next day. For right before I finally went to bed at about 7 am, I stopped and looked at my couch intensely for a bit. After a few seconds of staring, lo and behold the fabric of my couch starting rippling and wavering and generally shifting around. So some remnant of the seeds were still in my system ten hours after I initially ate them. My final analysis of the seeds is that they were worth doing. The seeds cost me $5. In relation to other drugs they probably don't provide as much bang for the buck. But I haven't been able to get my hands on any acid or shrooms recently. And that $5 provided more entertainment than alcohol or a movie or anything of that sort. What it felt like was a very mild shroom trip. In fact, it was very similar to the time I ate shrooms two nights in a row and the second night was very mild. The main difference from a mild shroom trip was that I didn't get quite the same "warm fuzzy" feeling. There were a few times of mild anxiety with the seeds. I think I'm going to try the seeds again but I will increase the dosage. I'm a little wary of doing this, though, because both sources I have from the net recommend no more than 9 or 10 grams, which is what I ate. Maybe I'll try 6 or 7 packs next time. Oh yeah, one more thing. I suffered no nausia (sp?). The only side effect was some pretty nasty diaharrea (sp?). But even that was short lived, it was gone by the time I woke up the next morning. Well, that's all. Have fun. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference. -Robert Frost ========================================================================== I just thought I would relate a brief personal experience with Morning Glory. This is not my first negative experience, but this was by far the worst. 10:00pm Washed off store bought seeds (in a vain attempt to remove any fungicide). Started to grind them 10:45pm With a very, very tired arm, I was done grinding them. I put them in water and let them soak, stirring occasionally. Took 1 dramamine. 11:30pm Poured the liquid through a coffee filter, then drank it. It didn't taste or smell badly. 12:30pm Felt a little buzz, and a little sick. 1:30pm Visited my friend, the toilet. Felt slightly better, went back to my room. 1:45pm Dropped by to visit the toilet again. 4:00pm Still at the somewhat strange looking toilet, drinking water so I could have something to puke. Dry heaving had grown old... 5:00pm Fell asleep, hoping I would not choke on my own vomit. It's been about a week, and my digestive system has still not fully recovered. Just thought I'd give an experience to those thinking to try it.... :) ========================================================================== A slight uncertainty arises as to where to start my explanation of this experience, because it eventually seemed to have found root in events months before it actually took place. Nonetheless, I will do my best to accurately describe the facts in rough chronological order, and to denote any comments that I am adding as hindsight, as opposed to events/thoughts of the time. I expect that I'll still be remembering things that I left out for a few weeks after I finish this file, but I hope it's relatively thorough. This may read a little choppily, because as I remember new things, I have to pick where to place an account of them, but do your best - I'm posting this so that the alt.drugs.veterans can anylize this experience to death. It was unbelievably powerful, and I'd like to hear as much as I can about it. I came out of it with a wonderful outlook on life, partly because of the realizations I had about my life and the problems with it, party because I felt that I had found the answers to most of those problems, and partly because I was still alive at the end of it all. My recreational legal drug use had never produced what I would refer to as a "trip", but instead, a wide array of buzzes, nothings, highs, stones and such. Mostly sensual experiences, with a dash of thought alteration, basically. I longed to experience the altered perception and psychadelia documented in so many books, posts, and files I had collected. I had always prided myself in my habit of thoroughly researching a substance to the point at which I could surprise almost anyone I met with a fact about it before I would even consider ingesting it. I've always had very clear boundaries between substances: those I do/would use if given the chance, those I avoid at all costs, and those on which I have yet to gain enough information. I had put D-lysergic acid amide on my list of substances on which I had sufficient information to warrant experimentation, and apparently this was either a premature assumption, or I made a few errors. Regardless, I ingested 7.2 grams of Heavenly Blue Morning Glory seeds, which should be approximately 280 seeds. This was done over the course of about 45 minutes, and I had another 1.8 grams to round it off to 9 handy when the phone rang. The phone conversation was more important to me than the last 70 seeds, so I talked. About an hour later, at 9:45, I was tripping. I couldn't decide whether to lie down on my bed or sit up on its edge, and my constant motion was a bit of a problem to the phone conversation, because the phone in my bedroom rattles when moved. To make things worse, I couldn't stop trying to describe the breathing of the walls and the multicolored mirrored spheres I saw spinning out to no end when I closed my eyes. It was thoroughly breathtaking, and I was almost giddy by the time we decided to hang up, about 3 minutes later. This left me free to watch the happenings around me. The breathing walls were neat, and somewhat of a sign to me that I had done it - this was to be a fun ride. But more profound were the mirror balls. Closing my eyes produced a vision as if I were literally surrounded by floating silver spheres which were slowly rotating around each other, and reflecting far-off shapes of red, yellow, and green. I could have watched them all night, but I had other plans. I was still coherent enough to brush my teeth and wash my face, and I did so. I went out into the living room to get my CD player, and carefully returned to my room. My CD player hadn't been working consistently, but my other choice was to carry my stereo down the hallway, and I didn't trust my vision or coordination well enough for that. I expect that it still wasn't working, but I was too far gone to care. Anyhow, I plugged in the player, took off my shirt, carefully put the little Morning Glory bags into a drawer, and searched for Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. It took me a long time to focus on the CDs well enough to pick it out, but eventually located it. I was unbelievably anxious to lie in my bed, close my eyes, and listen to my music, and I remember smiling like an idiot through the entire preparation process. When I had finished, I put out the lights, applied my headphones, slipped into bed, and pressed "Play". If only I had videotaped myself. I spent the following 42 minutes 57 seconds listening to one of my favorite albums as if I had never heard music before, and freely associating every concept that came into my mind with every other that I had pondered that evening. My thoughts were racing, and I seemed to be pointing to them with various body parts as they passed me. I'm not sure how to best convey this concept, but as I connected my thoughts, I attempted to whisper them to myself, and they were speeding by at such a rate that the only things I spoke were along the lines of "O.k.- and then- but that means- so that- but- ha!- and- ha!" and I would preceed to emit a whispered gasp of understanding, as if connecting these thoughts had explained a major portion of my life. Occasionally, I would decide that it would be best if I calmed down and slept, but that could only last for a few seconds, for as I would begin to ponder the act of calming down to sleep, I would whirl into another episode of free association. Each of the connecting phrases I muttered (and then, but that means, so that...) was accompanied by a physical movement. My movements had become very smooth, things such as running my fingertips down my face, wrapping my arms slowly around myself, bringing my knees up to a rough fetal position and then back... All very fluid, smooth motions. But, when my thoughts were jumping, each jump seemed to be accompanied by a single muscle moving, and each of my limbs was accomplishing its current goal in motion by waiting for one of its muscles to get its turn to move. At the time, I was only aware of a singular sensation of motion that was felt first in a leg, then an arm, then a foot, and such, but when I gasped with understanding at the end of my line of thought, I would find my arms twisted into unnatural positions around my body and each other. I occasionally took breaks for breath (I was gasping out all these thoughts to myself, and my breathing was abnormal enough as it was without trying to keep quiet) or to feel my face, shake my hair (it felt different every time I did that, but it usually felt like only a comparatively few thin flowing strands, and it was electrifying to feel it rub against my back) and play with other sensual abnormalities of the trip. I was not tired in the least, and this continued until the last track on the CD. Apparently, I picked a bad time to try to settle down and sleep, because at the moment I stopped thinking wildly, "Eclipse" began to play. I had already been making seemingly astouding discoveries about everything I knew, and anyone who knows the lyrics to Eclipse is aware of the connection therein. Basically, I was now told that Everything I touch, see, taste, feel, love, hate, distrust, save, give, deal, buy, beg, borrow, or steal, All I create, destroy, do, say, eat, everyone I meet, all that I slight, everyone I fight, all that is now, all that is gone, all that's to come, and everything under the sun is in tune - but the sun is eclipsed by the moon. Awaiting that ending, each line sobered me as I became very... wary. Not frightened, but aware of the depth of the experience, I guess. I'm not certain how to describe it, but I was laying there astonished at something, and when the song ended, I very slowly and almost absentmindedly removed my headphones. My mind was, in effect, blown. From this point, my chronological order is likely to be less than accurate. I honestly cannot recall what happened next, but I vaguely remember the same sort of racing thought I had just expereinced, but more slowly. The topics seemed to be drawing to a close, and not towards an end I wanted to reach. I could do nothing to stop it, so I was forced to lie there and watch my mind connect thoughts that I was just as willing to forget. The visuals at this point were very vivid, but I regret that I cannot specifically explain any of them. They were basically graphical representations of the thoughts I was having. Finally, my thoughts had all been connected to form only a few basic concepts which I preceeded to intertwine to form one. Suddenly, everything was before me. I felt as if I was faced with a choice. I could see a swirling representation of everything that exists, interacting with everything else that exists to form an everything that was itself as well as its parts. I understood what this collection of things I saw in front of me represented - it was an omniscience that COULD stem from the realizations I was having that night. I had been lucky enough to be given the decision, apparently, but it was not an easy one. I could either leap forward into the all-knowing mass of everything before me, or make my way back to my home, and to this reality. I felt as if understanding all there was to know would be a method of nullifying my existence, because there would be nothing towards which to climb, but also that returning to my reality was a "death" of some sort. I'm not certain what it was that I feared, but I felt certain that I was risking death by returning. (Perhaps I was seeing the omniscience as a form of immortality - I do seem to remember a sense that it would be a connection with an all-powerful consciousness)... I chose to return, although I do not recall actively making the decision (I'm tempted to think that the drug was simply wearing off). I do have a vague memory of visualizing all the thoughts I had intertwined rapidly untangling, as I recursively regressed to the point at which I began - my mind had many many different concepts to consider, and they were not all connected. It was quite a bit of work to return, but eventually, I opened my eyes, and saw my room. Well, it was SORT of my room. Almost everything was out of place, with the exception of the clock. The clock insisted on misbehaving, and I often found that two checks of the clock that seemed to be in rapid succession produced readings of 1:30 and then 1:55, for instance. My first goal was to slow the clock down, or speed it up, whichever it happened to need, until it was correct, so I could form some sort of an anchor to something roughly tangible. Finally, when I was convinced that I was relatively back to reality, I was brave enough to roll over and look at the floor. There was my CD player, next to my headset, and the cord strewn over the general vicinity. I reached for the cord, and touched nothing but carpet. I looked again, and realized that I hadn't reached for the cord, but for part of the sculpture of the carpet. Suddenly, the floor was different - I was better oriented, I could see where the cord actually was. I pieced my room back together this was, noting when my senses were and weren't correct, being extremely proud over having changed something physically and having it remain changed when I returned to it. The next step was my bed covers. The turning and twisting I was doing over the course of my thoughts had twisted up my sheets rather nicely, so I decided to untwist them. My sheets are covered with irregular stripes, and in my current state, these were very misleading. I untwisted completely four times before it was actually physically completely untwisted. When I felt the bottom sheet form a consistantly flat covering over me, I was even better oriented. It was now, I decided, well past time to get up, use the bathroom, and get a drink. I turned to my door. I reached out to grab its edge, but my hand seemed to roll around a fourth side before I could see where the actualy three I was concerned with were. I pulled, and was startled by a loud knocking sound. I looked around, and noticed my hairbrush near the door's path. As a reality check, I closed the door, mover the brush, and re-opened the door. It did not knock. I was proud. I closed the door, stood up, and replaced my clothing on my body. Feeling the sensations of fabric running along my skin replaced much of my anchor in reality, also. I quietly opened the door again, and walked down the hallway. I walked into the bathroom, and my perspectives in there helped set me straight, because the bathroom was one of the last rooms I visited before the LSA took. The shower curtain, the sink, the tile, my sister's little jar of sea monkeys in the corner... They all seemed right, and I knew I was closer. The only thing that startled me was the cloth above me and to my left. I stared at the designs, though, and realized that my mother had hung wet clothing over the curtain rod to dry, and this reminded me that time had gone on even after I'd closed my bedroom door the evening before. Things looked promising, but I was still in my own little altered state, not actively noticing the things around me. I left the bathroom and went further down the hallway to the kitchen. Without filling in any details of the parts of the kitchen itself, relevant to this action or not, I did nothing but the following: I got a glassful of juice. It wasn't until I took a large drink that I realized everything around me - and it was exactly as it should have been. The juice, however, was not from the same fruit as that which I had been drinking with my seeds, and the new taste surprised me - waking me to my surroundings. I was quite impressed that this had such an effect, and I went around touching things.. The dog's leash, the microwave, the table. I read a bit of the newspaper. I had to get back to bed, I decided. My room was still foreign, however, and I had some reality to set back into place. I had made quite a few things in my room do what they should, but I still could not form one clear picture of my surroundings. I spend the time to come playing with objects, re-learning their tendencies, and interaction with other objects. For instance, one of the more interesting was when I saw my juggling bags on the floor. I picked one up, tossed it and caught it, and finally decided to toss it off the edge of the bed. It landed on the ground with a thud, and I became more aware of gravity, and where the floor was. I played with my clock radio, making it pop with noise by turning on the radio with no volume. I turned the light on and off a few times. I opened my door and did the same, feeling it necessary that I was vulnerable to being "caught" while doing this. (I would suggest that since I quite often have a very real sense of where my family is, and whether or not they can discover me in any act they would not approve of, I was attempting to create a little mild paranoia to which I could relate). Throughout this entire ordeal, there were a few things that recurred. For isntance, When the room was particularly silent, I could hear my watch on the bedside table. Its band has been broken for ages, and thus it's well buried by other bedside table-type items, and I wasn't used to hearing it. In order to concentrate on it, I would mutter "ticktickticktickticktickticktick". I quite often looked myself over, to see how familiar I looked, and I occasionally would find it necessary to sepecifically check the familiarity of my genitals (with and without the door open). One of the strangest actions was tickling my gag relfex. It wasn't as responsive as it usually would be, and I think that the closer it came to responding as I was accustomed, the closer I felt to reality. Occasionally, I would feel something unfamiliar, like a 1mm thick disk, I think, and reach for it, but it would always fall farther down my throat, and I felt as if I were curling my finger into my throat, through my tounge, and back around in a full spiral. I finally stopped this habit by staring into my throat via my mirror while doing this, and at first my throat appeared as a terrifying cavern of death, but it gradually became the back of my mouth as I remembered it. Rubbing my hand over my face to confirm that it was the face I remembered would (naturally) occasionally cause my hand to brush over my lips, and the feeling reminded me of a specific intimate encounter of the past. Also, I noticed that my inner lip produced a much more smooth sensation across my hand than I would expect from saliva. Whatever I pictured myself doing, I would proceed to do, because I knew that confirming the images in my mind was the only way to convince myself that I was perceiving things as they were. I finally turned away from the room, and towards myself. I looked in the little mirror on my headboard, and I did not recognize my physical self as it currently is. I reminded myself of the 7th grade me, except my hair was as it currently is. The most profound differences were my facial features, and the presence of a large amount of acne that wasn't there when I went to sleep. I tenatively rubbed one of the pimples I saw, and found nothing but flat skin. Good. I felt my entire forehead and face for bumps, and found my complexion was much clearer than the mirror suggested. I looked back, and I was a much closer to normal. I looked back at my floor, to re-confirm the stability of reality, and noticed my CD player. I pressed play, and when I heard sound, I picked up the headphones. I didn't wear them, but I moved them around, and oriented myself to the sound. It helped tremendously, as did proving that I could change things by playing with the skip/search buttons. Finally, I stopped, and removed the CD. I looked at it, had some profound thoughts about creative energy in the mind, glanced at my guitar, and then back at the CD. I turned it around, to see my face in the back, and what I found was a small, frightened, unfamiliar face with meek features. Suddenly, the face rapidly transformed into dozens and dozens of other unfamiliar faces, until I looked away, and placed the CD in its jewel box. I looked in my mirror, and I saw my face. Comfort. But suddenly, the right half of the mouth in the mirror twisted into the most angry snarl I'd ever seen on my face, and then quickly calmed to normal. The left half followed suit, but this was more feirce. Finally, I physically curled my face into an ugly, angry snarl, and silently roared, feeling a large amount of negative energy being dispersed in that act. I could tell that this was nerely over. Suddenly, however, I began feeling that, even though I'd regained most of my reality, that I might have caused some sort of permanent psychosis. I wondered if it would be too late to save me, or if there was still time, or perhaps if there would only be time if I sought help immediately. I was faced with the issue of coming to my parents about the night's experiement. I suddenly felt that I had no choice but to tell them, but there was still enough sense in me not to. I knew that this would HAVE to wear off, but I also wasn't certain what would be left behind. I opened my door again, and sat down on the carpet before the tile of the hallway. I breathed. It was a very liquid, unfamiliar breath. I suddenly decided to breathe very rapidly. And the quiet sound of my hyperventalation produced a spinning sound in my head as if the noise were actually produces by a large spinning wheel that made little gasping noises periodically. The sensation reminded me of the sensation I had earlier on in the trip of many small things meshing together to form a large whole. My breathing returned to normal, and I began to cry. I hadn't cried in a long time (I'd needed to, I think...) and it was a very heartfelt cry. I was careful not to bawl and wake people up, because sitting in my door put me within a meter of my parent's door. It was a gasping, teary cry. I rubbed my eyes, and the moistness reminded me specifically of the sensation I had earlier rubbing my had inside my lip. I had some philosophical realization about the connection between my intimate activites, drug activities, and the sorrow/pain I was crying for. After 5 minutes, I calmed down. I got up, took one more trip to the bathroom, and while there, my ears were bombarded with sounds. I recognized my parents' TV, which I had turned off as soon as I was coherent enough to do so. My father's alarm clock, which wouldn't be going off this early, was buzzing in my head. My families voices were audible in the far distance, and I realized that I'd been hearing them throughout the past hour or two. I was a bit afraid that I wasn't perceiving anything correctly, and they were in fact right over me trying to wake me, or something of the sort. Finally, though, I left the bathroom, checked their room, and they were still asleep, the television off, the alarm silent. I smiled. Things were right, things were good. I walked back to my room. Looking it over, I realized that it was back in order, I checked the clock - I had a couple hours of sleep ahead of me. I stared at my bed. I slid into my bed, and as I did, I could see, hear, and feel the remaining uncertainties and inconsistancies of my surroundings disappearing as the sheets sliding down my arms produced the most familiar feelings I'd felt all night. I slept. ============================================================================= Hi, This is posted for a FOAF: I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS! ******************************************************************************** I was out looking for a nice pussy willow to plant in the back yard when I saw them - Heavenly Blue MG seeds, $1.00/2gm pack. What the hell. I bought 6. I looked up prior postings and decided that 8gm would be a decent dose. I washed the seeds (they look like elongated peppercorns) in a bowl with warm water and a tiny bit of dish soap, then rinsed them well in a strainer. I ate a couple and waited a half hour, to see if there were any surprises - there weren't - so I ground the seeds real fine in a coffee grinder, mixed them with water in a glass, and let is soak for another 1/2 half hour or so. I drank the liquid, refilled the glass, and waited some more... Mild effects, minor visuals, mild nausea... Drank the liquid again. Tasted much stronger this time, sort of like peanuts, sort of like magic mushrooms... Got progressively more nauseous. Finally used my finger to puke, and puked and puked and puked and lay down on the floor and puked and puked. Awful. Tripping now, too, great fun... I could see how a novice could TOTALLY lose it under these conditions. Nausea didn't feel like nausea anymore, it felt like twitchy anxiety and impending panic, then I'd puke and be totally fine for 5 minutes. (My life became a phrase: PUKE = GOOD). The trip that followed was actually nice, though - no visuals, but nice emotional experience and a zoomy head. Hardly worth it, however... An interesting point - an unusual aspect of this was that stimulation was generally unpleasant - I wanted to be in a dark, quite place, with my woman around talking but not touching me. I felt twitchy, and I didn't want to move my head at all. I did the whole trip in bed... Moral of the story: Acid is only $2.00 a hit. ******************************************************************************** ============================================================================= It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and we had a plan. Well, okay, we didn't really have one, but we had several goals, a car, and even a little bit of money. So it was that I found myself at Stein Gardens and Gifts with two of my close friends, scanning what remained for the summer of their seed rack. Our eyes were caught by some "Beautiful Sky Blue Flowers" (according to the packaging) that were being sold for $1.99 per package of 6 grams. This was definitely the best price we had ever seen, and we decided to purchase 3 packages - 9 grams for each of the two of us that possessed interest in the usage of the seeds. We walked out of the store with 18 grams of Heavenly Blue Morning Glory seeds and a Nut Roll candy bar. After giving a quick shake to the rubber hand that has been so deftly placed to hang out of the trunk of my friend's car, we entered the vehicle and proceeded to the shopping mall. First of all, we seized the opportunity to search for new reading material at WaldenBooks. The next stop was Kohl's Department Store, where we quickly made our way to the kitchen supply department. Our last endeavor with these seeds included a rather silly period during which, for lack of a better means, we found ourselves sitting around a piece of cardboard, taking at the seeds with various sundry items (a hammer, a "C" size battery, an N2O cracker). While this had proved entertaining, we were rather joyful to exit Kohl's with a lovely $8.99 Mr. Dudley "Princess" pepper grinder. After acquiring some delicious cookies of the macadamia nut-containing variety, we left the mall to check in at my home, gleefully grinding the included peppercorns wherever our path led (we had to empty it _somehow_!). At my house, I filled my bag with a change of clothes, some coffee filters (to replace the paper towling of our last attempt - a successful attempt, but cumbersome, at best), some plastic bags to fill with the product of the grinder, a toothbrush, and 3.6 more grams of seeds whose presence in my drawer I had hitherto neglected to remember. 10.8 grams of seeds for each of us - it was bound to be a good night. We returned to the apartment of my companion for the night's journey (who will henceforth be referred to as "Zworfin"), and set about our work. The two that would not be partaking of our potion (the one who had gone shopping with us, who will henceforth be referred to as "Jarquom", and the person living with Zworfin, who will henceforth be referred to as "Prulict") left for Taco Bell. After the first (approximately) 6 grams, our "Princess" jammed up, and became stuck in the "closed" position. Enter cardboard, hammer, Energizer, and Duracell. Eventually, we had two piles of fine white powder with black specks, each massing approximately 10.8 grams, and some Nacho Supreme. At 8:30PM, We carefully placed the piles of powder into two empty Ice Mountain bottles (chosen for the easy pouring associated with a beverage bottle's neck) with some rather warm water, and not-so-carefully ate our suppers for the evening, and set about watching the breathtaking thunderstorm the night had given us, while occasionally stirring our concoctions. It was interesting to note that the rather apocalyptic weather of late was easily understood in the light of the prophetic dream of one of our friends: the world was ending in this dream, and it was July 17, 1993. We chatted idly about the obvious fact that we had merely 2 weeks of this life left, and eventually, 9:00 rolled around. It didn't take long to rip all of our coffee filters, lose a good deal of filtrate, and feel hopeless. Luckily, we found that a handkerchief made a much more effective filter in this case, and we obtained a large amount of liquid, keeping the bulk of the solid matter in the cloth. We cleaned up the kitchen, proposed a toast to permanent psychoses, clicked glasses, and stared at our potion. Jarquom wittily began to chant "Chug.. Chug.. Chug!", and Zworfin and I naively obliged. This was most likely the worst decision of the night, and the taste made me lightheaded enough that I wouldn't have been disappointed if the LSA didn't take. We quickly attacked the pitcher of juice in the refrigerator, and within minutes, our suffering was over. Prulict and Jarquom had popped "White Men Can't Jump" into the VCR, so I sat down to watch it while Zworfin grabbed his book and CD player. I'd estimate that it was very roughly 10:30 when Zworfin was starting to smile at nod knowingly, and I was groaning and clutching my rather displeased stomach. I was rather certain that I would not enjoy my journey if I embarked upon it with this sort of physical sensation. I considered the tried-and-true method of purging one's digestive system in order to smooth out the trip, but I couldn't bring myself to do that. In order to make it to church on time, Jarquom left at the end of the movie (probably around 11:00), driven by Prulict. I was a little disturbed by Prulict's absence, as she was to be our anchor-to-reality, guide, and babysitter, but she would return soon, of course. While she was gone, my trip turned around completely. It seems that the basic turning point was the partaking of a Mr. Freeze-style popsicle at the behest of Zworfin. I was beginning to feel the amplification of all physical touch, and my mind was softly humming with the giddy onset of free association. Zworfin was overjoyed, as he was definitely eager to have a companion for his trip. Prulict returned, and after taking care of some minor things around the apartment (laundry and such), she sat down with us, and joined us. She truly did join us, too. All three of us agreed that it almost seemed as if she had imbibed a decent share of LSA, also. Of course, she still had a firm grip on reality, but she was willing to "play along" with our silliness, and she enveloped herself completely in the emotional outpouring that Zworfin and I had for her. There had been a few too many problems in our relationship (1 relationship for the three of us, because that's basically the way we live it), and we couldn't have hoped for a more thorough reconciliation. Zworfin and I quickly understood what had been separating us, and we were able to finish each other's sentences to an unreasonable extent, as if we both had a full script in front of us. After we felt our problems solved, we turned to Prulict. We realized suddenly how important she was to our experience, our lives, and our relationship - and she was the main object of our thoughts for most, if not all, of the trip. Although I'm still not sure ultimately how the entire experience affected Zworfin and Prulict's relationship, I was presented with a remarkable understanding of how the entire ordeal would eventually turn out favorably. Prulict will be leaving soon to spend some time on her own, sorting things out, but I have never felt closer to anyone than I felt to the two of them that night - and I now am well aware that that bond will always, in some way, hold us all together. I was in constant awe at the beauty surrounding me - Zworfin, who had helped me through the most difficult times in my life thusfar; Prulict, who had entered into my life rather recently, but to whom I already felt a love as strong as any I've ever known; and the relationship between all three of us, which was manifesting as a pure ever-strengthening glow of closeness. Many important realizations and analogies about life and reality were developed that night, but none seemed as important as the understanding and sharing that went on between us. The profound glowing ecstasy of it all is beyond description. I felt at many times as if I would cry from the sheer beauty of it all - even when Zworfin was expressing his tearing emotions of loss at Prulict's planned departure, my tears were not of sadness, but of love and joy for the wondrous light I saw in both of them. I could tell, then, in everything that any of us did - I saw myself in them, and each of them in the other and myself. We spent much time snuggling and idly holding hands/stroking arms in various combinations, and the pure energy that was transmitted to me caused me to wonder if my body could handle such warm, all-encompassing sensations. I also have never seen such beauty as I found in Prulict's reactions to the experience. Eventually, Prulict grew tired, and Zworfin and I were able to continue our discussions between each other, basking in the seemingly error-free connection between our thoughts. We could discuss a model for reality, and it would instantly appear in the other's mind. The most useful and applicable of these was a fractal model for relationships, thoughts, and experiences. A thought or an experience is an infinite spiral, consisting of innumerable other spirals, and placed as a component of other, larger spirals. Thus, a thought could be pursued into itself, gaining detail as the spirals of which it is composed are made up. Or, one can pursue the thought as it relates to other thoughts - where it fits in the larger spirals. When we gave an analogy to the other, it was an empty spiral, and it only made sense when we realized how to fit our existing thoughts into it. A few clues, the thoughts that we had already understood to fit into the analogy, would help to get the point across. An analogy for this (not to get carried away.. :): If I give you a bunch of stones and say "Arrange them in the right order", you're sort of at a loss. But, if I say, "Arrange them into a circle with a line through the center", you can make an image that looks very nearly like mine. The line could be oriented incorrectly, but one of us has only to walk a short distance around the circle to remedy that. We continued on until 4 or 5 in the morning, when I took 150mg of Valerian Extract, in an attempt to cushion the ride back down and get some sleep. It worked beautifully. I felt myself tying up loose ends, and coming back to reality, a sensation I find perhaps more intriguing than much of the trip, but it was very smooth. I closed my eyes, and saw beautiful images that reminded me of computer graphics (in fact, I'm in the process of ray tracing and animating one of them). Zworfin saw similar images. We knew that this would be a major stepping stone in many of the relationships we've been strongly working to lift to the level that ours has reached. Indeed, discussing this with a few other friends the day after proved to patch many gaps in our understanding of each other. It is for this that I advocate the usage of substances such as LSA. We made an effort to use it efficiently, effectively, responsibly, and safely, and 2 days later, the only effects that remain with me are the newfound love among my friends. Learning to use powerful tools has its rewards, and the human mind is my favorite of all the tools I've yet to encounter. I expect I'll be writing a huge text on the things we learned, in the hopes that a few more people will understand them. I can't hope to include the majority of even the highlights, because it was all so important, but this should at least serve to reaffirm the sense that these substances have the potential to create and further beautiful things - in ways I could no longer deny.