
Mescaline’s Bio, Soberly Considered - benbreen
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/mescalines-bio-soberly-considered
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mesca
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
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
> 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.

------
okareaman
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
Psychedelic experiences vary quite a lot. I also experienced nothing profound
from my San pedro trio but my brother is a huge fan

------
justinator
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.

~~~
Synaesthesia
Shulgin’s Book PIHKAL, the biographical one is excellent. What Albert Hoffman
wrote about LSD is also worth reading (LSD my problem child)

