DOSE:

9 in

oral

Cacti - T. pachanoi

(tea)

BODY WEIGHT:

185 lb

18 inches of Trichocereus Pachanoi was prepared by despining, separating and discarding the white core from the green outer layer, blenderizing the green portions to a mucilaginous foamy goop, simmering this plant material in lime juice on low heat for two hours, filtering the resultant tea from the plant material, on another burner reducing this filtered tea, repeating the last 3 steps 3 times, discarding the plant residue, and finally continuing the reduction of the tea until about 2 cupfuls of medium brown liquid were left--Yum!

At 7:30 PM, my partner and I each drank one cup. While the taste was anything but pleasant, the extraordinary and gut-wrenching bitterness I usually associate with cactus seemed largely obviated by the acidity of the remaining lime juice. We were able to hold our noses and drink the concoction in just a few large and thankfully gagless gulps.

By 10:30 PM or so, the first inkings of consciousness alteration started to disrupt our saturday evening routine of dinner and rented movie. We had, by then, almost written off the cactus as yet another psychedelic no-show. Yet there it was: an almost imperceptible disorientation started to creep up on us like the wisps of an unnamable otherness, announcing the beginning of... something.

Around 11:30 PM, the background buzzing that seemed to have been provoking a mild of physical and psychological queasiness started accelerating and intensifying, pushing aside my discomfort, giving rise to a pleasant sensation I can only describe as 'being amped'. My partner, at this point, started feeling nauseous and antsy. I excused myself momentarily to check the mailbox, and in the process of walking to the end of the driveway, experienced the most delicious sensation of moving, of extending my limbs and contracting my muscles like a jungle cat hunting for prey--or just my mail. All senses felt primed, the air fresh on my face. I felt great.

Back inside, my partner seemed to be feeling better. We decided to take a walk.

Throughout the rest of the evening, he would continue to get only weak psychedelic effects, while I plateaued for about 4 hours with that delicious physical intensity. My mind was clear throughout, and thoughts laser-like. While there were no overwhelming visual phenomena, the world seemed to exhibit a distinct sparkle and sheen--as if each object of perception shimmered with its own uniqueness.

At 3:00am, unable to sleep, I turned on the television and was immediately bombarded by the war-on-terror-paranoia/propaganda of CNN. This, in turn, pushed me into dark musings about the state of the world, the manipulative power-hungry tactics of the current US administration, etc. While able to ponder global issues with some insight, I quickly ran out of material: world politics appeared so obviously dominated by pathetically shallow 'hungry ghosts', the grasping hands of empty souls--'pigs at the trough'.

These musing thankfully ran their course, at which point I tried to shift moods by focusing on the buzzing energy that still permeated my body. It worked: I suddenly perceived subtle flows, channels, and meridians crisscrossing my chest like fine filaments. Following the surging and gently pulsing currents up to my face, to my scalp, and then, amazingly, out of my head, I felt like my consciousness was somehow touching a star that lay suspended at an undefined distance from me. It was almost as if I were pulling from it, back into my resting body, some blue or violet essence. The sensation was absolutely clear. My body immediately relaxed, and I promptly dropped off from the cosmic into a mundanely deep and dreamless sleep.

The next morning, my partner reported feeling very tired, but seemed to recover after a few afternoon naps. I felt great throughout the day. Analyzing the differences in our experiences, it occurred to us that he may have needed more cactus to fully lift off from the weak effect that characterized his trip throughout the evening. He was, at that point, a cactus-virgin, while I was not. Perhaps my familiarity allowed me to flow with, and possibly amplify, an experience which a first-timer might unconsciously resist.

Exp Year: 2003	ExpID: 29257
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Dec 21, 2003	Views: 10,219
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Cacti - T. pachanoi (64) : Small Group (2-9) (17), General (1)