DOSE:

25 g

oral

Cacti - T. peruvianus

(dried)

BODY WEIGHT:

155 lb

Background: I've been struggling with boredom-driven depression lately. Since Summer has finally come and I'm back from school things have been rather uneventful. Most of my time is spent working, sleeping, tending to my garden and an occasional social dinner with friends. The day prior to the experience was very interesting, my family was hosting a celebration party. I always abstain from red meat, candy, caffeine and alcohol the day before any journey with entheogenic plants. I hung out with some old friends I hadn't seen in a while. It was a much needed reminder of the changes that occur over one's lifetime.

Preparation: I have attempted 5 other preparation techniques with the beloved cactus and have found the following(which I pulled together from several different teks) to be best and a bit easier than the others.

1. After weighing the material in question is then put in a ziplock bag of some sort (25 g dry/roughly 8 inches fresh of an average width is pretty safe dosage to gauge potency the material).

2. The bag is then filled up with a few freshly squeezed lemons (can't add too many lemons) and some distilled water. I add enough liquids to make the material float a little. I close the bag and let it soak. The lemons are important because they take all of the 'goodies' and turn them into salts. Freebase mescaline (and the other alkaloids in the cactus) tends to be rather caustic, unpalatable and just nauseating. The salt are more water soluble and they are get stored better than the plain ole alkaloid. The distilled water is important because most likely there are things in my tap water that can degrade the 'goodies'.

3. Once the material has had a couple hours to sit and soak it is then placed in the freezer. Once it's pretty frozen it can be placed in the refrigerator to thaw. I freeze again, repeat. I usually perform 3 or 4 times over the course of a day.

4. I let the material thaw then add some more lemons and water. I bring the material to a little bubble. Not quite a rolling boil but a little bubbling. Once there's roughly two times the amount of liquid I’m willing to consume(I can handle a cup so I wait for two cups) I strain the mixture using a simple kitchen colander into a smaller pot. I freeze/thaw mine I never get anything more with the second boil.

(IMHO)Cactus is a little easier to drink slightly above room temperature, but chilling it cold enough eliminates a lot of the bad taste. I don't add anything or attempt to mix it with any liquids. It's just going to taste worse no matter what. I've found that if I do not quench and I attempt to appreciate the taste then the cacti is not nauseating at all. I just accept the taste, and was rewarded with an easier to drink liquid.

Day of the experience: Woke up in the best mood ever. My friend and I, who I will refer to as K woke up around 7:30 am. Double checked our backpack for everything(bandaides, bunch of fruit, cigarettes, pbjs, notebooks, chess set and all of the usual suspects). This being Ks first time with the magical cacti, and my first time with this particular harvest(and this specimen I've been cultivating for a couple years) I decided to go towards a safer dosage just in case it is a particularly strong specimen(variation in potency makes the proper dose hard to gauge), that being 25 grams a piece that I had dried last fall.

One the way to the Nature Reserve where we would spend the day we ate a light snack. I've found this important to get the metabolism going before eating the cacti. This significant reduces the nausea and 'comeup' time, for my friends and I anyway.

Mindset reflection: I had an idea what to expect, but not a good idea. After my initial experience with magical cacti I knew I could handle a higher dose fine and intact. Very comfortable with this plant and the setting I was in.

Once we arrived at the nature reserve we prepared to find our spot of consumption. Beautiful morning, a little cold. As mentioned before accepting the taste for what it is makes it possible to drink. It is bitter and slimy but once I stop focusing on it, it's like lemonade.... only with a cactus.

I consumed the liquid over a half an hour. This also reduced the shock on the body.

We then walked to a trail house where we had our first game of chess. I won. Around 10 am we both agreed that we were starting to feel a little extra energy. While enjoying the view from a cliff this physical geology class from the local community college class walked up. K and I talked their ears off. Both felt really comfortable and curious.

Next we proceeding to walk down to the river. Saw a few raccoons. I identified some random plants(mallow, bindweed, canadian lousewort) on the way. Around 11 o’clock we really were feeling it. At this dose I wasn't expecting full on OEVs but I had forgotten how unparalleled the magical cacti is in terms of visuals. The enhancement was astounding. The ripples from the soft rain hitting the water, affecting other ripples. We talked about how the ripples must be representations of how humans affect one another. The birds were amazing. The clouds appeared as though they were starting to close into the focal point on the horizon. Everything had meaning. Around this time we came across K's old boyscout troop. Yikes, I got a little nervous but we chatted up a storm. Never realized before how amazing eyecontact is, yet many people especially males always avoid it. It's a powerful thing, like looking into one another’s soul.

We sounded completely sober, maybe a little excited, but carried on the conversation just fine. I knew what they were saying so well. Around 11:45 we decided to head for some caves my friend K had been telling me about. It had been lightly raining all day, but it was starting to downpour now. The cave was about 3 miles from us so we decided to make a run for it. We continued to talk the entire time. It was quite intense. Didn't feel exhausted at all even though I knew I was.

Finally we've reached dry ground. We explored some of the cave that K hadn't seen yet because he did not have a flashlight with him before. Started a little fire towards the back. Played a game of chess. We had a good laugh at the CEVs. Both the same strobing starting to form into a spiral. We talked about waves and how people align to them. Really connected on another level. It was awesome. Talked about everything. Reminded me very much of the old days when I'd go to raves and take MDMA. While they are in the same ballpark, they are far from the same. The cacti is very different from MDMA, and it deserves more respect than comparing it to some man-made chemicals.

The peak of the trip came about 2 pm. The clarity and time dilation are some amazing aspects of the cactus. Even at the peak, where tracing visuals were starting to form I had a completely stable conversation with my sister. She didn't have a clue. But if she asked me I couldn't have lied. It's as though one is just pure consciousness. Uninhibited like a child. Able to think completely clearly. I feel I could've handled almost anything in that state. K agreed he could as well. An hour felt like 5. It was as though we were enjoying every moment so much that time stood still.

At the entrance to the cave K and I played a couple intense games of chess during the peak, and to stay dry from the rain. He won all three games. We aptly named the spot 'The Cave of Knowledge'. Talked about primitive man and his instincts.

Once the rain cleared up we felt very energetic. Despite our feet being wet we decided to take the very long way back to my car. The wetlands area is probably my favorite part of the place we were at. I was very surprised not to see anyone else there. There was a large caterpillar eating a flower off of a plant. We could see him using his little hands and putting them in his mouth. It was very cool. About 3pm we walked around the huge lotus/lilly pond. Told K all about the lotus's powers, their significance to Eastern religion and their microscopic structure's significance(pyramid).

I suddenly knew everything I had ever learned in my entire life, at my disposal. I was picking my words much more carefully but in no way reserved. This was still about peaking. Next we went to another pond and observed the effects of directionality and angles on reflections, had an hilarious debate about what the containers labeled snails contained. We starting heading back but kept finding cool stuff to do or look at. There were all this little containers that had information about the area w

Once I came to all the way I drove back to my house, showered, took some more notes and reflected over the day with some cannabis. I refused to let K bring any for the actual experience as that would have clouded everything up and turned it into just another time to get high. That wasn't the intent at all. It's a useful plant but it has it's like a hotwheels set compared to a rollercoaster. However I will say it does help me go to bed after higher experiences with the cacti.

Allinall: This was exactly what I had needed. Relaxation from everything, but it wasn't escapism as I used to enjoy with cannabis. It was intensity. Like everything culminated and I got to unwire the mess of cords in my head. I know what the potency of this particular cacti is, I'm much closer to a friend, I had a great day. It was seriously a fantastic day. Trichocereus cacti are definitely my favorite experience. Their feelings, visuals, duration, etc.. beats everything else I have ever tried. Never came anywhere close to a scary or uncomfortable experience. It doesn't demand or ask for respect like some plants do, but it deserves respect very much.

Exp Year: 2007	ExpID: 63625
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jun 23, 2007	Views: 26,856
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Cacti - T. peruvianus (69) : Depression (15), Preparation / Recipes (30), Small Group (2-9) (17)