DOSE:

2 seeds

oral

Datura

(tea)

BODY WEIGHT:

170 lb

As far as herbs and substances go, I'm basically a grizzled veteran, having repeatedly sampled nearly all of the cornucopia of hallucinogens on a staple diet of ganga since I was 17 or so. To give you an idea of where my head was at, let me preface this with a brief history.

At the time I took Datura, I was in a vulnerable and confused period of my life. Half a year earlier, I went from being very happy in my life and having good health to getting sick and almost dying, losing my house to the hospital bills, and my girlfriend threatening to leave me if I didn't get it together. I responded by rearranging my life with less stress per the doctor's and acupuncturist's orders--more exercise and fresh air, good diet, no drugs, etc. My spiritual friend and teacher encouraged me to discover my true self.

I began frequenting the parks in and around my town to go for walks and exercise. It was at one of these parks where I met many huge Datura Stramonium plants with upwards facing white and yellow trumpets. I was always mesmerized at the sight of these plants, much less the smell that always seemed to beckon like a mermaid's song on the breeze. My intuition told me this plant had a teaching for me. I'd read Carlos Castaneda in my youth and Dr. Andrew Weil when he was writing for High Times, and I knew enough to be scared of this prospect. But so strong was the magnetism of this plant that, over a period of weeks, I studied and ruminated about it, finally getting up the nerve to experience it.

In late summer of this year, I prayed and made offerings to the 4 directions, Heavan and Earth, and to the plant with great respect, asking if I may take some seed pods, not really to 'get high' off of (not that I look down on that sort of thing obviously--it just wasn't what I was looking for at the time), but to ask the plant if she would help me to know my true self better so that I may be able to fully heal and help others, all in the gentlest way possible. I waited for the reply and the plant sent soft laughter on the wind, delighted to give me some seeds. I then cut 3 thornapples from 3 of the biggest plants in the park, gave thanks, and went home.

What I'm about to say may seem strange or impossible to those who understand things only in terms of physicality (chemicals and molecules, etc.), but it was at this point that the energy/spirit of this plant seemed to be affecting me, accepting my invitation and already working on my etheric body, though it was so subtle at the time I was still unaware. In any event, to me plants are people and teachers, and I thought I was just inviting another special guest over. What I didn't know was that I'd also unwittingly escorted a freakishly powerful and gigantic Goddess into my tiny one-bedroom apartment.

I began cutting the thornapples in half and removing the seeds to be distilled in vodka. My girlfriend came into the kitchen to see what I was doing because said she felt the energy in the apartment shift dramatically. I explained to her that I was making a highly poisonous tincture for topical use only. I emphatically told her that no one should ingest this and that I never had any intentions of taking this plant internally.

The next day, in cleaning up the kitchen, I found 2 tiny seeds on the counter. Something told me I should just try brewing a little tea with these, again this seems to be the energetic influence on my etheric mind-body at work here. I rationalized to myself that there were numerous cases of people who consumed these seeds by the hundreds. Surely 2 seeds would be nothing, a homeopathic amount. I honestly expected and wanted nothing special at all to happen, just to get a little plant DNA and energetic blueprint in me. I boiled the seeds for 15 minutes or so and put ginger and licorice in for flavor. So stupidly confident was I that nothing would happen, I began sipping the tea in my car on the way to my friend's house.

I took ONE SIP and felt the plant take a hold of my body nearly instantaneously. To me this was ludicrous, because even a good shroom tea takes at least 5-10 minutes to start kicking in. I told myself it was psychological, a placebo-effect/anxiety attack or something, and decided to take one more sip. I took a bigger second sip and felt the exact same thing instantly again--butterflies as soon as it hits the stomach, constriction of the throat, heart racing, mind swimming, armpits sweating, etc. I was officially scared at this point and promptly threw the rest of the tea out the window. By the time I got to my friend's house, I was driving like a drunkard, barely able to navigate and endure the sensory onslaught of traffic. [Erowid Note: Driving while intoxicated, tripping, or extremely sleep deprived is dangerous and irresponsible because it endangers other people. Don't do it!]

NOTE: The sum total of Datura that I ingested was just 2 SIPS from a cup of 2-SEED TEA!

At my friend's house, I checked my eyes in the bathroom and found them hugely dilated. I decided to walk to a nearby park and do a ridiculous amount of calisthenics while drinking jugs of water in the hopes of sweating a lot of it out. My friend was with me and we did some martial arts training as well. The exercise did help as far as the endorphin rush and resulting sense of release and sedation, but the psychoactive effects went nowhere. The tracers were obnoxious and my brain didn't seem to focus or concentrate right anymore, making it almost impossible to read, watch TV or drive. There were little blue orbs floating around whereever I went, and I had the distinct feeling I was not alone when I was alone now and perhaps may never be again. I also could palpably sense thoughts and feel energies from people and places much more intensely then before, causing me to have to avoid certain people and places for fear of them driving me insane.

The next day, my friend called me asking why he was feeling dosed and seeing tracers and things when he didn't take anything. I said it must have been transferred through the sweat and grappling from the martial arts training. My girlfriend was also feeling extra spacey and strange even though she didn't take any either. Even my cat seemed tripped out. By this time, I was freaking out thinking that I was messing up all my friends in this gigantic accident that seemed to be spiraling out of control, but they reassured me they were alright and it wasn't that strong to them. But they most definitely felt the effects and this further blew my mind at the power of this otherworldly plant. The next day, they felt normal again, but I was still as altered as when I first took it.

I went to my acupuncturist and told him what I did. After having a good-natured laugh at me, he gave me a calming treatment and told me to eat lots of miso soup because my digestive friendly flora and bacteria were devastated by the poisons of the datura. Another healer recommended burdock for cleansing the liver and blood, along with plenty of exercise. They had no idea, however, how long it would take for me to be 'normal' again, if ever.

It has been 4 months now, and there has been no change. I've learned to make friends with the Datura plant. We've forged a fierce bond and I have bottomless respect for her. However, so steadfast is my resolve never to purposefully or otherwise accidentally consume this plant again that I safely disposed of the tincture I made, along with literally everything in my house the plant touched, including many dishes, knives, clothes I sweated it out on, etc. Moonflower has an indescribably serious and disturbing priest-like side with a power impossible to convey, but it cannot be overstated.

As far as helping me know my true self, not really--although she seems to have afforded perhaps a glimpse, but not without a price and only perhaps at my sincere request and adding the addendum to my prayers, 'in the gentlest way possible,' did she not fully unleash her wrath upon my ignorant psyche. Here I am, an experienced psychonaut who had no overtly negative result with this plant, and yet I can assure you I will never even get near this plant again as long as I live.

Exp Year: 2007	ExpID: 67229
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Sep 4, 2008	Views: 9,290
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Datura (15) : Entities / Beings (37), Post Trip Problems (8), Retrospective / Summary (11), Not Applicable (38)