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I have taken LSD a few times.

Twice I have taken it in combination with an extract of Peganum harmala seed.

On one occasion, I experienced what may have been an OOBE.

In the midst of the closed eyes visuals and vibrating tones, I began to perceive what seemed like a sensation of moving; almost as if I moved up and through a doorway or window.

My mind clarified and the tones subsided and there was a scene as if I was in a hallway of a spaceport or space station.
I walked(?) through the hall and through a door into a large open space. There were 6-7 humanoid or human appearing beings in white jumpsuits which were moving barrel-like objects about. I watched for a few seconds and then what I perceived as a female of the group said "Were finished. You can go now." I then returned to the trip state.

Take it for what it's worth...[]

While I view dreams as dependant upon brain chemistry, function, etc,
I also think that dreams may be forays into astral or non-physical locales. Could dream landscapes which are topographically different from the waking landscape be indicative of actual non physical realms?



On a related note, if anyone is familiar with the author H.P. Lovecraft,
he was a writer of fantasy and horror stories. He was a prolific dreamer,  and many of his stories were based on his dreams.

He mentioned in one story(The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath) that "in the land of dream, dimensions have strange properties".

I have found that eating one or two bananas before going to bed causes me to either dream more or remember my dreams better. Even better(for myself, as I usually wake up around 3-4 a.m. every morning, then go back to sleep after a while) eat a banana if you wake up in the night, then go back to sleep.

(I read on a message board somewhere, where another person said this worked for them.)

Bananas are high in L-Tryptophan. L-Tryptophan is converted to 5-HTP, which is converted into serotonin.

Curious however, is that the serotonergic system shuts down during REM sleep(http://www.antidepressantsfacts.com/pinealstory.htm).

"Dreams are hard to remember because noradrenaline and serotonin are virtually unavailable during REM sleep. These substances are needed to record memories. You can recall a dream that immediately preceded awakening, because the noradrenaline and serotonin systems come back online as you wake up. But if you shift your attention at all while you wake, you will often find that the memory of the dream vanishes."
From http://www.clusterheadaches.org/library/serotonin/sleep.htm


From Legal Highs:
L-TRYPTOPHAN -- 1-alpha-aminoindole-3-propionic acid.
   Material:  Amino acid essential to human nutrition.
   Usage:  5-8 grams are ingested on empty stomach.
   Effects:  Drowsiness, euphoria, and mental changes similar to mild  (5 mg) dose of psilocybin.
Contraindications:  Tendency to fall asleep.  Excessive use could  
cause dietary amino acid imbalance.
   Supplier:  CS, 500 mg tablets from some heatlh food stores.
From http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/legal_highs/legal_highs.shtml


Foods Causing Depressions and Sleeplessness: http://www.13.waisays.com/

Banana facts: http://www.bananaland.com.au/topmenu/facts.php





IF there is a definite increase in dreaming or dream recall, I am curious what is the mode of action?


Edit addition:

Melatonin is a neurotransmitter/hormone that is only active during sleep. It is being
metabolized when you fall asleep from Serotonin, a neurotransmitter that is being metabolized
from the amino acid Tryptophan. Melatonin increases non-REM sleep and makes it easier for you
to fall asleep. But it has also an interesting rebound effect that gives more frequent and
vivid dreams. The vividness might even give you a lucid dream.
From http://www.faqs.org/faqs/dreams-faq/general/

One person said of 500mg L-Tryptophan and 3 mg melatonin: "Not only did the combination of these two produce a pronounced drowsiness and eventually a deep sleep, but after several nights I began to notice that I was remember more dreams than normal." From http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=5336

Melatonin is metabolized to very interesting compunds, including 5-methoxy-tryptamine. This chemical may be involved in inducing REM sleep with vivid dreams. 5-methoxy-tryptamine and other tryptamines. Our brain manufactures its own hallucinogens which lead us to dream.
From http://www.melatonin.com/melatonin-tryptophan.htm

Looking back on my dreams of the last few years, it seems two recurring themes I have are:

1. Driving somewhere and getting in an unfamiliar area and then making an effort to navigate back.

2. Dreaming about caves and/or being underground.


If I were to try to attribute meaning to them, caves may symbolize the subconscious or the underworld. (Or maybe a desire to go spelunking!)
Nothing really jumps out at me about driving, however.


Regardless, I love dreaming.
My dreams are usually very vivid.
I usually remember some upon awakening.
I never have nightmares.
A couple of times I have had flying experiences.


I need to get back in the habit of recording my dreams daily.
Perhaps some lucid dream work too.

Hello

Yesterday, I spent a lot of time browsing the forums, and I ran across a thread somewhere about 4hz as an effective frequency for stimulating AP(among other things).

Now I can't find it(I've used search).

Anyway, does anyone have any input on the 4hz area being effective?

Thanks

Date setting has a bad track record in Christian Eschatology, so I wouldn't hold my breath...

2012 will probably be like Planet X catastrophes, Y2K, Heavens Gate comet piloted by Elvis, etc.


McKenna got a 2012 date from a mathematical analysis of I Ching.

I'm skeptical of dates for world shaking and humanity changing events, but anything is possible.

quote:If there are places that help us reach the astral, are there places that hinder our ability as well?

I tend to think so. If the brain/consciousness has a particular electromagnetic field associated with it depending on the state of consciousness one is in, the perhaps particular localized electromagnetic influences can augment or hinder the achieval of astral states.

"Few plants of the gods have ever been held in greater reverence than the sacred mushrooms of Mexico. So hallowed were these fungi that the Aztecs called them Teonancatl ("divine flesh") and used them only in the most holy of their ceremonies. Even though, as fungi, mushrooms do not blossom, the Aztecs referred to them as "flowers," and the Indians who still use them in religious rituals have endearing terms for them, such as "little flowers."

When the Spaniards conquered Mexico, they were aghast to find the natives worshipping their deities with the help of inebriating plants: Peyotl, Ololiuqui, Teonanacatl. The mushrooms were especially offensive to the European ecclesiastical authorities, and they set out to eradicate their use in religious practices."
http://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms_spirit.shtml



"Psilocybe mushrooms or hallucinogenic mushrooms have probably existed longer than humanity. Throughout history, ancient pictures of mushroom-like humans have been prevalently reported. In Central and Southern America, use of psilocybian mushrooms was a common religious practice until the arrival of Spaniards who spread the Catholic faith with sword and fire and forbade the use. For Indians the mushroom is known as a sacred mushroom and historically, it is considered a religious path to the spirit world (Wasson 1980).

Mushroom art and sculptures that depicted motifs under the cap of a mushroom were found even from an earlier era of 1000-500 BC. The purpose of these sculptures and artifacts was not certain, but it is speculated that the stones had religious meaning (Allegro 1970). The Codex Vienna Mixtec manuscript that dated back to thirteen century depicted the ritual use of the sacred mushrooms by the Mixtec Gods. The God known as Seven Flowers was the Mixtec God for hallucinatory plants, especially the secret mushroom, and he was depicted carrying a pair of mushrooms in his hands (Wasson 1898). In addition, the Aztecs believed that they were capable of moving back and forth between the earthly and supernatural realms (Schwartz 1988). This travel between realms was often associated with hallucinatory trances guided by their god for the entheogens-the Prince of Flowers. The Aztecs called this ritual "the flowery dream;" this was induced by sacred mushrooms (WWW 1).

The appeal of mushrooms in the "modern world" originated when Gordon Wasson came to the Mazatec village of Huatla de Jimenez, and experienced a session of "velada" held by curandera Maria Sabina. Velada included a religious ritual under a heavy influence of Psilocybe mushrooms (Wasson 1898)."
http://sulcus.berkeley.edu/mcb/165_001/papers/manuscripts/_471.html


If one finds the Sacred Substances topic interesting, see also:

Kykeon (Purported by some to be an aqueous extract of ergot used in the Eleusinian Mystery of Ancient Greece. Plato apparently participated in it.
http://www.sexmagick.com/aisha/writers/ergot.htm)



(Mystic Cloud, McKenna said that the mushroom was spreading itself through the galaxy by imparting knowledge of stardrives to species it encounters...An interesting idea, regardless of the accuracy of it)

(Nay, thanks for the suggestion- I should have posted it here to begin with. It was confusing.)

The "Zeta Reticuli' (http://www.gravitywarpdrive.com/Zeta_Reticuli_Incident.htm) incident is rather interesting, even though the word Zeta is now somewhat associated with quackery- and I agree in that respect.


Even the alien grass is greener...

Your post wasn't specific as to who your admonition was intended for, so since I was the one who started the thread, I thought it best to make it clear where I stood.

quote:we're not drug pusher here..

Neither am I.

quote:do not come on here advocating them

I wasn't.





Serotonin mimicking compounds is only one way of achieving altered states of consciousness(along with fasting, drumming, ascetism, etc) which has a long history of use in the human race.





Oh well, forget it...

quote:A very good friend of mine has experienced very real, very lucid OBEs whilst taking LSD

Yes, the lucidity and clarity of my experience was most striking- quite the opposite of the normal trip state.

I agree with Huwie- experience, while not infallible, carries a lot of weight.

quote:im just saying what i learned from health class

Maazdaf, I heard all the official line of anti-drug stuff when I was in high school too...

LSD (and the tryptamines in general) isn't something I would want to do every day anyway(even if tolerance did not develop). Once a month would be enough.
The experience is mentally demanding and requires preparation.

A learning and explorative experience? Yes
Recreational? Not really, though it can be pleasurable.

My last two experiences with psilocybin fungi were negative, so I never partook of the psychedelics after that.
Perhaps Teonanacatl was telling me I had learned enough and should move on...

Hi DigitalMoon,

Fascinating experience...

It could have been a fellow astral traveler which you were able to perceive momentarily after being exposed to the OOBE state.

quote:Are you saying that you saw a former old peer on the road, and you had a dream about him a few days before?

No, the opposite. I saw the person and they figured in a dream.
I don't attach any significance to it. I just happened to dream about someone I saw earlier that day.

Now if I dreamed of that person walking down the sidewalk of my home town while dragging a fifty foot log chain and carrying a Barbie Doll and the next day I actually saw them carrying out the above, then that would be disturbingly meaningful...[]

quote:Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the complex maze of dreams(over analyze).

Yes, I agree, but I don't consider myself over analyzing.
More concerned with a personal geography of drealm locales.

"yall need to stop posting stuff on drugs. the 'experiences' you have on drugs are not real. theyre artificial and everything seems real, your just to dumb to know the difference. ppl say, i reached my higher self on pot! no u didnt! u were just high, not your higher self!"

I refer you to LSD Psychotherapy by Stanislav Grof.
See also DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Richard Strassman



(I can't help but think "Real? What is real?")

(Guess I should quit consuming caffeine?)




Humans have used psychedelics for thousands of years.
It still amazes how some people give a big knee jerk when the word "drug" is mentioned. Credit goes to the Federal government and the media for conditioning.




Oh well, for the record, I haven't taken LSD or Psilocybin mushrooms in five years. (Neither alcohol or marijuana, by the way.)

It was a profitable and life changing experience.

Thanks for the support anarchyhollow.

I consider the tryptamine family valid tools for the exploration of consciousness.



Edit add:


mazdaaf said: "LSD is freakishly addictive"

Not so. Psychological dependance can develop, but the body develops tolerance, so there is no addiction.

Another theme that reoccurs (which I had forgotten about until I dreamed about it last night), is that occasionally I dream about areas near here which are geographically seperate, but in my dreams are adjacent.

More commonly, however, the local landscape is altered in my dreams from that of the waking landscape.

In general, an alteration from waking reality seems to be a component of all my dreams.

Is this the general experience of anyone else?

quote:Originally posted by ralphm

Wow! maybe smoking banana peels wasn't a hoax after all!

I think it most likely is a hoax. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020426.html

There is supposed to be a chemical called bananine in the peels that is psychoactive, but some studies indicate it is false.

One person claimed that the peels contain serotonin, but I haven't heard this anywhere else.

I Had a dream a few days ago about a car engine.
This engine had a turbine(?), that instead of being fiberglass like other types, was made with steel to a depth of seven inches.

I had a conversation the day before with someone about a car engine, which may have triggered the dream.

I dreamed last night about walking alonside a local road for quite a few miles, wearing pajamas(lol), and carrying a plastic bag containing a semi-spherical piece of steel. I was on my way to a welding shop(which existed only in my dream at that location) to have it cut in half with an acetylene torch. When I arrived, the guy who ran the shop(whom I had went to school with) told me he had no torch. I then walked back home.

Again, part of this dream may have been triggered, as I passed the above mentioned person on the road while actually driving yesterday morning.

In Flames - Worlds Within the Margin


Raindrop hits the leaf changing it's position
slightly on the street next to polls
of monotonous waters He walks
Slipping feet from steps at random He falls

In the space of between his body and the ground
comets cast off their names stellar neurones misfire

Witnesses
inhale the seed
and spit out a million branches

Buds abloom in all directions
frin which events occur
relations and virused meetings
catch fire and explode
In the margin of butterfly wings
entire cycles of evolution
outplayed and faded
sparked away and leaned back into
vacuum-filled nirvana

Between the two of my eyes
feverish fractal scar
Dance like were they on drugs
peyote labyrinth re-mapped exits
A hasty blink
and a million life-to-comes
will never be the same
as they never were

In the kinetic energy of a moving fist
lies a birth-machine for a parallel universe

With the first movement in organic sap
came a bouquet of alternative answers
all different multiplied and re-divided

Coded in the spinal cord of a trilobite
written between the legs on the Meganeura
suburban city maps and dormant dictator semen
marked their way through time

Here may be something similar.

The following is verbatum from what I wrote on 10-13-2002, concerning a dream I had the previous night:


"New York City. Fire in the sky. A rocket exploded in the sky after take off?
No one was left in the city. Everything had a beige color.
Walking up a valley to the city. Debris on ground. (And body parts?)

Another guy and myself were looking through the rubble. We found some scientific instruments.

I found some books on Nazism. I hid them- I didn't want him to find them. I was afraid Nazism would return.

I found some wall hangings on a wall which was more like a steep cliff. Base of cliff."

Hi Nick,

Thanks for the welcome.

I finally found the exact thread I was looking for: Complete set of "Brain-Sync" BWGEN pre-sets.
http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2645

Sorry, I was referring to 4hz binaural and brainwave entrainment.

(I realize everyones reactions to particular frequencies may vary as far as specific effects like AP, etc.)

Sushi![^]

And bananas...[]