A Psychedelic Journey

The following material is — essentially — entirely raw. Presented in the form of a personal experience account, the content has been produced simultaneously as the experience or journey was unraveling itself. Please consider that what you are about to read may occasionally fluctuate in terms of quality of delivery — coherence being mostly the one to suffer — as it has been written in real time. I should also mention that the medium through which notes were taken is just a smartphone; I have refrained from changing anything aside from correcting spelling mistakes as I believe the exactness and accuracy of this to be the source of its value, as a testament to such a unique experience. That being said, enjoy!

It’s 1:45 AM. This is the time upon which we have collectively agreed to begin the experience — or more accurately, the experiment. The object of experimentation is the human mind, and the tool by which the experiment is to be conducted is LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide), or more commonly known as “acid”.

The volunteers are 4 individuals, let’s call them X, Y, Z, and I (myself). The first thing to notice is that, even within such a small group as ours, the dose has managed to vary from one to another. Mr. X, the most experienced of the bunch, is going to indulge in 4/3 of the “regular” dose (1.25); Mr. Y, whom comes second in the ladder of experience is going to take 1 unit (or tab);and as beginners, I, along with Z, are content — or more accurately, advised — to just take 2/3.

Chapter 1: The Living Room

The first setting or environment is a spacious living room — within which a pair of loud speakers have been set and prepared to deliver “adequate” music in order to help “ease” us into the “trip”.

It’s 2:00 AM. The journey has been set, and all that is left is to initiate.

Apparently, the stamp or sticker-looking item is supposed to be licked and left to marinate in one’s salivating mouth for as long as possible before swallowing it.

It’s 3:15 AM. It’s been 45 minutes since I ingested my dose, and that is without counting-in how long it stayed in my mouth. Normally, this is the time when the “visuals” are supposed to kick-in.

At 3:15 AM

Regardless of visuals, it seems that my typewriting speed is slowing down, and typos are becoming more common — making it a must to double-check every sentence. In addition to this, it is worthy of noting that my eye-sight, which is already not perfect, has noticeably worsened as I’m now — instead of just having trouble recognizing faces — also having trouble finding the soundtracks I’m looking for (which are only a handful — isolated in a specific folder). Speaking about trouble finding something, it seems that I have also partially lost the ability to find the right vocabulary, to formulate sentences, and to interconnect them in a coherent manner (exclusively when writing).

It’s 3:35 AM. Apart from my focus getting occasionally and randomly stuck on one sentence or one person for too long; I have managed to integrate myself into a fruitful conversation that has been going on for the entire time of my writing this. It seems the main topic revolves around our next destination ..

Looks like it was more about the perfectness of it, and the details of what’s going to happen in the situation agreed upon, rather than the decision itself.

It is set! Our next destination is a nearby forest, in which we have designed a cliff as the main target.

Chapter 2: The Street.

Its time to leave, I have brought with me an electronic journal fit for the task. As I note this down in it, and as I hold a cigarette in my right hand in a tilt fashion, the smoke seems to abnormally engulf the electric journal. Maybe it’s all in my head, in any case though, it is till worthy of noting!

As we are waiting for X and Z to bring cigarettes. I’m taking refuge in a building’s entrance stairway — a perfect safe-place to record what is happening. The streets are empty but I feel that somethings are mysteriously going on around.

Mr. Y, who’s sitting one flight of stairs apart, has suddenly become the object of my attention. His head seems to be constantly and slightly metamorphosing into shapes I cannot specify or pin down. As I focus harder on the edges of the figure of his head — to determine what is exactly going on — there seems to be some sort of colorless static surrounding it. Very hard to ignore, but one thing for sure is that the effects of the substance have surely introduced themselves.

One of the distinguishing features of this electric journal is the production of trippy sound effects. And I made sure to bring my earplugs to fully exploit such feature. Right now, I don’t know what I’m thinking but the theme of the moment is simply “journey” .. And as such, I have found that my mind can only interpret present melodies in a journey-like fashion.

It’s time to enter the rain forest. (not an actual rain forest but it seems like my mind is set on believing so ..). It’s so dark. It looks like we have simply left civilization.

As we are hastily walking — the cause of which is a mixture of fear and excitement to reach our goal — We are also discussing and exchanging our feelings.

I have noticed that whenever I look at the ground, my vision becomes tube-like, almost giving the impression of a space “worm-hole”. Moreover, walking simply feels as if I’m “hugging the earth”. I feel so connected to the entire planet — truly as if I’m the mere product of it. It feels as if I’m literally “walking the earth”, like a creature that is wandering around in its home planet.

Chapter 3: The Cliff (Part I)

It is 5:15 AM. It seems that we have reached our goal and purpose of the journey that is life, merely a few moments ago. As we were walking — towards what we were literally convinced was the top of the world — we were completely mesmerized by the sights of at least 3 different cities’ lights. Comically, we started splitting the regions in terms of who’s going to rule what.

Reaching the highest cliff in the Peruvian Amazon, the perfect topic to discuss was apparently “life” and “death”. As the rest of the crew avidly engaged in conversation, I simply laid down.

Laying down on top of the high cliff, I’m now observing the cloudy, starry sky — almost to the point of merging with it. Oh man do I crave a smoke .. I’ve never longed so much for the smell of burnt tobacco. It seems that in addition to having consumed an entire pack of cigarettes on our way here, we have also no water left.

The night is ever so long .. Everything is so dry, cold and hot at the same time .. The hungry, flesh and blood-craving angry insects seem to have the time of their short lives — feasting upon our dry, sweaty skin. This only seems to intensify my focus on the sky, it’s so as if it‘s creating a momentum within my very mind — almost like music to my ears, and a very edgy one at that too ..

I hope daylight is soon going to shine brightly on my dry face as I wish to further dehydrate myself with one more savory cigarette ..

Looking at the sky, the rampant theme is dark blue.

It seems that the clouds and stars are conspiring against me, they all move capriciously, collectively, and ever-so conspicuously ..

I turn my head around to catch a glimpse of the words that come out of my comrades’ mouths — only to come back to a completely different sky ..

Now, a new theme has been introduced — this time featuring also some orange which I seriously cannot specify the source of.

Stars have been re-arranged. Some have left my company, other new ones have emerged, and it seems that there can be no one as rude as the clouds! They just have completely changed shape — creating a big opening or gap in the exact place I was observing earlier!

Are they suggesting that I stop invading their privacy? Haha .. Why not.

Meanwhile, king Mosquito is so furious it seems he definitely doesn’t want us stirring commotion in his land .. Its toxic bites feel more like pride than greed.

Gentlemen, we are presently at war .. And it is time to strike back.

Chapter 4: The Fire

The day just won’t start .. We are so desperate in our desire for light that we have decided to create it.

On our way down the cliff, there happens for a cigarette to come into being.

— and oh boy does it taste good ..

We have never ever been this ready to do what we were destined to ..

A few small branches and a lot of leaves .. Will this be enough to create the perfect fire? Time to find out.

It’s 5:55 AM. We have successfully created a surprisingly environment-friendly fire.

It’s so hot that not only is the mosquito dying, but also the hairs on our legs.

It’s so mesmerizing, we have simply stopped talking .. Any word that comes out is instantly met with a supreme, collective look of disdain that simply neutralizes it ..

This fire is the most perfect one I have ever seen in my life. The edges are so neat, its roots so even, and it’s ever so erected.

We are now in the SAFE!

Chapter 5: The cliff (Part 2)

Nature has made it a clear point of hers that she will not allow any other force to overtake its control over the situation. It has only been 10 minutes since the fire has started when nature’s light suddenly started emerging ..

A mixture of overwhelming sky blueness and fire yellowness has put us into a cross-over of nature and human. It seems as though both are showering us with light ..

As both lights compete, it did not take long before nature emerges as the clear winner.

“It is time for SUNRISE!” We started shouting — like mad men or some primal tribesmen preparing for a ritual.

.. Running to the cliff was a bad idea. My naked leg-hairs have accumulated enough of nature for one day .. Prickles, dirt, and blood.

As a sign of our victory, we have removed our shirts to embrace sunlight, and unintentionally, the vengeful mosquito.

“Your back is a testament to this journey” literally said Mr. X.

“Take a picture” I answered.

…

Looking at my inflamed skin, it is clear who lost the battle ..

“Did nature have the final say? ..”

“Bro, she always does ..”