In his book The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide , James Fadiman, Ph.D., provides recommendations to young individuals interested in psychedelic use. His lessons are equally as relevant to the old, experienced explorer. He states:

If you’re going to use psychedelics, do it with someone you love, and hopefully someone who has been there before you, and be aware that you may find out that the world is better than you ever thought. Beyond that, what I generally say is that it would be an awful lot better if you knew what the truth was before you worked with psychedelics. Many people beginning to use psychedelics today may be a little too young. What I learned from my own research is that psychedelics take your life experience and compost it, so that something new can grow. If you don’t have much to compost, you may not get much out of it. I always looked at psychedelics as learning tools. Even in the middle of a psychedelic experience, I would begin to think, “I wonder what I’m going to do with this?” In a sense, I wanted it to be over so I could start to get to the digestion and assimilation phase, because the psychedelic experience itself wasn’t my major interest.

This is really great stuff. Let’s consider the statement: it would be an awful lot better if you knew what the truth was before you worked with psychedelics. This is quite an interesting way of thinking about when and where psychedelics can be useful. What Fadiman seems to be suggesting is that until the mind has created a fairly coherent and seasoned version of truth–about self, about society, the environment, or the world–psychedelics are unable to achieve their highest potentials.

Compost. Photo credit: vincza / Creative Commons 2.0

Psychedelic composting of experiences of course requires that foundational experiences have occurred and truths have emerged in the mind.

We suggest psychedelic use can be detrimental to those who do not hold a vision of the “truth” of their self and surroundings, as the user is left not to compost and refine some truths, but rather may be beckoned by uncertainty and attracted toward often absurd potentials.

From our personal experiences, “truth” is still emerging in teenage years, and indeed psychedelic use during these times may direct energy in odd ways. This can lead to experiences that are contrary to refining and clarifying an already whole soul, and misdirecting energy that can be problematic as the mind itself grows into what it will be.

Of course, psychedelic use contributes to an understanding of what is true and can provide clarity in fog. What do you think?

Now back to composting.