So it goes like this:
I'm at a point in my life where I am constantly seeking new experiences. Anything new & different, be it food, music, breathing, etc, I want to try it. This attitude did not stop at substances either. I have been resolutely substance free for at least 22 years of my 25, and I decided that now was the time to check everything out, to see it firsthand for myself.
My good friend/guru/frequent collaborator/Walter-Becker-to-my-Donald-Fagen had hipped me to Salvia earlier in the year, and recently begun his voyages into hyperspace, and wanted to share the wonderful experience with me.
Let's say I was wildly hesitant, or just plain scared. But I had to do try, I owed it to myself. How can you prepare yourself for something like this? Something with power on the magnitude of a hydrogen bomb for your mind? Inconceivable. I decided to go for it.
The stars aligned exquisitely for my first baby steps into a sub-breakthrough experience.
My guru had procured us some Changa, and a wonderful space/setting in which to enjoy it. A wide back deck overlooking a serene backyard with big, old trees all over the place.
I joined my friend at our space at nearly sundown on a late summers evening, where he had prepared the Changa and some nice, innocuous droning music to set the mood.
I was all nerves. I probably asked a million questions, "how will I know it's coming on? how long does it last? I'll be alright, right? Will I be psychotic afterward?" and the like. Me friend reassured me that I would be fine afterward and he lit up first. Then he passed it to me. I could see he was relaxing and beginning to see things around him. I lit up and took a medium sized drag, and immediately coughed like crazy ( I've never smoked ever really). After choking my way through a few more drags, it started.
I felt suddenly intensely warm & extremely comfortable. Almost as if I was a warm, rubbery pile of goo. I enjoyed the feeling in my body for a few moments then began to notice the world around me. It wasn't quite the same anymore. The orange from the porch light cast an interesting glow over the world and my perception of it. I noticed the stars in the sky began to move at an incredible speed, leaving long streaks in the sky. It was really incredible to see.
Then I saw The Tree.
It seemed to call out to me, in a very commanding & authoritative way. As soon as I looked at it, I could feel an intense presence, wrapping itself over me. It felt exactly like the loving embrace of a father when you're still a very small child. The branches & leaves of The Tree began to blur together in a paisley pattern that was so beautifully intense as to defy description. The colors of the branches & leaves were also intensifying, becoming not neon, but like the most bold, primal pastels ever seen, ever. I sat absolutely dumbfounded and stared at The Tree, communing with what I can only speculate was the spirit of The Tree, and by proxy, the Earth itself ( like the best cliche come to reality). My friend would occasionally ask me how I was doing, and I would either shush him, or babble something about the utter, sensory overloading beauty of The Tree.
Then I started to come down. The leaves of The Tree began to shuffle back into their regular place. I sat for a while, letting the mosquitoes eat me alive, stunned at what I had just witnessed. The only thing I knew for certain was that I absolutely had to go again, and it just couldn't be soon enough.
Little did I know that waiting just a scant few weeks forward in time lay a complete & utter life changing experience, but you'll have to read part 2 to find out more about it.
I'm at a point in my life where I am constantly seeking new experiences. Anything new & different, be it food, music, breathing, etc, I want to try it. This attitude did not stop at substances either. I have been resolutely substance free for at least 22 years of my 25, and I decided that now was the time to check everything out, to see it firsthand for myself.
My good friend/guru/frequent collaborator/Walter-Becker-to-my-Donald-Fagen had hipped me to Salvia earlier in the year, and recently begun his voyages into hyperspace, and wanted to share the wonderful experience with me.
Let's say I was wildly hesitant, or just plain scared. But I had to do try, I owed it to myself. How can you prepare yourself for something like this? Something with power on the magnitude of a hydrogen bomb for your mind? Inconceivable. I decided to go for it.
The stars aligned exquisitely for my first baby steps into a sub-breakthrough experience.
My guru had procured us some Changa, and a wonderful space/setting in which to enjoy it. A wide back deck overlooking a serene backyard with big, old trees all over the place.
I joined my friend at our space at nearly sundown on a late summers evening, where he had prepared the Changa and some nice, innocuous droning music to set the mood.
I was all nerves. I probably asked a million questions, "how will I know it's coming on? how long does it last? I'll be alright, right? Will I be psychotic afterward?" and the like. Me friend reassured me that I would be fine afterward and he lit up first. Then he passed it to me. I could see he was relaxing and beginning to see things around him. I lit up and took a medium sized drag, and immediately coughed like crazy ( I've never smoked ever really). After choking my way through a few more drags, it started.
I felt suddenly intensely warm & extremely comfortable. Almost as if I was a warm, rubbery pile of goo. I enjoyed the feeling in my body for a few moments then began to notice the world around me. It wasn't quite the same anymore. The orange from the porch light cast an interesting glow over the world and my perception of it. I noticed the stars in the sky began to move at an incredible speed, leaving long streaks in the sky. It was really incredible to see.
Then I saw The Tree.
It seemed to call out to me, in a very commanding & authoritative way. As soon as I looked at it, I could feel an intense presence, wrapping itself over me. It felt exactly like the loving embrace of a father when you're still a very small child. The branches & leaves of The Tree began to blur together in a paisley pattern that was so beautifully intense as to defy description. The colors of the branches & leaves were also intensifying, becoming not neon, but like the most bold, primal pastels ever seen, ever. I sat absolutely dumbfounded and stared at The Tree, communing with what I can only speculate was the spirit of The Tree, and by proxy, the Earth itself ( like the best cliche come to reality). My friend would occasionally ask me how I was doing, and I would either shush him, or babble something about the utter, sensory overloading beauty of The Tree.
Then I started to come down. The leaves of The Tree began to shuffle back into their regular place. I sat for a while, letting the mosquitoes eat me alive, stunned at what I had just witnessed. The only thing I knew for certain was that I absolutely had to go again, and it just couldn't be soon enough.
Little did I know that waiting just a scant few weeks forward in time lay a complete & utter life changing experience, but you'll have to read part 2 to find out more about it.
