Psychedelic experience
Encyclopedia
The term "psychedelic experience" is vague – characterized by polyvalence or ambiguity
due to its nature – however in modern psychopharmacological
science
as well as philosophical, psychological, neurological, spiritual
-religious and most other ideological discourses it is understood as an altered state of awareness
often distinct to, and induced by the consumption of certain psychotropics. In particular hallucinogens, many entheogens and specifically psychedelic compounds are known to cause this change in mental state
.
In essence a psychedelic episode is, like other ontological notions of unique states of being
(compare "enlightenment
", religious experience
, mystical experience, ego death
, ecstasy
, etc.) considered ineffable and rather a solely experiential
phenomenon. However on some level the experience is communicable through more conrete or familiar effects on the senses: it has variously been characterized by the perception
of aspects of one's mind
usually believed to be unavailable to ordinary, waking consciousness
, normally by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ordinary restraints, or products of artificially-induced chemical imbalances in the human nervous system. Psychedelic states are one of the stations on the spectrum of experiences elicited by sensory deprivation
as well. On that same spectrum will be found illusion
s, delusions, changes of perception, and hallucinations in general – whether associated with a mental disorder, psychoactive drugs, etc.
Reportedly there is a common theme of "connectedness" or "unboundedness" which seems unique to many transcendent states of mind, and no less by thestate of psychedelia – ranging from a sense of connectedness to everything in the immediate vicinity, to a sense of oneness
with everything in the universe
. This phenomenon can be juxtaposed with various metaphysical
, spiritual and religious concepts such as monad
, gnosis
, henosis, kenosis
, transcendence
, the "Absolute" or the penultimate of self-actualization or authentication
, or even theosis
in Western thought – as well as rigpa
or mahamudra
, nirvana
, cosmic consciousness
, moksha
, sunyata, dharmakaya
, dharmata, etc. in the Orient.
Some who undertake psychedelic experiences come to see them as an ordeal, and mentally overbearing – in which case the result is often known as a "bad trip
" or psychedelic crisis, closely linked to the psychological turmoil of panic attack
s, depersonalization
/derealization
, hysteria
and dysphoria
. For others, such experiences come to be seen as personal re-enactments of a hero's journey
. Spiritual practices and psychedelic drugs are the usual context when discussing means to achieve states of mind in which novel perceptions can arise, unhindered by everyday mental filters and processes.
Research that was done during the 1960s suggested that psychedelic drugs might have medical uses. More recently, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
(MAPS), the Heffter Research Institute
, and the Beckley Foundation
have continued studying the effects of the psychedelic experience.
's book The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead
. They classified five levels of psychedelic experience.
, low doses of psilocybin
, and normal doses of certain entactogen
s of the MDxx class like MDMA and MDEA
.
, low to moderate doses of psilocybin
, low to moderate doses of mescaline
, and normal doses of MDA
(which has a much more psychedelic
effect than other entactogen
s of the MDxx class like MDMA and MDEA
mentioned above).
There is a heightened sense of awareness of one's own feelings and drive. People who reach level 3 usually report it as thought-provoking and life-changing. For some people who reach level 3, their ability to discern is somewhat thrown off. People who reach level 3 and higher are more likely to respond to suggestive stimuli. At such a level, it is recommended that there be a sitter to watch over the tripper just in case he/she would do something that could be a potential hazard.
Can be achieved with moderate to high doses of psilocybin
, high doses of mescaline
, and moderate doses of LSD as well as normal doses of entactogen
ic psychedelics
of the 2C
family such as 2C-B
.
, spirals, wave interference patterns, and so on. Also characteristic is the destruction or division of the ego. (Things may start talking to you, or you find that you are feeling contradictory things simultaneously.) Some loss of reality is prevalent. Time becomes meaningless. Out-of-body experiences and extra-sensory-perception-type phenomena are common, as is a blending of the senses
. Visuals containing imagery from Hindu, Aztec, Mayan, Native American, Indian, and African cultures are also quite common. Can be achieved with high doses of LSD and very high doses of psilocybin
.
tryptamines, such as N,N-dimethyltryptamine
(DMT), 4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (psilocybin), and 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT). Experiences include total loss of visual connection with reality, the sense of not being human or having a body, and the feeling of being in many places at the same time. The loss of reality is so extreme that it becomes ineffable. People have been reported seeing themselves in entirely different settings than their original setting, and many people experience the feeling of being in a simulated reality
, often computer-simulated. Religious phenomena are reported at this level; often mentioned is a connection to an "all-knowing presence" or a "universal knowledge", which many equate with extra-terrestrials, artificial intelligence
, God
, love, or "enlightenment". This level is most often experienced by users of DMT
. Users commonly report:
Most users report similar auditory patterns, of a combined high-frequency whine, and a slow, deep, throbbing tone similar to a heart beat. Most DMT users report feeling psychologically uninhibited, clear-headed while experiencing peak effects, and able to maintain the ability to think and reason in the above circumstances. Most users of Serotonergic Tryptamines have reported level 5 experiences, at normal, or common dosages, while users of lysergamides
, ergolines, amphetamines, empathogens, and opioids never experience level 5 effects.
talks in his book The Doors of Perception
about the Mind at Large
. This is Huxley's theoretical state of mind which humans are normally oblivious to, due to learned social norm
s and partially due to their biology. Huxley believed that the central nervous system
's main function was to filter through irrelevancies and useless knowledge, by shutting out the majority of what we could actually perceive at any given point in time.
Through the pages of his book, Huxley talks about the business of survival, and the information that is the most useful for survival. He believed that this was one element which was forcing the brain to filter out these perceptions. Huxley also believed that man was partially responsible for it, by asserting that society has made a symbolic system which structures our reality, in order to achieve a "reduced awareness".
Aldous Huxley discusses thousands of other worlds that were in some sense interconnected with our own. He said that humans dynamically make contact with these other worlds, all of which are with the Mind at Large. He believed that there were multiple ways of contacting these other worlds such as genetics, hypnosis, and the use of psychedelic drugs.
He then summarizes the psychedelic experience for himself, using the four statements below:
Ambiguity
Ambiguity of words or phrases is the ability to express more than one interpretation. It is distinct from vagueness, which is a statement about the lack of precision contained or available in the information.Context may play a role in resolving ambiguity...
due to its nature – however in modern psychopharmacological
Psychopharmacology
Psychopharmacology is the scientific study of the actions of drugs and their effects on mood, sensation, thinking, and behavior...
science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
as well as philosophical, psychological, neurological, spiritual
Spiritual
Spiritual may refer to:*Spirituality, a concern with matters of the spirit*Spiritual , an African American song, usually with a Christian religious text...
-religious and most other ideological discourses it is understood as an altered state of awareness
Altered state of consciousness
An altered state of consciousness , also named altered state of mind, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking beta wave state. The expression was used as early as 1966 by Arnold M. Ludwig and brought into common usage from 1969 by Charles Tart: it describes induced...
often distinct to, and induced by the consumption of certain psychotropics. In particular hallucinogens, many entheogens and specifically psychedelic compounds are known to cause this change in mental state
Mental state
* In psychology, mental state is an indication of a person's mental health**Mental status examination, a structured way of observing and describing a patient's current state of mind...
.
In essence a psychedelic episode is, like other ontological notions of unique states of being
Being
Being , is an English word used for conceptualizing subjective and objective aspects of reality, including those fundamental to the self —related to and somewhat interchangeable with terms like "existence" and "living".In its objective usage —as in "a being," or "[a] human being" —it...
(compare "enlightenment
Enlightenment (spiritual)
Enlightenment in a secular context often means the "full comprehension of a situation", but in spiritual terms the word alludes to a spiritual revelation or deep insight into the meaning and purpose of all things, communication with or understanding of the mind of God, profound spiritual...
", religious experience
Religious experience
Religious experience is a subjective experience in which an individual reports contact with a transcendent reality, an encounter or union with the divine....
, mystical experience, ego death
Ego Death
Ego death is an experience that reveals the illusory aspect of the ego, sometimes undergone by mystics, shamans, monks, psychologists, and others interested in exploring the depths of the mind....
, ecstasy
Ecstasy
Ecstasy may refer to:* Ecstasy , a trance or trance-like state in which an individual transcends normal consciousness* Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness characterized by expanded spiritual awareness, visions or absolute euphoria...
, etc.) considered ineffable and rather a solely experiential
Experience
Experience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event....
phenomenon. However on some level the experience is communicable through more conrete or familiar effects on the senses: it has variously been characterized by the perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
of aspects of one's mind
Mind
The concept of mind is understood in many different ways by many different traditions, ranging from panpsychism and animism to traditional and organized religious views, as well as secular and materialist philosophies. Most agree that minds are constituted by conscious experience and intelligent...
usually believed to be unavailable to ordinary, waking consciousness
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
, normally by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ordinary restraints, or products of artificially-induced chemical imbalances in the human nervous system. Psychedelic states are one of the stations on the spectrum of experiences elicited by sensory deprivation
Sensory deprivation
Sensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing respectively, while more complex devices can also cut off the sense of smell, touch,...
as well. On that same spectrum will be found illusion
Illusion
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. While illusions distort reality, they are generally shared by most people....
s, delusions, changes of perception, and hallucinations in general – whether associated with a mental disorder, psychoactive drugs, etc.
Reportedly there is a common theme of "connectedness" or "unboundedness" which seems unique to many transcendent states of mind, and no less by thestate of psychedelia – ranging from a sense of connectedness to everything in the immediate vicinity, to a sense of oneness
Henosis
Henosis is the word for "oneness," "union," or "unity" in classical Greek, and is spelled identically in modern Greek where "Enosis" is particulary connected with the modern political "Unity" movement to unify Greece and Cyprus....
with everything in the universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
. This phenomenon can be juxtaposed with various metaphysical
Metaphysical
Metaphysical may refer to:*Metaphysics, a branch of philosophy dealing with aspects of existence and the theory of knowledge*The supernatural...
, spiritual and religious concepts such as monad
Monad
-Philosophy:*Monad a term meaning "unit" used variously by ancient philosophers from the Pythagoreans to Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus to signify a variety of entities from a genus to God....
, gnosis
Gnosis
Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge . In the context of the English language gnosis generally refers to the word's meaning within the spheres of Christian mysticism, Mystery religions and Gnosticism where it signifies 'spiritual knowledge' in the sense of mystical enlightenment.-Related...
, henosis, kenosis
Kenosis
In Christian theology, Kenosis In Christian theology, Kenosis In Christian theology, Kenosis (from the Greek word for emptiness (kénōsis) is the 'self-emptying' of one's own will and becoming entirely receptive to God's divine will....
, transcendence
Transcendence (religion)
In religion transcendence refers to the aspect of God's nature which is wholly independent of the physical universe. This is contrasted with immanence where God is fully present in the physical world and thus accessible to creatures in various ways...
, the "Absolute" or the penultimate of self-actualization or authentication
Authentication
Authentication is the act of confirming the truth of an attribute of a datum or entity...
, or even theosis
Theosis
In Christian theology, divinization, deification, making divine or theosis is the transforming effect of divine grace. This concept of salvation is historical and fundamental for Christian understanding that is prominent in the Eastern Orthodox Church and also in the Catholic Church, and is a...
in Western thought – as well as rigpa
Rigpa
Rigpa is the knowledge that ensues from recognizing one's nature i.e. one knows that there is a primordial freedom from grasping his or her mind . The opposite of rigpa is marigpa ....
or mahamudra
Mahamudra
Mahāmudrā literally means "great seal" or "great symbol." It "is a multivalent term of great importance in later Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism" which "also occurs occasionally in Hindu and East Asian Buddhist esotericism."The name refers to the way one who...
, nirvana
Nirvana
Nirvāṇa ; ) is a central concept in Indian religions. In sramanic thought, it is the state of being free from suffering. In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with the Supreme being through moksha...
, cosmic consciousness
Cosmic consciousness
Cosmic consciousness is the idea that the universe exists as an interconnected network of consciousness, with each conscious being linked to every other...
, moksha
Moksha
Within Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...
, sunyata, dharmakaya
Dharmakaya
The Dharmakāya is a central idea in Mahayana Buddhism forming part of the Trikaya doctrine that was possibly first expounded in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā prajñā-pāramitā , composed in the 1st century BCE...
, dharmata, etc. in the Orient.
Some who undertake psychedelic experiences come to see them as an ordeal, and mentally overbearing – in which case the result is often known as a "bad trip
Bad trip
Bad trip is a disturbing experience sometimes associated with use of a psychedelic drug such as LSD, Salvinorin A, DXM, mescaline, psilocybin, DMT and sometimes even other drugs including cannabis, alcohol and MDMA....
" or psychedelic crisis, closely linked to the psychological turmoil of panic attack
Panic attack
Panic attacks are periods of intense fear or apprehension that are of sudden onset and of relatively brief duration. Panic attacks usually begin abruptly, reach a peak within 10 minutes, and subside over the next several hours...
s, depersonalization
Depersonalization
Depersonalization is an anomaly of the mechanism by which an individual has self-awareness. It is a feeling of watching oneself act, while having no control over a situation. Sufferers feel they have changed, and the world has become less real, vague, dreamlike, or lacking in significance...
/derealization
Derealization
Derealization is an alteration in the perception or experience of the external world so that it seems unreal. Other symptoms include feeling as though one's environment is lacking in spontaneity, emotional coloring and depth. It is a dissociative symptom of many conditions, such as psychiatric and...
, hysteria
Hysteria
Hysteria, in its colloquial use, describes unmanageable emotional excesses. People who are "hysterical" often lose self-control due to an overwhelming fear that may be caused by multiple events in one's past that involved some sort of severe conflict; the fear can be centered on a body part, or,...
and dysphoria
Dysphoria
Dysphoria is medically recognized as a mental and emotional condition in which a person experiences intense feelings of depression, discontent and indifference to the world around them.Mood disorders can induce dysphoria, often with a heightened risk of suicide, especially in...
. For others, such experiences come to be seen as personal re-enactments of a hero's journey
Monomyth
Joseph Campbell's term monomyth, also referred to as the hero's journey, is a basic pattern that its proponents argue is found in many narratives from around the world. This widely distributed pattern was described by Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces...
. Spiritual practices and psychedelic drugs are the usual context when discussing means to achieve states of mind in which novel perceptions can arise, unhindered by everyday mental filters and processes.
Research that was done during the 1960s suggested that psychedelic drugs might have medical uses. More recently, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies is a membership-based 501 non-profit research and educational organization working to develop psychedelics and marijuana into legal prescription drugs...
(MAPS), the Heffter Research Institute
Heffter Research Institute
The Heffter Research Institute was incorporated in New Mexico in 1993 as a non-profit organization to support and promote investigation into the medical uses of psychedelic hallucinogens...
, and the Beckley Foundation
Beckley Foundation
The Beckley Foundation is a charitable trust that promotes health orientated cost effective harm reductive drug policy reform. It also investigates consciousness and its modulation from a multidisciplinary perspective working in collaboration with world renowned scientists. The Foundation is based...
have continued studying the effects of the psychedelic experience.
Levels of psychedelic experience
The Erowid Psychoactive Vault discuss Psychedelic Experience in an FAQ that provides a partial overview of ideas expressed in Timothy LearyTimothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
's book The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead
The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead
The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead is an instruction manual intended for use during sessions involving psychedelic drugs. Started as early as 1962 in Zihuatanejo, the book was finally published in August 1964...
. They classified five levels of psychedelic experience.
Level 1
This level produces a mild 'stoning' effect, with some visual enhancement (e.g., brighter colors); some short-term memory anomalies; left- and right-brain communication changes, causing music to sound 'wider'. Can be achieved with moderate doses of cannabisCannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
, low doses of psilocybin
Psilocybin
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug, with mind-altering effects similar to those of LSD and mescaline, after it is converted to psilocin. The effects can include altered thinking processes, perceptual distortions, an altered sense of time, and spiritual experiences, as well as...
, and normal doses of certain entactogen
Empathogen-entactogen
The terms empathogen and entactogen are used to describe a class of psychoactive drugs that produce distinctive emotional and social effects similar to those of MDMA. Putative members of this class include 2C-B, 2C-I, MDMA, MDA, MDEA, MBDB, 2C-T-7, and 2C-T-2, among others...
s of the MDxx class like MDMA and MDEA
Methylenedioxyethylamphetamine
3,4-Methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine is an entactogen, psychedelic, and stimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine chemical classes....
.
Level 2
Bright colors and visuals (i.e., things start to move and breathe); some two-dimensional patterns become apparent upon shutting one's eyes; confused or reminiscent thoughts; change of short-term memory, leading to continual distractive thought patterns; vast increase in abstract thought becoming apparent as the natural brain filter is bypassed. Can be achieved with very high doses of cannabisCannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
, low to moderate doses of psilocybin
Psilocybin
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug, with mind-altering effects similar to those of LSD and mescaline, after it is converted to psilocin. The effects can include altered thinking processes, perceptual distortions, an altered sense of time, and spiritual experiences, as well as...
, low to moderate doses of mescaline
Mescaline
Mescaline or 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic alkaloid of the phenethylamine class used mainly as an entheogen....
, and normal doses of MDA
3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine
3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine , also known as tenamfetamine , is a psychedelic and entactogenic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine chemical classes...
(which has a much more psychedelic
Psychedelic drug
A psychedelic substance is a psychoactive drug whose primary action is to alter cognition and perception. Psychedelics are part of a wider class of psychoactive drugs known as hallucinogens, a class that also includes related substances such as dissociatives and deliriants...
effect than other entactogen
Empathogen-entactogen
The terms empathogen and entactogen are used to describe a class of psychoactive drugs that produce distinctive emotional and social effects similar to those of MDMA. Putative members of this class include 2C-B, 2C-I, MDMA, MDA, MDEA, MBDB, 2C-T-7, and 2C-T-2, among others...
s of the MDxx class like MDMA and MDEA
Methylenedioxyethylamphetamine
3,4-Methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine is an entactogen, psychedelic, and stimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine chemical classes....
mentioned above).
Level 3
Very obvious visuals, everything looking curved or warped, patterns and kaleidoscopes seen on walls, faces etc. Some mild hallucinations such as rivers flowing in wood grain or 'mother of pearl' surfaces. Closed-eye hallucinations become three-dimensional. There is some confusion of the senses (e.g., seeing sounds as colors). Time distortions and 'moments of eternity'. Body movement becomes difficult and disorienting.There is a heightened sense of awareness of one's own feelings and drive. People who reach level 3 usually report it as thought-provoking and life-changing. For some people who reach level 3, their ability to discern is somewhat thrown off. People who reach level 3 and higher are more likely to respond to suggestive stimuli. At such a level, it is recommended that there be a sitter to watch over the tripper just in case he/she would do something that could be a potential hazard.
Can be achieved with moderate to high doses of psilocybin
Psilocybin
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug, with mind-altering effects similar to those of LSD and mescaline, after it is converted to psilocin. The effects can include altered thinking processes, perceptual distortions, an altered sense of time, and spiritual experiences, as well as...
, high doses of mescaline
Mescaline
Mescaline or 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic alkaloid of the phenethylamine class used mainly as an entheogen....
, and moderate doses of LSD as well as normal doses of entactogen
Empathogen-entactogen
The terms empathogen and entactogen are used to describe a class of psychoactive drugs that produce distinctive emotional and social effects similar to those of MDMA. Putative members of this class include 2C-B, 2C-I, MDMA, MDA, MDEA, MBDB, 2C-T-7, and 2C-T-2, among others...
ic psychedelics
Psychedelic drug
A psychedelic substance is a psychoactive drug whose primary action is to alter cognition and perception. Psychedelics are part of a wider class of psychoactive drugs known as hallucinogens, a class that also includes related substances such as dissociatives and deliriants...
of the 2C
2C (psychedelics)
2C is a general name for the family of psychedelic phenethylamines containing methoxy groups on the 2 and 5 positions of the benzene ring. Most of these compounds also carry lipophilic substituents at the 4 position, usually resulting in more potent and more metabolically stable and longer acting...
family such as 2C-B
2C-B
2C-B or 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine is a psychedelic drug of the 2C family. It was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin in 1974. In Shulgin's book PiHKAL, the dosage range is listed as 16–24 mg. 2C-B is sold as a white powder sometimes pressed in tablets or gel caps and is referred...
.
Level 4
This level is characterized by strong hallucinations, such as objects morphing into other objects. There are many subtypes of these hallucinations: Mandelbrot patternsMandelbrot set
The Mandelbrot set is a particular mathematical set of points, whose boundary generates a distinctive and easily recognisable two-dimensional fractal shape...
, spirals, wave interference patterns, and so on. Also characteristic is the destruction or division of the ego. (Things may start talking to you, or you find that you are feeling contradictory things simultaneously.) Some loss of reality is prevalent. Time becomes meaningless. Out-of-body experiences and extra-sensory-perception-type phenomena are common, as is a blending of the senses
Synesthesia
Synesthesia , from the ancient Greek , "together," and , "sensation," is a neurologically based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway...
. Visuals containing imagery from Hindu, Aztec, Mayan, Native American, Indian, and African cultures are also quite common. Can be achieved with high doses of LSD and very high doses of psilocybin
Psilocybin
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug, with mind-altering effects similar to those of LSD and mescaline, after it is converted to psilocin. The effects can include altered thinking processes, perceptual distortions, an altered sense of time, and spiritual experiences, as well as...
.
Level 5
Level 5 effects are exclusively attributed to serotonergic psychedelicSerotonergic psychedelic
Serotonergic psychedelics are a class of hallucinogenic drugs with a method of action strongly tied to the serotonin neurotransmitter...
tryptamines, such as N,N-dimethyltryptamine
Dimethyltryptamine
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound of the tryptamine family. DMT is found in several plants, and also in trace amounts in humans and other mammals, where it is originally derived from the essential amino acid tryptophan, and ultimately produced by the enzyme INMT...
(DMT), 4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (psilocybin), and 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT). Experiences include total loss of visual connection with reality, the sense of not being human or having a body, and the feeling of being in many places at the same time. The loss of reality is so extreme that it becomes ineffable. People have been reported seeing themselves in entirely different settings than their original setting, and many people experience the feeling of being in a simulated reality
Simulated reality
Simulated reality is the proposition that reality could be simulated—perhaps by computer simulation—to a degree indistinguishable from "true" reality. It could contain conscious minds which may or may not be fully aware that they are living inside a simulation....
, often computer-simulated. Religious phenomena are reported at this level; often mentioned is a connection to an "all-knowing presence" or a "universal knowledge", which many equate with extra-terrestrials, artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, love, or "enlightenment". This level is most often experienced by users of DMT
Dimethyltryptamine
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound of the tryptamine family. DMT is found in several plants, and also in trace amounts in humans and other mammals, where it is originally derived from the essential amino acid tryptophan, and ultimately produced by the enzyme INMT...
. Users commonly report:
- Being clearly thrust into outer-space at extreme speed.
- Being thrust into an expansive void-like alternate dimension consisting of bright, colorful, fast-moving kaleidoscopic environments, dynamic pulsating colored beams, as well as complex three-dimensional geometric, mathematical and linguistic
LinguisticsLinguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
patterns made of light.- Continually traveling at great speeds, while watching patterns flying by morph, open, and reveal more complex patterns within.
- Encountering different types of living beings and superintelligent body-less entities at the same time as 1, 2, and 3. These reports include contact with free-floating entities made of light, resembling giant spheres, humanoids, multiple types of unrecognizable insects, human-sized praying mantises, elves, cephalopod
CephalopodA cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda . These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, and a set of arms or tentacles modified from the primitive molluscan foot...
s, complex robotic machines, and plants.- Intelligent beings attempting to communicate with users via visual linguistics, mathematics, morphing colored diamonds of different textures (flesh, gold, liquid metal, colored light). People report beings/entities manipulating what they can see and view; intentionally propelling them in different directions at disorienting speeds, forcing them to view or pass directly through macro and microscopic scale settings, including: planetary systems, galaxies, quasars, natural environment
Natural environmentThe natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
s, space habitats, technological utopiaUtopiaUtopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
s, neurons, DNADNADeoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
, mitochondria, trilobites, cephalopodCephalopodA cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda . These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, and a set of arms or tentacles modified from the primitive molluscan foot...
s, bryozoaBryozoaThe Bryozoa, also known as Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals, are a phylum of aquatic invertebrate animals. Typically about long, they are filter feeders that sieve food particles out of the water using a retractable lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles lined with cilia...
, and artificial self-replicating machineSelf-replicating machineA self-replicating machine is an artificial construct that is theoretically capable of autonomously manufacturing a copy of itself using raw materials taken from its environment, thus exhibiting self-replication in a way analogous to that found in nature. The concept of self-replicating machines...
s.
Most users report similar auditory patterns, of a combined high-frequency whine, and a slow, deep, throbbing tone similar to a heart beat. Most DMT users report feeling psychologically uninhibited, clear-headed while experiencing peak effects, and able to maintain the ability to think and reason in the above circumstances. Most users of Serotonergic Tryptamines have reported level 5 experiences, at normal, or common dosages, while users of lysergamides
Lysergamides
Amides of lysergic acid are collectively known as lysergamides.Lysergamides, tabulated by structure...
, ergolines, amphetamines, empathogens, and opioids never experience level 5 effects.
Huxley's "Mind at Large"
Literary man Aldous HuxleyAldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
talks in his book The Doors of Perception
The Doors of Perception
The Doors of Perception is a 1954 book by Aldous Huxley detailing his experiences when taking mescaline. The book takes the form of Huxley’s recollection of a mescaline trip which took place over the course of an afternoon, and takes its title from William Blake's poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell...
about the Mind at Large
Mind at Large
Mind at Large is a concept from The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell by Aldous Huxley. This philosophy was influenced by the ideas of C. D. Broad. Psychedelic drugs are thought to disable filters which block or suppress signals related to mundane functions from reaching the conscious mind...
. This is Huxley's theoretical state of mind which humans are normally oblivious to, due to learned social norm
Norm (sociology)
Social norms are the accepted behaviors within a society or group. This sociological and social psychological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit...
s and partially due to their biology. Huxley believed that the central nervous system
Central nervous system
The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that integrates the information that it receives from, and coordinates the activity of, all parts of the bodies of bilaterian animals—that is, all multicellular animals except sponges and radially symmetric animals such as jellyfish...
's main function was to filter through irrelevancies and useless knowledge, by shutting out the majority of what we could actually perceive at any given point in time.
Through the pages of his book, Huxley talks about the business of survival, and the information that is the most useful for survival. He believed that this was one element which was forcing the brain to filter out these perceptions. Huxley also believed that man was partially responsible for it, by asserting that society has made a symbolic system which structures our reality, in order to achieve a "reduced awareness".
Aldous Huxley discusses thousands of other worlds that were in some sense interconnected with our own. He said that humans dynamically make contact with these other worlds, all of which are with the Mind at Large. He believed that there were multiple ways of contacting these other worlds such as genetics, hypnosis, and the use of psychedelic drugs.
He then summarizes the psychedelic experience for himself, using the four statements below:
- The ability to remember and to "think straight" is little if at all reduced. (Listening to the recordings of my conversation under the influence of the drug, I cannot discover that I was then any stupider than I am at ordinary times.)
- Visual impressions are greatly intensified and the eye recovers some of the perceptual innocence of childhood, when the sensum was not immediately and automatically subordinated to the concept. Interest in space is diminished and interest in time falls almost to zero.
- Though the intellect remains unimpaired and though perception is enormously improved, the will suffers a profound change for the worse. The mescaline
MescalineMescaline or 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic alkaloid of the phenethylamine class used mainly as an entheogen....
taker sees no reason for doing anything in particular and finds most of the causes for which, at ordinary times, he was prepared to act and suffer, profoundly uninteresting. He can't be bothered with them, for the good reason that he has better things to think about.- These better things may be experienced (as I experienced them) "out there," or "in here," or in both worlds, the inner and the outer, simultaneously or successively. That they are better seems to be self-evident to all mescaline takers who come to the drug with a sound liver and an untroubled mind.
See also
- LSDLSDLysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
- DimethyltryptamineDimethyltryptamineN,N-Dimethyltryptamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound of the tryptamine family. DMT is found in several plants, and also in trace amounts in humans and other mammals, where it is originally derived from the essential amino acid tryptophan, and ultimately produced by the enzyme INMT...
- PsilocybinPsilocybinPsilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug, with mind-altering effects similar to those of LSD and mescaline, after it is converted to psilocin. The effects can include altered thinking processes, perceptual distortions, an altered sense of time, and spiritual experiences, as well as...
- Serotonergic psychedelics
- AyahuascaAyahuascaAyahuasca is any of various psychoactive infusions or decoctions prepared from the Banisteriopsis spp. vine, usually mixed with the leaves of dimethyltryptamine-containing species of shrubs from the Psychotria genus...
- PeyotePeyoteLophophora williamsii , better known by its common name Peyote , is a small, spineless cactus with psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline.It is native to southwestern Texas and Mexico...
- Salvia divinorumSalvia divinorumSalvia divinorum is a psychoactive plant which can induce dissociative effects and is a potent producer of "visions" and other hallucinatory experiences...
- KetamineKetamineKetamine is a drug used in human and veterinary medicine. Its hydrochloride salt is sold as Ketanest, Ketaset, and Ketalar. Pharmacologically, ketamine is classified as an NMDA receptor antagonist...
- Psychoactive drugPsychoactive drugA psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that crosses the blood–brain barrier and acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it affects brain function, resulting in changes in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior...
- Bad tripBad tripBad trip is a disturbing experience sometimes associated with use of a psychedelic drug such as LSD, Salvinorin A, DXM, mescaline, psilocybin, DMT and sometimes even other drugs including cannabis, alcohol and MDMA....