The DMT Experiences
Users of DMT report being thrust into another dimension of reality, which they sometimes describe as “more real than real”1. The experience is accompanied by intense visuals and brightly colored patterns, often fractal in their nature. Many people experience contact with otherworldly intelligent entities, and report having deep spiritual experiences – even people who were not previously spiritually inclined. Many come back with profound realizations about themselves and the nature of reality. For these reasons, DMT has been nicknamed “the spirit molecule” and has gained quite a mythos around it.
Ayahuasca
DMT is also the main active ingredient in the shamanic plant brew Ayahuasca. The ritual of Ayahuasca has recently become popular in the West, although it has been practiced by the native tribes of the Amazon for hundreds and possibly thousands of years. Ayahuasca has been used to overcome deep trauma, heal mental illness like depression and PTSD, successfully cure alcoholism and drug addiction, and have transcendent spiritual experiences. Hundreds of people every day travel to the Amazonian rainforest of Peru to experience the transformational effects of this visionary brew.
It is not uncommon to hear that taking DMT or drinking Ayahuasca has changed someone’s life.
The Contradiction
DMT in its pure form is highly illegal in most countries around the world. It is a Schedule 1 substance in United States – meaning that it is illegal to produce, sell, or possess. It is categorized as having “no potential medical uses”, despite much evidence that shows otherwise.
Interestingly, DMT is a chemical that is endogenous to the human organism – meaning it is naturally produced within the body. It is also naturally present in many animals and plants on our planet. In fact, dimethyltryptamine can be extracted from nearly a hundred known plant species, and possibly many more.
DMT Research
Scientists don’t yet fully understand why DMT is present in so many living things, or where it is produced in the human body. Certain theories suggest it may be produced by the pineal gland deep within the brain, although more research needs to be done to gain solid evidence of this. Several scientists have speculated that DMT is released in the brain during REM dreaming, birth, death, near-death, deep meditation, and religious experiences. Others speculate that DMT may aid in the transition of the soul from the body to the other realm, or may tie into our understanding of quantum mechanics and other dimensions.
Although research has been difficult because of the status of the substance, several scientists managed to conduct studies on the effects and possible implications of dimethyltryptamine. Rick Strassman was one of these scientists. After giving dimethyltryptamine to 60 volunteers in a medical setting during his government-funded study in 1990-1995, he wrote a groundbreaking book about his findings, called DMT: The Spirit Molecule. The book was later made into a documentary with the same title, which has since been widely circulate online. Strassman believes that if DMT is studied more freely, many advances in the fields of medicine, psychology, and even physics can be made in a short amount of time.
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We recently traveled to a country where the personal use of DMT is legal, and experimented with this mysterious molecule. In this episode, we discuss our experiences and try to put decipher what they mean to our understanding of consciousness and the nature of reality.