A Night With DMT: My life Changing Experience
First and foremost, I would like to be clear here and say I am in no way advocating drug use. That being said, there are chemical compounds found all around us that do serve a purpose and have immense inherent value.
One such element is Dimethyltryptamine or DMT. I won’t get all Science-y here but the main point I would like to make is the Psychedelic compound is endogenous to plants and animals. Mammals included. Seriously DMT is all around us!
DMT: A Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman
I stumbled upon a book in a local thrift shop called DMT: The spirit Molecule. You may have seen the documentary on Netflix. I read it in one sitting and my mind was made up. Somewhere, somehow I would get my hands on some and when the time was right I would give it a go. I’m not an avid druggie or anything like that, but I have had my share of experience with LSD and Psilocybin and I was extremely curious about what it would feel like to umm, go a little further.
Fast forward 2 years. I am working as the head Chef on the South shores of Maui and a friend of mine says something within ear shot and my ears perk right up! She has DMT. More importantly, she has enough to go around. I weasel my way into the conversation I wasn’t currently apart of and make sure I’m very clearly understood. I must have some!
I won’t need much, just a personal pinch, enough to “break on through to the other side” (smirk, Doors reference!) It doesn’t take much convincing, us being solid friends an all and before I know it I have a little brown glob of one of, if not THE most powerful hallucinogenic substances known to man!
DMT IS NOT A PARTY DRUG
It is a very personal, deeply spiritual experience. At the time of my procurement, I was already 4 beers deep after a long day at work in the Kitchen and I’m not about to set sail on the metaphysical ride of my life half buzzed, among friends and relative strangers. This will have to wait. I decide the following night after work is the best time since it will be my Friday. If I should leave time and space and meet God only to find out he doesn’t much care for me and my behavior, I’ll have the weekend to contemplate existence, bounce back mentally and sort of lick my proverbial wounds.
Fast forward to my Friday night, don’t even ask about work. If you ever worked 60 hours a week in a Kitchen you’d know better! I head 2 blocks from work and sit on the perfect sands of South Kihei with my friend. We’ll call him Dave in this story. Dave has some DMT in his possession as well. Dave is slightly less excited as I am about what’s about to go down (he hasn’t read the book OR seen the documentary… Ha-ha Oh Dave, buckle up buddy!)
After a short talk about our repressive work conditions, the outrageously hot servers we work with and the upcoming NFL season, we load the pipe and flip a coin to see who goes first. Heads I win, Tails you lose Brah!
No offense but I’ve been waiting for years for this moment now give me the damn pipe! All kidding aside, I am almost terrified and it takes me a moment to breathe and relax and think happy thoughts. If you’ve ever been a part of psychedelic situations you understand the two fundamental keys to successful, positive trips!
- Set and Setting
- Positive Mental Vibrations
Okay, so we are sitting on a gorgeous beach with the light surf barely lapping at our feet on a full moonlit night, it’s my Friday and I just got payed…. Check and Check! Let’s do this thing!
I have enough of the substance to take a small “trial run” so that’s what I decide to do. I pack a little into the end of the pipe and count to three. As soon as the small amount of smoke enters my lungs I pass the pipe over to Dave and prepare for the unknown. The smell and taste of DMT is unmistakable.
I still get phantom whiffs of it to this day as if once it's in you, it stays with you forever.
STATIC ELECTRICITY FILLS MY HEAD
All of the sudden the whirl of static electricity fills my head like I am one giant transformer tower. The static white noise consumes me. I keep my eyes open. The island, the water, the clouds, the air itself becomes a grid-like construct. The universe around me is EXACTLY like the matrix.
I am seeing the virtual make up of the physical realm. (Or is it the physical make up of the virtual) My heart picks up a bit and I feel lighter than air but I keep my eyes open and take a good look around. I see Dave doing the same thing. Did he take a hit yet? Yes I’m sure but I didn’t see or hear it happen.
I fix my eyes on the clouds and one of them takes on the shape of those Oriental lion sculptures, the kind with the curly manes and square muzzles agape with flaring nostrils below menacing eyes. Before I know it they’ were everywhere. Every conceivable object in sight is now an Ancient Oriental Lion. I scan the surf a few feet in front of me and HOLY SHIT there are thousands of them marching up the beach shoulder to shoulder, row after row towards me and my unsuspecting friend! It’s the first time in my life I have ever really hallucinated to the point I saw impossible objects so clearly. It’s too much, I have to stand up and take a few steps back. Luckily the effects diminished and I could relax a bit. Whew, that was intense and I hadn’t even taking a full hit yet.
With the first wave under my belt it was time to take the real plunge. I remembered from reading the case studies in The Spirit Molecule that the user can fight to stay aware of their surroundings and not go too far out.
Or You could do what I had set out to do and relax and the let the DMT take you wherever it wants to take you.
TAKE ME IT DID
With a few deep breathes and a cheers to Dave I took 2 massive back to back hits. Apparently I just dropped the pipe in the sand and lay back in the sand. I closed my eyes and remember thinking okay DMT, you can take m………
I had surrendered all control. Before I could finish the mental permission my being was being collected into a sphere just behind my eyes and vacuumed out of my body. The electric buzzing was louder than ever and it felt like my soul was being sucked out into oblivion. My body dissolved into the sand as the energy of my leaving intensified and here is all I can recall from what followed.
Before the final lift off, as my body literally dissolved to become the sand itself I remember talking to the drug. “Be nice, Be nice, Please be…. and off I went, there was no more thought, no more body only my soul exploding in all directions at once, faster than the speed of light. I came together at the edge of a tunnel. The light at the end of it was just a pin wheel at first but quickly grew large enough to engulf me. I came upon a glowing white being with tentacle like arms going off in all directions.
Each arm was radiating different colors, some of which I recognized but most I had never perceived before. I have no clue to this day why my only compulsion in that moment was to vehemently apologize for my presence. I just repeated I’m sorry, I’m sorry, this is your world, this is yours and I shouldn’t be here. I apologized for doubting the being, for not trusting it, and I desperately wanted it to hear how appreciative I was. I couldn’t tell you how long I was out of my body for. I shot back through the tunnel in reverse and punched through my chest. It felt like my heart had been shocked back to life by a defibrillator. I sat up and opened my eyes. The matrix was back on display and the static white noise still consumed me but the volume was turning down. I stood up, fell back down and looked over at Dave who seemed to be coming to his senses as well.
We sat together in silence for the next half hour, looking out over the Pacific trying to understand our profound experience. Trying to get a grip on a reality we knew would never be the same again.
If you have had a similar experience I would love to hear about it. In the book DMT: The Spirit Molecule the Author Dr. Rick Strassman noted many similar stories. Many of the case study subjects had related similar events taking place and lo and behold when I tried it for myself my experiences were not unlike theirs. It was an out body, out of this world experience I will never forget. I think it was definitely a one time thing as I have gone as far out as my soul needs to venture away from my body. At least while I still have unfinished business here on earth.