My first plan was to try to breakthrough on my first or second smoking attempt, based on some reports that low dose DMT might not be too worthwhile. But my first low dose DMT was interesting, and so was the second, and the third, and the fourth...
While DMT is so often touted for its extreme effects, I have so far found the low dose effects to be interesting and worthwhile on their own. I have smoked the substance about 10 times my first week, and each time has been just above a threshold dose. Here are some quick notes: [u:f898b0f3be]Somatic perception changes[/u:f898b0f3be] What I mean by somatic perception, is my perception of something which is not defined by psychology, as far as I am aware (I am not well read in psychology, if anyone knows of descriptions of this in the literature, please let me know). This perception is not the feeling of my physical body. Sensations such as pressure, muscle tension and pain due to a cut all feel the same. This somatic perception is more like the feeling one has when they get a cold chill that makes the hair on their skin rise, except it is all over the body, and appears to be almost like an energy field surrounding the body. It could possibly be related to the perception of what artists call negative space, or the 3 dimensional space surrounding you that is unoccupied by objects in the room. The change in perception can be likened to a buzz, or some type of vibration. People who drink alcohol know about this buzzing, but with alcohol the sensation seems to be centered more on the physical body, while the DMT seems to effect an energetic body. In addition, the alcohol buzz is softer, gentler, while the dmt buzz seems sharper, more disturbing (although I am getting used to this effect, and the more I relax and let myself go the less disturbing the perceptual change). In addition to this is a somatic perception similar to a tight muscle, located at specific regions of my body, that has nothing to due with a tight muscle. For example I often find this in my neck. If I adjust my posture, and perhaps breathing and relax by 'letting go', this feeling of tightness goes away. Looking at this from a yoga perspective, I am tempted to say I am perceiving locations of blocked energy flow through my body. I don't really know enough about yoga to say this for sure. These somatic perception changes are not new to me for I feel them almost every time I take psychedelics. DMT seems to be exceptional in this regard, however, because these sensations are so strong compared to changes in visual perception. As a further note on this subject, I had an experience in which I perceived my personality as a kind of structure onto which hung organically formed energy, including the particular energy I describe above. I realized that the cleaner, more disciplined and stable my personality was, the better I was able to direct this organic energy which sort of has a mind of its own (or no mind of its own). [u:f898b0f3be]Visual perception changes[/u:f898b0f3be] As others have mentioned, the visuals are much more geometric then with other psychedelics I have had. Often the CEVs are broken into diamond shaped 'shards'. These shards will often begin to ripple in waves as if they were floating on the ocean's surface, or the surface of a flag blowing in the wind. OEV's have so far been confined to highly textured surfaces, such as my carpet, overlaid with complex patterns which are not broken into shards, and much more like the type of patterns I have seen with psilocybin. ( As a tangent, it is very curious that these types of patterns seem to be ubiquitous in the cultural designs throughout the world, from puritan doyles to peruvian textiles. Just today I was in a grocery line talking to an older lady wearing a two toned jacket with black and a just slightly lighter shade of black. The lighter shade had an intricate design that is identical to the designs I see nearly every time I take psychedelics.) In addition I have had an experience of an intricate fractal, a blindingly bright sunbeam, a very eerie green light diffused through the room, a couple symbolic images, and my door frame seems to continually be highlighted for some reason. [u:f898b0f3be]The smoking mechanics[/u:f898b0f3be] I've been using a cleaned out light bulb, bic pen tube, and crappy plastic lighter. At first I was measuring doses, but now I just throw a crap load in, smoke what I need, and leave the rest for later. Interestingly the spice starts to turn orangey red after a few cycles of heating/melting. Not the best method but good enough for my current purposes. The smoke is harsh. Is this because it's at a high temperature? It seems to burn the back of my throat, and it's hard on the lungs. I wonder what happens to the smoke that condenses on my lungs. Does it recrystalize and will it give me emphysema? Will it harden my lungs? I feel that injection could be a healthier alternative in a perfect world, which is unfortunately not mine. [u:f898b0f3be]A glimpse at the door?[/u:f898b0f3be] Finally, I had a mildly disturbing experience the other day. It started with a highly complex and interesting rippling psychedelic shard pattern. Suddenly this pattern had copied itself into two mirror images, but somehow I felt or perceived that the two had always been there even though I couldn't see them. Then I felt that this pattern was actually intelegent, or alive or conscious and communicable in some way. It had split itself to show me something, like how little I could know or perceive, and then it seemed to show me light in one part of my visual field, and again, somehow this was to show me something I couldn't understand. As I went through this, everything was well and good. But when I opened my eyes, I was disturbed. I felt that DMT really was a portal to another, real, universe. It sunk in to me in way that just reading about it and thinking about it couldn't. Concerns posted by litrium about what the entities might be doing and might be capable of seemed very relevant. I am not sure what the rippling thing was. It certainly wasn't a breakthrough DMT trip, and I didn't even see the chrisantheum thing everyone talks about (or was the complex pattern the chrisantheum?). During the trip I had let go so much that the perceived intelligence of the pattern thing was part of the flow, I was going with the flow. But coming back down it was like, "what the fuck was that?". In coclusion, more experimentation will be conducted to further elucidate the nature of this profound substance...
