I'm closing in on 30 journeys, and I feel fortunate that about 2/3rds have been breakthroughs. I also think I can remember a tiny bit more each time, but so much is lost upon returning to consensual reality, even if I start talking right away.

I wish there were a mental camcorder we could take with us to actually record the experience! Maybe sometime in the future, eh?

It seems like whenever people ask me what the flash is like, I have to put together a composite of all my journeys just to be able to tell them a cohesive story. A bit of this one, a bit of that...like a hyperpace quilt that I can show them, but it's still just a souvenir.

Do you guys have any tips for being able to retain more upon re-entry?

I have heard that harmalas can help in this regard. Is this true?

WP

I believe with experience it becomes easier somewhat. Altough there still are those experiences where couple minutes afterwards one can't remember much. I guess it has something to do with our brains ability to recognize what is happening. Sublingual harmalas 15-30mg before blasting off is nice combo, but I don't think they do alot when it comes to remembering, altough they slow things down a bit and that's good.
If after coming back, one instantly thinks and writes down(journey diary is good anyway) what happened, it may become easier to remember. Just like with a dream diary.

Having a fair amount of experience with the "slower" psychedelics such as LSD and shrooms can provide you with more of a vocabulary for describing these kinds of experiences... Hard to remember that which you can't articulate.

Can you give us example of slow psychedelic vocabulary?

I think the question is more about remembering to oneself, than describing it to others with words that can't describe it even a bit.

You have to focus in hyperspace, be aware, let go of everything you ever were, and be present and observant. After time, as the hyperspatial neurons grow in your central nervous system, you will find yourself remembering more and more if you simply try to.

The most pragmatic suggestion so far imo has been the trip journal. Some of my most well remembered trips are so wall ensconced in my memory because of three inspired words which are more than enough to bring back an entire experience (almost).

I haven't journaled my trips enough to say for certain BUT with a dream journal, merely writing 'em down upon awakening gives you practice at remembering. After dream journaling all month I will find dream recall much easier--even if I don't write it down for a particuliar night, I'm still better at remembering 'em. Perhaps a trip journal would likewise aid in such a way.

Thanks for the replies all.

The journal is definitely something I will start doing!

I've had plenty of experience with LSD, mushrooms, 2c-b, etc, and those experiences have certainly aided me in being able to navigate, integrate and describe. I just still get so blown away with the sheer intensity of the spice.

Good advice about being mindful, House. I forget sometimes while I'm in there, especially when something new happens. I'll look into the 3 lotus paste as well. I've been a practitioner of martial arts my whole life, and there is a place that my mind has gone under stress that makes time seem to slow down. I'm able to get a slightly different, more passive objectivity on some things. But it's totally unreliable in hyperspace for me right now Sometimes, it works, others not at all. But I think you are all correct in that more practice will help.

I have noticed a BIG difference in the nature of my mushroom trips since the first time I've tried spice though. Like a door has been partially opened that I can sometimes access through shrooms. Very strange.

WP

Trip journals are still filtered into a language that pails in comparison to hyperspace. They are effective as a memory marker, but that's about it in my opinion. Things you write can ultimately effect your memories over time, too.

These things can be embedded in the CNS it is just an exercise like anything else.

remember to remember , the more you go the more you remember

make it a goal to remember as much as possible.

tell someone about it as soon as possible , write it down draw it all of the above

I don't have any tips on how to remember more, but I have remembered bits and pieces inadvertently.

For example, one day I woke up and the very first thing on my mind as I was waking was something I saw on a trip the previous day. Until then I had completely forgotten about it.

And sometimes I will remember parts of a trip while I'm in the middle of a new trip! and I'm like "I remember now, that's what it was like!"

By vocabulary, I wasn't thinking in terms of words, but rather in terms of recognizing familiar objects/feelings/interactions that you might experience repeatedly while in altered states. This stuff becomes more familiar with repetition, although its always surprising.

As far as remembering goes... There is an entry in the Lexicon called, "Planting a flag", where you sort of make note of something that just happened, and either say it out loud or use some other way of remembering. I can't tell you how many times, for example, I've stepped briefly out of a peak to either write or say, "Remember, we are eternal" or something to that effect... Something I consider, at the time, worth remembering. Some aspects of the experience can be bluntly distilled down to short statements like that. But the really important parts are so hard to put into words... After enough experience, though, parts of it become familiar (oh yeah, this!! How come I always forget this part?) that you might be able to gradually find better and better ways of articulating the experience.

Recently I tried a new one, as I was rising through multiple levels of massive organomechanical architecture toward a light source, surrounded by geometric hyperlinguistic forms rapidly assembling themselves out of multicolored hinged polyhedra: "as long as you can remember it, you're still tripping". I had my sitter write that one down, and reading it later on seemed to bring me right back to that peak visual moment.

Try too hard, though, and you can distract yourself from being present for the core of the experience.

And yeah, it's not surprising that you'd put together a sort of composite description when telling others about it... Because that's how we remember it- gradually, and in pieces.

Interaction with hyperspace is a great way to learn and remember.

I once had a chat with a lovely gnome. He showed me the most ingenious invention. It is impossible to describe in this dimension. i took note of his workbench, colorful hat, and pleasant smile. I expressed my admiration of his work, and said goodbye.

To remember things , I usually will talk all I can think of right as I get back into my body. I have found it beneficial to smoke Marijuana afterwards, reason being it helps me to meditate on things I saw. Just yesterday after smoking a couple bowls and sitting out in this forest with my buddy meditating , I had an astounding memory of my last break through and remembered ways in which Aliens were explaining some machinery to me. (still have no clue what they said, but I remembered visually)

I've made efforts, while in hyperspace, to remember specific events. It's a mental effort that comes at the cost of living the experience, I compare it to pulling out a camera when you're living a great moment (something I don't like) but sometimes it's worth it. It's not fully effective of course, but partly. I tell myself "remember this!" and I describe it to myself mentally on the spot. Of course, this can be impossible with more intense experience.

it may just be me, but my last couple batches of changa i've leaned heavily on Calea Zacatechichi & Heimia Salicifolia as the herbs, and this combo seems to have greatly increased my recollection of hyperspatial happenings...