Ok, so I'm going to openly admit right now, I am new to psychedelics, I cannot claim to have bombed insane amounts of X or dosed X or blah blah blah but one thing is becoming very clear to me right now and I feel I have to say something about it, I'm also sure a lot of the nexus will agree with me on this.

I keep reading bad trip reports, something like 4-5 over the last few weeks and in everyone of them, I see people who have taken stupid doses, or way too many tabs etc then put up their story of a bad trip..

SET AND SETTING < Are not the only important factors.

RESPECT < For what you are taking is an EXTREMELY important factor, if you have no respect for the thing you are taking, it will give you no respect. I seriously believe DMT, Psylocibe, LSD and any kind of Alkaloid has a sentient factor to it, it show's you what you need to see, not the other way around. You need to respect what you are taking, otherwise expect bad thing's to happen.

That's just me on the matter, sorry if it sounds to forward.

Much love.

I consider ones mindset to be the most important factor in a a negative or positive experience.

Your right mystic. Combining dosages of different substances, improperly weighing said substances or taking excessive dosages can lead to, more times than not, a rough experience. And combine any one of those factors with ones mental framework going into the experience mixed with ones surroundings and you could be asking for some trouble.

That respect is certainly important, whether you believe in any agency behind the actual substance or not, because it is a large part of what determines your state of mind as you go in. I think that a psychonaut who enters the experience with a respectful mindset may still be prone to bad experiences, but will be better prepared to deal with the fallout, since their learning experience won't be tainted by that "Damn, how could I have been so stupid?" factor that can accompany rough psychedelic experiences.

That said, I have personally had four bad trips on various substances and only one of them was due to flippant or careless behavior (in my case, re-dosing 800ug of acid at the tail end of a powerful 600ug experience with a group of friends... "let's keep this party going!"- big mistake). All other times it was because of much more complex internal factors that I apparently needed to face.

Yes, respect is crucial, but there is no guaranteed means of preventing hard rides, and in fact there seem to be times in our lives that a challenging trip is just what we need.

I tend to agree with Guyomech. Even with the utmost respect, care, proper dosage, setting, etc, you still can't always predict the direction in which the experience will go. Granted, you certainly decrease the odds of a bad trip substantially by following these general rules. But even then, there are instances where a bad trip might occur.

But I also firmly agree with Mystic about the respect issue. Psychedelics are still considered taboo by many. Or they are considered to be highly dangerous, psychosis inducing, "hard drugs" that will ruin your life. Why? In my opinion it comes down to a combination of lack of respect and media portrayal. The great bill hicks made a point that hits home for me... its actually in my signature... "You never hear a positive drug story in the media...." and its true! You can have a thousand amazing, life altering, ego busting experiences to share with the world, but what stories do you read about? THE HANDFUL OF NEGATIVE ONE's. Usually because some idiot with no respect for the substance took a stupid dose with no prior experience/knowledge and ends up jumping out of a window, or slitting his throat or something. The overall view/outlook on drugs in general is primarily based on this misinformation. They use FEAR to moderate the drug debate and it works extremely well.

I beleive in not only respecting drugs, but respecting yourself enough to not make these stupid decisions. With even the slightest amount of research/appreciation, combined with the application of common sense, there is so much to gain! I also know that certain drugs carry a very destructive power and that there also can be alot that you can lose if drugs are abused. I can say this from personal experience with opiates for example. It comes down to knowing yourself, knowing your drugs, respect, appreciation for the constructive/destructive powers of said drugs, and your intentions with the particular substance. I'm not advocating drug use... i'm advocating knowledge, appreciation, creativity, and sincerity.

It is a shame that society views these substances the way that they do... especially when it is mostly based on a campaign of misinformation! It really dissapoints me sometimes but I am just happy that i've been able see the truth.

I completely agree. In my opinion, this respect comes with thought, time, and intention.

My introduction to psychedelics was in a group setting, young kids "tripping balls" on mushrooms. Yeah it was fun but I always found myself worrying and tensing up. Especially my bowels.

I didn't touch pshcys for years. Only recently did I find the healing properties of psychedelic medicines.
I'm no longer addicted to alcohol, my ego has been tamed, my depression has subsided, I LOVE LIFE AGAIN!!! Medicines such as dmt, mushrooms, mdma, have opened my mind and heart and soothed damaged parts of my being.

Before I take any medicine, I hold it to my heart and meditate with it.
I ask it questions and focus on my intentions.
Am I taking it for fun? Healing? Meditation? Creativity? Opening chakras? Re-aligning my aura? Dancing? Interpersonal development? Exploring the spirit world? Am i capable of doing work in the spirit world? What do I hope to gain/lose? How will I integrate? Have I given myself time, post journey, to integrate?
(Often its a combination of reasons)

But if its ever an escape, or lacking intention, I will put the medicine aside and do something else. At festivals, this can be tough but sometimes necessary. If I ever feel pressured to take something, like in a group setting at a festival, this automatically is enough to tell me "bad idea".

I do my best to only partake when life is clear enough to do so.

With healing intentions, my mind isn't always in the best spot, thus a need to heal it.
On these occasions, I make sure to set up extra safety nets. ie. Sitter, tell at least two people what I'm going through, what my plan is, what medicine I'm going to take, dose size, when, where, and ask if their available if I need help.

About dose size:

Particularly with mushrooms, I find that small doses (.25 to .5g) are very healing.
Its enough that I feel altered and new patterns of thought open up.
My body relaxes and further meditation ensues.

Taking heroic doses is not something I do at festivals.
To me, a heroic dose is something done with great intention.
Sitter, setting, set, time, diet, recovery time, integration time are all important factors that delicately align to make the experience positive.

If ANYTHING seems "not right" I do not let myself partake.

And how did I get to this understanding of myself and psychedelics?
I had a number of experiences turn dark.
I've taken too much acid, shrooms on bad days, dmt without intention.
These experiences taught me a lot.
The integration can be tough, but once its internalized and let go of, bad experiences can be invaluable . They further my understanding of a psychedelic medicine relative to my health and well being.

Particularly with dmt, Letting go of fear of dark experiences, dark entities, and dark thoughts can be tough. The "what dot do if you encounter dark entities" part of the nexus provides a wonderful framework.


Much love,
Wearepeople

I agree with the OP completely. While I won't say I'm the most experienced psychonaut, I've tripped well over 60 times and with some pretty hefty doses (6 grams of mushrooms, or 5 blotter tabs). I've never had a 'bad trip' in the sense of irrational anxiety/thoughts/fear. But I go into every trip with a massive amount of respect for my entheogens, and I have a good understanding of how they'll effect me because I deal with the same substances and build up my doses over time to suit my needs. I would never get a fresh sheet and dive right into a massive dose.. Start moderate and work your way up.

DMT is the one I have the absolute most respect for, I refuse to abuse this wonderful molecule no matter how much it infatuates me. I regard it as alive, I truly feel that there's a feminine guiding presences at work with the spice. I've never felt more connected with my surroundings than when I enter the cosmos.. It's a very powerful and loving feeling that changed my life forever that first time and increases my love with every voyage. I never want anything to tarnish the experience with any other feelings than pure love, so massive amounts respect must be maintained.

When I first got introduced to psychedelics I had little idea what I was getting myself into. As a result I didn't show them much respect either. What I learned, however, was that when you do these things too frequently they can leave you mentally drained afterwards, regardless of the "quality" of your trip/s.

In my experience, these so-called bad trips can be very introspective and meaningful but I also think the most important thing is not to underestimate what these substances can do to you mentally in the long run.

I know a lot of people that show these drugs no respect whatsoever and only do them in order to party and get wasted, and they always seem to be having a great time. However, they don't have the opportunities to use them except on rare occasions which I believe makes a big difference.

Thank you for the fantastic replies, I was in a seriously ranty mood upon writing this, I can't stand seeing horror stories of people who are already on 600-800ug's then take K, DMT, MDMA whatever else on top of it.. it's just mad.. based on the majority of experiences people have put here and the majority of experience on the nexus, it makes me sad when I see questions like "Why am I having such a bad time?" with doses this high

I really do feel for anyone who has a bad time on any drug, I'm lucky enough to have only had a half terrifying experience so far but it was something I profoundly learned from. Really I don't think even the dose you take matters, you can have a bad experience regardless of dose, set/setting.

It's just irritated me, people need to respect what they are taking, even when it comes to substances like alchohol/marijuana, simply thing's can become abuse through simple measures and the drugs really teach you lessons for that.

Totally agree, started a thread with something similar


https://www.dmt-nexus.me...&m=398982#post398982