I have been reading about the sacred cacti since I have joined--I came for the DMT, I stayed for the cacti! I am planning on interacting with T. pachanoi soon. I have read differing starter amounts for making tea and am curious which unit of measurement people typically go by when preparing tea. I always read a foot is good to start, and I have also read 750g fresh is a good amount to get your feet wet. My amount was 12"/1272.2g fresh. Other sites seem to have the same message that you don't want to undershoot your cacti, especially the first time. I plan on following the Achuma Puma's advice to pick a dose and stick with it--so I want to make sure that amount will be a nice intro. I also would like to know what some of your rituals are when interacting with this plant ally. I read in another thread about making a mesa--while I know that is Spanish for 'table', I am not entirely sure if I understand exactly what this is. Is it sort of an altar or shrine type thing with objects to help keep you grounded if you start going too far? Is this a typical part of cacti rituals, or something that folks prepare when taking any journey? I have been reading threads for a few months and feel like I am prepared, however I feel it is wise to double check with more experienced folks that I'm not treading in lethal territory right off the bat. I didn't buy a ticket to the carnival to ride the carousel, but I will wear the seat belt when riding the roller coaster. Thanks for any insight you can give, it is much appreciated.

Hey AB,

Glad to have you aboard with cacti, they are friendly teachers and give great experiences. I would actually recommend you make tea with a cutting of bridgesii. They tend to be more potent/consistent and are also more pure in alkaloid make-up than pachanoi. 1 ft of bridgesii can be a good powerful experience. 1ft cuttings of bridgesii SWIM has tested to consistently be around 600-900mg mesc.

With pachanoi you are kind of gambling because the mesc content can literally range from ZERO to 3 percent. Most pachanoi seems to be quite weak in SWIM's experience. You could take 2ft of extracted tea and not have any effects or 2ft and get blasted away. It is hard to say with pachanoi unless the source has been repeatedly tested.

Hope this helps!

That helps, Kash, thanks. Now do you just go with a foot regardless of weight? Or just make sure it's about 2-3" wide at least? My first ineraction will be pachanoi as that is all I have at the moment. I am planning on getting some bridgessii soon. Cacti collecting is a hobby I didn't think I'd have even a year ago, and now I can't stop adding to the collection.

Ya usually around 2.5-3in wide 1ft is standard.

3 ft pachanoi
or
1.5 ft bridgesii



in peru most all cacti are called huachuma and are unpredictably potent and all sort of look the samebut back in the western world the difference between 2 types of cacti (especially PC pachanoi and bridgesii var monstrosse) can be especially paramount



you can also do something like make your 3 feet and then consume 1/6th (1/2 ft) then the next day/that night consume the rest. sometimes its helpful to get acquainted if you arent too familliar already


also dont be afraid to add a pinch of toe/datura (i mean 5-10 seeds/ up to a half flower)
you may also brew with a bit of mint and ginger. mint, ginger, and datura/toe are all great for antinausea and will help a body retain the medicine longer



morning glory seeds/hbwr are great too but its probably best you get comfortable with huachuma before adding more than a ceremonial dose of anything else

Thanks for the advice. My first experience the other day was nothing short of mindblowing--I definitely did not feel like I undershot it at all. Perfect for a first time. I will post a report soon--I'm still processing what I just went through! It was incredibly paradoxical: intense yet calm, energetic yet sedative, complex yet simple. Everything was everything. And so beautiful--it was incredibly visual. I feel like I'll repeat that dosage again to see if it was strong or if it was because it was a new substance to me. I've never had any other phenylethylamines (sp?) other than MDMA and it definitely has a different character than LSD/Tryptamines. Thanks again for the advice--I keep an eye out for your names in threads here because you both always have good knowledge to share and interesting things to say. Cheers!

glad to hear it!

cacti is powerful medicine, ime it has been on par with ayahuasca, high doses of mushrooms, and salvia

even now as i write, the cacti i collected from chavin de huantar makes itself known with each cup i down

There are some pachanoi that are very potent. I've got one that's pretty active at 6", but it's different from the common ones you see here in the states. According to the research I've done, pachanoi have a more pure mescaline profile where bridgeii have more of a cocktail of alkaloids, but I don't know that to be fact.

Glad to hear you had a great experience. I've been wanting to do a cactus journey again, but I've just been so busy lately.

That is exactly opposite of what one has found when extracting bridgesii vs pachanoi, nicechrisman. The bridgesii was found to have much cleaner/clearer mescaline extract, where pachanoi extract tended to be consistently quite dirty with brown alks/impurities. Interesting that you have seen otherwise, was that based off personal findings?

well, this is no botanist here, but imo:
T-pachs are all over the place alkawise - watch out for those PC's - but then, there is nothing like a good T-Pach, and I mean NOTHING! The best ones strike me as smooth, pure, and astral. They are also harder to identify because so many other varieties of Trich or whatever you call it these days merely resemble Pach but are not Pach.

T-bridgs are more uniform alkwise, better than weaker Pacs, but not as good as better Pachs. Also, they are much easier to identify, with their thinner stalks, grey-green color, and longer spines. Also, the experience off their alk profile can get pretty distracting...it's much harder for me to mediate with bridg than with Pach. But they can be very strong!

My fav these days is macrogonus....simpler alk profile, and while similar to Pach in appearance, they are not especially easy for non-experts to identify.

I am also coming to believe that there really is something to the harvesting method: time of day, time of year, part of the plant, etc...I'v seen big variations in the same plant as these parameters vary.

Does it or doesn't it? Only your shaman knows for sure...

No, just based on common internet lore. Many folks say that's why bridgesii are so potent is because they possess MAOI and other synergistic alkaloids. I don't know this for a fact though, just what seems to be the prevailing opinion that I've encountered in my extensive research.