Greetings, fellow psychonauts. I'm new here and indeed I'm almost completely new to psychoactive substances... as in I've not done them for more than 40 years. When I was 16 and then again at 17 I did LSD on just those two occasions. I was alone and had profoundly good LSD experiences. Unbelievable, really, the memories of which have offered strong spiritual influences on my life ever since. But as I approach 60 years on planet earth I figure its never too late to resume that journey of self discovery. Towards those ends I've booked a two week stint during December, 2014, at a jungle Ayahuasca retreat not far from Iquitos, Peru. We're scheduled for 6 to 8 Ayahuasca ceremonies over two weeks and I'm told my shaman is a master with both strong spirit and the strongest brew. I'm a little nervous about what sorts of stuff I'll be working through in the process of hopefully reaching clarity with the plants. But its a journey I've wanted and researched with every day, every free moment, thought and feeling I've had since learning about Ayahuasca for the first time about 2 years ago. I've probably watched a couple hundred hours of Youtube videos and read at least a hundred testimonies from Ayahuasca trailblazers, so I believe I know enough about the plants to understand that the experience will likely be completely different from my expectations.

On a completely different subject, I have a question for any of you that might be familiar with DMT analogues. On 23-Jul-2011 on Roundway Hill of Devizes, Wiltshire, UK, a crop circle appeared that appears to represent a DMT analog. In structure it is very similar to 5-MeO-DMT but in fact it isn't and its not quite a DMT analog either. Not knowing chemistry very well I've probably messed up the chemical diagram seeing that I'm not entirely sure whether there is a single or double bond between the first carbon off the nitrogen that isn't a methyl group but would be if this was DMT. I didn't see a hydrogen dot in the crop circle so maybe I got this wrong with my depiction of a hydroxyl group. But what is this alien analog?

Okay. The mystery is solved. The alien analog is in fact Melatonin and my initial interpretation of the crop circle with a hydroxyl group was not only wrong but it was an impossibility given the four bond requirement for that carbon atom. But now the question becomes, why would Melatonin be important enough to aliens (assuming they exist and that's what they are) to cause them to create a crop circle of it? Life and learning can be a struggle when false assumptions dominate one's perspective on reality. I suppose that's where DMT can help.

Maybe they're trying to tell us we're sleeping?

There are non extra-terrestrial explanations for crop circles that make a lot of sense, you know

Speaking of melatonin, i have been taking about 30mg every night and just like clockwork i have a strong almost lucid dream. This morning was strange, i woke up and there were spiders crawling on my floor for a few seconds.

Wow someone did a great job with that crop circle!

best wishes on your journey to Peru, and the journeys you will go on once there. Im doing a ceremony in january, I too have been researching and learning about it extensively, I feel apprehensive, but grateful for the opportunity. It will be my first real psychedelic experience... best of luck to you! not that you need it, If you already have set your intension to go and your intensions in what to take away from the ceremony, you will be in good hands. be well

I'm pretty excited about my 15 day Ayahuasca Journey that is coming up very quickly. In just 8 days I'll be driving to the airport with my 19 year old son. Yes, it’s going to be a father and son adventure in the Amazon jungle with Ayahuasca! My son is a really good kid, very disciplined with his diet, consuming no added sugar or processed foods. He doesn't smoke and has never done drugs or abused alcohol. Nonetheless he has been very interested in going to the Amazon with me since we started discussing it about a year ago. We chose a more traditional Ayahuasca retreat where the shaman has taught and led thousands of Ayahuasca ceremonies over more than 30 years. His grandmother was also an Ayahuasca shaman and he operates a somewhat non-commercial nature conservatory and animal rescue mission on his many hundreds of acres in the jungle. By traditional retreat I also mean primitive. The cost is less but so also are the comforts. My shaman's teaching methods are more traditional in that the dieteros (that's us attending guests) are treated similarly as would a traditional shaman's apprentice (but only for those 15 days). In that respect the Ayahuasca diet at this retreat is very strict, somewhat more so than other retreats.

We will have no running water or flush toilets and our tambos (thatch roofed huts for sleeping) are for one person only. That's because as traditional shaman's apprentices we will be required to spend most of our free time, outside of the preparation of the brew and our participation in the ceremonies, in isolation and meditation. Because our shaman is very experienced and our retreat is within an old growth area of the jungle with an abundance of plants, he has a reputation for preparing a very strong Ayahuasca brew. But since you asked, in regard to my intentions, these have been evolving somewhat over time. A few hundred hours of Youtube videos ago I was probably more interested in the spiritual experience than healing. Even approaching 60 years old I'm in reasonable shape, fairly healthy, take no medications and I have no aches, pains or aliments.

However, for about the last 13 years I have been given a strong and relentless desire for searching for and discovering truth. If over those years I've discovered anything I have come to understand that truth is always a journey, never a destination. Another thing I have learned is that everything that the world would teach us or have us believe is a lie. Whether it’s DMT, politics, religion or with our academic pursuits, absolutely everything that the vast majority humans, including me, believe about the world is a lie... an almost infinite and bottomless pit of delusions in human consciousness. Am I completely alone in this belief or understanding? Why am I given to reject and hate the prevailing consciousness of the world? Is the world supposed to be this way for some plan or purpose or am I delusional or severely misjudging the world? My intention and purpose for my experience with this 15 day December Amazon journey, therefore, is that Mother Ayahuasca will humble me, liberate me from my delusions about myself, others and the world, and prepare me to see, understand and receive truth, to the degree that, and assuming that, I am meant to receive.

I must say, I think you are an inspirational man! Please tell us how it goes and if it is not too much trouble I would like to know how to contact said shaman. 15 days of jungle experience in this particular setting sounds like 15 days of magic, hard work and healing. I never aspired to go to any modern Aya retreat but hearing from you what kind of endaevour you are about to partake makes me want to pack up my stuff and go right now. Haha!

Quick thought about the Melatonin Molecule. If aliens; Melatonin may be a more powerful tryptamine than we thought given the right circumstances. It might put an end to the discussion of DMT in the Pineal Gland if we find out Melatonin is just as powerful, if not more powerful than n,n- or 5-meo-dmt.

For sure, I will post here again about my experiences with the Ayahuasca brew upon my return upon my return next year. Although I may have ambitious plans, I hope to shoot some number of hours of videos throughout our entire expedition. Assuming the results of my efforts are not terribly awful I'll try to post some Youtube videos. Presently there will only be three attendees for this retreat, my son and I plus one other person whom we haven't met yet. So there's plenty of room for more attendees (up to a maximum of twelve) in case anyone feels like jumping on a plane for Iquitos at the last minute.

The thing about aliens and melatonin that is difficult for me to understand is why they, or some human prankster, would consider the melatonin molecule important enough to spend time and effort memorializing it with a crop circle. Sure, aliens may not be extraterrestrials but I don't believe we can rule out the possibility that crop circles may be created by non-humans. Whatever those aliens are they are probably not getting high off melatonin because crop circles seem to be intended to communicate to humans about matters that seem to be relevant to humans. The fascinating thing for me about this is that melatonin is so very similar to 5-MeO-DMT, except for the fact that the two methyl groups are chained instead of both having a bond to the same nitrogen. My thinking is that DMT, Psilosin and 5-MeO-DMT are all very similar structurally and yet the characteristics of the experiences with them can be very different. I've heard that 5-MeO-DMT is sometimes called the "God Molecule" because one loses notions of self as one merges into the Godhead. Whereas DMT and Psilocin don't tend do that as readily at the usual doses. I wonder if anyone has attempted to take 20 or 30 milligrams of melatonin along with DMT, psilocin or 5-MeO-DMT at the same time? Melatonin is fairly cheap as a bulk powder so I figure that someone has had this crazy idea already and has had to have tried such a combination.

After talking to a few nexians about melatonin, I decided to order some. It arrived on Monday, and monday night was my first time trying it.... My dreams were very vivid and I woke up 30 mins before my alarm clock, feeling rejuvenated.

There's something to this melatonin.... I am going to dig deeper. Last night I took it again and got some CEV's that resembled the holographic-like patterning and images of hyperspace, just before I drifted off into dream land. Again, very vivid, active dreams.

I wonder.... what about vaping melatonin along with a small amount of spice... Or maybe adding a few mgs as an admixture to aya.

I'd also like to chime in and add another testimony of melatonins effect on dreaming. I have been taking 20 milligrams of melatonin a night to sleep for about a week paired with valerian root, and I have been having the strangest lucid dreams, and you know what is crazy, one of you said you woke up and saw spiders on the floor, I had a dream where i was being tested in some way, my spirit, my will, everything, and I had to go through some trees or brush that were filled with hundreds of spiders. It was odd because even though I did not want to go into the bushes/trees, I didn't feel fear. I also had one of the most lucid last night where I was back in jail and guards came into the cell block setting people up and giving out infractions. It has made every night interesting, and I always have this feeling of warping from one scene to the next.

It's interesting melatonin has the power to induce vivid dreams, it's such a natural thing but i think that staring at screens like most modern day people do inhibits the release of melatonin due to the light obviously. I agree, how much are you taking? i used to take 5mg a night but i never had any dreams i could directly attribute to it, then i came across an article or something talking about 50mg of melatonin inducing vivid dreams, so i exerimented. went from 15mg to 30mg to 50mg. 30mg is my sweet spot every time. Should be an interesting combination.

Yes that was me, i know what you mean, it really is ridiculous the dreams you potentially can have taking melatonin. Last night i had a dream about a long snake chasing me around, i ended up killing a red snake while raking up leaves in the yard today. And it's interesting you say that you have the feeling of warping from one scene to the next, i have that same feeling, the last two days i haven't taken melatonin but have previously for about a month 30mg/night, still having dreams.

In about 30 minutes I'll be driving to the Portland airport beginning my first journey to Amazon jungles of Peru and Ayahuasca.

Melatonin is something I work with quite a lot seeing that I work in the dietary supplement industry. Melatonin generally comes in 5 kilogram bags from the China manufacturers and commercial prices range from about $120 to $180 per kilogram depending upon the season. But when you think about it, 5 kilograms is about 1 million doses at 5 milligrams per dose. Even at a 30 milligram dose your talking a cost of less that 0.01¢ or a hundred 30 milligram doses for less than 1¢. Pretty unbelievable. But if you look around you should find 10 grams for close to $15.

Gotta go! My ride just pulled up.