So we have all heard it.
One time it takes 5x the normal amount to get a breakthrough, another time less than 0.5x the normal amount of substance, will also result in a breakthrough.

So an explenation for this could be, that the "job" of the substance could be to open you up.

In this case, id like to say (imo) . There is alot of placebo effect and mass hallucionation going on to a majority of unknowing (and inexperienced) users. This was (and is) created by the story telling.
BUT, this does not make it so that every experience is corrupted, or untrue. Rather to keep an OPEN MIND and not to Expect anything, will reveal.
And by more usage, the experiences will become more normal and easier to observe, therefor more true. And old effects will fade.


This in turn, leads me to the CATALYST effect. Which is the "teacher" ,
by believing, that this substance can open up your mind. The moment you ingest it , you will feel open and ready for the experience, which was always ready for you. How can we be fooled, by a molecule, which we find in our mind?
Yet we seek to recipricate it in our brains. To find new truths.

Conclusion: Psychedelics have both a placebo effect aswell as a catalysing effect. (if these are not the same).
Psychedilaca is a good Reminder that we can experience different kinds of Perspectives, and send you off in this mystacal world, while truely it was always surounding you.

Lessons i have learned: Do not go into a trip (or life hehe) , forcefully, neither be to lazy to explore and get what you are seeking. Just let it happen, from beginning to end.

Whats your story?

Placebo is the wrong word. Psychedelic states produced by the mind alone can be just as strong as psychedelic experiences caused by substances - the substance just provides and easier access to the state. My most intense psychedelic experiences have actually been when I was sober and did not consume anything.

Not sure if I read your post correctly. doh!
I cant see any placebo effects with psychedelics. I can smoke a vine joint and I will get the exact same effects every time. However when I smoke Changa I would say 60% of the time I get what I signed up for. 30% of the time its weaker than expected and 10% of the time its so strong its unbelievable and my mind-set is mostly always the same.

I would think that to understand the strength of the effects of psychedelics would only be possible if we could totally understand the brain and the mind , which we might never fully understand
I could be wrong or rite... i'm being wishy washy

Yes you guys are right.

I did not mention/explain what i mean by placebo. I was unsure myself, and unable to explain it at this point (or else it will sound like nonsense).

But, are we not a people with similiar thoughts?
And, are we not introduced to these substances with these huge bewilderd ideas,
mostly made up.
Do those not corrupt our first occuring experiences?

I dont know, but the word i mean is more a combination of placebo and mass hysteria..
Obviously both wont serve the case..

I had never heard of people having spiritual experiences with psychedelics before I had mine... I took LSD expecting to have fun with my friends, instead time froze and I ended up talking to God.... So I started doing tons of psychedelics to figure some things out and found that they were helping me change and grow and heal and learn.... After a couple years of that I read my first account of others having similar experiences.

I understand what you're trying to say, but my question for you would be, does the influence of our expectations really change the outcome of our experiences?

For example, if one had been reading a lot of reports of other spice users prior to their first breakthrough, then maybe they would expect to see some of the more archetypal entities, e.g. machine elves. And maybe upon crossing the threshold, machine elves would appear to them. But that aspect of the trip is relatively subjective, no two users will ever have the same experience, even when encountering the same entities. IMO, just because the user saw what they expected, this doesn't take away from the fact that they just experienced the not-self for the first time. The true experience of it is the part that can't be put into words, the part that it is impossible to truly be prepared for.

Additionally, the human brain is much much more comfortable when it is around things it is familiar with. It makes sense that when encountering something so unfamiliar, we might see things that we are more 'comfortable' with.

In my experience, with substances that produce a more grounded experience than spice, the user's expectations might have more influence over what happens, but the idea is the same. The slightly more subjective details of the experience may be different, what you take away from it may change, but the psychedelic experience as a whole has a certain level of objectivity to it.

I'd imagine placebo has something to do with it the first few times you encounter a psychedelic, but after that point you sufficiently know enough about the experience to gage the strength of it without placebo interacting too much. I'm sure many here have had the experience of taking a psychedelic and expecting it to be much stronger than it turned out to be due to dosage issues , especially with LSD where the dose you're taking is based off of whatever your source tells you.

The subjective difference in the strength of effects even when taking the same dose seems to be more likely to be caused by varying natural tolerance, by my best guess. We must remember that the receptors that DMT, LSD, Psilocin, and others activate are also activated naturally by natural chemicals in your brain (5-ht2a is a serotonin receptor after all). Anyone here can attest to the fact that your brain will modify itself based on how much you're activating those receptors with drugs, psychedelic tolerance is rather infamous (even if it doesn't seem to apply entirely to DMT, although DMT has a really unique binding profile). Therefore, if you have rather high levels of serotonin activating those receptors during the day it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to say that you will have a decreased response to any psychedelics you take that night.

I haven't read any studies regarding different responses to identical doses of psychedelics (or drugs in general) though, so take my words with a grain of salt.

Some of the posts here on dmt nexus I call bullshit on. I read the other day a thread from a guy who posted a picture of his lower back with two scars on it. He claimed it was the scars from the operations made by the aliens in his trip.
Some people posting their experience, I just know they are faking it. Just to get attention. I love this place because of all the insightful and intelligent, deep minded people who roam this forum. But I guess even the purest of crystals have a little bit of impurities in it.

So true...