If you so feel, please give the reason/reasons you take entheogens/psychedelics. Is it to have a greater understanding of/and improve yourself, have a greater understanding of the universe, improve your connection with the source, to relax, to see crazy entertaining things, to explore an normally invisible spirit world, increase your creative abilities, to improve your problem solving skills, or is there other reasons you have?

For me I believe they strengthen my connection with the "source". I believe they help me to become more in tune with the universe and the way it works. I think they can help expand my creative potential, even if by the fact of the sheer "bizarreness" of the things one can see. I think they help me to look at things from different perspectives. I also have to admit the possibility of exploring the not before seen or a unknown realm is very exciting and enticing.

What are your reasons?

to celebrate the visceral beauty of life - the highs, the lows, the dark, the dingy, the ecstatic, the good and the bad

to reveal the Mystery in which im bound

I take entheogens because... they are entheogens

Psychedelics are one of the biggest parts of my life and there are numerous reasons I study and take these substances.

At first, i took them to try in an attempt to see the world and society differently. To achieve a sort of higher perspective. After realizing that I still had loads of work to do on myself before i would be capable of moving to a larger scale, I sort of switched my mindset from attempting to see the world differently to trying to see myself differently and improve myself. I think the best way for me to achieve long lasting, powerful knowledge from trips is to fully immerse myself in the experience and then really think and talk about it after the come down and continue thinking about what you have learned in "real life". Doing this with a clear head really helps solidify the knowledge in my mind.

If I don't do this I frequently forget what I saw and just generally don't gain nearly as much.

Of course I have also taken some of these substances on occasion simply for enjoyment. I love music and visual arts as well as hiking and camping whilst under the influence.

Although i have different motivations for taking different substances and the sometimes change, in general, I take entheogens for knowledge of anything and everything. Everytime i go through one of these experiences I am humbled by the realization that I know so little about myself and the world around me despite how much I may think I understand.

I was raised to hide from and despise life.
My parents really did mean well, and were good providers, but my father spent his life systematically striving to hide from himself in any self destructive way he could and my mother was only ever mindlessly obsessed with trivial pleasures. So I grew up as a sickly, clinically depressed kid trying to blot out my days with dope, TV, and junk food.
I thought LSD would provide just another escape like marijuana or booze. Fuck sake, was I wrong
It showed me my mistakes, it showed me beauty, it didnt allow me to avoid myself, and it just generally woke me up to a philosophy I had done my best to ignore.
That was the first break in the depression and nihilism that would have eventually killed me. Progress was still slow but at every large step along the way psychedelics were there, orienting me.

So for me theyre like a signpost, making sure I know which way goes where. Choosing the path is still up to me tho.

For practicing death.

After all, it'll be the biggest, deepest, gnarliest trip any of us will ever go on.

So, why not practice for it?

To peer deeper inside myself than I ever could with any sort of machine(x-ray, MRI and the like) which leads to all sorts of new perspectives.

“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

I also use entheogens so that I can manifest, manage, and overcome any and all fear/stress brought on by everyday living in the real world. Not as an escape, of course, but as a tool to help understand and better myself.

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”
― Jim Morrison

I take them to help with expanding my perspectives and also gain more insight to my perspectives. I enjoy the energy I get from acid as it feels nurturing and warm. I am interested in exploring mushrooms and DMT as well. I am interested in MDMA as it relates to improving social connection but am more hesitant about that.

To reset the universal space in which I abide by. Through which we all abide by.

-Seeking for my own clues to the nature of reality and exploring other possible realities.

-Succumbing to the imperatives of a Mid-Life Crisis.

-Trying to come to some accommodation with my paranoias and angers.

-After long ago giving up drugs and alcohol, revisiting the one class of drugs I have always thought were important and potentially worthwhile.

-Death preparation.

-Scratching an itch to do something clandestine.


Thank you for asking the question. I needed that.

I can relate to this. I haven't been sober for that long but I don't think that taking psychedelics, especially when you have set intentions, is the same as 'just taking another drug' like so many people have told me. Congrats on staying sober by the way!

I don't know why to tell you the truth.
I don't actively decide on what things hold or receive my interest .
It either fits me or it doesn't and DMT/Harmala fits me like a glove

Usually it's the other way around

To practice point of perception shift. Not one of them is The-True one, but the shifting dynamic is like what stretching is for muscles, it prevents stagnation and early decay. It should be prescribed by doctors

Then there is microdosing for other purposes.

Thanks LSDvibes. Still uncertain whether my decision, after almost 10 years sobriety to use entheogens is an adult decision or just rationalization on my part. I used every type of drug as a youth but as I got older and the responsibilities took over I defaulted to alcohol and also had a problem with opiates. Finding this forum promoting responsible DMT exploration went a long way towards solidifying my resolve to revisit psychedelics.

I use them for general knowledge gathering, using them to have revelations and think out issues that I would not have ever touched soberly. I am also very interested in the human brain and how altering it changes the subjective experience of the person it belongs to, psychedelics have taught me so much about all the different states there can be.

the very few i used, i use them for all the reasons you listed except purely recreationally. cannabis is an exception i suppose but even to improve relaxed vibes at a party can be understood as serious endeavor ... well life is serious to me no matter what - except tryptamines tend to try to tell me to not be so damn serious all the time! lol

There's so many reasons to take psychedelics
but I'll just throw out one reason important to me.

For the aid in healing. Obviously, the mind healing, where in a powerful trip you can revise why you think the way you do, see yourself as the decision maker in your actions, and have the sensitivity to feel the consequence of your thoughts.

And tying in and beyond this, the physical follows. It's a full system clearing, blocks can be overcome and your body's energy flows more easily. I feel more spry, able to respond to stress in my life in a productive way, it all accentuates healing.

Tying in here also, are the helpful spirits we might encounter on the journey, able to lend some advice or clean us out. The little surgeons and doctors of the spirit world, I think they're more accessible when you're seeing hyperspace vividly.

I remember, with my mushrooms, seeing those patterns on people's skin. My friends seemed to have some good, beautiful designs. If there were something messed up with the pattern maybe it'd be good to brush them with some leaves...

Honestly, the primary reason I take psychedelics and other hallucinogens is for fun. I have gotten many other things out of them as well, such as a much deeper understanding of myself, appreciation and respect for reality, and confidence to face my fears, but those things have all just been happy surprises along the way. Ultimately, the reason that I began using and continue to use hallucinogens is because I saw them as ways of altering my brain's "computer programming" the way that I had learned to on actual computers from a young age, and the fact that doing so can create such drastic and severe distortions of perception and cognition never ceases to fascinate me. I also tend to favor the psychoactives which have the greatest proportion of effects on my mind versus my senses or emotions due to the fact that the psychological distortions are the ones I consider to be the deepest and the most mind-boggling (pun intended), and it seems that no matter how delirious I become, the experiences always manage to be highly personal in ways so perfect they may defy description. Generally, I just think of them as the best form of recreation, being able to be just as hedonistic and playful as any other high, but at the same time, being able to remind me when I'm taking things too far and teaching me to behave rather than just letting me sink further and further into obsession and addiction. I cannot imagine a better personal pleasure than that!

There are plenty of reasons and it all depends on different circumstances.

Sometimes it's just for fun. As I do not like to drink alcohol often, I will sometimes take small doses of psychs when attending a party, so I can get out of my comfort zone and have a good time. This was more so when I first started using them though, and is not so much the case anymore.

I also take them during turbulent times in order to gain a different perspective on the issues at hand then what I would have normally. This has enabled me to see things in ways that have greatly benefitted me and helped me solve said issues, although these experiences are usually not fun or enjoyable.

I have also started to get into the idea of taking them to be able to communicate with the forces that control this universe, and the realms beyond our daily consciousness. Many a times have I been propelled into what I believe to be the spirit world. These instances almost always result in some type of revelations about myself or others, and on a few occasions has allowed me to communicate with family who has passed. I have also encountered other "spirits" that are seeking help for some reason or another, but I have yet to be able to figure out what to do in these situations.

There are other reasons as well, but too much to get in to right now. It should also be noted that it doesn't always work out the way I want it to. Sometimes I'll do it for the intention of fun and connecting with nature, yet it kicks my ass and has other intentions for me completely. Although all reasons usually end in some sort of personal healing and growth.

To still my mind, expand my heart, and silence the slow march of time.