Sometimes SWIM will breakthrough without ever hearing the carrier wave. Why is this so?

SWIM's first breakthrough had a carrier wave.

But do all breakthroughs need a carrier wave to qualify as a breakthrough?

A breakthrough experience is unique to you and you only. There are no qualifications nor is there any comparison to your perception of experience. One could say a breakthrough is subtle yet timeless while another may say it is a rushing flight of passing through infinite space/time, or otherwise 'something/carrier wave.' It really depends what exactly you need or want. I put need first before want because entheogens will always give you what you'll need, not necessarily what you desire.

Could you elaborate on exactly what a "carrier wave" is, please?

Hmmm...you said hearing, so it's auditory, is it what mckenna called "the sound of ripping cellophane?"





-eg

"the sound of ripping cellophane" is not the carrier wave

"the sound of ripping cellophane" is what comes before the carrier wave

two things that are most consistent with strong breakthroughs is , as soon as the spice is smoked immediately there is "the sound of ripping cellophane " ,and then comes the carrier wave

the carrier wave sounds like a jet engine next to ones ears with an OMMMMMMMMMMM kind of loud noise instead of ZEEEEEEEEEE like it would in reality , ok well sometimes it does sound like zeeeee but that is on lower level trips , on strong trips it sounds like ommmmmmmmmmmm ,

the trips without a carrier wave are always lower level compared to ones with the carrier wave , even if its visually strong

the trips having both "the sound of ripping cellophane" and then the carrier wave , go easily about 20 minutes and all that without any harmalas involved ,

The carrier wave has been rare in my journeys recently, I don’t think I have heard it in several years with any level of experience.

Man I get it so strong. So incredibly strong, it feels like it is going to vibrate me to pieces. It starts quiet then literally vibrates my whole being until I feel like I'm going to be torn apart, it's deafening. Sometimes it waxes and wanes loud then quiet and then deafening again. It's the primary sensation of pre breakthrough in my experience.

I generally have some auditory phenomenon, but it doesn't seem to have any relation to the intensity or depth of the experience in my case. For me, the "ripping cellophane" sounds more like an intense clicking which is increasing in speed , like the clicking of a strobe light, which speeds up until it's a prominent buzzing...

I always smoke in fairly high dose (but do not smoke often), so all my experiences last around 20 minutes and are at maximum intensity, though I can't say I've ever considered the auditory phenomena a contributing factor...



So this ascending tone is the carrier wave?

Where did the term carrier wave originate?

How does hearing this carrier wave enhance you experience?

-eg

So a breakthrough doesn't need a carrier wave to qualify as a breakthrough?

I'm curious here, as far as I know this is the first time I have heard the term "carrier wave"

If this is part of the experience I want to see if I can relate it to mine.

Terence mckenna would mention a space called "the cathedral" or "the dome", now, I experience this, only in my case I'm outside, I'm under a clouded sky, the clouds in the sky are so thick they feel like a ceiling, it almost feels like I'm underground, I'm at the foot of a mountain, the space is full of thick heavy fog, and the dirt roads leading up the mountain are thick and muddy, everything feels very "earthy" and wet.... when I'm in this space I'm overcome with intense dejavú, I feel like a lost child and I'm tasked with "unravelling the mystery of the dream" which appears to be a long forgotten prophetic dream which holds something signifigant. ...It feels like I've always been in this space, and my life on earth was the equivalent to a dream, an unreal break from the situation at hand...all that matters is the situation at hand, and earth, and who I was on earth are all irrelevant and nearly forgotten, like a memory of a late night dream by noon, it's a fogged "unreality"...I'm at the foot of this mountain, I'm supposed to go up dirt roads to the top, I'm lost...

...well, that's the "dome" in my case.

I think I get this "carrier" wave as well, but it's like a driving clicking, much like a clicking strobe light, there's this feeling of "intensity", almost like stress, that increases with the speed of the clicking noise, this is going on during the first "visual circus" of the flash, generally before I can exhale or just after I exhale, where the "light speed" visuals shake apart existance in a fraction of a second...This clicking builds into a prominent buzzing noise, almost a tone or vibration...it's fairly similar to the phenomenon being described here, but different...the most significant difference was I never associated it with the breakthrough in any way, I actually don't like it very much, it's like a building intensity or stress that's more than I can handle...its more of a "thing" than it is a "sound", it's like a combination of physical and psychological sensation combined with an auditory phenomena that has direct effect on your internal and external surroundings simultaneously...

That's the issue with DMT, one is always forced to settle with descriptions which are "good enough", there really is no language for these events, so we must produce models, metaphors, comparisons, etc...all of which are only "good enough" , all of which only convey a small fraction of the event which was being attempted to be described...




-eg

breakthroughs can happen even without a carrier wave ,

its less prominent among visually oriented people