I wanted to mention how I change my atmosphere before a DMT trip lately and it works very well for me.

I have a couple salt lamps which give off a wonderful and peaceful glow. I light up several candles around the rooms. I have the lots of comfy blankets and pillow around. I then burn white sage and smoke the place out. Instantly the atmosphere is changed. It becomes ceremonial in a sense. It feels so much different. My pre-flight anxiety is diminished 10 fold when I have been doing this.

The sage smells good. The smoke lingers in the air and is highlighted by all the salt lamps and candles. It is very peaceful and condusive for a great journey. Coming back into this environment is always very nice and welcoming! It is new for me to create this atmosphere and I love it!

What do you do to create a good atmosphere? I am curious what others here have come up with. Please do share!

Yes tea light, oil lamps, burning sage and/or copal. Nothing special really, but works.

Then I snort a bit of mapacho infusion in the nose. This helps me tune in the moment and relieve some anxiety, running thoughts.

Preflight rituals and preparation are key IME. Mattress and comfy pillows on the floor. Loose clothing and soft blankets. Soft lighting, sage or Paolo Santo. Breathing, meditation, intention.

It's important to control the things we can, before jumping into something which is sort of out of our hands. Also, ceremony and ritual has an important place within the psychedelic experience, even if it is all just placebo.

Well, since we've had a less-than-average April as far as temperature and a more-than-average month as far as rain goes, the weather is just now becoming conducive to what I prefer for DMT traveling.

It's been quite a while, perhaps 9 months? Perhaps more; it seems like a year, but I don't think it's been quite that long...

The weather has to be just right (I simply don't do psychedelics indoors) and my headspace has be just right and it needs to feel like an evening that will offer up no surprises nor emergencies. I can usually divine this as manifesting IF the weather and my headspace match up in harmonic resonance.

With all those stars aligned correctly, it is time to get out my "sacred tripping chair", a really cool, ergonomic type of chaise lounge for the outdoors that is called an "anti-gravity chair". It allows me to sit up in a comfortable position for pre-flight ritual and smoalkage and then to easily recline into the perfect star (or tall tree) gazing position with very little effort. In my not-so-humble opinion, it is the best DMT tripping chair available on the market today.

Ok, so I get my chair out...Now to choose "the right" place to put it...
Has the sunset gone yet? Is it beautiful? Perhaps the West side of the barn if that's the case...

Is it a full moon or close enough to it that I'll have plenty of light? Perhaps I'll orient my tripping setup to face the moon.

The olive trees that make up the olive grove that we reside in are always a beautiful, protective presence when I undertake hyperspatial travel...Most often they welcome me back from hyperspace with a shifting motion that says, "...welcome back to consensus reality oh ye ancient traveler of worlds between worlds between worlds...we have your back oh fellow being, there is no need to fear for anything..."

Perhaps below the gargantuan Valley Oak? The massiveness of that tree is awe-inspiring in and of itself... It's got to be at least 100 years old...The only problem there are the ants. There's always a lot of ants on oaks, especially during the perfect DMT-traveling weather. Ok. Maybe far enough away that I can appreciate the oak without getting ants all over me....

Once the chair is set in its desired place for the event, then it's time to retrieve a little table to put next to it to hold my smudge or incense, my tobacco and papers (usually I've got a few rolled & ready to go for pre & post grounding rituals), the lighter, the sacred pipe only used for DMT loaded & ready to go; a candle or two or three, depending upon what's available, what I feel like and how dark it actually is outside...A music source for some good, trippy, ambient music for blast off, inter-atmospheric travel and landing (once in hyperspace I usually end up not being able to hear the music, though not all the time).

Lastly, one good high-hopped ale or, if I don't particularly feel like a little bit of alcohol, a strong ginger brew...One of these two choices for pre & post flight sips keep my tummy groovy, neither has ever failed me on that front...It just needs to be carbonated and stomach-settling for me, that is key.

A meditation time with a few puffs of tobacco gets me prepared. The length of this meditation depends upon the strength of my pre-flight jitters...I might be very collected & calm and so the meditation time will be relatively short (say, 1-2 minutes)...If the pre-flight jitters are strong, my meditation time before blast off might be up to a full half hour. I always play it by how the whole situation feels to me. Over the years I have observed that the higher amount of physical labor I did during the day, the less anxiety I have all around.

I pray to the Universe, Father Creator, Mother Nature, the trees, the butterflies, the hummingbirds, etc. "May I stay calm & detached in the face of Heaven or Hell, temptation or revulsion, highs or lows, mountains or valleys..."

Then it's blast off time...

Oh, and one more important thing!

Somewhere before I finally sit down for pre-flight meditation, I change into what I call my "comfies" <-(sp?)...Out of my work jeans, work shirt, work boots, etc...

Into comfy, soft sweat pants (or shorts if it's really warm), soft hoodie, outdoor slippers, soft blankets & pillows on the sacred tripping chair (if the evening is cool), etc...

I find it important to make my body as comfortable as possible and this helps greatly towards that!

Seems like there's definite similarity between how others here launch, awesome stuff

Yeah, I like either low lighting/soft glow, maybe a few candles, making sure I'm completely comfortable, fluid, relaxed [prior to picking up the pipe], usually I'll turn on some music, low/mid volume, something uplifting/melodic, something soft and not too abrasive [female vocals are most excellent] [or no vocals]. Comfortable recliner for indoors, and the occasional outdoors I also have a decent chair. Most of the experiences that I've done with smoking dmt outside have been during the day, when the skies are crystal clear blue with a bright sunny day. I've had very powerful experiences during sunset here also, but I've only done that a few times during evening.

After feeling comfortable [and in that moment] I pick up the pipe and go for it, I used to think about it more, limbs would grow heavy with a bit of fear/anticipation, though excited at all the same time, but now once I feel entirely comfortable/relaxed I try to have no to little thought of the whole execution of the steps to smoking; just once I'm comfortable - pick up the pipe and go, and don't think about it as I'm going through the motions. I always crack a big grin right before, whether that helps or not - I have no clue, I feel it does. If the effects initially start gaining serious ground very rapidly ..then often the nerves/emotion comes over me a bit ..but then once that clear break is made after so many seconds into the experience then all of the nerves and fear typically melts away for me into the totality of that other reality.


I also like having smaller fires on the edge of the property [near a bit of woods] during the time right before it starts to get warm here, where the nights that drop to like a 60F low, clear sky, or a full [or near full] moon. Cloud and moon combo though ..and a nice fire glow, and if done with reasonable intelligence [and kept within a safe distance of the fire] those experiences can be something else.. , plus there's a couple ponds near here and the frogs at night here during the right times are amazing at night.

Comfy clothes for sure Doc

Music and meditation was the only atmosphere I ever really played around with before. The sage and candles and comfy stuff came recently. Funny how we all arrive at a similar set up. All the times I have done DMT and I have never done it outside. I will be looking for Doc's ultimate, ergonomic, deluxe, anti-gravity, super trippy chair and follow suit sometime in the near future when the weather is ideal. Thanks for the idea there Doc!

Loved reading how y'all do your thang!

Meditation.... Check!
Candles and lighting .... Check!
Sage and incense... Check!
Good music... Check!
Comfy clothes and blankets and pillows... Check!
Ultimate, ergonomic, deluxe, anti-gravity, super trippy chair........on my check list now!

We believe the kinnnnnnnnnnnng of all good atmospheres and set & settings is: Having good internal atmospheres (set & setting) and not be (always) lazy in fixing that, at least to try. Here is a text from the 9th century that tries curing that but it uses our harsh sannnnnnnnnd language and terminology, so, it may not be suitable for all audiences. We still mention it tho in case someboday may experience change of Heart (..mainly directed at the own diseased heart = intezam)



Unrelated: Note that the name Fuqara (faqeers, poor men) bears some striking similarity to the sannnnnnnd wornd Fugara (shaman, medicine men) except that g changes to q, which gives an interesting angle as to why Surah Al Qaf (in which The Khidr is mentioned) is called: The Letter Q

I would think that for pretty much anyone who goes into it intentionally, or if they don't initially if they do it again, that setting up a good space to take DMT is considered a crucial part of the whole thing.

I learned quickly that music is anathema to it for me, it is distracting at worst and fades away at best, but DMT is very auditory and I feel it is crucial to be in a quiet place. I check for ambient sounds like fridges, AC units, clocks, to at least be aware of when I take off or I may fixate on them.

Outdoors is my favorite place to DMT. I have a couple spots locally, I'm fortunate to live in a city with access to huge natural areas, even a stand of old growth douglas fir is within a walk away. I may walk two hours up into the park, go off onto a deer trail to a little clearing in good weather, or a few weekends ago just up into the arboretum and off trail a little bit.

Sage or incense seems to help me launch with clarity. I think the intentional act of taking it out of my bag, setting up a little altar inside a metal bowl and lighting it sets the intent for the journey. It is an offering of sorts.

I havent done it indoors in a while, I fear the sounds of a breakthrough could invite trouble for me.