Apologies if this is a common noob Q. I would feel remiss if I didn't ask it...

Despite having listened to and read a fairly massive amount about DMT, I am, optimistically, several weeks away from actually encountering la experienca first-hand. My mind is well saturated with all the common tropes of the 'breakthrough' trip as described in the literature, talks and trip reports, yet undermining all my research is the nagging remembrance of that first lesson of the Mushroom:

All preparation is futile.

(n.b.: There is no self to prepare.)

Still, being a fan of epic hubris, I'm going to go ahead and sort of disregard that cosmic dictum and assume that I can, indeed, prepare myself... or at least, my illusion of self... for that most profound of living experiences that is one's first DMT excursion. After all, what else is an illusory self for if not to fuck around with between periodic shatterings?

In the coming days I will have another rendezvous with the Mushroom; a fairly sizeable one at that. At my preferred rate of hallucination, this will likely be my penultimate trip before I can sneak off and flirt with a mimosa tree.

So what I wish to know is this: Is there a consensus view among veteran psychedelicists on the gram dosage of psilocybin mushrooms required for the trip to approximate the DMT experience?

I've listened to Terence McKenna's views on the subject – I believe he stated that at 8-10g the mushroom trip begins to approximate the DMT state, at least visually.

My last and heaviest mushroom dose was 7.5g, but I classify it as a partial botch (accidental inappropriate musical contamination of the trip lead to physical agitation, fatigue and blackout). I intend to at least repeat the dosage, this time properly ensuring the integrity of set and setting. I would consider going heavier if I thought it fruitful. My aim would be to at least attempt to lay some groundwork for future trips and test my mettle to justify the huge mound of cash I'm presently investing in this little hobby of ours. That, and too much studying probably has me in an impatient frame of mind.

All input appreciated.

l.b. III

No.

Hm. Thought not.

I wouldn't necessarily say that's the case, actually. A large dose of mushrooms is about as close an approximation as you're going to find, and the dosage range you're talking about should be more than adequate to crack it. They're very close chemical cousins, after all, so my answer would be yes - but with the following caveat:

What this can't prepare you for is the immediacy of the vaporized DMT experience. You are going to go from baseline to the peak of this kind of monster dose in 60 seconds or less. It's traumatic, to put it mildly. This is mentioned so often where spice is concerned that it's almost become a cliche, but it's honestly true that there's nothing on Earth that can possibly prepare you. A DMT breakthrough is beyond ALL measure of weirdness and complexity, and you just can't possibly begin to imagine it - except while actually there.

If I can offer one piece of advice, it is check your hubris at the door. It's baggage better left at home with all psychedelics, really - but with DMT it's absolutely you-bet-your-ass essential. There's no way you can drive it, steer it, tame it or even name it. Take the plunge by all means, but prepare by getting your house in order here, in this world. Be comfortable here, center yourself and then hit it with commitment - then surrender to absolutely everything (including your need to know).

How can you prepare for the wierdest experience you'll ever have? If you can handle 7.5g of dried mushrooms there's nothing to be afraid of though.

It's like dipping a couple toes in the water. your getting the very basic of the sensation but at a minuscule scale. It's ok though to speak truth I don't think a single one of us was mentally prepared for the power of our first breakthrough. We were able to deal with it afterward, so will you.

My brother, I can say honestly compared to most on this site I am a fledgling having had experienced DMT only 3 times. However having had many experiences with mushrooms but never the amount you are encountering ( but then again I find leaving this plane of existence apparently simpler than most) the difference between the two are staggering each one offering their own beauty. Shrooms come on slowly offering time to contemplate, meditate, fixate on love prior to complete and utter departure and, then theres the DMT experience, which if you can take 3 fully vaped puffs before being wisked into absolute body death and anonymity You are a Super Toker.! Instantaneous is not far from the Truth. Word of advise, Just let it Take you, trusting that it will take you where you need to go. In 3 times I experienced anything from a Vividly colored pixilated Elephant welcoming me pulling me in and leaving me in a place of absolute forgetfulness. I literally had 0 memory after passing the Elephant till I came out of the Journey. To meeting a highly evolved humanoid telling me all the truths I know are correct while displaying a tightly grafted earth in his arms. On Shrooms I'm always guided by the Elephant... The thing is with Journeys is where you are prior to. If you go in with doubts, than fasten your seatbelt.

I agree with Art. On high doses of mushrooms, I've definitely broken through - just in a more gradual manner. It did not leave me prepared for some aspect of the DMT flash that I have difficulty putting my finger on... not sure if it is the speed, or something else.

Well said!


Perhaps another option you might entertain for reaching breakthrough/visionary levels of experience with the mushrooms would be to combine them with harmalas. 2-3 grams of rue seed ingested shortly before 3-4 grams of mushrooms seems like it would more reliably induce a more powerful visionary experience than a 5-8 gram dose of mushrooms alone.

Just a thought

I dont think that you can actually reach DMT hyperspace with shrooms. But i have sensed the same character and entities on 8g of shrooms after smoking bout 65+mg of spice that made me breakthru almost instantly. So i think they are two completely different things in one sense, as no dose of shrooms can actually prepare you for the sudden rapture of dmt. But at the same time theres something underlying both substances that seems to be the same wholly other... ohh tryptamines