So the more I read about DMT trips, the more I hear about people who have encountered clowns/mimes/jesters/jokers. While in real life, I am usually quite comfortable around these things. Problem is, I am terrified of them in my dreams and have had some really weird real-life encounters with them.

It started in my childhood. I would commonly have dreams of the Clown(always the same one, or at least a visual clone of the original) who would chase me down and tickle me until I woke up crying. In retrospect that might be hilarious, but it was absolutely terrifying for me. He would appear in the most random of dreams. Of the times I can remember, here are my encounters:

This dream would re-occur with slight changes. I would be reading a picture-book in a dream and find a picture of a clown inside. I would suddenly have the complete understanding that if I put the book down or looked up, the Clown would be standing in front of me. Eventually, I always looked. He would have that malevolent smile on, rush up to me, and tickle me until I woke up.

Once, I was playing with a nutcracker in a dream, in my old kindergarten classroom. Some kids would come in, play with toys, and leave. At some point, the Clown came in and started playing with some toys. I knew when he noticed me I would be doomed. I hid under a table and waited for him to leave. He walked around the room playing with toys until he got to my table. He stopped there and stood for a minute without playing with any toy. Just stood. All I could see were his legs. Then he looked under the table, smiled at me, and tickled me until I woke up screaming.

Once, he chased me across my gymnastics gymnasium after an initially-wonderful dream of a giant foam-pit and DZ: Discovery Zone-esque tubes. I managed to escape this time, but only because a noisy crow outside my window woke me up mid-chase.

In real life, I was at a parade, and a single clown was walking in between two marching bands. When he got to where I was standing, he rushed over, waved his arms frantically at me and laughed maniacally before running back to his place in the parade. My friends (who knew about my phobia-esque relationship with clowns) and I were totally stunned.

There were more dreams, but I can't remember them clearly. It happened over a dozen times.

In recent years, I went to a "Haunted Forest" on Halloween. One of the buildings I had to walk through was a trippy tube with a guy dressed in an evil clown costume at the end hiding behind a wall. For whatever reason, this clown didn't bother me one bit. And it was meant to be frightening. This made me believe that I had possibly overcome my fear with age.

...

However, I'm entering hyperspace soon... and these clowns are always described as "having their own agenda" or "not there to help" or "I wondered if they would turn on me." So... I'm getting a little nervous. I figure I'll just meditate and block it out of my mind before taking my first step in. I'm relatively sure I will be able to do that. But... any advice? I'm not sure how I'll react if I see the Clown in hyperspace. That would be terrible.

(I realize this all sounds a bit ridiculous, and I rarely admit weaknesses of any kind... but I figured what the hell)

hmm how to put this lightly...
They are stranger and more vivid than you can even imagine.
I'm + it will scare the shit right out of you the first time you're swept up and folded.
but, everyone will tell you
not to be afraid

some of them will tell ya that too

all these emotions

all the detail to hyperspace

don't believe a thing, just keep going

I too have a sort of strange love/hate relationship with clowns of sorts. Not to the point of having terrifying dreams of them, but they sometimes give me chills when I see them/think of them, just because they're so bizarrely ambiguous, simultaneously representing joy and terror (at least to me, but to many others I'm sure, just remember Pennywise and whatnot...).

And DMT does seem to bring out this circus/clown imagery quite a lot. Just like you, I'd expected to be rather frightened of them. Well... so far, it's never happened. The few times I've encountered such entities, they weren't exactly friendly, but they seemed to try to amuse me, if only in a mocking way. Another time, in a sub-breakthrough experience I found myself amidst a cornucopia of circus imagery, hearing children's laughter all around, building in intensity. And a slow pulse that seemed to say "here comes the clown..." repeatedly. In retrospect, it reminded me of Beckett. Because the clown never came. Quite counter-climactic.

But I digress. My point is: don't be afraid. Even if it's something you may be predisposed to fear, you never know what the spice will bring out. Maybe you'll come to realize there is nothing to fear and embrace the imagery. Who knows.

Its weird, and very interesting this whole clown thing.

My mum's recent, and second experience drinking ayahuasca was a much more intense and beautiful experience than her first time.

She seems very sensitive to psychedelics, especiallt ayahausca and Iboga. She described seeing into this vast, realm, so vivid and vast and real, twisting with an infinity of fractals, that the scale of it made her feel sick. What was also confusing was that we drank during the day, when it was light, with this particular gathering.

She described at one point going somewhere, for a little bit, that made her feel quite uncomfortable. It was a carnivally/cartoony-esque dimension, but incredibly vivid. In this place she encountered these clowns and jester types, and she got the distinct impression of some kind of malevolence...not evil, but they had quite wicked smiles, and pinocchio noses, and she felt like they could have turned on her...

I found this fascinating, as her descriptions were VERY similar to quite a few reports in Strassman's DMT: The Spirit Molecule, where reports of clowns and jesters cropped up quite a few times (usually malevolent, and in a cartoony, vivid dimension), and my mum had no prior knowledge of this. I wonder whats going on here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnLNXquIBVs

Don't be scared, summon them!
I bet this album would make for an interestingly themed journey.

I've known several parents whose kids are very scared of clowns. It must be some sort of universal phobia, kind of like snakes or something, that some people get. A clown may be some type of archetype. I wonder where the original idea for a clown came from? Alternatively, I could see some past life connections possible (if you believe in that kind of thing), since there have been cases of child molesters who lured kids by dressing up as a clown. But I think in the course of human history that would only be a very recent development.

In Strassman's book, I notice a lot of mention in DMT experience not only of clowns, but also other themes from early childhood such as a nursery setting. I'm wondering if DMT activates early memories and that might explain seeing clowns, circuses, nursery scenes, and the like.

elphologist

I am usually greeted by the more classic jester, bowing and welcoming me back...Never felt threatened by ANYTHING in
hyperspace. The strong body sensation of every cell vibrating madly right before I get folded into the void over and over as though it was a contest to see who could out do one another , can be a bit intense if you fight it. My first
breakthrough an elf touched me and said, " Tag!....You're it!" and disappeared in a flash of light and away I went right after....Whoosh...Since then the game has gotten more complicated...A week ago after lift off I found myself in an unknown
diner being handed an envelope...I open and slide out a photo of me opening the envelope and it said "Tag , you're it!"
and everything folded in on itself and away I went...Always an adventure!!

Just meditate and check your anxiety at the door...Peace

Anything imaginable could greet you in there but none of it will hurt you. focus on getting rid of fear and letting go of all phobias you have, just relax love and laugh at it all. Just pump positivity before going in/ during

Really, there were lasting adverse effects? I don't recall Strassman mentioning that in the book. Do you have any further information or a source? I'd be curious to see the results of a long-term followup.

elphologist

Have one of your buddies dress up like a clown and beat the crap out of him.

Who's scared now Mr.Clown?

Haha thanks 'Coatl, and everyone else.

I'll think positively, meditate, and get excited cuz I'm going on a trip through hyperspace!

Someone mentioned Strassman's volunteers needing a support group because they were traumatized. That's not completely accurate. It was more of a discussion group, so that everyone could talk about the experience with others who had been through the same thing. Saying that and that's why they needed that group is just wrong. There were a couple volunteers who wanted to see a psychologist afterward, and they were allowed to, free of charge, for as long as they needed. Everyone else just wanted some friends to talk to about their experience, sort of like the people in this forum