This story starts in many places. I'll pick one so we can get going: a friend of mine and I made plans to attend a local burning man event.
I am very lucky to have this friend in my life. She is an amazing being, bursting with inner and outer beauty, full of empathy, kindness, truth, and love. She makes the world a better place. Thanks to her, new friends and experiences have blossomed for me. We'll call my friend Honeybee.
In prepartion for traveling to our local burn, Honeybee and I spent the night before in her town. We went out for dinner and sat at the bar, where we engaged with strangers in some meaningful conversations. We were excited about the burn, and before going to sleep, we drank harmalas and e-vaped DMT. When I'm in Honeybee's presence there is no fear or anxiety when exploring these places. I had a marvelous experience where I encountered a feminine presence who showed me how deeply beautiful life is with an undescribably beautiful mosaic of moving patterns which filled me with awe and thankfulness. Honeybee had her own personal experience which is hers to share (not mine).
The next day we get to the burn. Honeybee meets a great person during her volunteer shift (Britt). Britt has come to the burn on her own, and we welcome her into our small crew with open arms. After setting up our camp the three of us split up some mushrooms (2g each) and begin to day trip. This was very hilarious and we enjoy each other's presence - at one point marveling at how beautiful our eyes are in the afternoon sun. Honeybee is on a tear with witty insights - eloquently and hilariously illustrating how silly it is for some humans who make a certain shaped idol (say a cross) to look down on humans who make a different shapes idol such as a "golden f***ing cow". She also illuminated how odd it is to build elaborate buildings for the sole purpose of arguing with each other while in black robes and suits (a courthouse). We also engaged in collaborative hippie team work when it took all 3 of us to wrap a majestic tree in a hug.
After coming down from the mushies, we have dinner, cooked by the volunteers at the burn. It is delicious, a feast made with love and good intentions in mind. We continue to meet new and interesting people throughout the night.
After the effigy burn we eventually go back to our tent where we all plan to drink harmalas and vape DMT. However, Britt falls asleep while the harmalas are being dissolved in juice. After the harmalas, Honeybee and I proceed to vape DMT. At one point I started laughing uncontrollably. Honeybee joined in the LOLs and I could not stop. Being lost in pure unbounded laughter was an incredible thing, undescribable.
Honeybee falls asleep and I decide to vape a little more. I begin to hear an odd repeating sound (a low pitched humming continuous
wooo wooo wooo). I don't think much of it, imagining it will go away with the DMT effects, but it persists even after the DMT seems to wear off. I need to pee and leave the tent without shoes on for what I assume is a quick trip into the woods. As I'm peeing outside I still hear the sound (
wooo wooo wooo). It's coming from a certain direction off to the side so I decide to look.
And that is when it happened.
I have had DMT many times, but I was not prepared for this. A giant being made out of points of light is on the horizon. Looks to be a mile away and mile tall. The being has a head with horns and large wings. He is slowly rotating his body to the sound (
wooo wooo wooo) with his wings spread. He seems to be collecting points of light from outer space with his wings which he is attracting with the repeating sound.
I stare at all this for a couple seconds. How can this be? I really felt like I was mostly sober. My mouth is wide open and I wimper a weak "whaaaaaaaaaa?"
I take a step back - not sure what to do. I wonder if anyone else can see this. I turn around and start running toward the burn effigy to find others. As I get close to a group of people I think I see them pointing in the direction of the giant light being. Are they seeing it too? Is this a burning man miracle? My heart is swelling with hope.
I stumble out of the woods and kneel before the strangers with both knees on the ground. I'm shoeless in 40F (4C) weather. With tears and hopes in my eyes, I point in the direction of the being and with an excited tremor in my voice ask:
"Can you see it?"
"See what?" - is the answer.
"The giant being!" - I say
"Ummm... no"
Defeated, I sit down on my butt. I smile. Of course they can't see it, what was I thinking? The hilarity of it all hits me like a brick all at once. I start laughing and can't stop. Some of the strangers are laughing too. If this were anywhere else in the western world, the strangers would be concerned for me - probably backing away and maybe dialing the authorities. However, here they understand.
We ended up all being friends and enjoyed our company and conversation the rest of the night.
I've thought a lot about the vision I had. The sound is intriguing because it was an important part of the vision, yet the sound started a lot sooner. If I had peeked out of the tent and looked toward the source of the sound when it started, would the light being have been there the whole time? Also, I was definitely past the height of the DMT and feeling pretty sober when I looked up in the direction of the sound. How can this be? Could the being be real in some way and only perceivable under certain conditions? I don't think so, but I can't say for sure. If it happens again, I plan to walk towards the being to see what is going on instead of running away. This happened after vaporhuasca one day, followed on the next day by mushrooms and that by vaporhuasca which is very unusual for me. I only do psychedelics rarely in normal life, but this was a burn weekend. The environment was also something different, along with having Honeybee with me - which is someone I respect, look up to, and love.
At the end of the day it is what it is. An experience that happened. Life is a great and wondrous trip 🙂