This is a brief write down of my first experience with an ayahuasca analogue: Acacia brew + harmaline.
PreparationsExtracted harmaline was available, so a precise dose of 120mg could be measured. I made an acacia brew from 20g ACRB. Basically I simmered powdered bark in 0,5l tap water with a spoon full of citric acid for 30mins. Then separated water from solids and repeated simmering with the solids, until the water came out pretty clear (4 washes in total). I combined the batches and boiled them down to 2 cups of very dark red and strongly smelling "tea".
AdministrationI took the harmaline in a capsule to spare me the bitterness. Waited for 40 mins, then drank half of the cup acacia brew. It did taste very sour from the citric acid, but was manageable. I wasn't so sure about the potency of the bark, thus, I stopped at half a cup. It proved to be a very good decission.
Rough timeline0:00 - Took harmaline
+0:40 - Drank acacia brew, proceded watching movie
+1:10 - Had to purge all of a sudden
+1:20 - Felt awful, because of the purge, started feeling first effects
+1:40 - Couldn't continue watching movie, fought the urge to purge again
+2:00 - Absolutely amazing visuals + altered state of mind + overwhelming intensity of sensory input (auditory, visual, haptic)
+3:00 - Noticed the effects declining
+4:00 - Most effects wore off
+4:30 - No noticeable effects, just some afterglow, tiredness
ReportI'm not extremely experienced with powerful psychodelics. I've had a regular LSD dose twice. Have tried bufotenine (several times), but apart from amazing CEVs, there have been no mind altering effects. Luckily, I did not drink the whole cup of the acacia brew. Otherwise this might have been a much more difficult experience. However, it turned out to be just the right amount. In fact I suspect that there is more than just DMT in the bark. Some effects really felt a lot like bufotenine (but this is very speculative).
The most important difference I noticed between this experience and the previous ones, was the strength of the feelings and the relatively low importance of coherent thoughts. LSD made me think *more*, made me *see* thoughts and *put thoughts on* like clothes. Whereas this time, thoughts came and passed, they've been rather bothersome. Instead, I had amazingly intense feelings. The feeling of enormous love, both love for everything and love from everything. I felt it with my whole body. I was *sooo* comfortable, so cared for, so absolutely safe. I've heard people call ayahuasca "the mother". Though, it wasn't really ayahuasca in my case, I could imagine where this name comes from.
I've spent some time, which felt like a long time (20-30 mins), just lying on the couch, not knowing exactly if my eyes've been opened or closed. When I closed my eyes, I proceded seeing almost as vividly as with them open. Some scenes had a plot, most just have been a collection of slowly morphing pictures. A lot of beautiful female figures, some sea or ocean, me wandering across a maze of corridors, mostly in warm reddish colors. Even when I turned off the light, I could still see colored CEVs. It felt amazing and I wished to stay forever in this world of love.
When I suddently realized that the experience is getting weaker, I felt sadness at first. I started listening to music. Harmaline seems to be quite sedative, so I put in some trance that was pretty rhytmic and even made me "dance" a bit. Meaning: me moving my head wildly
Couldn't be bothered to move more then just the head.
Roughly four hours in, the effects stopped quite abruptly, the same way as they started. Overall, it has been an amazing evening, which felt like a day. Unfortunately, the memory of the profound feelings starts to fade. I'm feeling very small right now. I'll need some time to understand. It feels like I've been given an important gift, which I cannot apreciate fully, yet.