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by Felicia Britches
Let me start by saying that I'm not promoting the use of drugs, I'm not recommending you take them and I'm not saying they're safe. I'm sure your television is full of information about how evil, dangerous and nasty they are, even the fun ones; no -- especially the fun ones. If you're not up to speed on this, write your congressman.
The fact of the matter is, the dumb-ass government keeps screwing with our supply, busting the good people who were brewing all that great acid in a secret underground lab filled with happy, well-loved fairies and happy, well-loved hippies, according to a secret recipe carefully safeguarded since rocks were new.
Or lore to that effect.
At any rate, the nice people who make the good drugs with all the magick in them keep having a problem with getting busted and sent to jail for tediously long periods of time, so sometimes it's hard to find the good drugs. Which adds to the risk factor, which is why I'm not recommending you do anything so patently unsafe as finding illegal drugs and using them in your own personal rituals. You could get a bad batch and die, you could lose all your spinal fluid and die, you could gateway-drug yourself up to PCP in a fortnight and die, your brain could freeze like that and you'd never recognize your own mother again or you could come to believe you could fly and jump off the water tower and die. All distinct possibilities.
If, however, you are hell-bent on doing such a thing on your own, of your own free will, and you have a good connection with a guy who only buys from other pagan hippies, or grows the shrooms in his own basement, or gets them direct from a Peruvian shaman or best of all is a person you trust who has sampled that batch him or herself, well, here's my advice for getting the most out of your journey.
First, choose your drug wisely. You need to start with the question, "What do I wish to accomplish? What is my intent in using this pharmaceutical enhancement to my regularly scheduled juju?" If your answer is "Having a good time, man!" quit reading now. This article is not for you. If your answer has to do with opening your third eye, enhancing your magickal abilities, healing emotional issues, bonding with a partner or circle, defining a transition in your life or some other suitably proactive goal, stay with me.
Once you've selected the drug that will best enhance your ritual goal, you must make careful preparations. Choose a setting you can control. Don't drop acid at work or while on the bus, for example. Pick a group of companions or choose to journey alone -- whatever method is best suited to your goal. Select a place that has a variety of things to do, such as a well-stocked house or a pagan festival or the woods. Make sure you won't be interrupted by people who will stomp on your buzz, compromise your safety or interrupt the flow of your ritual. Arrange for any transportation needs you will have to be met by sober people.
Collect the stuff you're going to want handy. Get it all together before you start, including the food you'll want to eat the next day. A lot of drugs work best on an empty stomach, so you'll be hungry once you come down and you might not be ready to brave the outer world with the new you, just yet. Create a cocoon so you know you're safe to do deep work.
Different drugs have different shopping lists. For pot, you might want snackie foods for the famous munchies. With acid, vitamin C in pill or orange juice form will bump the high back up when it's flagging. For ecstasy, you should have candy around to suck on to keep you from grinding your teeth to nubs. Do your research. I'm sure you can start at the High Times bulletin boards and work from there if you don't already know. Or go to the handy government information pages listing "These things can be a sign of ecstasy use" and use that as your shopping list.
Once you're ready with the right intention, the right group, the right setting, and the right goodies, props and toys, have yourself a ritual.
Call in circle. Do it deep, do it right. Allow the sense of moving into an altered reality, a special reality, to begin sweeping you along before drugs ever enter your body. Use the invocation to start accessing the other realms, to start running energy along the pathways you want it to take when enhanced.
When you ingest your drug of choice, do it as a sacrament. If you're doing this in a group, have a priest or priestess officiate. If you're doing it alone, do it with reverence. The chemical you're choosing is one of the ways to open yourself up to Spirit. It's not the only way, not the best way, but sometimes it is the way you choose to use at this moment, and that's your decision. Any of the drugs I'm going to talk about below can be used to open a doorway quickly. Drugs are the crowbars of the mind. They force change rather than supporting the slow organic growth of time, meditation, journaling or chanting. But sometimes we want a crowbar, right?
I should put in a caveat here: A drug is not going to do all your work for you. I'll give you a metaphor for this. It's like whatever's out of balance in you is the tilted foundation of your emotional-psychological-spiritual house. When your foundation is tilted, the big heavy furniture is all going to slide down to the low end. You can take a crowbar, aka a drug, and shove that bureau up to where you want it to be, over on the other side, with a view of the lake, thank you very much. Then, as soon as your back is turned, aka you've sobered up, it's going to slide right back over to the where it was, trapping your cat and ruining your day. If, on the other hand, you've paid your dues with the foundational work, through meditation or therapy or living well or whatever, and you've corrected the tilt on the foundation, hooray! A timely intentional use of a drug can make it a lot easier to get the furniture back where you want it. Since you've fixed the floor before you started, it's going to stay put when you're done.
Anyway, bless that crowbar, and swallow it down.
If you're doing something that takes a while to come on, the next period of time is best spent quietly, meditatively, letting the energy build inside you. Relax and wait, or stoke the fires within. Pray, drum or chant. When you're good and altered, paddle the boat.
I guess that's the biggest difference between using drugs for pure recreation and using them for ritual. If you take ecstasy, the drug is going to take you for a happy ride all on its own. It's the river, and you'll be swept along toward certain sensations and experiences. But if you're just out for a joyride, you don't care which way the boat turns or which parts of the river you explore. If you have an intention in mind, then working with the drug, you paddle the boat. You make sure that you accomplish the thing you set out to accomplish, in between dancing and licking the sweat off someone's neck and sucking the hell out of a lollipop and crunching up all the ice in your glass. It's not like you try not to do all those things, because the drug makes them fun, and trying not to do them is yanking your boat out of the river you paid good money to get into. Right?
Speaking of good money, I have a personal rule about not freaking out while on drugs. The first time I did acid I bad tripped. It sucked. I didn't like it, and it was a waste of my twenty bucks. So, now, control-freak that I am, I'm not okay with going to a dark place I can't get out of. If I feel myself starting to spin into paranoia, alienation, fear, anger or any of the other places that aren't fluffy and nice and aren't so easy to control when altered, I stop myself. How I stop myself is by saying, "Self, if you really need to freak out about this, you can do it tomorrow." Believe it or not, it works.
Finish well. At some point, you're going to feel like you've done all the coherent ritual work you're going to do. Be aware of this point before you pass out, and formally release your circle. It might take a little fine-tuning to nail down the sweet spot. For me, when I'm smoking pot, I've got a twenty-minute period of rockin' lucidity, in which I'd better write down the amazing universal insights I have into my situation or the way life works or whatever. After that narrow window, I'm going to be enjoying a sweet, serene, dream-filled night's sleep. I'm going to have to crank that circle down in a hurry, right after setting my pen down and before going away.
It's not like it's the end of the world to pass out with the circle still up. It's just that your dreamtime is going to be very on. You're still going to be working on some level to hold the circle, and your energy is going to be in working mode, rather than resting after ritual mode. I think it's nicer to decide you're done, finish the ritual and then play in the tide pools until the river spits you up on shore.
Take a logbook with you on your adventure downstream. Have a journal to record your insights and inspirations, the sudden clarities, the energy released or invoked. Draw pretty pictures in it. Once you've sobered up, some of what you wrote is going to be pure specious nonsense. But some of it is going to be cool as hell, and will serve as a mantra or touchstone for you. The thing you got, really finally got, core-deep, while the door was pried open. Use the journal the morning after, too, writing things down while they're still fresh.
Finally, spend some time doing aftercare. You've had a long trip. Whether it was rough or smooth you won't know until you're done. Take a hot bath, hot tub or sauna to help your body clear out toxins. Drink tons of water. Take your vitamins. Eat food that is nurturing for your body and your spirit. Isolate or socialize, whatever is the kindest treatment you can offer yourself. In general, try to allow at least one quiet day, if not two, for you to integrate your changes, get used to the new arrangement of interior furniture and allow your new intentions to gel.
Let's talk about the drugs themselves. I'm not going to talk about drugs I haven't done personally. First of all, I'd be talking out my ass, but secondly, I've chosen the drugs I've done consciously, as ones that would support spiritual expansion and growth. As a city pagan, my adventures have likewise been limited to things available from your friendly neighborhood drug dealer. I have a hunch that peyote and ayahuasca are even more spiritually kick-ass than the below offerings, but I haven't tried them and can't discuss the terrain. I also haven't tried the newfangled ones like GHB, so can't comment there. The following inventory, then, is a partial one. Your mileage may vary, but I'll offer my suggestions for use.
Marijuana: Nice enough, I guess. It has some expansive properties, at least some people report such. The downside is that prolonged or regular use tends to depress one's ability to process emotionally. There ends up being an emotional apathy that is indicative of unprocessed gunk under that artificially induced mellow exterior. Not my favorite drug, in general. But if you're going to use it in a group-bonding, light-entry-into-shared-ritual-drug-use, pass-the-peace-pipe sort of way, have fun.
Mushrooms: Totally organic, absolutely beautiful. Shrooming, or whatever the kids call it these days, is especially good for a couple of things. It opens the doors of perception. If you're interested in being more psychic -- learning to remember your past lives, intuitively read tarot, see auras or increase the power of your energy work, this is a good tool. Simply practice the psychic skill you want to be better at while trippin', and you'll take it to the next level. If you have someone with you who is good at that skill to teach you while you're trippin', so much the better.
It's also great for rearranging the furniture. If you've got a splintered or stunted personality/inner child you're ready to reintegrate, if you've done so much personal growth and transformation you feel like you can't catch up to yourself, if you've laid the groundwork for a major shift in your energy body and want a crowbar to shove things into place, this is the drug for you. Working with intent, things that are out of alignment energetically will tend to move freely into happier configurations on a shroom trip.
Expect to continue to notice internal shifts and alignments for about six weeks after doing drugs. This is the standard time period for noticing shifts after energy work or shamanic healing, as well. It will have a similar effect.
Acid: Can be used the same way you use mushrooms (see above), but it's not quite as pure in its effects. It's less controlled, more volatile, more intense. Perhaps the best way to express this is that the god of acid is slightly less concerned with gentle spiritual healing than the god of mushrooms.
Acid is perfectly wonderful for shamanic explorations. If you want to wander, traveling the far reaches of the cosmos, this one is your friend. If you want to gently allow your inner demons to leave you, try shrooms with a spirit guide. If you want to confront them, vanquish them, descend into Hades and return with your inner enemy's head on a pike, this is the drug for you!
Be aware that this one is very tempting shamanically. By this I mean that suddenly it becomes crystal clear to you that in fact, fire walking is the simplest of all things, requiring only a minor mental adjustment which you're currently perfectly capable of making, and then you end up in the hospital finishing your trip while they fix the third degree burns on your feet. Keep your little control-freak self monitoring things, or have a keeper with you. If you're about to engage in metaphorical activity in the real world, ask yourself, "Would I do this if I were sober?" If the answer is no, wait until you're sober to think it through.
Ecstasy: Ecstasy cracks open the heart chakra with a crowbar. If you do this drug in another's company, here is a strong warning not to get married or make any similarly life-altering relationship decisions for at least six weeks after doing E. You will have bonded artificially deeply, and you need to wait it out to see how much of that bonding is real and how much is the drug. Only a month and a half of sobriety is going to tell you that.
This would be the drug of choice for any sex magick ritual, definitely. There is a popular notion that ecstasy is all about having sex, and I disagree with that. It's equally wonderful for dancing or crunching ice, as I mentioned earlier. But it does invite a strong, intimate relationship with the world. Vision is enhanced, taste is enhanced, touch is most definitely enhanced. Actual sex, in my opinion, is not required, but handholding, stroking, hugging tightly, snuggling up and talking intimately, are all going to be important.
Ecstasy is the only drug on this list that I haven't really gotten much out of doing alone. The other ones are perfectly suited to insight and personal exploration. E, well, there's an element of lucidity that comes with it, but it's a very social drug. The best use of this one is either for group groping/bonding or paired groping/bonding.
People have suggested all marriage counselors should use this drug. When you start coming down off the frenetic part of the ride, there's a powerful urge to sit quietly and share deeply. A very sacred space for sharing.
A couple of final ideas: Bookmarking is the shorthand term I use for marking a mental state. You can do this with any of the above drugs. When you're there, simply notice where you are. When you get back to this reality, bookmark that place in your mind, in your consciousness, as a place you like to visit. Then, whenever you want, you can go back there without the drug. Self-induced flashbacks are your friend.
If I want to bring up the heart-open happy jazzy feeling of ecstasy, I look at the edges of things and let them get all crispy clear in my vision. This is one of the first things I notice when I'm rolling, and sharpening up my vision brings on the rest of the feelings. Saves the spinal fluid, eh?
Riding Free: Why pay for drugs when you can get a nice contact high from your friends? When people are altering their consciousness, it bleeds out into their auras and generally a ways past that as well. If you've ever been in the presence of a powerfully spiritual person and felt your consciousness elevating from being in the same room, that's a contact high as well. If you know a group of people are going to be doing a drug, and you're not sure you want to pollute your body's temple, simply go where they're going with them. It can be very close to the same experience if you open yourself up to it.
Invoking Deity: The line between gods and man is easier to cross when chemically altered. It's going to be fairly easy to draw down, to bring the god or goddess inside you. Exercise caution, making certain your circle is tight, your protection is rock-solid and you've had a clear discussion of the ground rules before you let anyone inside your body with you. It can get a bit crowded later, if you've let in someone who doesn't want to leave when you're done.
It can simply come over you, while doing mushrooms or acid in particular. Suddenly you'll feel that you're a great tiger, or a trickster god or Mother Earth. In general, go with it. There's probably a reason that spirit is visiting you. Allow yourself to become more, to learn from an energy greater than yourself.
If you're having sex with someone whose face suddenly morphs into a deity of some kind, don't panic. Remind yourself that if you need to freak out, that's scheduled for tomorrow. Lay back and enjoy the ride.
Sex: Sex is a fabulous thing. Make sure it continues to seem fabulous when you sober up by being clear about your boundaries before you start. Know who you're open to having sex with and who you're not. Do not redraw these lines while intoxicated. Your judgment will revert to its usual form once sober, and then come regrets. Likewise, make your safe-sex choices clearly while sober, and do not under any circumstances deviate from them. This is like the fire-walking thing. "Of course I'm immortal and invulnerable. I'm a god!" Whatever. You'll be a sober human tomorrow and sweating out the time until you can get tested for everything. Don't go there.
When combining drugs and magick, there are two places sex can be appropriate. If your ritual's intention is to forge a partnership bond with someone(s), or it's a sex magick circle, then jump right into the bunny humping while you're high as a kite. If your ritual's intent lies elsewhere, well, do that stuff, and then release the circle. Sex is always a good option for playing in the tide pools while waiting for the river to spit you back onto dry land.
Your sexuality will be very different while altered. I have heard people report that the kind of sensation they enjoy changes dramatically -- things that are painful or annoying when sober become just fine, or the reverse. People who are highly goal-oriented about their orgasms while sober find they don't care if they ever come, as long as they get to keep exploring delicious sensuality. Play around, if you'll pardon the expression.
Good luck, have fun, be safe and sane and powerful and magickal!
Copyright © 2006 by the article's author