DOSE: T+ 0:00	8 in	oral	Cacti - T. pachanoi	(tea)
T+ 1:22		smoked	Cannabis

BODY WEIGHT:

85 kg

So...For months now I've been reading San Pedro trip reports which have been so helpful in my preparation for this journey so I thought it was only fair to share my own experience now.

I'm a 24 year old female, 85kgs (187lbs). I've been a weed smoker for years, had one encounter with LSD, a few pills. No prescription medication, and had no major concerns in my life at the time. After reading about San Pedro and discovering that it is one of the few legal entheogenic plants (to own not consume) in Australia I though why the hell not, I'd give it a go. I bought two 75cm x 10cm (30 x 4in) cuttings online which sat in my cupboard for about 2 months. I then potted one and cut a 20cm (8inch) section from from the other to use.

Preparation
After reading that most of the Mescaline is contained in the outer dark green layer of the cactus I pretty much just cut that bit off, put it into a blender skin and all, put roughly the same amount of water as cacti into a pot and put on a (very) low boil for two hours. I strained the solids through a chux cloth, squeezed out the excess and threw away the solids, keeping the resulting tea in the fridge for about 48 hours until the time felt right.

I couldn't have set the trip up better if I tried. I was in my own home, very safe and comfortable. I decked out my loungeroom floor with doonas and pillows and made sure I had access to music, art supplies and spent a bit of time getting the lighting right. I had the party lights from outside shining through the window as well as a dim lamp in the corner. I found this fractal visualisation thing I found on youtube and plugged the laptop into the T.V. My loungeroom looked pretty awesome.

Drinking the tea
11:30pm - And so the drinking of the tea began. I poured it into a measuring cup and found I had about 350ml of juice. I worked out if I drank about 50ml every 10 minutes, Id be finished in about an hour. Now the taste which I've been hearing so much about. Honestly, it was bad but it wasn't THAT bad. I just plugged my nose and before unplugging my nose I would chaser with coke, swishing it around in my mouth to get the taste out. And it worked pretty well. Having yogurt on hand definitely helped too. It was only until literally the last mouthful I feel I might gag but it was definitely a Mind over Matter situation. Throughout the night I experienced waves of mild nausea, where If I had really thought about something disgusting I could have spewed but never did and it generally subsided pretty quickly. Really not as bad as I was expecting. I also ate a bit of ginger which may have helped.

The Trip
It's very hard to pinpoint the exact time it hit me, it was a very gradual climb. But basically, according to the journal I was writing in at the time, I began drinking the tea at 11:30pm. I wrote at 12:20am 'Not sure if placebo or fatigue but I might be feeling something' and then at 12:38 'Def starting to feel a mild stony affect now. Bit drunk headed and slight detachment'.

I then proceeded to 'bless' the house with a stick of incense which I lit, walked around the whole house waving the stick in all the dark corners of the house to ward off any dark spirits. I have seen my Indian mother-in-law do the same every day when she says her prayers. It just felt like the most natural thing to do at the time.

I then started to get a strong feeling that I was standing on sacred ground and I must pay homage to those that have been before me. Even though these people and spirits where not there physically I could feel their presence and had a great deal of respect for them. Xavier Rudd was playing at the time and the didgeridoo and clapsticks sent me into a kind of coroboree dance around my loungeroom. I am not of Aboriginal descent but I always try to be aware of the land I'm standing on and that not so long ago, these people lived so in tune with nature. This very spot I'm standing could have been an ancient gathering/burial site for all I know.

At 12:52, The time felt right to light up a cone to really kick things off. And it definitely did!

I then got my big A2 sized artpad out and my chalk pastels and started drawing. This I found so comforting and therapeutic. Basically I have neglected my artwork lately because it's hard to find the time in my busy life but when I was drawing it kind of took me back to my childhood. My parents tell me that as a child I drew constantly. I realised that it's a kind of meditative, escapist thing because it doesn't matter where I am or what is happening around me, I kind of get to create another world on paper and really get let myself get sucked into that place I create. I really felt like the artwork was guiding me, and it was going to be a reflection of the experience I had that night.

At about 2:15am I took my charcoal covered fingertips and decorated my face warpaint style. It felt fine at the time because... I was not of this world right now. So it felt only normal to take on an unusual appearance. My whole face was covered in charcoal and chalk pastel.

I didn't think I was going to experience any visuals. I definitely didn't talk to plants which I've heard of a lot of people doing. But I was standing in my kitchen making a cup of tea when I looked up at this aboriginal painting I have of two turtles swimming in a stream when...POW! The water starts moving and morphing and the turtles actually looked like they were swimming. It was beautiful and reminded me a lot of some of the mild visuals I've had on acid. At one point I found myself dancing and singing around my kitchen to Wish You Where Here by Pink Floyd. The party lights where coming in through the window and it was beautiful.

Then I was aware that 4:30 was drawing nearer, which is the time my partner gets up ready for work. I decided I would wake him up with some morning sex. It was seriously the most passionate and uninhibited sex we have had for some time. He then started getting ready for work and I felt quite emotional when confronted with the thought of him leaving. I tried to convince him to call in sick and spend the day with me. I really felt like going up to this place that overlooks the river and the city and just lie around on a picnic rug all day. But he went to work and I found myself getting very tired. The mescaline was still kicking on strong but I was so exhausted so I just lay in bed, cuddled up to my dog and watched the sun rise. I was amazed to see the sunlight slowly light up all the autumn coloured trees on my street. My stomach was still a bit yucky but I managed to eat a cookie and eventually fell into a broken sleep. I got up around 1:30pm feeling quite sober and rejuvenated.

Conclusions
All in all I found this to be a very positive experience which I definitely will do again sometime. I felt like it was a good dose for a first time, or any time for that matter and It wouldn't hurt to have a bit more.

I chose to do it alone at night, while my partner was asleep so that I could be alone with my thoughts and free to express myself whilst still having the comfort of knowing that he was in the next room if I needed him. Remember set and setting. Peace and happy journeys :)

Exp Year: 2013	ExpID: 100524
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: 24
Published: Aug 13, 2016	Views: 2,785
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Cacti - T. pachanoi (64) : Alone (16), Personal Preparation (45), Glowing Experiences (4), First Times (2)