DOSE: T+ 0:00		oral	Amanitas - A. muscaria	(ground / crushed)
T+ 0:20		vaporized	Cannabis	(extract)

BODY WEIGHT:

170 lb

First Significant Experience With A. Muscaria

I acquired 1 oz of dried amanita muscaria caps shipped from Lithuania. The caps were the classic red with white spots from the universal veil. As an initial run, I processed one large cap and one small cap by grinding them into a coarse powder in a coffee grinder. This was split into two equal amounts, combined with water and drunk by my partner and me. The flavor was earthy and woody, a good mushroom flavor. It was a small dose and the effects were mild: some light-headedness and a sense of clarity to my thoughts. I also inhaled a small amount of vaporized THC oil, but I am well accustomed to the effects of cannabis and believe that I was able to distinguish between the cannabis effects and the amanita effects.

Having gained a sense of what the amanita experience may be like from the initial small dose, a couple of weeks later my partner and I decided to increase the dosage for a more pronounced experience. I processed what remained of the amanita (slightly less than 1 ounce, but I did not weigh the amount) as before, chopping the dried caps into smaller chunks and then grinding to a coarse powder in a coffee grinder. Again, the powder was split into two roughly equal amounts (by volume, not weight) and combined with water to make a suspension. I drank mine relatively quickly; the only issue for me was the volume of liquid that needed to be consumed, but my partner had a more challenging time drinking hers and experienced some initial nausea trying to drink the amanita suspension. (We had both eaten a relatively light lunch just before, which I guess contributed to the difficulty in consuming the volume, but not necessarily my partner’s immediate nausea.) I consumed my full dose, she consumed approximately 7/8 of her dose.

The initial effects of the amanita came on about 30 minutes after ingestion, became more pronounced after one hour, and peaked after two hours. The following are notes I took during the experience with some added detail (in parentheses) included as I remember and record the experience four days later.

+0:20 -- nauseous, took weed (vape oil) to counter; nausea lightheaded. Partner vomited, very dizzy and nauseous.
+0:30 -- sense of immobility, unwilling to get up from seat
+0:40 -- vomit amanita (very small amount) and some of food eaten immediately previous
+0:45 -- lightheaded/dizzy but not debilitating at all, like physical/visual lag/analog to visual tracers with LSD but no visual streaking (this experience I later describe as a lag or delay between sensation and perception). Sitting in room with windows open. (At this point I was sitting in a reclining chair with my eyes closed. My sense of hearing seemed much sharper or I was at least much more aware of sounds. It felt as though I was able to hear sounds coming from all around the neighborhood—neighbors talking, birds singing, cars driving on the thoroughfare about .25 miles away, etc.) Partner laying on her back on the floor in other room, reports okay.
+0:50 -- insensitive in fingers, extremities (not numbness or tingling sensation, but a lack of sensation in my fingers, hands, toes, and feet.); want a fire, make one (In a gas fireplace located in the room. I doubt I would have been inclined to make a fire if it had required more than lighting a match and turning a knob.)
+0:55 -- slight lag between perception and somatic sensation when moving; more nausea, less sharp/strong;

+1:00 -- close eyes, mild visual rising, pulling upward then concentric radiating circles (these were closed eye visuals in part caused my light filtering through my eyelids, though the particular shapes and movements, or at least my awareness of them, was caused by the amanita, I assume); hearing sharper/sensitive/aware; all sensation seems heightened;
+1:10 -- body lock, relax, mild nausea; closed eye visuals descending, outward;
+1:15 -- partner joins me in the same room
+1:30 -- clack teeth strike drum (These are ritual/meditation techniques from Daoist practice. “Striking the drum” is performed by cover the ears with one’s palms and flicking the back of the head with one’s finger. These practices often attend interior visualization techniques and I was curious to find out what effect they would have. The sound of doing these things was more pronounced than usual, but I can’t tell that it changed anything about the overall experience in that moment.), strong closed eye visual; hard to focus eyes/keep steady (no glasses); watch breath (as a basic meditation technique to focus attention), feel very splashy (as though my consciousness were moving like waves, very unsettled), visual of blue letters in a block come at me fast, visual scenes come toward; (these were closed eye visuals and were similar to flashes of dream images)
+1:45 -- like cartoon version of life visual, rapid, good (as above with the dream image flashes; I felt very clam and at ease through the process, I felt that the visuals and experiences were somehow cleansing); hard to ride (difficult to control or maintain focused attention); check in with partner, both okay;

+2:00 -- walking is hard, slow small steps (I was able to walk but only with effort; I stumbled but did not fall; the difficulty came from a disconnect between my bodily movements and my conscious perception of those movements, the general lag reported from before but more pronounced or significant in relation to full body movement), go to sunlit west room (I wanted to be in and to absorb solar energy), wear sleep mask (I wanted to eliminate the light filtering through my eyelids as much as possible in order to try to make the closed eye visuals more pronounced or dreamlike), recliner
2:15 -- sharp nausea waves, short
+2:45 -- like dreaming awake with eyes closed (dreamlike flashes and scenes pop into consciousness, but I was fully aware/awake); partner listening to music in other room; isolated connected intensity in flashes (I had visions of subterranean roots connecting and interacting); dark side moon (I listened to the album by Pink Floyd in order to experience the soundscapes with my heightened perception of sounds; I heard elements that I had not heard before, it was an immersive experience)
+2:30 -- delayed somatic perception over sensation;

+3:00 -- hearing/all perception heightened (I seem to have lost an hour here, I assume because I was engrossed in the music; I remember being confused about how long into the experience I was when I checked the clock);
+4:15 -- moving = dizzy/delayed perception; slight repeat sensation/perception;
+4:20 -- ate pecans & craisins, taste heightened (like the other senses, my sense of taste was also heightened, the experience of flavor was more intense and complex); walking etc. possible with little effort but still effected;
+4:30 -- “narcita” (for some reason this word popped into my head and it felt significant at the time); in bed with partner, galaxy (I have a small star projector, which I turned on in the bedroom after closing the drapes, etc. and making the room as dark as possible);
+4:45 -- swishy body and mind flashing like sleep (I felt that the experience was like having slight dream experiences when falling asleep; some dream event occurs, but quickly return to ordinary waking consciousness)
+5:15 -- did sex, pleasurable but dissociated, distant (it felt good, but somehow remote; as thought there were some critical distance between the physical sensations and my conscious experience of them); no climax for me but some for partner, who reports sensation/perception occurring precisely and on the surface of her body, unusual she says
+5:45 -- eat cereal (mini wheats, blueberries), delicious; weird memory scene popped into my consciousness earlier in peak; (this is a retroactive report concerning the dreamlike flashes before; I had flashes of my father, who has been deceased for over ten years; at one point in the peak I felt as thought my memory and experiences were, or at least could be, “dumped” or cleansed out of my consciousness and experience; I actively attempted to do this but made no discernable progress)
+6:30 -- Mild effects, definitely coming down

During the experience I tried fairly consistently to eliminate or lose awareness of the ego-self. It felt like I was close to being able to do it, but it never really happened as far as I am aware. I had expected to experience an energy rush and somewhat exteriorized experience early on, based on the reports of others and my limited experiences with psilocybin and LSD, but I instead felt physically immobilized and interiorized. In sum, it was a positive/enjoyable experience and I could not detect any significant after-effects the next day.

Exp Year: 2020	ExpID: 115038
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 47
Published: Jan 11, 2021	Views: 2,974
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Amanitas - A. muscaria (70) : Small Group (2-9) (17), First Times (2), General (1)