DOSE:

7.0 g

oral

Lotus/Lily - Nymphaea nouchali var caerulea

(flowers)

BODY WEIGHT:

160 lb

I order’d forth my people to inquire
(Two I selected from the rest, with whom
I join’d an herald, third) what race of men
Might there inhabit. They, departing, mix’d
With the Lotophagi; nor hostile aught
Or savage the Lotophagi devised
Against our friends, but offer’d to their taste
The lotus; of which fruit what man soe’er
Once tasted, no desire felt he to come
With tidings back, or seek his country more,
But rather wish’d to feed on lotus still
With the Lotophagi, and to renounce
All thoughts of home.
- Homer, The Odyssey -


Experiment 1
3 grams dried flowers, gelcapped w/ 2 shots of Sake

Background
- I was on a 5-day prescription of vicodin that ended 3 days ago.
- No other medications / herbal supplements regularly used.

I first measured 3 grams of dried flowers, powdered it using a coffee grinder and packed it into gelcaps. 3 grams filled 9 0-sized capsules.

11:30 AM (t+ 0:00) - 9 capsules taken, with 2 shots of Sake (30 proof). I also had some fruit juice and a couple fig newtons, as this is my first meal of the day. I normally avoid alcohol, but the other reports I've read claimed that it potentiates the lotus.

12:00 PM (t+ 0:30) - I began to feel tired and slightly zoned out. It was not an unpleasant tiredness, but it wasn't interesting either - like a contented lethargy. I got on my bed, closed my eyes and just sat there. In a while I found myself feeling too lazy to even daydream.

12:45 PM (t+ 1:15) - I fell asleep around this time.

6:45 PM (t+ 7:15) - I awoke. I had no appetite but made myself eat dinner. I still felt lazily content and my emotions were dampened. Several things happened during dinner that would normally have made me feel a tinge of sadness, yet at the time I seemed equally immune to sadness and happiness. The state of mind reminded me of Prozac (I've taken Prozac several times after MDMA), although Prozak never made me feel as downright lazy.


Experiment 2
7 grams dried flowers, steeped in ~80 ml Ginko Sake (30 proof) for 2 hours.

Background
- Same subject, ~2 weeks following Experiment 1

10:00 pm (t+ 0:00) I filtered the Sake/Lotus mixture and discarded the solid material. The solution obtained was green and very bitter. It was quite drinkable once I mixed it with a can of orange soda.

10:20 pm (t+ 0:20) I noticed a mild stoning and a relaxation. Soft music was very nice. I felt like laying down and fell asleep very quickly once I did so. This surprised me because I normally have a hard time falling alseep and my regular bedtime is around 2 AM.

7:30 am (t+ 9:10) I awoke from a pleasant dream feeling normal, but was somewhat surprised – the dream I had was an instance of a recurring dream that I hadn’t had since I was 8 or 9 and had completely forgotten about. Strange.

Afterthoughts
I can't really say I'm as enthusiastic about the Lotus as Ulysses' companions were. While I did feel unmistakable effects, they were fairly mild, uninteresting and entirely unenlightening. Sedatives/Hypnotics generally aren’t my cup of tea since I'm a pretty mello guy to begin with. Plus anyone looking to go down the sedative/hypnotic road has numerous more effective options. About the only good thing I can say about it is that it seems to act as a fairly effective sleep aid.

Exp Year: 2001	ExpID: 4549
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Apr 8, 2001	Views: 88,614
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Lotus/Lily - Nymphaea nouchali var caerulea (105) : Alone (16), General (1)