DOSE:

2 caps

oral

Mushrooms

(dried)

BODY WEIGHT:

75 kg

This is a short description of an experiment with the 'Golden Teacher' mushroom, which is a Psilocybe cubensis best recognized by its large, golden caps with yellow speckles on it. Compared to other cubensis types, these mushrooms are quite large and elegant in appearance. The designation “Golden Teacher” is well-chosen.

A little bit about myself- I am a 24-year old male, relatively healthy both physically and mentally. I am interested in entheogens mostly for their potential in personal development and spirituality, although I thoroughly enjoy the recreational side of the story as well. I have been trained in the academic humanities, with a special focus on philosophy and religion (especially the mystical traditions of the West).

Yesterday (September 6th, 2007), I decided to sample some of the “Golden Teacher” mushrooms I had in stock, as I had never tried these before. I have quite some experience with other mushroom species, especially the Psilocybe Tampanensis, which are my personal favorite at this moment. The mushrooms had been left out to dry for approximately one week.

Coming home from a long day’s work, tired physically but eager to relax and stretch the mind, I intuitively picked two out of the five dried mushrooms and held them tightly in my hands. I find that everytime I touch these mushrooms, an interesting thing happens: a link appears to come into existence, a sort of preliminary greeting. A warm and relaxed feeling of anticipation and homecoming flooded over me. I knew that this would be a great moment to get to know this “Golden Teacher”.

I ingest the mushrooms, approximately 1.5 grams worth, with a good dose of very tasteful herbal honey and chew hard and long, adding a lot of saliva in the process. Finally, when I consider the chewing to have lasted long enough, I swallow the sweet mixture and allow the mushroom full entry into my system. This is always a special moment as well: like walking through a portal, knowing that in just a few moments perception will be altered radically.

In waiting for the effects to commence, I lean back in my comfortable chair and turn on the television for a moment, happily surprised to see South Park is on. After twenty minutes or so, I feel a tingling sensation moving from my hands, arms and shoulders up to the top of my head. Very comfortable and sensual, announcing without a doubt that something is taking over control over my organism. I try to relax a little bit more, dropping my shoulders and relaxing my facial muscles, with success. Behind my eyes, spreading throughout my head, I feel a strong pull that entices me to close my eyes. I do not resist this urge and feel a very intense ecstatic surge pulse through my body.

I laugh and sigh, my eyes literally rolling in all directions. I hadn’t expected such a small dose to have such a strong effect. I open my eyes again and notice the familiar change in the visual field that the first half hour of mushroom experience usually produces. At first, a thin, almost fluid veil appears to cover everything, while at a later point, objects become much more defined and easy to isolate visually. I decide that watching television is a complete waste of time at this point and turn it off. I go upstairs, turn on the shower and undress. It feels like a good idea to wash off the remains of the day and it is. In this condition a hot shower is absolutely wonderful. As I finish and look in the mirror, I see the familiar signs of mushroom intoxication: wide pupils, blood-shot eyes and flushed skin. I greet myself and wish myself a good journey.

Then I decide to lie down in bed and let the mushroom take total control. As I close my eyes, I begin to hear a sound, two sounds, a lot of sounds, like windchimes, trumptets, singing bowls in different frequencies. The sounds are so harmonious they surprise me: I have never heard anything like this. As I try to focus on the sounds, the pitch begins to shift radically upwards. As this is happening, I feel my body becoming weightless, until the sound is so high it is inaudible. At that precise moment, I feel that my “spirit” has disconnected from the body (or, to put it in other words: the materiality of the body has been dissolved and I have entered “hyperspace”- that fluid-like dimension of the mushroom where thoughts, feelings, sounds and objects are woven together into a harmonious but increasingly bizarre landscape).

Entering this world behind the ordinary, it is like being a concert: this may sound strange, but I feel is an accurate description, seeing that I was at once all the instruments, the conductor, the audience and the music itself. Every thought I allowed to enter into consciousness immediately changed the quality of the music I perceived. Those who know this dimension of the mushroom will know what I mean by this. At this point, an overwhelming sensation of power, of being-in-charge appears and I spent quite some time enjoying this ability.

The next stage, which I consider to be the peak of the experience, is characterized by almost completely surrendering this sense of control and just watching what happens. My thoughts and emotions dwell to various people in my life, relatives, friends, aquaintances and celebrities. By letting each respective person pass my mind, I feel I am able to become that person. The locus of my identity is the formless consciousness that is the essence of all of us, the universal “mind” as it were, and I am somehow able to enter a particular manifestation of that One consciousness in the form of a unique individual.

As I do so, I experience the perspective of that person on a mental, emotional and physical level, sensing how it feels to be that person, matching body language, facial expression and general existential attitude. Absolutely amazing, moreso because I remember the details of these experiences and now, being back to a relatively ordinary state of consciousness, I know (parts of) these impressions to be accurate.

After a while (don’t ask me how long precisely), the experience softens and I gradually return back to my day-to-day self. After an hour or so (T+3h) I am able to fall asleep peacefully. Upon waking up, I feel my head is a bit fuzzy and my muscles a bit sore, but other than that I feel recharged, energetic and emotionally stable.

In summary, I was amazed by the “lift-off” of this experience, with the increasingly complex musical sensations and the accompanying bodily feelings. The “music” I heard was very beautiful and had a distinctly cosmic quality to it. As the pace and pitch of the sounds became fatster and higher, I literally felt lifted out of the body. What followed, the experience of Universal Mind and its being in various individuals was a very interesting and edificial episode. Allowing to feel and see how the inherent levity and spaciousness of this consciousness is manifested (and sometimes resisted) in everyone increases my potential to be empathic and integrate this into day-to-day life as well. In this sense, the mushroom definately lives up to its honorary title.

Exp Year: 2007	ExpID: 65606
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 24
Published: Oct 7, 2010	Views: 51,871
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Mushrooms - P. cubensis (66) : Mystical Experiences (9), Alone (16)