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Celebrate Summer
Syrian Rue & Cacti - T. pachanoi
Citation:   Professor Stinky. "Celebrate Summer: An Experience with Syrian Rue & Cacti - T. pachanoi (exp80362)". Erowid.org. Dec 26, 2009. erowid.org/exp/80362

 
DOSE:
5 in oral Cacti - T. pachanoi (extract)
  1 tsp oral Syrian Rue (extract)
    smoked Cannabis (plant material)
BODY WEIGHT: 235 lb
Finally I tried making Syrian Rue as a means of potentiating San Pedro with decent results. I'll get to that in a moment. But first, I had recently drank SP tea with remarkable results but had not quite finished all that I had. The overwhelming taste was just too much to bear any longer. A few days after my trip I tried reducing down the leftovers (I estimate the leftovers to have been approximately four to six inches of cactus) to those 'little black plastic' balls I'd read about. Since the only stainless steel pan I have is the same large one I used for the original extraction, I didn't have too much luck. As the pan is rather wide, I had erred on the side of safety and stopped before the goo was actually dry enough to roll.

I was left with a very gooey black tar. I scraped a little of this together for the purpose of a smoking trial since I'd been smoking dried SP flesh layered (on the bottom) with wormwood and weed for some time. The rest I put back into the small sauce jar that it had come out of and added water to reconstitute it. I had just within the past few days added rue between the wormwood and cactus as a possible means of upping the effects a bit since I'd also read that combining rue with weed had a definite effect. I figured, and still do, what the hell. Didn't really have anything to lose, particularly since the rue is so economical to buy. Plus, a few inches of cactus produces a hell of alot for any smoking purpose. Now, back to the rue.

I had recently purchased syrian rue (esphand) at a local eastern market/bazaar for less than two dollars for a four ounce package. Truly, the best deal short of free for such a powerful deleriant/psychedelic. I don't really have the tools (like a coffee grinder or even a hammer) to prepare rue properly, but endeavored to try my best anyway. I placed a slightly heaping teaspoon into a small teflon coated sauce pan and added about two cups of water to which I also added the juice of a single lime. I brought the heat up to a gentle boil and used the top of a meat tenderizer to occasionally press down on the seeds in an effort to cause some break up and release of the good stuff. I could tell by the juice dripping from the end that I was certainly having some sort of effect as it was a pale yellow. I imagined it would have glowed under a black light as well.

I boiled this concoction for at least three hours, adding a little water when the valoume became too low. When I was reasonably satisfied that I had gotten all I was going to, I strained the water and seeds with a tea strainer into a small container. I then threw the seeds away and put the resultant liquid back into the pan to reduce a bit further. I had read that rue tastes awful and didn't really want to drink too much out of fear of involuntary puking before I had had a chance to consume much. Once I got the rue down to about a shot I stopped a few moments to think. I came to the conclusion that I'd be better served to combine the rue with the reconstituted SP and drink it all at once rather than torture myself twice with gnarly tastes. I've read other accounts that have done the same with other substances and figured, again, I had little to lose. So into the jar it went and back into the freezer to await the proper time.

That time proved to be about a week and a half later. I had been thinking I should drink this concoction prior to the arrival of the daughter and two of the granddaughters to avoid any difficult to answer questions. Plus, I was feeling an itch that demanded scratching. Probably due to the fact that it was the beginning of summer. I have felt a need to celebrate it's start ever since going to Germany over twenty years ago and being party to one of their celebrations deep in Bavaria. But I digress. Out came the jar from the freezer to thaw for consumption later that evening. For the duration of the day, I observed the dietary restrictions for MAOI's. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from this combo, either in terms of taste or effect. I wasn't one hundred percent sure that I'd get much of anything other than a really bad taste in my mouth. I'm glad to say my apprehension was largely unfounded.

As I took the first swallow I was immediately struck by the definite shift in taste. It didn't actually taste anywhere nearly as bad as the cactus by itself had. Maybe the biting of a lime wedge helped in this aspect as well. Within a few moments of swallowing I felt something. It's hard to describe precisely what I felt, but I attribute the immediacy of anything to the effects of the rue. I'd say it was a rush that was felt primarily in the head. Odd and interesting. Despite the somewhat improved taste, it still took me quite a while to drink the whole thing, over half an hour. By the time it was done I was listening to Alice's Restaurant. That seemed like a good choice with which to begin. I had planned to listen to alot of Beatles, but since when do plans come to fruition when your on a 'trip'?

After listening to Alice's I decided to see what was on the tube while waiting for the effects to come on. This proved to be an excellent choice. I came across a showing of the Monterey Pop Festival, right in the middle of Hendrix's set. Now I personally feel that hendrix is God when it comes to the guitar and have been hooked on him since I was like ten. So there I sat loving my good fortune in this being on right now. I was definitely feeling something as I sat there (this was about half an hour after drinking was done). A definitely different headspace than on cactus alone and definitely sooner than I would normally be feeling SP.

Forward to the Sitar set, about twenty minutes. Effects seem otherwise unchanged, but my appreciation for this set is pumped up. Normally I might think this set was pretty good, but now, it's completely off the hook! Man, I don't know who this guy is playing the sitar, but he is absolutely amazing. In earlier times he may have been said to be possessed he plays so feverishly. Just incredible! About twenty minutes later I know I'm at the point that I should be feeling really good effects, if there had been more cactus, or even more rue. I'm not disappointed though. The effects seem rather like my first trial with SP when I consumed around eleven inches. I smoked some cannabis thinking, hoping, it might elevate the effects, but no dice.

And no worries either. I'm pleasantly happy with the fact that syrian rue seems to have done its much ballyhooed thing and increased the effects of an otherwise paltry amount of cactus. The rest of my evening went pretty much similar. While I didn't reach the astral heights of my previous SP session (I didn't really think I would), I was pleasantly pleased. The upshot being, naturally, I'll try potentiating SP with SR again, hopefully with much better results. I will probably try syrian rue as a stand alone substance as well.

Exp Year: 2009ExpID: 80362
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Dec 26, 2009Views: 8,828
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Cacti - T. pachanoi (64), Syrian Rue (45) : Alone (16), Combinations (3)

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