Surrendering to the Spirit Vine. Artist Alex Grey (previously) describes his experience with "the champagne of ayahuascas."
posted by homunculus on Sep 24, 2008 - 13 comments

DMT , or dimethyltryptamine, is a powerful hallucinogenic that can be found in living matter, including the human pineal gland. Small quantities of DMT are released during REM sleep. In 1990, Dr. Rick Strassman received FDA approval for a clinical study, the results of which can be read in Strassman's book "DMT: The Spirit Molecule". Users commonly reported being transported to "another dimension" and had contact with "insect-like alien beings". The late Terence McKenna was particularly interested in the drug, and coined the term "Machine Elves" in reference to these contacts. If reading isn't your thing, listen to comedian Joe Rogan's energized thoughts on the matter. (embedded video).
posted by zardoz on Jan 11, 2007 - 102 comments

Fox pussies out. Recently a bill passed in mexico legalizing all drugs under certain specified quantities. The bill was promoted By Vincente Fox's party, and came from his offices. However he decided not to sign it under U.S. pressure.

There go my vacation plans.
posted by Paris Hilton on May 4, 2006 - 57 comments

Religious use of ayahuasca ruled lawful in U.S.
posted by xowie on Feb 21, 2006 - 79 comments

PiHKAL - Phenethylamines I Have Known And Loved: A Chemical Love Story, by Alexander and Ann Shulgin, is the online version of the book of the same name. It contains personal accounts by the Shulgins detailing the chemical procedures used in the synthesis, and lengthy qualitative reports regarding the subsequent ingestion, of 179 different types of Phenethylamines, the family of chemicals that includes 2C-B, Mescaline - the active ingredient in Peyote, and MDMA - better known as ecstasy. See also the sequel TiHKAL - Tryptamines I Have Known And Loved: The Chemistry Continues, again by the Shulgins, whose highlights include DMT and LSD.
posted by ChasFile on Apr 9, 2004 - 16 comments

Salvia Divinorum is a plant which is (currently) legal to grow, own, or smoke in the U.S. The effects of this plant, when smoked or eaten, take place over the course of only a few minutes, but supposedly are very similar to those of certain illegal chemicals, such as the late Terrence Mckenna's well-documented fave; DMT. The user briefly finds themself to be in a world where the laws of physics, and logic have been subtly or grossly changed - an experience as jarring as the witnessing of the non-euclidean angles described by Lovecraft... and then the real world reasserts itself.

I'm sure I'm not the only person who is curious about this question - are the results of the ingestion of halluciniogens a self-fulfilling prophecy - the user 'seeing' something beyond the pale that they expected or wanted to see - or is there something more meaningful to the experience?
posted by GriffX on Apr 15, 2003 - 70 comments