Different Natural Psychedelics

Different Natural Psychedelics

You don’t have to look far for a psychedelic experience.

You may not be aware of it but you may live right next to a psychedelic goldmine. Natural psychedelics have been around for as long as nature has been existing. From barks in rainforests to the excretions of some amphibians, the natural world is bountiful when it comes to hallucinogenic substances.

Here is a list of different psychedelics found in nature.

Ayahuasca

Thousands of people travel to South America and pay a handsome fee to participate in retreats where they can sample the insights only Ayahuasca can allegedly give. But what is Ayahuasca?

Ayahuasca is a psychedelic brew made from hallucinogenic herbs native to the Amazon jungle. For centuries, it is used in different healing ceremonies. It has gained popularity among people seeking a spiritual journey. This brew is used to simulate “mental awakening.” According to the book, “Magic and Witchcraft: From Shamanism to the Technopagans,” taking the sacrament of Ayahuasca allows the shaman to enter the spiritual realm, to experience mind-opening visions, and to contact ancestors, and
other spirits.

Ayahuasca

This hallucinogenic brew is prepared by a specialist – an ayahuasquero – trained in the traditional ways of concocting ayahuasca.

The ayahuasquero prepares and serves the tea during a ceremony in the shaman’s hut. After taking the tea, the participants in the ceremony ride out their psychedelic experience while lying on grass mats or mattresses which can last hours.

Little is known about how Ayahuasca works although there are plenty of anecdotal reports on how this brew has helped in people with depression, mental trauma, and even cancer.

What is known about Ayahuasca is it contains Dimethyltryptamine, a psychedelic compound which causes powerful hallucinations and is found in many plants from the Amazon. It also the only known psychedelic which is naturally produced by the human body.

Richard Strassman, a psychiatrist from the University of Mexico, pioneered a study wherein 60 volunteers were injected with DMT over 400 sessions. Most of the participants reported feeling the presence of a powerful, god-like being or that they dissolved into a radiant light.

The physical effects of Ayahuasca includes elevation of naturally-produced pain relievers (such as endorphin, cortisol, and prolactin), and increase levels of human growth hormone. In another study, researchers discovered low doses of ayahuasca helped research subjects with their depression.

San Pedro Cactus

San Pedro, scientific name Trichocereus pachanoi, is a mescaline cactus growing in the Andes Mountains in Peru, and Ecuador. Some of San Pedro’s local names are chuma, wachuma, and huachuma. San Pedro is considered one of the four most sacred plants in Peru, putting it in the same league as tobacco, coca, and Ayahuasca.

The active psychoactive substance in San Pedro is called mescaline. It allows San Pedro to produce psychedelic effects which made it an important ingredient in local shamanic rituals for at least 3000 years.

San Pedro Cactus

San Pedro is prepared by slicing and boiling parts of the stem for hours. Afterwards, the remaining liquid is taken orally. The juice is said to be tolerably bitter and sometimes, the shamans will prepare the cactus with other psychoactive plants. It can also be turned into powder.

Traditional San Pedro ceremonies are conducted outdoors, around a fire, facilitated by a Shaman.

This cactus produces spiritual highs which purges negative energies, reconnects one with the Earth, and everything around you. It also puts you in a waking dream state. People claim to see energy moving around them, seeing geometric patterns, and even sacred patterns while their eyes are closed. A San Pedro trip can last anywhere between 7 to 12 hours.

It has also been used to treat a wide range of disorders including alcoholism and addiction.

An interesting fact about this plant – it got its name from an early depiction of the cactus. In this illustration, God hid the keys to heaven in a secret place and Saint Peter used the power of the cactus to find the keys. Later, the cactus was named after him.

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

The seeds of morning glory plants produce a hallucinogenic effect similar to LSD. The morning glory plant is a twining perennial vine grown in many gardens. It also bears blue to purplish flowers, and sometimes white flowers.

Morning glory seeds’ active ingredient is an alkaloid known as R-lysergic acid which is similar to ingredients found in LSD. As more seeds are ingested, the high becomes more intense.

While it is a hallucinogenic, it doesn’t produce hallucinations which are as strong as the other psychedelics on this list. However, it expands what one is feeling at present. For example, feelings of happiness are elevated to full-blown euphoria. Likewise, negative emotions will cause a person to experience a bad trip.

Morning glory seeds increases awareness of colors, textures, and sounds. It also crosses over the senses causing you to experience an event called synesthesia – hearing colors and seeing sounds. The seeds also diminish reality perception, suggestibility, and alter time perception. Mood swings are common in morning glory seed ingestion. These effects may take up to 3 hours before the body perceives them.

Salvia

Salvia

With the scientific name Salvia divinorum, Salvia is a psychoactive plant which produces visions and other hallucinations. It loves growing in shady and moist locations, thus the species made a home for itself in cloud forests in the isolated Sierra Mazateca in Mexico. It can grow to over a meter high and has hollow square stems, large leaves, and white flowers.

Salvia can be turned into a tea by crushing 3 to 4 grams of dried leaves and boiling them for 5 minutes. When prepared properly, this tea produces trance-like states along with intense dreams.

Salvinorin A is the psychoactive compound in this plant. It causes different physical effects such as changes in felt gravity, felt bodily form, and other spontaneous physical sensations. It also distorts depth perception, and changes in the physical sizes of specific objects.

Nutmeg

Who knew a psychedelic substance is hiding inside your kitchen? Nutmeg, that aromatic spice, will take you around on a psychedelic trip and people have been tripping on nutmeg for hundreds of years.

The nutmeg tree grows up to 10 meters, bushy, and thrives in wet, tropical locations. When the fruit opens, it reveals a huge brown seed covered with a bright red mesh. This brown seed is the nutmeg and its red coating, when dried and ground, becomes the spice known as mace. Nutmeg is used by indigenous people to treat stomach and kidney illness.

Nutmeg

Apart from its history as a therapeutic substance, it’s also used as a hallucinogen. The chemical substance responsible for the hallucinogenic effects? Myristicin. There’s not enough information showing how Myristicin works but one of the theories is that once it’s broken down by the body, it turns into a chemical similar to MDMA (Ecstasy).

What can you expect from Myristicin? The general consensus is… a crappy trip.

After ingestion, it brings about feelings of nausea. Once you get past that, colors will look brighter the following day. Static objects will sway and sounds become warped. Despite the mild psychedelia, nutmeg creates feelings of helplessness and impending doom. You also deal with unpleasant side effects such as dry mouth, nausea, screwed depth perception, and a bad mood.

“It’s not worth it,” is a common statement heard from psychonauts who tried nutmeg.

Hawaiian Baby Woodrose

Baby Woodrose

The Hawaiian baby woodrose is an ornamental climbing vine related to the morning glory plant mentioned earlier. It grows in Florida, California, and Hawaii, and its seeds are used to make herbal pain relievers.

However, it’s more famous for its hallucinogenic effects. It’s being marketed as a natural form of LSD with effects lasting 6 to 8 hours. However, when compared to actual LSD, Hawaiian baby woodrose has milder psychedelic effects and gives a more clear-headed, and more focused high.

Mimosa Hostilis

Mimosa Hostilis

Mimosa hostilis, more commonly known as jurema, plays an interesting role in psychedelic shamanism. It can be brewed alone to induce visions similar to ayahuasca. Brazil uses Mimosa hostilis in a ceremony known as Vinho da Jurema. The tradition was almost extinct until it gained traction once again.

The effects of M. hostilis is described as a physical and mental purge, with a 4-hour divine connection. The feeling is similar to Ayahuasca but not as strong.

  1. hostilis’ trip intensity depends on multiple factors. A weak experience is similar to a low dose of magic mushrooms or LSD, combined with a 2-hour stomach cramp.

When huge doses are taken, people experience a dire shift in their perception of reality and feel like they’ve been transported to a new dimension. The visions associated with M. hostilis are also accompanied by heightened senses.

Yopo

yopo

Yopo is a tree native to South America and the Caribbean. During Columbus’ journey, Spanish friar Ramon Paul observed the natives who sniffed a powerful mind-altering substance made from the seeds of the yopo tree. Yopo’s psychoactive substance is DMT.

Yopo is usually toasted, pulverized, and sniffed. Sometimes, adding limestones to the powder will strengthen the visual hallucinations. This hallucinogenic is a bit on the strong side and in order to maintain a pleasurable experience, it’s important to inhale smaller amounts which create effects in a matter of minutes.

The effects start in 5 minutes and can last for 30 minutes. Small doses of Yopo produces a mild euphoria with minor closed-eye hallucinations. Larger doses will create stronger euphoria, stronger hallucinations, and will make you lose control of your body.

Colorado River Toad

Colorado River Toad

In a Season 11 episode of the Simpsons, Homer licked the backs of toads to get high. While funny, this is an actual practice among people who lick the skin and poison of a certain toad to experience a psychedelic state.

Bufo alvarius, also known as the Colorado River Toad, is known as the psychedelic toad. This toad excretes bufotoxins. These psychoactive substances are extracted by milking the toad’s poison glands. It doesn’t harm the toad, and only requires stroking the animal under the chin to initiate the excretion.

After collecting and drying the toad excretion, it can finally be used to initiate hallucinogenic effects. However, you should be careful because deaths have been reported as a result of people trying to get high from toad poison.

Magic Truffles

Magic Truffles

Magic truffles are the underground equivalent of the fruiting bodies – a.k.a. magic mushrooms – growing above ground. Just like magic mushrooms, they contain the psychoactive compounds psilocybin and psilocin. The exact name for truffles is “sclerotia.” Sometimes, they’re also called “Philosopher’s Stones.”

There are over 200 kinds of magic mushrooms but few of them can produce magic truffles. The most famous strains are Psilocybe tampanensis, Psilocybe atlantis, and Psilocybe mexicana.

Magic truffles are harvested by digging into the ground. After harvesting, magic truffles keep longer and better if they’re dried. After drying the magic truffles, only 30% to 50% of its original weight will be retained. These truffles have a flavor similar to walnuts.

The effects of magic truffles are the same as shrooms.

Magic truffles cause euphoria. This sensation starts out as feelings of relaxation similar to low doses of cannabis. They also make you hallucinate by changing the brain’s information highways. The different brain areas become connected in such a way to make the senses feel sensations they never sensed before – seeing sounds, hearing lights.

You will see geometric patterns and fractals. The higher the dose taken, the more complicated these patterns seem. Walls will also seem to breathe. Finally, your sense of time will be distorted to the point that the trip might seem to last forever.

The psychoactive compound which makes all these effects possible is called psilocybin. Contemporary studies have shown psilocybin has huge potential in treating different physical, emotion, and mental disorders including anxiety, depression, and addiction. There were also recorded instances when magic truffles heightened people’s sense of spirituality.

Try out magic truffles to experience their psychedelic effects. Order magic truffles online today!

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