Hello Fellow Deemsters. It's taken me a while to write a real introduction. I have been a browser of this site for over a year since DMT finally found me. It has been a resource of considerable value and I want to thank the contributors of knowledge and experience as we are creating our own wisdom traditions as we share this spiritual journey.

I am a professional person, a father, artist in many media (music film and the visual arts), gardener, musician and spiritual journeyman. I am interested in several entheogens and their diverse medicinal qualities. I have an experience diary that I may share here if and when I am allowed to post elsewhere. I can credit the spice for showing me things that took me out of the heart of darkness and subsequently saved my life and mortal soul by showing me my own death as a firsthand experience. I am also an addict with multiple years in recovery and I have incorporated entheogens into my spiritual work I do within a 12 step program. I realize this is contrary to what many believe within the recovery community but Bill Wilson himself used psychedelics and attempted to introduce his ideas unsuccessfully to AA. From all this I have come to the conclusion that incorporating my spiritual experiences and integrating them into life is the way to heal wounds. DMT is revealing the working of my inner self and exposing things that were otherwise hidden. When these things were hidden they were impossible to work on. Now I can and I have been going deeper than ever before. People who are unaware of my path but who know me in real life can see my progress in my increased humility and awe of life.

I have a little extraction experience with Acacia and want to explore its possibilities further while I have access to the material. I have followed some of Mindbody's Formohuasca writing and hope to explore this when I am not flying solo, have a responsible sitter and settled on the ritual aspects as they are revealed through my parallel journey of yoga and meditation.

I am also very interested in internet privacy and security and how it relates to cognitive liberty. I am very interested in bringing things that are misunderstood into understanding so we can be free to evolve our new spirituality as it has revealed itself unto us and find the same freedoms established traditions have found.

Welcome aboard. It very much sounds like you're in the right place. I am happy that DMT found you and you found us, as I get the feeling you can offer some great contributions to our community.

I too am a professional person, I have a creative edge I like to explore, I am permanently rebuilding my ethnobotanical garden. I have many years psychedelic experience under my belt, but it is only really the last three or four years that I have started to incorporate their use into my self development.

It was the discovery of DMT during one of the greatest periods of change in my life that tipped the balance favourably. I started to change as a person and DMT found me at exactly the right time. Before this, I used to take a lot of coke (certainly not addicted, but I was a little too keen), my friends were dicks, I lacked true direction.

My dad died in 2008 and this was when I started to re-evaluate my life. I cut out people who I didn't need in my life, not in an arrogant way, it was people who were detrimental to my happiness and maybe even my health, who claimed to be friends but didn't have my well being at heart.

After that I discovered DMT and started working towards my first extraction and journey. After a little while I got there. Also during this time, I rekindled my use of mushrooms and mescaline, this time coinciding with my path of personal growth.

Although I was living in dark times just five years ago, it feels like ten years ago. My life is so different now, it's like I'm a different person. There were (and are) three main catalysts to my change. My personal strength, entheogens, and the DMT-Nexus. This is why I am passionate about the use of entheogens as a tool for self improvement because I am living proof of this, and so are many other members here. It was this very site that taught me how to approach entheogens and how to approach life in a new way, and as a result my life has improved dramatically, and is continuing to do so.

I think you will fit in great around here. Welcome aboard, nice to have you here.

Peace

Macre

Hello freinds, I to am an artist being drawn to dmt and looking for enlightenment. Its real cool you both express what im thinking about.
Thanks, hope we can be freinds,...Tom

So good to read this Skooby - I was almost ten years clean, and deeply bitter and negative (deeply in retrospect ) before I found plant medicine. It then took me an entire year of contemplation to take the plunge, and a lot of wrestling with the "am I still clean" dilemma.

There is, however, no regret on either side. So happy that I managed to achieve that sobriety and learn what I have, but even more happy that I found these tools that have helped me bring light and positivity back into my life. Responsible use is key.

I clicked the link in your sig after reading aa comment in a recent post. I am also on a similar journey. 5 years sober as of 11/22/2020, been using psilocybin for the last year or so, and started using DMT about a month or so ago. Prior to this, I had been involved in P3 and therapy as a way to add value and healing to my sobriety because the 12 steps only get you so far, and I was even on SSRIs for about a year before I started P3 and therapy. I love to read reaffirming stories like this. I still struggle a little with the guilt/shame of using mind altering substances while still calling myself a sober alcoholic, although I know the truth is that I am more sober and lucid than I have ever been. Thank you for sharing.

Many of us have addictive tendencies, who doesn't like to feel "high" and "curious" and ambitious" etc. I know how it feels to recover,, its pretty cool, as long as you find ways to fulfill your need for the stimuli that your vices provided. Dmt is a pretty good source of that. It helps me be productive and grounded too.. several years of sobriety just kept me fairly healthy looking and everyone so proud of me, but it was the dmt use that people were unaware of when they began to talk amongst eachother about my focus, and productivity and actual living of life I was doing.

Psychadelics are a great way to explore yourself and life, and this nexus community takes it to the next level and multiplies the value of it.

You mentioned experiencing your own death and I am very interested in learning more about that experience. For I too just had an experience of that nature.

Welcome to the community.

You are in the right place, friend. I, myself was struggling with addiction for the better part of a decade. I only recently, after a long clean time, decided to get back into plant medicines. 5-Meo-DMT has been a wonderful ally in this. Keep adding your valuable input and you will be getting to post your journals sooner than you know it! Much love, I am sure you will fit in just fine here

I just recently stumbled upon this part of AA's history and found it absolutely fascinating how deeply intertwined Bill's life was with psychedelics. It does seem a bit paradoxical on one hand, given that they're mind altering substances just like alcohol. On the other, though, the inability of psychedelics to produce a physiological dependence gives them a categorical distinction that makes it seem reasonable to use them in the context of healing addiction. Especially when you consider things like ibogaine's use in treating addiction, it seems almost natural.

Personally, psychedelic experiences were integral in my recovery from a severe depressive episode. They weren't the only factor in my healing, but I also doubt it would have happened without them. I'm glad to hear you've also been able to benefit from the healing aspect of DMT!

Guys, alcohol in high regular doses is NEUROTOXIC. It makes perfect sense to use psychedelics to heal from the damage of alcohol, since psychedelics promote neuroplasticity and regeneration.

During the experience, alcohol depresses brain activity, psychedelics enhance neural connectivity between different brain regions. In my experience this translates to daily life: alcohol makes you numb and non-caring while psychedelics encourage passionate engagement with the world.

There should be no shame in utilizing psychedelics to help recover from the damage of alcoholism.

In my opinion there is nothing wrong with temporarily altering your mind in a healthy conscious manner. Conversely, it is wrong is to do it in an unhealthy or physically unsafe manner. Abusing alcohol on the other hand is shameful because of its negative health effects. Eating unhealthy foods is also shameful even though they only mildly alter the mind (sugar and fat high).

This is all just my opinion, but I think feeling shame over psychedelics (and not feeling shame over unhealthy practices such as being sedentary or eating fast food) is being a victim of our deficient social values.

I for one am grateful/proud and not shameful of psychedelics. I do feel shame if I drink a bit too much and have a hurt body the next morning. I also feel guilty if I don't excersice.

I agree entirely with loveall, and would add that shame is a useful emotion, but also one that must be carefully regarded.. Being such an effective and powerful emotion, it has been exploited and abused, leading to much confusion about its meaning and its validity..

Shame is an emotion to be shared with nobody, unless in the form of an apology, or as an example for others to follow. shame is a 911 call for change. but one must carefully analyze, dissect, and appropriately sort the fine details of the incedent that caused shame.. for instance, society frowns upon certain things, drug use for instance... there is nothing to be ashamed of if you indulge in the occasional, or even frequent use of psychidellics. regardless of who does or does not approve.. that logic extends to everything..

but when you let a substance begin to control you, as is common with all highly addictive substances, you are flirting with potential for having to deal with shame.. and then when you start doing stupid things, irresponsible things, harmful to self or others things, then it is time for shame, and if you are lucky, you can impose it upon yourself and take action before the people around you begin to notice and feel obligated to remind you that you should be ashamed of yourself. as that makes it so much more difficult to accept..