Made my first attempt the other day, and only got a microscopic yield.
Tomorrow will be my second attempt.
That black sludge has been sitting there for more than 5 days now, so I should have better luck with my second batch.

P.S. Mugwort is an excellent mood stabilizer!

Tell us about your extraction, we're always keen to troubleshoot low yields!

And, thanks for reminding me to stay in touch with beloved mugwort. It's a bedtime tea regular for me nowadays.

I made a little bit of poor quality DMT, using sodium hydroxide and Ronsonol. Next time, I'm thinking about substituting naphtha and hexane for the Ronsonol. To say the least, my mind is open to the fact that when it comes to extracting DMT, there's more than 1 way to skin a cat. The number of different extraction techniques are unlimited. Perfect! I have an open mind.

Furthermore, I chose the wrong source for MHRB, and I can't say any more about this. I respect the boundaries set forth by the DMT Nexus Community.

To change the subject, I am deepening my studies in herbalism, self-taught. If you boil 1 sprig of rosemary (a good length is 5.5 inches) every night at bedtime for 20 minutes, you can drink it as a hot tea. It is a powerful oneirogen. This is helpful, if you want to take a break from smoking mugwort. Rosemary, instead. Tonight I am going to do both. Lucky for me, rosemary is growing all over my apartment complex, so I have an unlimited supply. Perfect! Boiling the rosemary brings out the best it has to offer, instead of just using it as a garnish for potatoes and such, which I also do.

Lastly, I finally have some information about smoking Banisteriopsis caapi shavings, although that is not something I am personally going to do in the near future. I don't have it right now. Dennis McKenna writes about it, in his book The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss: My Life with Terence McKenna. He's incredibly privileged to have had Terence as a big brother! In this book, he tells us everything about his own personal history with psychedelics and herbal remedies. He's very forthcoming about his drug history/their drug history together. I sincerely appreciate this. Here is the part, or one of the parts, about smoking B. caapi shavings:

"By then, we'd taken the ayahuasca off the fire and set it aside, along with some barks shavings from the Banisteriopsis vine we'd used to make it. We planned to drink a small cup of the brew when we ate the mushrooms and, if necessary, smoke the bark to activate and synergize the psilocybin".
- Dr. Dennis McKenna in The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss (I highly recommend this book!)

Most of the time I don't have any DMT.
Actually, its been over a decade since my last voyage. Way too long, eh?
It passed in the blink of an eye.
I guess lately became used to being so very very busy with daily life things to invest much thinking on it, actually, and in the end I end up dreaming in my sleep. I mean, dream art.

But, if I had none, what would I do?
Well, first off, I would start by growing some plants (perhaps not always or only with DMT, you may want a nice MAOI as well, some nice Trichocereus for example are some other great allies, "must have" tools, like a philips screwdriver!), and also working on building up some lab glassery (in order to enrich your lab through the time, or kitchen-lab).

I am sure any most areas of the planet there are very exciting fungi and plants out there to be found, some are already known, and who knows how many else are not yet even known.

I am sure there are at least a few partially well known plants, that people in south america have been using for millenia, I've found out are not really known by the general psychonautic community at most.


Har

Thanks for the advice. I do get these witchy herbal cigarettes that have mugwort in them. They get me kind of "high" but I didn't think to much about it.

Sometimes life's pressures do not create a good environment for tripping. I havent been able to trip lately and I've been focusing a lot on lucid dreaming. Meditating/chanting/doing yoga in a dream has some similarities to tripping, you feel you have access to and can command a lot of energy. You feel some things shift. I think it will be good for setting intentions and maybe doing some magic. It's a good hobby for those who do/don't have any dmt.

This is an exciting time in my life:

I am preparing for first trip on very pure DMT, with my new friend. In order to prepare, I am determined to trip on a clean system. Therefore, I stopped drinking yerba mate, which I had been making and drinking for 9 years (age 25 to 34). Now, I am 34. My life is going well. I have no further need for all that caffeine. I no longer have the problem of inertia that I had when I first started making it and drinking it at 25. I've accomplished alot of things in my life, thanks to yerba mate. I no longer need it.

I feel better now that I'm off it. I was drinking so much of it, and amounts like that can actually cause Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome, DSPS for short. It means your whole sleep cycle is delayed, so even though you're sleeping 8 hours, you have a late clock. For example, plenty of nights I would go to bed at 4AM, 5AM, or 6AM, and sleep until noon, 1PM, or even past 2PM. I would miss the whole morning, and wake up to a bunch of missed calls and voicemails. Now, without yerba mate, I was able to go to bed early last night, without help from any type of drug, and I woke up at 4AM, and I feel better. Early to bed, early to rise. I'm seeing the whole world with a new perspective. I don't need any stimulants. I stopped smoking mugwort, as well. I know I had touted smoking mugwort as an inherently good thing, and it is, just not long-term. I smoked mugwort for a few months, and now I have officially stopped.

Clean System = Better Chances of An Awesome DMT Trip

I am very excited to be going to sleep naturally even night and waking up naturally every morning. Now that I have stopped drinking yerba mate and smoking mugwort, all that is left is that I will allow myself a hot mug of tea once in a blue moon on the nights when I really truly need it (rosemary, mugwort, and mullein), or some other combination like that. I am very excited to trip on a clean system.

By the way....I am not doing any extraction attempts right now, due to a very busy professional life. When I have some time, I have to do some more research, so I can better understand solvents and polarity. My yield was just white specks on this glass dish. They didn't seem very crystalline, and they came right off without needing a real scrape from this straightedge blade I have. The consistency just didn't seem right. I will include a photo I took of my yield as soon as I can fix this computer glitch I'm having with my photos.

Next time, it would be ideal to look at my yield under a microscope, so I can literally see the crystals.

I'm unlikely to use Ronsonol as my solvent again. I'm thinking naphtha and hexane. I'm open to hearing any information you have about naphtha and hexane.

I have recently learned that, "hexane is neurotoxic and should be avoided". That's important information. I am in the process of learning about different solvents. It's fun! "There are a variety of extraction solvents that can be used, depending on the polarity of the target." This learning process is fun!

LizKing, congratulations on being promoted!

I have not been able to get past blast off with this tiny little pipe.
Next week we are going to try taking huge DMT bong rips. This beautiful big virgin bowl is twice the size of the first, which is too small, and we're going to put more in. I have not been able to break through yet. So frustrating.

Take it steady and make sure you have weighed your dose accurately. Also, make sure you vaporize the molecule rather than burning it.

There's also a thread with the title "Attn: if you're having a hard time breaking through, READ THIS" (or something like that) which you may like to read.

I would err on the side of caution regarding the massive bong rips. Perhaps persist with your pipe or find a more efficient device, and I am sure your patience will pay off. For example, people often do not find the small glass pipes work well, but I have had extraordinary experiences using one with very small amounts of DMT.

Also consider, the DMT experience may be tailored to the individual, as necessary to their requirements.

Hope this helps.

Here is the thread the DF0 is referencing.

I cut my teeth on massive bong rips with DMT. However, I had friends around to take the light the bowl, coach me, and take the bong when I couldn't even really hear them anymore.

If you're going to combust it, then you may need a little more, as combustion tends to destroy some of the molecule, lessening the dose overall. Proper vaporization technique will be your best bet in the long-run. Options include E-mesh, GVG (glass vapor genie), Divine Tribe V4 crucible (I think there's a V5 out now), an oil burner pipe, the Puffco Proxy, among others.

Keep at it. You'll get in.

One love

Congratulations to me on my first breakthrough!

Hyperdimensional pinwheels spinning very fast, clockwise and counterclockwise, in all corners of my visual field.

I will get back to both of you soon with private messages. Thanks!

Yes - congratulations! And this is just the beginning; be sure to keep us updated.

In the interest of purity:

1. Is naphtha a "cleaner" solvent than Ronsonol?
2. In other words, will it yield much purer DMT?

"Naphtha" is a general term for certain grades of petroleum distillate, whereas Ronsonol is a brand name under which a more specific, but likely still somewhat variable, formulation of light hydrocarbons gets sold.

There are two main questions; firstly, does the solvent pass the clean evaporation test? Secondly, does the solvent have a favorable temperature/solubility gradient for DMT?

The former question should be answered with a simple practical test, or possibly through careful reading of a sufficiently detailed SDS and/or TDS (technical data sheet), where - with any luck - there might be a value for "residue on evaporation @ [some temperature, like 180°C].

The answer to the latter question can also be inferred somewhat through careful interpretation of the technical & safety data. Hydrotreated petroleum distillate, light aliphatic, hydrodesulfurised, paraffins, alicyclics - these are all favorable terms. While I'm not certain of the effect of too high a proportion of alicyclics on the temperature/solubility curve, it shouldn't be catastrophic (for example, I seem to recall anecdotally that someone reported extracting successfully with cyclohexane). The things you don't want, at least if freeze-precipitating, are aromatics. They hold onto too much DMT at low temperatures (and they have a penetrating odour). Medium naphtha is also acceptable but will evaporate more slowly, and with heavy naphtha it would be highly advisible to do a recrystallisation on one's product with a light solvent before further experimentation - a mini A/B could even be recommended. And products with ingredienis such as detergents/surfactants and water should definitely be avoided!

So there you go - the main answer is "research your solvent" (and make sure you're using current data) but the only other thing to add is that most other solvents, except for lab grade heptane, will be cheaper than Ronsonol, where you're paying for the tiny package and the pretty label.

I haven't been on the computer much lately. I was on a 2-week business trip to the East Coast, and now that I am back in Vegas, I'm starting a new job tomorrow. Well, actually it's an externship, so I will be working full-time without pay. In other words, slave labor.

I soon realized I can't live without herbal remedies. Thus, I have gladly returned to smoking mugwort, and making the caffeinated hollies: yerba mate, guayusa, and yaupon. I have all 3 species. I make an iced tea concentrate out of them, and you should try it, if you haven't already. In less than a half an hour, you have 3 powerful stimulants!

For those of you unfamiliar with the caffeinated hollies, they are just simply the species of holly that have caffeine. They are naturally caffeinated, and they also have other phytochemicals to balance out the caffeine, like theobromine, theophylline, and L-theanine, so you don't get nervous or nauseous or jittery. The caffeinated hollies are full of vitamins and minerals, they kill cancer cells, they help you live longer, and they are also an antiarrthymic. And they have plenty of other medicinal benefits. The phytochemical synergism makes you feel energized, relaxed, and in love all at the same time. It's a clear-headed feeling. I'm ready, willing, and able to answer any questions you have about this beautiful category of tea. Easy to make, using sachets. Make your own medicine!

I am all out of DMT. I got all the mileage I could out of that pipe residue. I am just a DMT novice. I need more practice until I feel confident and comfortable with DMT extraction. I'm not there yet. I'm excited to apply heat this time, to hopefully get a better yield. I have a 2000ml Erlenmeyer flask, with a rubber stopper.

I'm putting together ideas for the visionary science library. Think about a depressed science library versus an enriched science library. I've seen a depressed science library before (but I won't name names of universities, which would be unprofessional of me, at best). It looked like no one had ever really invested love, time, energy, money, or spirituality into it. It was underground - kind of a basement-like feeling, and the books looked tired. The tired books were uninviting and the air felt stale. The science librarians were just chatting and amusing themselves with conversation behind the front desk, and they were detached from the tired books and from the psychonaut perusing them (me). To say the least, I couldn't find any book worth reading. The selection was that bad. On the community bulletin board, which also looked tired, was an advertisement that I don't know quite how to put into words. Some gal living in a rental house was in a difficult situation. There were spiders all over the house, and she was selling them for a very low price. It might've been $1 per spider. I don't remember the price. In the advertisement, she said, "Oh my God, they are everywhere!!!".

Compare this depressed science library with an enriched science library. My visionary science library. A place of all different kinds of art (all different kinds of media represented), interwoven with science books about controversial, juicy, forbidden topics (such as DMT!). Think color and powerful emotion and spirituality and beautiful interior design. As an artist, I use psychedelics for artistic enrichment. Most of work is just interior design, but I still function in other media. Up on my wall is my DMT poem that I wrote when I first got on here:

Eternal damnation?
Or the right...
To teleportation!
I want to become...
myself.
Here I am pining,
my fluorescent green elf.

Having taken a whole bunch of different psychedelics in my lifetime, my interior design has been better ever since. And, it only continues to get better and better. Psychedelics have had a very positive impact on my life and on my abilities as an artist. Long ago, phenethylamines. Most recently, DMT. The visionary science library will be, in a sense, one big interior design project. You should see my living room. I have custom-made curvy bookcases filled with different kinds of science books. On one shelf is DMT books. On another shelf is mushroom cookbooks (think chicken-of-the-woods, morels, and maitake, to name a few). On the next table over, I have Pihkal and Tihkal wedged in between 2 Buddha-head bookends. Next to that is a yellow antique schooldesk. On it sits 9 antique medicine jars, each filled with a different plant. Above it is a crystal chart. And, I could go on and on. The vibe in that living room is very dreamy and colorful, and the interior design just kind of flows. I wish I could show photos, but one of the custom-made bookcases has a certificate at the top, with my name on it.

Well, my science library (in the living room) is growing. When I'm old and gray, I want to donate my whole entire science library to a university badly in need of one. It will be a gift, of sorts. After I read all my books, it's time for someone else to enjoy them. Maybe someone will read something in of those books that will save his or her life. And, there's definitely a university out there that needs and wants and deserves a science library, and just doesn't have the funds. Where I did my undergrad was pretty prestigious, so of course, we had a science library. Whether or not a school has a science library depends on a lot of factors, such as: how strong that school is in the sciences, the prestige of the school, the endowment, geographical location, enough space, investors, faculty, students, and other parties who are interested. My donation of a whole personal library will be the foundation - something to start with - so the visionary science library can grow more and more from that starting point. The additional books will be donated, as well, from other sources besides me. I even came up with a system for accepting and rejecting books. More about that later!

Lastly, what sets my visionary science library apart from other science libraries is the fact that there will be classes offered. These are 1-night classes on a science topic, and you have to buy a ticket in order to attend. There's no homework, grades, or pressure with these classes. They won't appear on your transcript. It's just pure learning and something fun that brings the community together. One of the programs is called:

Make Your Own Medicine!

I would describe it as:
Citizen science education
Where science meets art
Very interactive and fun, hands-on
Anybody can teach, as long as they know their stuff

It's a program of maybe 10 classes, each a different topic. You can take them in any order. The first class is how to make the caffeinated hollies. I mentioned these in my last post. Yerba mate, guayusa, and yaupon. The second class could be about how to make homemade candles. I don't know how to make them. I'm thinking about taking a workshop to learn how. Eccentric/artsy/unusual-looking ones. And then, there are 7 more classes. Each one a different kind of homemade medicine. Kombucha could be the third class. More and more ideas about the 10 classes are unfolding as I go. I see myself as a visionary science library designer, and the message is clear:

Make Your Own Medicine!

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Reply to me anytime!

By the way, everyone:

I learned, through personal experience, that microdosing on DMT works on oxytocin. I was very impressed that it saved my life, because I had a really bad oxytocin imbalance for many years, and now I no longer have that problem.