Without the guidance of the church I started to seek other methods of enlightenment. So I turned to Cannabis. In the words of an amazing Human Being, Bob Marley, Cannabis emancipated me from mental slavery and still to this day is one of the few things in this world that brings me close to the All that IS. For almost a year Cannabis was the only psychoactive I used until I had my heart broken.

Then I began to use Cocaine to numb the pain, and my nostrils. I got hung up with the warm fuzzy feeling associated with the increased blood flow and enhanced dopamine uptake Cocaine can provide for a few months. That is, until I met MDMA.

Ahhh... sweet nostalgia. Love in the form of a powder, a chemical love but love none the less... well slightly less. The euphoria and bliss I experienced was what I had been missing since the loss of what I felt was Love, maybe it was, probably just infatuation. But a chemical couldn't replace the natural occurrence of emotions derived from the experiences between two people.

Down and out, as well as a little more experienced with biochemical relationships, I knew there had to be more to life than these, albeit wonderful, somewhat mundane experiences. Too tolerant of MDMA from over use and weaned from cocaine due to increased paranoia, I started to research somewhat more legal means of procuring tools to assist me in my search for the ultimate truth.

In doing so I stumbled upon Salvia Divinorum, my first in a series of intense and absolutely amazing plant guides. Maybe I'm more sensitive than others, I've done the extracts but all I've ever needed was the leaf to send me into the ethereal. This is probably due to the process I used to activate it. The first time and every sequential time following I used the method Daniel Siebert provides on the site Sagewisdom.com with remarkable results. Salvia taught me right away to respect it. Every aspect of this plant is divine in nature,(IMO) hence the name. For months I was satisfied with the realms that Salvia provided for me to explore but I felt the 10-15 minute time frame wasn't long enough for me to gather the information I felt I could obtain with a longer lasting psychedelic session.

Being into the legal high scene at the time I ordered some Hawaiian Baby Woodrose seeds. While these seeds had interesting effects, I didn't find the ergot alkaloids sufficient in providing me with an experience worthy of notable breakthroughs.

So being led by curiosity, I began once more to search for a plant Teacher. Moving back into the legally ostracized psychoactives, Psilocybe mushrooms made their way into my life. One word: Magic. I have a strong affinity towards these fantastical fungi like few other psychedelics. I've had many amorous adventures within the otherworldly headspaces induced by the Philosopher's Stone and like Cannabis and Salvia before; Psilocybe had become a partner for a lucid lifetime. Although I would partake in Psilocybe many times later in life, I started to feel I should get a better grasp on entheogens as a whole.

So I thought it best to get a few experiences under my belt with the most popular of all psychedelic substances, LSD. I dropped a couple sugar cubes, added a blotter, and threw in two one and half gram mushroom chocolates for good measure. The acid alone was spectacular, alot cleaner than the HBWR without the body load with the same stiffness of limbs at times. But I noticed at lower doses the LSD was somewhat psychoanalytical in its approach. Though derived from a fungus, it ultimately is a chemical. So being a chemical, as well as illegal, I have much less experience with this substance than I sometimes wish. But LSD just never gave me the kind of experience I was looking for.

I would get there almost every time smoking Salvia it just didn't last long enough and in a quid it just wasn't strong enough. Psilocybe was close but it had a slight heaviness to it that seemed to be holding me back. For a while I would just take different combinations in hopes of breaking through to a higher plane and even though I went through some mind melting montages, there always seemed to be something missing. Until I met Ayahuasca. Then my life would be forever changed.

Great essay.

But, . . . I feel cliff-hanged, LOL.

What happened next? What happened when you drank the aya? How did things change from that point on?

Thanks for sharing.

Yea I'm glad you like it. I've got a second part already written, but I was kind of waiting until I'm accepted as a member. I thought it would be better to post it in the experience forum. So you might have to keep hanging for a while. It is the tale of my first voyage with Ayahuasca after all.