I know this has all been said before but I want to reiterate that the following have worked for me when trips have gone bad, dark, evil, etc. It has brought back great trips, mystical experiences, the colors, my comfort level, etc. etc.

1.) Long abstention breaks. Longer than I expected or wanted. One was many many years. As long as it takes. During this time reaching for health and normalcy. Dedicating myself to work, school, family, etc. Eating healthier, not drinking, yes exercising, yes meditating, yes getting laid or getting off, etc.

2.) Meditation, preferably daily. Both in the psychedelicized/tripping state and when baseline.

3.) Actively working on integration - trying to do the work on the stuff that came out during the dark ones. Keeping a dream journal. Continuing to abstain, etc.

4.) Reaching out for help, professional or otherwise, when I felt I needed it.

I hope this helps and wish you victory in this difficult journey of yours. And same to all others currently going through this. Psychonauts are a brave lot - we face our internal demons in a way that non-trippers can only read about. This work is NOT always easy, not at all. But sometimes one has to go through the fire. And what one gets on the other side (insight, growth, new tripping life, etc.) can be huge in my opinion.

This is an old thread I found through the FAQ. There is lots of good advice in it about taking a break, meditating, making sure you're exercising, eating right, keeping up with your life responsibilities and so forth.

For me, 95% of times I've vaped DMT I meet beings made of light, even when I don't really want to. For example, one time a tiny dose of 20-22mg vaporized caused me to break through to entities even though all I wanted to do was to gaze at the clouds in awe. Only on one or two occasions have I not broken through. Although a few of my experiences have been unpleasant, most are incredibly joyous and magical. I credit my consistent and (usually) positive breakthroughs to having respect and humility for DMT; not using it frequently; and also to being experienced with ceremonial Ayahuasca (which I think permanently opens a portal in the mind, as well as a sense of ceremonial protocol, in a way that vaped DMT might not). Also I generally just try to live life by trying to be helpful and fair to others when I can, and I think a service-to-the-greater-good mentality helps with having good experiences in hyperspace.

I thought I'd still reply to this old question because it's a good one about alcohol and the female gatekeeper entity. Personally, I'm almost always welcomed into hyperspace by a 'female gatekeeper entity' of some sort. The last time I visited was many months ago, and when she met me at the end of the tunnel of light, I remember feeling anxious and 'stuck in my head' (feeling too coldly analytical). I asked the female entity telepathically if she could unlock my heart-space and bring my awareness into my heart, and as the question formed in my mind it was simultaneously answered by her firing warm light into my chest. Immediately my awareness was shifted out of my head and into my heart, filling me with peace, joy, love, and a sense of calm about the journey that was about the transpire. Then she sent me off on my way with many other beings made of light who rushed forward to show me machines and human children.

I've seen this female gatekeeper so many times that I'm surprised when she's not there to greet me. Often she holds up a beautiful hamsa, which is a Middle Eastern symbol representing the hand of God or protection from the Evil Eye. I had never seen a hamsa in my life, nor knew what it was, until after several DMT journeys I became familiar with it and kept thinking of it as a bell or upside down hand. Then one day at a music festival I saw a woman wearing a hamsa tee-shirt, and I went up and asked her what it was and she told me all about it. She said that the hamsa is a symbol representing the hand of God and protection against evil. The fact that I never in my life had seen or knew what a hamsa was until I did DMT is intriguing to me, and it gives me comfort to now know that the symbol this female DMT entity always shows me is a positive one of protection.

As for the alcohol, personally I'm vehemently opposed to mixing alcohol with DMT. Whoever or whatever the 'DMT beings' are, I suspect they do not appreciate those who enter their space inebriated (or even slightly intoxicated) by alcoholic beverages. Even arriving into hyperspace buzzed on just a couple drinks probably isn't an impressive state to them and may invite hyperspace denial or an unpleasant journey. My own experience suggests to me these beings know immediately whatever other molecules are in our brains and will adjust the DMT journey depending on the other chemistry we've got going on alongside DMT. For example, I've done DMT on the tail-end of an LSD journey a couple times and I've felt an immediate sense that 'they' know I have some LSD in me and will instead choose to show me symbols and patterns rather than themselves. That's been my experience; but on the other hand, Terence McKenna reported meeting entities when taking DMT at the peak of an LSD trip.

But getting back to the alcohol...

Go into any major city centre on the weekend and take a look at what alcohol consciousness looks like stumbling down the street. Alcohol tunes us into a low-vibrational state of diminished awareness that makes us dumb, incoherent, and sometimes violent. It's the opposite end of the spectrum from say, a DMT, LSD, or mushroom state of consciousness which is highly peaceful, social, cooperative, inspiring, and creative.

Here's a story about DMT and alcohol.

I once attended a major music+camping festival where a seemingly pleasant and sober guy proceeded to get himself drunk on straight whiskey as the night progressed. I'll call him Tom. Tom became slightly rude and belligerent as the alcohol took effect, stumbling around and making impolite remarks to others around the campfire. Within a couple hours he was rip-roaring drunk, and he repeatedly demanded a hit of DMT from a friend of mine.

According to my friend, Tom had experienced DMT a few times before, but on one of those occasions my friend told me Tom had also been high on ice (unbeknownst to my friend) and had 'flipped out.' It was well after midnight and I had a bad vibe about what was going to happen. It wasn't my place but I felt inclined to speak up to my friend: "I don't think you should give Tom DMT. Not in the drunken state he's in."

But Tom insisted repeatedly he wanted his hit of DMT and my friend relented to his childish persistence. "C'mon, just one hit, c'mon... just one hit, man!"

Tom laid down on a camping sofa we had and took his hit. My friend then took away the pipe. Tom held his breath for 20 seconds or so.

What happened next was a horrifying, practically endless screaming session that lasted for 20 minutes.

At the top of his lungs, Tom screamed and wailed and had to be held down on the camp sofa, alternating between crying and screaming, eventually falling to the ground and crumpling into the fetal position. Other campers who were sleeping peacefully in their tents were awoken by this terrifying ruckus wondering what was happening. My heart was pounding because Tom was incoherent and screaming nonstop at the top of his lungs as if he were being disemboweled. Nothing my friend said or tried could comfort Tom for this horrifying journey. All my friend could do was to try to cradle Tom and keep telling him, "keep it down buddy, it's ok, it's ok..." I then had to keep my eyes peeled for the festival's night patrol security guards who might stop by to investigate what Tom's blood-curdling screaming was all about.

Finally after 20 minutes of this terror my patience was running low. I said sternly to Tom, "OK, Tom, your DMT has worn off now. Stop screaming because you're frightening everyone else. I know you can hear me, so stop pretending you don't." He snapped out of his trance, looked me dead in the eye, and said with wide unblinking eyes: "That was so healing!"

I was infuriated! What could be healing about screaming for 20 minutes and scaring everyone in a 50 metre radius? This is one of a couple stories I know where mixing alcohol with DMT, even small amounts, can make the journey unpleasant. If you have to drink a beer to relax for DMT it would be better to practice meditation or not do DMT at all until you are ready to experience it stone sober.

What an interesting post was this! I also got to this thread through the FAQ page.

I guess it's time for me to meditate some more and give attention to my setting. I'm experiencing lack of effects as well since a couple of months. Still I can't accept I would have to take a break for months or even years. I believe DMT is a catalyst for my third eye, or maybe even causing and out-of-body-experience, the problem is my strong mind/ego. My day-to-day mind wants to join and see what's happening in DMT land, but DMT land is only visible for the Mind's eye. I would guess that meditation works great. I need to get into a quiet state of mind. I also read about something like serotonin towers, who can block DMT from your receptors. To lower this barrier a small joint seems helpful. It didn't work for me unfortunately.

What strongly helped me with my hypothesis is the following:
Once upon a time I woke up in the middle of the night and half asleep I decided to take a small toke. I got blasted off immediately and I was shocked. I tried to find the switch to put on the lights, after I succeeded the visuals were everywhere! 3D Creatures came up out of the carpet and my bed was surrounded by bright green stripes as if it were LED lights.

I think the reason I suddenly had such a big effect, after having no visuals for a few months already, was because my mind was still asleep. I was in between awake and asleep. Only problem with this approach is the shock effect, I wasn't expecting much, and suddenly BAMM... right into it.



"Reality cuts me like a knife"

This can go both ways, I find. I've seen alcohol used as a crutch to make DMT less of a threat to one's current state of mind. Not what I recommend, but it certainly depends on what some people are like when consuming alcohol in the first place. Perhaps the combination is complex, and different for different people. I suppose consider myself to be one of the lucky ones.

I think the mindset is the most important thing, and the best way to make sure you are in the right mind for DMT is to just be happy. Be happy in your life, fill it with love and distribute love like mushroom spores on a breeze. If this doesn't do it, maybe it's just time for a break.

DMT is the highest form of 'magic' I know of, and being a conduit for it might just wear down our consciousness for a bit. Perhaps there receptors which tune out, just like many drugs, and become more active and 'trip-ready' after a rest ? Maybe I'm clutching at straws but there's still a lot to discover about how these compounds work.

Either way, it's all gravy IME. This happens. Just needs a little time

This thread has really helped me guys and gals.

Experienced denied breakthrough recently and feared i'd upset an energy etc...

Upon reflection I dont tink im in the right headspace at all.

Peace