Psychedelic drugs are a bit like tattoos, if you haven’t done it by a certain age, it’s unlikely that you ever will.
So in no way is this article an attempt to persuade anyone to embark on their first psychedelic adventure. Some people are simply more curious than others, and if you fall into this category then the following words could well be beneficial.
The number one mistake you can make whilst tripping is to try and override the power of the visual hallucinations with your rational mind. A misguided idea that you can pull yourself together when your 200ug dose is coursing through your body, in much the same way as people believe they can ’sober up’ when they’re steaming.
This is a virtually guaranteed bad trip; even a shortcut to madness.
I have seen acid go wrong and the aftermath that came with it. Everyone involved knows the story but it ends with someone walking out of their flat and never coming back again. Even I have ended up in a pickle before, culminating in 3 hours spent marching around a campsite in the pissing rain riding an ungodly combination of LSD and pills cut heavily with speed with no idea what my tent looked like, let alone where it might have been pitched.
One golden rule when taking psychedelics is this: remember you are on drugs, fighting it will only make things worse.
Your trip will last as long as it lasts. You’ve strapped yourself into the rollercoaster and there’s no way off the ride until it’s over. But it will wear off eventually, so just be patient and don’t panic. At SGP a few years ago a big portion of the team dropped very strong acid and 12 hours later someone was shovelling fat slugs of K up his nose, complaining that it wasn’t working and he was just bored with the acid trip now.
LSD will creep up on you. Sometimes you don’t realise your trip has started, but it’s much harder to tell when it’s finished. You never want to speak too soon then notice that actually the carpet is still swirling around after all.
Relax and let the drug run its course because there is no way you’re going to be able to beat it. Accept that you’re going to be fully incapacitated for the foreseeable future and see where your brain takes you. Think of it like a massage for your imagination: you must be totally relaxed and embrace it for it to be truly effective. If you go into the situation tense, nervous and distrusting, then you may be in for a bumpy ride.
Most importantly of all: enjoy it. Enjoy being in nature, seeing colours like you’ve never seen them before, giggling your little head off at everything and nothing, the comical confusion, and best of all the realisation that we live in a world of absolute nonsense anyway.
Written by: Henry
