DMT #
| Common Nomenclature | N,N-Dimethyltryptamine |
| Street & Reference Names | N,N-DMT; Dimitri; The Spirit Molecule |
| Reference Dosage | Threshold 2mg+; Light 10mg+; Medium 20mg+; Strong 40mg+ [Drugs-Forum] Threshold 2mg+; Light 10mg+; Common 20mg+; Strong 40mg+ [Erowid] Threshold 5mg+; Light 10mg+; Common 15mg+; Strong 25mg+; Heavy 35mg+ [TripSit] |
| Anticipated: Onset / Duration | 20 Seconds / 6 Minutes |
| Maximum Dose Experienced | 20mg |
| Form | Powder |
| RoA | Vaporised |
| Source / Jurisdiction | Dealer / Overseas |
| Personal Rating On Shulgin Scale | +++ |
SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE #
Despite invoking what is possibly the most intense of psychedelic experiences, DMT is found naturally within the human cerebrospinal system and elsewhere. Indeed, it is frequently suggested that it is excreted by the pineal gland (in the centre of the brain). Outside the human organism it is also present in mammals and many species of plants, seemingly permeating nature itself.
Whilst I had previously engaged DMT as an ingredient of ayahuasca, smoking the raw molecule produces a radically different and less gentle type of experience. Unfortunately, smoking an effective breakthrough dose to achieve this is frequently reported as being a difficult operation to execute.
The trick is to vaporize the crystals, rather than to burn them, which is apparently easier said than done. Nonetheless, I set about the task with diligence and patience.
BREAKTHROUGH ATTEMPT #1 #
For this attempt I obtained a glass pipe, courtesy of Amazon, for a grand total of £5.95 (see image above). I began the experiment at 10am.
I placed 20mg of DMT into the pipe, and carefully heated the bottom of the bowl with a lighter. As smoke began to appear, I inhaled, slowly. Nothing happened; so I repeated several times until the crystals had all disappeared.
There were no hallucinations and no trip. There was an extremely mild psychedelic type headspace, which lasted an hour or so. That was it.
My conclusion was that I must have burned the DMT, or even swallowed some of the crystals before they melted. This was an abject failure.
BREAKTHROUGH ATTEMPT #2 #
Further research led me to buy a VaporGenie. This was a much more expensive device, but contributors across multiple forums claimed great success in using it to breakthrough. Regardless, it still sounded like a fiddly exercise to undertake.
The experiment began at 7:30pm. I placed 22mg into the chamber of the VaporGenie on top of a damiana ash bed, and sprinkled some further ashes on top. On heating I inhaled, trying not to suck the flame deep enough into the device to touch the DMT. I held the smoke nervously for 10 seconds and then exhaled. I saw smoke dissipate into the air as I did so.
I knew that I was under some sort of influence almost immediately. I lay down, placed my head on to a cushion and closed my eyes, largely because I was chicken and didn’t want to see the world actually disintegrate before me.
The problem was that it didn’t. I missed the breakthrough again, and I missed the famed chrysanthemum too (the alleged prelude to entering the main hallucinogenic event).
However, what I did see were some glorious CEVs. There were concave adornments on the walls of wherever I was. They were morphing a little, but were largely stable and were of rich beautiful colours.
As I opened my eyes to check the real world status this vision immediately disappeared. There were no OEVs of any significance, so I closed my eyes again. Unfortunately, I couldn’t reach the same clarity or intensity as moments ago. However, what I had seen was somewhere; not just patterns, but actual walls with indented window type alcoves (but without transparency). It was like some grand medieval castle-like interior, but bright, perfect and extremely colourful.
I was feeling fine, and not so scared, so I lit up again, inhaled, and held for another ten seconds. This time I didn’t notice any smoke or vapour.
I embraced the notion that closing my eyes was a little like tuning into a frequency. I simply chose to go there. It was a strange feeling.
I searched for the other-worldly interior again. There were CEVs but not enough to frame the place. I suspect that the DMT may well have been largely used or burned on the first hit.
I chased it three more times over the next 10 minutes, but all I could find was the headspace and the colours.
I opened the pipe: only ashes remained.
I actually got somewhere with this attempt, but not far enough. However, I was encouraged sufficiently to promise myself that I would try this again soon, using the same technique, but being more careful with the flame, and perhaps holding the smoke for longer.
I would say the duration of the main play was around 6 minutes, as generally advertised.
As an experience it was perfectly fine, with interesting visuals, a nice headspace, a certain contentment, a short duration, no body load, and some afterglow. Without having some knowledge of where DMT can lead when fully charged, I suspect that I would have been extremely happy with this, but I was disappointed not to have broken through. I was determined to be bolder next time.
Note that my subsequent sleep pattern was a little disrupted with several wake-ups and some weird vivid dreams. Retro checking on the Internet, I learned that this is quite a common phenomenon. This continued into a second night, with sleep cycles broken by dreams which were sometimes not very positive.
BREAKTHROUGH ATTEMPT #3 #
This time I measured 35mg and mixed it with the remaining ashes from Attempt #2. I prepared in the same manner and initiated the experiment.
I misfired again, but I instantly understood why. I felt powder enter my mouth as I inhaled. This was DMT and ash; unvaporised. I had inhaled too strongly, and it was apparent that the chemical was not entrenched sufficiently below the ash, which itself was not heavy enough.
The experience itself was much like a re-run of the second attempt, but the visuals were more intense. Was that the initial framing of the famed orange chrysanthemum I saw during the first few seconds? Perhaps, but it dissipated very quickly, just as it started to form.
I felt a strange analgesic numbness of the body as I lay on the ground, and again failed to recapture the same visual intensity once I had opened my eyes. There were OEVs, but the real action was on the back of my eyelids.
Subsequently, Sleep was again disturbed, with strange vivid dreaming.
Retrospectively, I feel that I should try to compare this with salvia divinorum, which was the source of my first alien-reality type of encounter.
My experience of smoking salvia was of being pulled into a bright and lucidly coloured out-of-body domain, which comprised sharp threatening echoed shapes, framed on my original field of vision. I felt that my mind was being dragged outwards into this abyss, as I struggled in absolute terror. This is considered by many to be a form of delirium. However, given that oral consumption produces a different response, I wouldn’t classify it as such.
DMT produced similarly wonderful colours, but it presented an actual locale, the timeline was ordered, and there was no fear. Also, at the doses I sampled, I had the capacity to proactively tune in to this construct, rather than being suddenly wrenched into an inferno.
This intelligible character of ordered enfoldment is, in fact, the major difference between DMT and the other psychedelic chemicals I have so far tested. With DMT I wasn’t experiencing a variation of where I was at the moment I inhaled, but rather, I found myself in entirely different surroundings, which had appeared from nowhere. I had my faculties intact and my mind was rational, but I was transplanted into an unknown setting, which appeared to comprise some sort of other-reality. This wasn’t random patterns or shapes or bright lights, it was an actual place. This, of course, renders it astonishing.
At some point in the future I will be drawn to a 4th attempt.
[Reference: Rick Strassman DMT: The Spirit Molecule]
[Shulgin Reference: TiHKAL #6, p412]
The DMT molecule (on my ankle)… it’s a long story.