Frequently Asked Questions | FREE CONTENT LINKS

I will keep adding to this post so I have a place to direct people when they ask a question that's already been answered.  FYI if you use any of my Amazon links it helps support the channel (as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases) you don't even have to buy the linked product, any purchase counts so please use my link before buying anything on amazon 😇🙏!

Q: Where can I find the GordoTEK videos that YouTube banned?  And can I download them?
A: Here is a list of links (you may need to click/tap a file link to stream the videos instead of trying to stream directly from patreon).  You can download them, and you can stream them even at different playback speeds (on some phones you may need to install the "Google Drive" app to play it):

DMT Extraction: https://www.patreon.com/posts/written-out-of-21369133

Pan Cyan Crown Jewel of Mushrooms:  Panaeolus Cyanescens TEK video (or written version or new simple unmodified tote TEK)

Mini Greenhouse setup for growing exotic mushrooms (used to set the world record for most potent mushroom)

TripTrack 1 GordoTEK 10 hour trip music soundscape: https://www.patreon.com/posts/27495538

TripTrack 2 Hopkins Trip Music: https://www.patreon.com/posts/32638441 (created for use in psliocybin research sessions at Johns Hopkins, very well regarded, contains a lot of choral and classical music plus beautiful calming instrumentals)

TripTrack 3 FruityLoops Trip Music: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50106651

TripTrack 4 Experimental Christ Encounter Experience (tap here for playlist)

TripTrack 5 submitted by a patron (I had no input on this one but thought I'd share since different people have different tastes, this one is very mellow and calming, some Indian influences, its on Spotify).

TripTrack 6 5.5 hour playlist originally created for psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for depression studies at Imperial College London (also submitted by a patron and on Spotify, has more electronic/synthesizer music for those that like that style, relaxing and hypnotic.

Bulk Mushroom Cultivation Video (for cubes and natalensis) : patreon.com/posts/29675383

MidwestGrowKits Bulk Grow Kit Review: https://www.patreon.com/posts/51650180

MidwestGrowKits Jar Kit Review: https://www.patreon.com/posts/midwest-grow-jar-52896281

Hopkins/Griffiths/Richards protocol to help you get the most out of psychedelics, write up: patreon.com/posts/28680845 and video: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41836904 (backup download: http://bit.ly/3jeTXWq )

Outdoor Mushroom Use: https://www.patreon.com/posts/66184463

Low Dose Mystical Experiences DMT Video: https://www.patreon.com/posts/22773010

How to vape DMT & Make a Dream Maker Tool: https://www.patreon.com/posts/32798337

Extracting Harmine and Harmaline from Peganum Harmala (Syrian Rue seeds): https://www.patreon.com/posts/47185921

How to Reduce Harmaline to Tetrahydroharmine (Make your own THH): https://www.patreon.com/posts/47186323

Pharmahuasca & Pharmachanga (DMT with harmalas/MAOI/ß-carbolines, make your own ayahuasca): https://www.patreon.com/posts/19481285

Making and Using Agar: https://www.patreon.com/posts/56209839

Making and Using a Spore Syringe (also shows how to prep any type of grain for making grain spawn): https://www.patreon.com/posts/61879619

How to build a HEPA laminar flow hood: https://www.patreon.com/posts/78502280

Q: What happened with YouTube?

A: See: https://www.patreon.com/posts/47081842  Sadly, YouTube deleted my channel.  It's really hard to start over from scratch with no subscribers and no views but I will try to rebuild as best I can (click here and subscribe to the new channel!).  The control that big tech has over us is increasingly disturbing, they can cancel you in a heartbeat if they don't like your viewpoint.  I decided to make ALL previously published content available for free to anyone that wants it, including all of the trip music and TEK vids, via the patreon channel, and you do NOT need to become a patron or give anything to access it (although I'd certainly appreciate your support).

Q: What are the risks of using psychedelics?

A: I refer you to a video titled "The real risks of psychedelics" as a starting point, but ironically I don't think this short video actually covered "the real risks" very well. People should know the risks in order to make an informed choice.  Some of the Johns Hopkins studies on psilocybin excluded up to 97% of volunteers from the study!  That's an incredibly selective group they allowed in to take the psilocybin.  They excluded anyone with serious mental health problems or having any close relative with serious mental health problems, they also excluded people on certain medications, or with high blood pressure, etc.  I am aware of a single report of someone suffering cardiac arrest after taking mushrooms, this man had heart disease and sometimes psychedelics raise blood pressure and/or heart rate, but such a person could have just as easily had a heart attack from countless other activities that raise blood pressure or heart rate such as riding a roller coaster or even vigorous exercise.  Some psychedelics (especially LSD) can cause Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD) which is a rare but SERIOUS potential risk (it seems the people most susceptible tend to have something in common, namely they were prone to depersonalization OR derealization in their life before ever taking psychedelics). No volunteers from the Johns Hopkins studies on psilocybin reported experiencing HPPD, this includes hundreds of people.  More info about HPPD can be found in this interview.

The most common challenge from taking psychedelics is that they can induce waves of anxiety and/or fear which can cause some people to panic and behave in an erratic way.  The best way to prevent this is simply through education, knowing ahead of time that this is a common response and that it will pass or greatly subside should bring you comfort.  Listening to pleasant music will also help. Having someone there to sooth you, hold a hand, or give words of encouragement can also be beneficial.  Some people (especially those prone to anxiety) may benefit from anxiolytics before, during, or after psychedelic use, however any medications should be carefully researched for contraindications and some medications may also blunt or block the psychedelic experience. Beta blockers seem promising for this purpose. Non-drug methods include things like meditation (in fact the Johns Hopkins team published a complete protocol for combining meditation with psychedelics).

People with underlying and sometimes UNDETECTED psychosis such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia can enter full blown psychosis if they take psychedelics.  Psychedelics typically take the blame in these situations but the psychosis was likely going to happen eventually regardless (I don't recommend anyone under the age of 25 use psychedelics because at this age the brain is still developing and you may not know if you have a serious mental health disorder until about age 25).  I do not recommend anyone with a problematic mental health history take psychedelics.  If you ignore this and take them anyway, start with as small of a dose as possible and slowly build up from there if desiring a deeper experience, after waiting at least a few weeks between sessions.

Bad trips can be psychologically difficult but shouldn't have a long lasting impact.  Another risk are predators/gurus abusing other people with psychedelics (physically and/or mentally).  All that said, psychedelics are STILL far safer than alcohol on whole, so let's keep things in perspective!  It's insane that we have legal alcohol which kills an estimated 3 million people a year worldwide, but mushrooms are illegal when mushrooms actually heal most people and rarely do any harm.  Also note that even aspirin is linked to thousands of deaths per year.  It is also possible that a person under the influence of psychedelics could do something dangerous if they refuse to remain in a safe location such as in a bed or on a couch, for example driving or swimming while on psychedelics could certainly lead to fatal accidents.  I am aware of a single report of someone on mushrooms allegedly mistaking a jar of protein powder for a glass of water and suffocating after trying to "drink" it (I am skeptical that this death had anything to do with mushrooms, it turns out "dry scooping" protein powder was a stupid viral trend that many people have died from and I'm guessing this is the more logical explanation for the young man's death). Regardless, this sort of thing can be prevented by creating a safe space, removing anything potentially dangerous from within reach, and having a water bottle nearby to sip from as needed. Using a trip sitter will also greatly reduce the risk of accidents and is especially recommended for a first time experience or a high dose experience. Listening to good trip music can enhance safety by reducing agitation and encouraging a person to focus within and remain in the safe setting as planned.

Some psychedelics including mushrooms can trigger seizures in a minority of people, typically people with a history of seizures including epileptics.  Some people also feel dizzy or nauseous not just while using psychedelics, but sometimes for days afterwards, or even weeks (an over the counter medication like dramamine may help people susceptible to this problem, also sipping some water during the experience may help, and after the experience eating nutritrous food and getting some mild exercise may help).

Not all psychedelics are the same, and not all can be considered safe.  Some psychedelics like ketamine (not recommended) can be habit forming and can result in overdoses and loss of consciousness, several people have drowned using ketamine near water.  Some psychedelics such as MDMA could be both habit forming and neurotoxic, see Neurotoxicity of methylenedioxyamphetamines (MDMA; ecstasy) in humans: how strong is the evidence for persistent brain damage?  and "Does recreational ecstasy use cause long-term cognitive problems?") . Many do not even consider MDMA a psychedelic. Some psychedelics like iboga/ibogaine (not recommended) can cause an irregular heartbeat (cardiac arrhythmia) which can even be fatal.  Some psychedelics like 5-MeO-DMT (not recommended) are associated with both loss of consciousness which can be very dangerous (several people have died choking on their own vomit while using 5-MeO) and fatal overdoses (taking too much can kill you, taking with other drugs including harmalas, or certain medications can be fatal).  I strongly urge people to use caution and highly recommend sticking with safer psychedelics like mushrooms and DMT and avoiding riskier options.

(Source: Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis)

DMT EXTRACT TEK QUESTIONS:
Q: Where/how should I store the bark mix when doing an extract?
A: Store it at room temp, tightly wrapped so it doesn't lose moisture.  A cooler room is fine but refrigeration should be avoided - the DMT becomes increasingly extractable as the bark mix breaks down slowly over time.
Q: What can I do if my bark mix dries out or seems too dry to begin with?
A: It's OK to add a little hot water to your bark mix at any time to bring it back to a thick mud consistency (if you tilt the plate, water shouldn't be running out).  Never add more vinegar.
Q: Can you clarify the timing of the pulls, for example is the 3rd pull 1 week from when i made the mud mix or is it one week from the 2nd pull and then 2 weeks from the 3rd pull to start the 4th pull?
A: Times are always measured from the day the mix was first created.  So the whole process can be completed within 2 weeks (but it's OK to spread it out more if you need to for convenience to your schedule).
Q: My DMT crystals look great coming out of the freezer, but then they melt and disappear!   OR: I got what looked like beautiful crystals, but as I scraped it, it was like a paste. Did i do something wrong?  
A: This can happen if you have a lot of plant oils in your pull (more common with acacia than mimosa bark) or if the temps are too warm and the DMT still has solvent on it after removing from the freezer.  There are instructions in the written TEK for removing plant oils, but I would also suggest cold drying.  A trick I recommend is to tilt the plate when putting it into the freezer so the DMT clumps in one small area, wait until the crystallization is done (typically 2-4 hours) then rotate the plate so the DMT is out of the solvent, but keep it in the freezer for several more hours or overnight, it will start to dry like this and the cold temps will ensure no DMT melts, this also gives time for any oils to run away from the DMT. After removing from the freezer and pouring off the solvent, it is still best to finish the drying in a cool location if possible if you were having this melting problem, you can leave uncovered in a refridgerator if no alternate cool location is available.
Q: I can't find pickling lime (Calcium Hydroxide) is there any good alternative?
A: In the US you can order the picking lime from Walmart with free ship to store, for those outside the US, check your largest online stores, there are calcium hydroxide products on Amazon Germany for example, some have also reported finding it in supermarkets.  Some have even reported success using various hardware store hydrated lime products which are typically available in most countries as they are used in construction.

Q: Can I use sodium hydroxide (lye) instead of calcium hydroxide (pickling lime)?

A: Many people use lye, I just don't recommend it because it is slightly more hazardous and it can raise the pH to an excessively high level for this extract.  I would recommend you avoid it, but if its the only base you can get, it will work, just use about 15% less and otherwise follow the TEK exactly.  Use precautions when handling lye.  Use a food grade version if possible.

Q: I can't find naphtha, is there an alternative?
A: Alternatives that work include heptane and hexane.  Some solvents that DO NOT WORK include acetone, xylene, toluene, turpentine, or anything alcohol based.  VM&P Naphtha is ubiquitous in the US (it's in most hardware stores and Tractor Supply, Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, True Value, etc.) but banned in parts of California.   In other countries it can go by many different names.  You should just google your country name + naphtha + nexus and see what comes up.  It could be sold as white gas, camp fuel, lighter fluid (ronsonol/zippo), shellite, Recosol R55, etc.  You may find a local vendor on alibaba in your country.  In the UK most use Ronsonol.  In Australia you can find naphtha at "Bunnings" the product is called "Shellite" ($9au).  Also Bunnings has 20 kg bags of hydrated lime ($13au) which works for the base.  In Canada you can use Recochem or lots of other products.
Q: Is there a written version of the TEK?
A: Yes, see: https://www.patreon.com/posts/written-out-of-21369133
Q: Do I have to do anything differently if using heptane instead of naphtha?
A: Yes, this is detailed in the written version of the TEK
Q: Does the TEK work for acacia bark (ACRB)?
A: Yes, but you may need to add an extra defat step for some acacia barks.  This is described in the written version of the TEK  If at all possible, use mimosa bark instead.  If you must use acacia bark, it has been suggested by a patron in Australia that "Acacia Acuminata Typical" is the one to order, sometimes sold as leather tanning bark, it will work just like mimosa, no defat needed, and yields are good.

Q: Why am I getting low yields?

A: Was the bark completely powdered? If not, it may take longer to break down and release its DMT.  Also bark yields can vary considerably, the highest quality bark is typically a deep purple color and has a strong, floral aroma.  Alkaloid content can vary by season, and also depends on how it was harvested (only the inner portion of the outer root bark is high in alkaloids).  So your bark may just have low alkaloids and there is nothing you can do about that but try ordering from a different vendor.  There have also been some reports of fake bark being sold, so confirming the reputation of a source is important (sometimes trustpilot has independent reviews).  The solvent used can also be the problem.  You want the solvent to be hot, it pulls better that way.  Many people have issues using heptane, I recommend using naphtha instead.  Reducing before freezing is important, you only want 1-2 tbsp (10-20g) worth of solvent before putting it in the freezer.  Some people reduce until it just starts to look cloudy, this is when it is supersaturated.

Q: Where can I find quality bark?

A: I don't want to list specific vendors here and bring too much attention, vendors come and go, but there always seems to be at least one if not multiple reputable sources.  With a little searching you will find them, but contact me directly if you need help.  You always want to order from within your own country if possible, you don't want this going through customs or they may seize it although this seems to be rare.  There have been reports of fake bark being sold, it mostly comes from China.  The highest quality bark comes from Southern Mexico and Peru.  It is grown sustainably in Mexico so that is my preferred country of origin (Hamilton Morris visited one of the big source farms and did a whole video on it for Vice).  But again, it's preferable to order from someone within your country, and NOT directly from the country of origin.  Sometimes you can find it on eBay (check seller feedback also descriptions may not be totally obvious). In Europe you can use some of the suggestions found here: http://www.mimosahostilisbark.com/mimosa-sellers/ (check the comments if this info is outdated) and use "trustpilot" to independently confirm a seller based on reviews.

Q: I accidentally evaporated away ALL of the solvent when doing the reduction, did I lose the DMT?

A: You haven’t lost anything , the DMT is in the dish but may be hard to see, you can just add some hot naphtha (use hot water bath) to recover it, or reuse the same dish for the next pull, or scrape the dish with a razor to recover it but if you do that I would still dissolve it in hot naphtha and do a freeze precipitation for purification.

Q: Is recrystallization recommended?
A: If your output is mostly pure white and looks clean, I would not recommend you recrystallize it, doing so will result in loss of DMT and adds little value, especially if you will be using a vaping technique like the Dream Maker Tool that simply leaves unvaporized residues behind anyway.
Q: How do I recrystallize DMT?
A: I would recommend this technique.  But there are endless methods out there and several videos on YouTube about doing recrystallizations including some decent ones from MIT.

DMT Recrystallization for Beginners: Recrystallization is an art. There are as many ways to recrystallize as to paint a picture. This is an easy way to recrystallize DMT, but it is by no means the best or only way. This procedure uses naphtha because it's commonly available to people working with DMT, but solvents like heptane or hexane work even better. 1. Add 20 to 25ml of naphtha per gram of DMT to a glass container. A small flask or beaker is ideal. Then add the DMT. 2. Heat the beaker to 40 or 50C. A pot of recently boiled water is plenty hot. (NO FLAMES OR SPARK SOURCES AROUND NAPTHA) 3. After a minute or two of heat, the DMT should melt and mostly disappear in to solution. Very often a mass of yellow/orange goo will sit on the bottom and refuse to go in to solution. If at this point the naphtha goes yellow, let it cool for a little while and the yellowness should fall out leaving the naphtha clear. 4. Carefully pour as much clear naphtha off the insoluble junk as you can in to another container. This container must be something that you can recover crystals from later. (optional - while transferring from one container to another, pour the solution through a very small filter of some sort. a bit of cotton ball in a funnel for example) 5. Add another 5ml or so of naphtha to the original container, and add heat again. Again pour off as much clear naphtha as possible in to the other container. 6. Cool the clear naphtha as slowly as possible. Let it at room temperature for a few hours. Crystals should begin to precipitate. (optional - you could add a few seed crystals for better crystal formation) Then stick it in the fridge or freezer for at least a few hours. 7. While the beaker is very cold, pour the naphtha off the crystals. Freezer temperature naphtha holds very little DMT, but feel free to evaporate it to make sure. 8. (optional - Scrape the crystals in to a coffee filter, and pour 10 or 20ml of very cold water over them.) And that's it. Repeat as desired. It's important to remember that not all naphtha is created equal, and your naphtha may dissolve more or less than 1g per 25ml. If significant amounts of DMT are left in the original container after you do this process (more than 100mg), use slightly more solvent next time.

Q: Should I store my DMT in salt form such as DMT Fumerate?  What is the best way to store it?
A: Don't bother.  In theory the salt form is more stable and will last longer, however, freebase form is more convenient for actual use (for vaping anyway) and the truth is, if properly stored, it also lasts essentially forever.  You want to store it in a cooler place (but refrigeration is not required) in a tightly sealed container (small mason jar for example) and optionally with moisture absorbers and on argon.  Even without the argon it has been known to last for over a decade and still maintain its potency (but it may turn pink as it oxidizes).
Q: I can only find vinegar in X% concentration, can I use this?
A: Yes, you can use virtually any concentration, just adjust using water so that you end up with the equivalent of what is used in the TEK.  The formula is: X% * Y = 5 where X is the percentage acidity of your vinegar and Y is the quantity to use that you are trying to figure out.  So for example if you had 9% acidity vinegar, this would result in 0.09* Y = 5  that makes Y = 5/0.09=55.55 so use 55ml of your 9% vinegar, then add the difference (100-55=45ml) to the hot water used and it will all balance out.  Note: I'm not even sure any of this makes any real difference truthfully, you could probably just use the same measurements shown in the video and end up with the same results, I haven't tried so couldn't tell you, but if you make the adjustment shown at least you will know you have the equivalent of what is shown in the TEK.
Q: Can I scale the TEK?
A: Yes, this is easy to do, scale all ingredients (except the solvent amount) up or down as needed (half the bark, half of everything else, twice the bark, twice everything else, however do not scale the solvent linearly, keep in mind that the goal with the pull is simply to make sure solvent touches all parts of the bark mix - so even if you doubled the bark, you could get away with using the same amount of solvent shown in the video (you can just estimate how much to use when pouring it onto the bark, once its covered you are good).  The reduction should be just 10-15g per 100g of bark, so say you used 500g bark for a pull, reduce to 50-75g solvent. Someone sent me this link where a person shows scaling my TEK to 1 kg of bark.  I’ve never seen so much DMT before!  I don’t encourage this, but it's very easy to scale as seen, just by using a bigger container and stirring that naphtha around. Interesting that at that scale there is no need to reduce the solvent which actually simplifies and shortens the process.  But think long and hard about why you want to produce so much.  For most people, a 100g extract is a lifetime supply.  If you sell this, it only takes one person "flipping out" for trouble to come back to you.  It's NOT WORTH the risk.  Even giving it away is risky for the same reasons.  I always encourage a person who is interested in DMT to learn how to extract it themselves, it's sort of a "filtering" process to eliminate people who are not hard core determined to use DMT.  Those that pass the test and make it through to the end are probably much more likely to have a positive experience and will appreciate it a lot more than someone who was just given some  or who bought it and has no real respect for it or preparations of the mind to use it.
Q: Can I do an extract in my apartment building shared with lots of people who aren't aware?
A: Only if you want to go to jail.  The bark mix is stinky (but when tightly covered it's scent free), the solvent requires ventilation and for most people will be done outside or in a garage or possibly next to an open window with a box fan in it.  You need the proper private space for this.
Q: What type of water should be used (filtered, bottled, distilled, tap?) and does the starting pH of the water matter?
Some swear by using only distilled, but in practice it likely makes no significant difference.  You can get a gallon of distilled water from a grocery store for a $1 so if you did have questionable water that may be an option.  In the video I am using filtered water.  The most significant difference between tap water vs. distilled is the mineral content, but minerals do not dissolve in the solvents used and are unlikely to make it into the final product.  Ironically though, all water bottled in plastic contains plastic residues - these actually ARE likely to be dissolved by the solvents used, so in practice using distilled water could do more harm than good.  If you were making your own distilled water, that would probably be ideal but that's over the top and unnecessary.  Also you are adding enough acid and base to offset minor pH differences in the starting water.
Q: The bark mix keeps changing colors from red to brown to greenish and gray, is this normal?
A: Yes, this is a result of the changing pH and ionization which impacts the color of many substances.
Q: I've seen pictures online of DMT that is yellow, or reddish/orange in color.  Some even claim this is "full spectrum DMT" or some special form of DMT with extra alkaloids that confer desirable properties (jungle spice, etc).  What do think about this?
A:  This is the subject of much speculation and mythology.  Here are the known facts - pure DMT, for example if it were synthesized in a lab and lab verified as near 100% pure, is generally white.  But technically DMT is polymorphic and can exist in a pure form that is yellow, you can easily test if this is the case based on melting point which is quite a bit different for pure yellow DMT vs. white.  We also know that the plant oils are yellow (you can see this in the solvent), the plant oils also make the DMT vapor more harsh.  We know that orange and red pigments come from the reddish natural color of the bark itself.  Anytime I see a TEK with pictures where the final product is yellow/red/orange I question the purity.  As you may have suspected, the yellow/orange/red byproducts are typical contamination.  
What causes contamination?  The biggest factors are the quality & alkaloid content of the bark used, and the particular base and methods employed.   I suspect that using sodium hydroxide (lye) may be a contributing factor (its pH is excessively high).  I don't use acacia bark for example because it contains a lot of compounds I'm not currently very interested in, the plant oils are likely another contributing factor to final purity.  With mimosa hostilis, I recommend using the highest rated sources you can find with positive recent feedback.  I laugh when people say I use such and such TEK because it has the highest yields -- if you use my TEK you will get out pretty much all of the DMT,  there just isn't a secret store of DMT hiding in the bark that can only be pulled out if you use some other TEK, it doesn't work that way and "more" is NOT better when more = contamination. Look at the pics of people's results and compare. Pure white should be pure DMT. Anything not pure white is possibly contaminated. Now you could argue, and many do, that contamination with NMT and DMT-N-Oxide is a positive attribute.  Personally I am a purist, if you want to experience NMT or DMT-N-Oxide, isolate or synthesize those compounds and try them out, if you feel like combining them, go ahead,  but I can't recommend using a haphazard mix of compounds. People don't even know the relative strengths of these other compounds, it makes dosing difficult when they are all mixed together in unknown ratios.   One guy wrote me, he had always bought yellow DMT in the past and was used to dosing it a certain way, then he followed GordoTEK and extracted his own pure white DMT (AKA "real" DMT not contaminated by anything) and he used the same dosing he had gotten used to with the yellow stuff, and was blown out of the water so to speak, it was FAR more potent than he was used to. What I'm saying here is that 3 grams of contaminated yellow DMT may contain less DMT than 2 grams of the real (pure) thing.
Subjective anecdotes are completely worthless.  If someone wants to do a double blind controlled test, to see if contaminated DMT does something different from pure DMT, that would be an interesting study, but I won't hold my breath waiting for this.  Until then, all you have are worthless personal anecdotes (every trip is different and highly dependent on set, setting, and dose, you CANNOT say some particular aspect of the trip was the result of some mystery alkaloid that happened to be mixed in with the DMT).  Here is another thought, plant oils in particular are quite heavy, so people think they are loading up 40mg DMT but they are only really getting say 20mg of DMT - this of course has an effect on the user experience, because you aren't getting the dose you thought you were getting - so a person could describe it as lighter and less jarring for example or more peaceful, etc.   Sometimes I wonder if there are people using inferior TEKs on PURPOSE so they get fake yields that are higher.  Why is so much of the stuff that is sold, yellow?  Maybe the sellers are deliberately diluting it for profits?  I don't know, I don't recommend buying (or selling) DMT, but if I was going to buy it, I certainly would want the highest purity possible, and that would't be yellow or red.
Q: What is the purpose of the acid in this TEK? or What does the vinegar do that makes you need to put a certain amount and let it sit before you start pulling out the dmt?
A: I didn't explain the chemistry in the video... but what is going on is:  In order to separate the DMT from the other compounds in the plant matter (ground bark), the mix has to be chemically modified to make the DMT more ionic and soluble in water.  The acid helps make the DMT become more water-soluble and by doing so, helps remove it from the organic layer (the bark material).  In other words, the acid converts the DMT to its salt form, and that form will dissolve in the water you added (but will NOT dissolve in naphtha), this helps push the DMT from the plant matter and into the water.  But the only way to pull the DMT out of the water is to convert the DMT into its freebase form, which is accomplished by adding the lime (base), after that conversion, the DMT becomes soluble in naphtha, and because of its ionic charge, it is attracted to the solvent and will move into it almost immediately upon contact.  This is also why it is OK to add solvent just before adding the base, if you want to remove plant oils, because at this stage, the solvent cannot pull out any DMT, but it will pull out plant fats, so you can safely discard that solvent (and the plant fats that are in it) without concern that you are losing any DMT.  And yes, I am aware of the numerous straight to base (STB) methods, it will still work, but I don't think it works as well.  The acid/base method is standard organic chem 101 procedure for alkaloid extraction.  To read more about general A/B extraction see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid-base_extraction

Q: I am worried about contamination from naphtha or heptane, is this a valid concern?

A: Naphtha can contain impurities, there have also been some "scares" over the years about companies deliberately putting additives in their naphtha (I've never seen it personally), that is why I say you must do an evap test on it.  You can easily and quickly see for yourself if your naphtha has a lot of residues with an evap test.  Note that if you do an evap test with a drop of water, you will see slight "water marks" on the glass, this is normal and you will see the same with naphtha.  Second, with my TEK, you are NOT simply evaporating away all the naphtha - you could actually do it that way, but all the impurities in the solvent would end up mixed in with your dmt.  Instead, we are FREEZE precipitating it.  So in a freeze precipitation, all the DMT comes crashing out, then we POUR AWAY (discard) the solvent, so its residues for the most part are just harmlessly thrown out.  Third, the way you use the DMT can reduce the impact of contaminants - if you use a Dream Maker Tool or similar style method of vaping, the DMT vaporizes quite easily at a relatively low temperature, which leaves behind most contaminants at the bottom, in other words, they are never inhaled.  Finally, it's worth noting that petro-solvents are actually used quite heavily in the food processing industry, and their trace residues are already in our food chain.  This doesn't mean its a good thing, but just pointing out that we are exposed to these residues all the time in pretty much all processed foods (which is a good reason not to eat processed foods, or use much vegetable oil).  Each country has their own "acceptable limits" for example see: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/food-safety/food-additives/lists-permitted/15-carrier-extraction-solvents.html
Also note that you COULD use food grade d-limonene for this extract, it is a non-toxic solvent based on citrus fruit.  I don't personally recommend this though because it is expensive and does not work as well, it pulls a wider spectrum which means your final result will be less pure.

Q: Why is most of my solvent is disappearing during the stir part of the TEK?

A: This usually means one of two things, your mud pie might have been dry and absorbed some solvent, this is OK, you didn't lose any DMT and will still get it out.  Just add 1/8 cup of boiling hot water to your mud pie and stir it in before your next pull.  OR your solvent is evaporating faster than typical naphtha (this happens with heptane for example) in which case you can use a bit more (for example 150g of heptane instead of 100g) and/or cut the stir time in half and just work faster (but still stir carefully and don't splash it).

Q: My Mimosa mud cake dried out completely and it's old now but I never finished doing all the pulls, can I still use it?

A: Yes, but you need to rehydrate it first, boil some water and pour the boiling water right over the top of the dried out cake.  It might be super hard, but you can use a sharp knife and cut and chop it all up, if you work it enough it will return to the original thick mud consistency then you can do the solvent pulls as normal.  And YES I have done this myself, totally bone dry older cake, and it restored beautifully and the pulls worked great.  You can also microwave the entire cake after rehydrating it to get it even warmer if needed, this helps with the pulls but it can stink up your room (I took the microwave outside before using it to heat up the mud cake).

Q: Can you help me understand alkaloid chemistry, acids and bases more? And why do my harmala crystals have three different colors (white, yellow, red)?

A: Read the wiki entry on alkaloid. When you put most alkaloids in an acidic solution like vinegar, it takes on an extra molecule and becomes water soluble (it is also less potent by weight because the salt molecule is heavier). This is known as the salt form of the alkaloid. A base is used to break off the salt bonds/molecules and precipitate out the alkaloid which at that point is no longer soluble in the solution.  When taking harmalas sublingually you can probably see that the salt form is preferred because it will dissolve better in saliva.  It is an unrelated property that starting from the presence of a hot NaCl (table salt) solution of sufficient concentration (does not have to be saturated) that some dissolved (salt form) alkaloids like harmine and harmaline will slowly form crystals as the solution cools.  These alkaloids were in salt form even before crystallization, and they remain in salt form after crystallization.  Other substances like sugar and borax have similar "crystal forming" properties as they cool sometimes just in hot water alone. For examples see this youtube search.

The colors of your crystals simply reflect pigments/contamination from your starting solution, kind of like if you were to add some purple dye you'd get purple crystals (this can be seen in the videos above).  The Syrian rue seeds contain a lot of "reddish dye" colors.

QUESTIONS ABOUT USING DMT
Q: Do I really need to be over age 25?
A: This recommendation is mostly just a precaution.  There are two important reasons behind this recommendation.  First, emerging science about brain development suggests that most people don't reach full maturity until the age 25. It may not be a good idea to use powerful mind altering drugs while your brain is still maturing although I'm not aware of any scientific evidence to suggest this could be harmful, it seems like a reasonable precaution.  Second, if someone has an underlying psychological disorder (such as bipolar or schizophrenia) they may not know it until age 25, see: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1925038/
In an Australia sample taken between 1997 and 2000, including 1019 individuals, the median age for first-episode psychosis was 22 with an interquartile range (IQR) of 19–25. Similar results were found in the 1966 North Finland Birth Cohort, where median age of onset for schizophrenia was 23, with an IQR of 19–27. The 1946 British birth cohort had a median age of onset for schizophrenia of 22.
If you did have an underlying serious psychological disorder using psychedelics can result in a psychotic episode.  2.6% of the population is bipolar and 1.2% schizophrenic according to the National Institute of Mental Health.  That means about 4% of people using psychedelics including DMT could have a psychotic break as a result, and they may have no forewarning if under the age of 25 because they do not even know they have this underlying mental health condition yet.  In these situations, psychedelics end up being blamed, but they are not really the cause of the problem, they just bring to light a pre-existing problem.  So this not only means there is slightly elevated risks to using psychedelics for those under the age of 25, but there is an additional risk of tarnishing the reputation of psychedelics themselves as a result. Now if you are comfortable with these risks, which admittedly, are pretty low, then that is your decision to make.  If you look at pretty much all modern studies on psychedelics, potential participants are always excluded for having preexisting mental health problems like bipolar or schizophrenia.
If you already have an established positive history with psychedelics, that is a potentially good sign that you will be fine. Because DMT is so short acting, I actually think its much safer than other psychedelics.  Some might be surprised to hear that since it is so powerful, but a 15 minute bad trip is nothing compared to a 12 hour bad trip!
Finally, psychedelics can have the effect on some people of causing them to make poor life decisions as a result of possibly misguided interpretations of their experiences.  They fail to understand what the psychedelic experience is really all about.  It's better to focus on getting your life on a good trajectory and focusing on a career when you are younger - I believe psychedelics have the potential to derail or distract certain susceptible people from productive living.  The last thing I would want is for someone to screw up their life because of the use of psychedelics.  Moderation and precaution are important.

For what its worth, and I have posted about this before, I think psychedelics are actually probably best for people in middle age and older.  I've got patrons in their 70's and even 80's! 😂  Here's a great relevant quote: “I’ve begun to wonder if perhaps these remarkable molecules might be wasted on the young, that they may have more to offer us later in life, after the cement of our mental habits and everyday behaviors has set. Carl Jung once wrote that it is not the young but people in middle age who need to have an “experience of the numinous” to help them negotiate the second half of their lives.” ― Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence  (Numinous = having a strong religious or spiritual quality; indicating or suggesting the presence of a divinity: "the strange, numinous beauty of this ancient landmark")

Q: How do you use the Dream Maker Tool ?
I created a video showing the full detail of how to use it.  The improved design is actually a bit simpler to use compared to the old model.  There is no carb/air hole, instead all you do is put the bottom ring on loosely, truthfully you can put the ring on then remove it completely and the foil will still stay in place.  Test it before vaporizing, by inhaling from the one way valve to see if the airflow is good, if it's too restricted, you can just rotate the foil a bit until air is getting in.  I've received a lot of positive feedback already on the new design, one advantage to using the airlock valve is that it helps people avoid the problem of inhaling the vapor too quickly - which often results in coughing for non-smokers, this also reduces the harshness.  Note that I also no longer recommend heat guns only because some people have had trouble with them not getting hot enough (mostly due to defective heat guns, its hard to find a quality one that is inexpensive), but also because many people like to take smaller, back to back hits and it's safer to do that with a lighter than a heat gun due to the fact that a lighter will turn off instantly if you happen to pass out (which is very rare but can happen).  This lighter is my favorite design because it has huge capacity, easy trigger only start, and nice blue flame that never goes out accidentally: amzn.to/31APtzD

There are two main ways to do it from here, some people like to vaporize it all at once, when you see a very thick cloud of vapor (can't even see your hand though the glass bottle to the other side) inhale it all in one shot. This works great for many people, but if you have sensitive lungs, it may be difficult to inhale.  The other option, which seems to work better for a lot of people, and is sort of the "traditional way" is to take 3 (or more) quick, back to back, smaller hits. Vaporize for about 5 to 7 seconds after you see the initial vapor rise up and reach the top of the bottle, then immediately inhale this, and while holding it in, start vaporizing the second hit, repeat for as many hits as you can take, at some point you shouldn't be able to hold the bottle anymore.  When using the second method, it helps to have a sitter/helper doing the vaporizing and just telling you when it's ready to inhale.  Don't touch the flame to the foil, keep it back a bit.  Using sublingual harmalas before vaping the DMT will make it MUCH easier to break through and has other possible benefits as discussed in my videos.

Q: Is vaping off of aluminum foil safe?  Are there chemicals on the foil?  Why does the foil smoke when I intentionally apply a flame directly to it?

A: Some brands do use a tiny amount of food grade oil on the foil to keep it from sticking too much - this is not an issue because these oils will not even vaporize at the temps used for DMT (but if you directly flame the foil you might see smoke).  The heavy duty foil is designed for cooking, it does not off-gas and the aluminum melts at 1220F.  Some people have concerns using it for cooking food because over long time periods, high heat, and especially with direct contact with acidic foods, trace amounts of aluminum could transfer into the food, but that is not a concern when using it for vaporizing DMT which is not acidic and vaporizes at a low temperature (300F) and is only in contact with the foil for a couple of minutes.  The flame should never touch the foil directly, keep it at least a couple centimeters (an inch) below the foil.

Q: How can I clean the Dream Maker Tool, especially the check valve?

A: The Dream Maker Tool can be easily cleaned up with hot water.  You can also stick it in a regular dish washer (remove the ring and foil), if the dishwasher has a "hot" mode, even better.  Try to avoid extreme fast temperature changes though or it could crack or shatter.  Run warm tap water through it and let it get gradually hotter until full hot water is running through it.  For a really thorough cleaning, use hot water with a Q-tip scrub of both sides of the valve. Hot water will melt any/all DMT residue.  The foil with any remaining residue can just be tossed after every use.  
Q: What can I do about vapor leaking out from the foil on my Dream Maker Tool?

A:  A small amount of vapor leaking out isn't a big deal, loss should be minimal.  Options are: 1) Start vaping it sooner, the sooner you inhale it the better anyway as none will be lost, you can even inhale while heating/vaporizing.  2) Use a new piece of foil, press it down over the ridges of the glass and it should form a decent seal when you add the ring.  3) Take multiple smaller hits, this is actually the technique that works best for most people anyway, 3 small hits held for 8-10 seconds is usually enough, but you can keep going some require up to 7 or 8 hits to break through. 4) You can tightly seal it by tightening the ring then poke a hole through the foil to inhale, this would be like having a carb hole and would only allow for one hit then you'd have to replace the foil. 5) You could drill a carb hole into the side of the tool.  The original design actually had a carb hole, but many people seemed confused about it and after doing a lot of testing I found that just keeping the bottom loose instead of tightly sealed and taking smaller hits it worked great so there wasn't really a need for a carb hole.

Q: Can I use an electronic vaporizer for DMT (e-cig, wax pen, e-nail, etc)?
A: Some people seem very happy with these devices.  If you find something that works, by all means go for it.  I can see why people want to use the battery vaporizer devices, nice to have a tidy self contained unit with simple push button electronic ignition.  But when you really dig deep and read everything that people have written about electronic vaporizers - the message is very mixed.  The main problems are: 1) Red hot heating element one centimeter away from your lips (cooler vapor is preferred)  2) Airflow - the less mixing with air, the more harsh the vapor is going to be.  3) Burning - very hard to avoid burning the DMT with these devices. 4) Coils going bad. 5) Batteries going bad. 6) Cleaning/clogging issues.
All of these problems come up again and again in online discussion threads, in addition there is a constant recurring expense to replace the coils.  There are some people that swear by these devices and recommend them, usually followed by an equal or greater number of people who have tried and failed with these gadgets.  I think it can be pretty hit or miss,  if you do everything just right, have the perfect placement, hold it just right, pulse it just right, inhale at just the right speed and duration, maybe you will have success with these gadgets.  You want to avoid inhaling raging hot vapor (or smoke if you are burning it) which can be pretty harsh, and again searching comments on these devices you will find complaints along those lines.  Other downsides to these gadgets: you never know when a coil will die so you must always have backups, batteries eventually go bad too, difficult to clean, easy to burn DMT, need to figure out exactly how to pulse it to hit the sweet spot, difficult to control dosage, can't see the vapor before inhaling, often difficult to control air flow which is especially important for sensitive lungs.  In forums you often find people with positive reviews initially only to report problems after a little more use with them, or people that see a positive review, buy one, then have complaints after using it.  If you find a great e-vape solution that works well for DMT and is reproducible every time, let me know about it.  Here is one guy that has had success using the quite expensive "Mighty" vaporizer, this design seems more suitable for DMT than others, does not require mixing with vaping liquids, and uses an isolated hot air chamber, this style might be a good choice.  There are much cheaper Chinese knock-offs of this design out there that may work but who knows if the quality is any good or how long the batteries will last?  Others have found success using eMesh style vaporizers (this is the most promising method I am currently aware of).

Q: Can I use a dab rig (quartz banger) for DMT?
A: It can be used successfully, but I don't think mixing red hot bangers and prolonged propane torch operations with DMT is a very good idea.  Also no easy way to take followup hits with this method.  This method also can result in super heated vapor which may burn your throat and lungs.  If you are comfortable with the method and temp control and you are looking for a single hit only type situation, it may work out OK.  See this instructional video.

Q: I'm having problems using the Dream Maker Tool, what's wrong?
A:  Part of what makes the dream maker tool so nice is its simplicity and the fact that you can see the vapor before inhaling it (personally I really like this feature).  So first question - are you seeing the vapor before inhaling it?  If you aren't seeing vapor, you need to use more heat, if you were using a heat gun, maybe it's defective, try using a lighter instead as shown in my Low Dose Mystical Experiences video.  Either you are inhaling DMT vapor or you are not inhaling DMT vapor, that much should be obvious and is the first place to start.  Next - are you holding it in, or coughing it out?  If coughing, try inhaling more air with the DMT vapor which can be done by breathing in from both your mouth and nose at the same time (you can practice this).  You don't want to wait before inhaling, vaporize then immediately inhale.  You can hold it in longer if you take a few deep breaths of normal air before you inhale the DMT (do this while vaporizing) - this saturates your blood with oxygen enabling you to hold your breath for much longer (practice this). If you have difficulty trying to get it all in one inhalation, I suggest trying to do it in 3 smaller inhalations instead (which is the traditional and most common way of vaping DMT), with much less time vaporizing for each hit since they will be smaller.  Also I recommend cleaning the inside of the glass bottle after each session, give it a good washing, you can even put it in a dishwasher, the cleaner the glass, the better the device will work. I'd replace the heavy duty foil after each session as well, one roll of the foil is $3 at Walmart and will make over 100 replacement squares.

Q: Is there any way to practice vaping DMT without wasting any DMT and is there any way to reduce the harshness of DMT vapor?

A: Yes, you can use vape juice (PG/VG) to practice (even in a Dream Maker Tool), some people even mix their carefully measured DMT dose with a couple drops of vape juice and claim it reduces the dry harshness of DMT vapor (this may also help prevent the burning of the DMT by higher vaporization temperatures which would also reduce the harshness).

Q: I'm inhaling lots of DMT vapor, but little or nothing is happening, what's wrong?
A: First we need to assess your personal sensitivity to DMT, and or possible reasons why it may not be having the desired effect.  Are you on any medications?  Numerous medications block the effects of DMT including SSRIs, anti-psychotics, kratom, cannabis, benzodiazepines, and others (and some of these reportedly block DMT for weeks after you stop taking them).  I don't recommend combining medications or other drugs with DMT (except for harmalas which enhance DMT).  Some people have a lot of monoamine oxidase (enzyme) in their body that rapidly breaks down DMT.  The simple solution to this problem is to use harmalas (do not combine with other drugs or medications).  Please watch my videos on pharmahuasca/pharmachanga where I explain this in detail.   Also - did you extract this DMT yourself or buy it?  How confident are you that it's real?  Perhaps you were ripped off. It should be mostly pure white and powdery, and smell like new plastic, new sneakers, or mothballs, with some floral hints.  DMT has a very distinctive look and smell so it's usually pretty obvious if you have the real deal or not.  When you vaped it, did you inhale right away after generating the vapor?  I think sometimes people wait too long and the vapor is already greatly decreased by the time they inhale - try changing your technique, for many people taking smaller rapid succession back to back hits works best (the age old rule of thumb was that you need 3 hits to break through although that can vary a lot from person to person).  Also did you see a thick cloud of vapor (as in, you can't even see your fingers on the opposite side of the glass)?  Some people think they've vaporized it when it's really just mostly liquefied on the bottom of their heating chamber and only a little vapor has formed.  It's easy to test if this is the case because you can just apply more heat - if you see vapor forming, well that means you didn't vaporize it (well) the first time. This can also happen if using a heating temp that is too low, if you were using a heat gun, try using a lighter instead, your heat gun may not be getting hot enough (I recommend a blue flame lighter like this one).  If all else fails, try a different tool for vaporizing, everyone has their favorite, and some people have better results with different tools, the eMesh vaporizors are quite popular these days.
Perhaps the MAOIs taken are not always capable of counteracting the body's MAO especially in cases when levels are elevated.  You can find lots of stories of people taking ayahuasca and having no visions whatsoever for example.  Some people (about 5% of people) are basically "immune" to DMT even when injected directly into a vein (this was reported by Dr. Rick Strassman from his University of New Mexico research studies with DMT).  I would suggest trying pharmahuasca, if you are able to trip on that, you are not one of those unfortunate 5%.

Q: Vaped DMT produces lots of visuals for me but oral DMT does nothing, what's wrong?

A: First, if you haven't watched it yet, I did do a video that covers oral DMT:  patreon.com/posts/19481285 But oral DMT is tricky, it is broken down in the gut by monoamine oxidase (MAO), and the amount of MAO on a person's gut/body varies from person to person.  If you talk to ayahuasca retreat centers you will even find that in most ceremonies, some people are tripping hard while others get no visions whatsoever.  I've seen this first hand, went to an ayahuasca center with a friend, I was completely blown away, strong visuals from the very first drink, overwhelming after the second drink, and I could not even move to get a 3rd drink... but my friend had no closed eye visuals.  There are things you can try.  First, the harmalas are much better absorbed sublingually, so I recommend you take half the harmala dose under the tongue.  However some must go to the gut to protect the DMT in the gut, you can try taking them 5-10 minutes before the DMT or simultaneously or both.  You may need to up your dosages if there is no effect or take a follow on dose after 2 hours (this is actually how it is done at most ayahuasca centers).  Please note that harmalas have many contraindications with other medications/drugs, so make sure you are OK to take harmalas beforehand.  If nothing seems to work, I would suggest going with pan cyans instead of oral DMT (I think it is possible to get similar experiences from both and the pan cyans are less prone to these issues).

Q: What is required to get a "break through" experience?
First of all, everyone seems to have their own favorite method of vaping DMT.  I always tell people if one technique doesn't work for you, try another.  Even with the dream maker tool, there are several different ways to use it and people get different results with different techniques.  I recommend using a blue flame lighter with a trigger start that doesn't require anything but pulling a trigger - also don't let the flame touch the foil, hold it a little bit below the foil).  Then there is the type of inhaling - some people are very sensitive, they can just vaporize a decent size dose and inhale it all at once, hold it, and break through.  MANY other people require 3 or more inhalations, you can do smaller, faster hits, hold for 10 seconds, and immediately hit it again (vaporize the next hit while you are holding in the first one), after 3 hits like this, many will break through, but some people need to just keep going, 4, 5, 6 hits like this.  Do enough back to back hits and you WILL break through (except for the poor 5% of the population that is immune to DMT).  Sometimes a friend must do the vaporizing for you while you just sit back and inhale when he or she says inhale!  ;)   With the dream maker tool, for some people it may help to inhale WHILE vaporizing using a lighter.  I don't think the exact vaporizing tool used matters, use what works for you.  Another little trick - you can hyperventilate (breathe a few fast deep breaths)  just before inhaling the DMT, this allows you to hold it in MUCH longer.  Also consider using harmalas which can help make a break through much easier to achieve.  If all else fails, try a different tool, the eMesh vaporizors are quite popular these days.
Q: I'm taking prescription medications, is it safe to use harmalas?
A: The combination of MAOIs with other drugs is especially hazardous and potentially even fatal. I cannot emphasize enough that you should not combine MAOIs with other drugs, prescription or recreational unless you have solid evidence its OK. For a detailed list of contra-indicated medications, see  Foods and Medications to Avoid with MAOIs . Combining MAOIs with SSRI meds is especially dangerous, there have also been documented fatalities with combined MAOI and cocaine as well as combined MAOI with 5-MEO-DMT. You may need to wait a week or longer after ceasing to take some medications before it is safe to use MAOIs.

Q: Should I avoid tyramine containing foods when using harmalas?

A: Harmalas are RIMAs (reversible inhibitors of monoamine oxidase-A) and inhibit mostly MAO-A, while tyramine is mostly metabolized by MAO-B, so food interaction is not a serious concern although these recommendations are still commonly made as a precaution : avoid tyramine containing foods for 24 hours before and after using harmalas (including ayahuasca).  More info here.  It is actually possible that at higher doses, harmalas will inhibit MAO-B, this could explain why some people have in fact reported adverse reactions when combining foods high in tyramine with  harmalas (no deaths due to food interaction with harmalas have been documented as far as I know).

Q: The first time I used DMT it freaked me out so much that I immediately threw away all of my DMT and decided never to use it again.  But now I'm back and humbly want to try again, what did I do wrong? How do I avoid panic?
A: First, your reaction is not uncommon.  How you react to the sensations of DMT is something you can train your mind around to some extent.  DMT is a central nervous system stimulant, it causes an initial "fight or flight" response, more-so in some people than others.  This can be quite jarring to many people, but it's also something you can laugh about once you understand what is going on.  It is after-all kind of funny that something can make you feel terrified for no real reason, imagine someone invented a ray gun that did the same thing, now if you got hit by the ray gun, there is no avoiding the terror sensation, but you know it's coming, and you know it's an irrational feeling that will quickly wear off.  In fact you can try literally laughing out loud as a way to relieve some of this tension when it happens (visualize Jabba the Hutt telling Luke Skywalker "Your Jedi mind tricks won't work on me!").  Just knowing that this is normal during the come up and it will pass will help mitigate the sensation, try to focus on the positives, keep telling yourself the panic stage will only last for a minute or two, after that it will be calm, peaceful, and beautiful.  Harmalas seem to help mitigate this sensation, inducing a calm and peaceful state of mind before vaping  DMT is always recommended (see my video on Low Dose Mystical Experiences).

Harmalas help calm you down a bit, taking a peaceful walk, using a low dose until you are comfortable, all helps.  Knowing that the panic stage is temporary and normal and will go away within 1 or 2 minutes should also help.  After you are comfortable with the low dose, you can choose to vape more to bring yourself in deeper if that is what you want to do, or just extend the experience with another low dose.  Use calming beautiful music.

Q: Can I make injectable DMT at home?
A:  For safety reasons, I really cannot and would never, recommend injecting anything other than lab grade (synthetic) DMT. Trust me, it's a REALLY bad idea.  And since it's almost impossible to find pure synthetic DMT, I would say forget this idea entirely.  Perhaps a more important question is what you are trying to achieve?  You should be able to get to the same place with vaped DMT that you can get from injected DMT, especially if you use harmalas.  If you want to go deeper, just use more.  If you want you can even combine oral DMT with vaped (not for the novice).
Q: What is the recommended protocol for pharmahuasca?
A: First I want to remind you to do the proper mental and physical preparation leading up to your trip (set and setting are always critically important).  I have confirmation from MULTIPLE people that the following works very well:
For the harmala mix I recommend using either 50/50 harmine/THH or 2:1:1 THH/harmine/harmaline but mixes with THH are hard to find so a pure harmine or harmine/harmaline mix is also fine.  Start with 40-85mg sublingual harmala mix placed under tongue for 10 minutes then swallowed (if your harmalas are in the salt form or your mix contains THH, you need the higher end of the range, freebase form or no THH, the lower end should be fine).  Wait 0 to 10 minutes after swallowing.  Combine another 50-85mg harmalas with 30-60mg DMT (some people take as much as 100mg depends on your personal sensitivity to DMT and the desired level of experience) mixed in a shot glass of citrus juice (orange/lemon/etc).  Visual effects should begin within 20-30 minutes after ingesting the DMT.  To fine tune the level of experience you may wish to vape small amounts (15-20mg) of additional DMT at any time to accentuate the visuals and/or have a deeper experience.  As for quantity of orange juice, a normal size shot glass, not quite filled all the way to the top is fine, you don't need much.
It is difficult to dose a first experience because people's sensitivity varies so much from person to person.  For example many people will experience almost nothing at all on 30mg DMT (oral), while others will have an overwhelming experience on that dose.  But the nice thing is that it clears your system relatively quickly for a psychedelic and you have some options. You should feel it within 30 minutes, if after 1.5 hours nothing seems to be happening you can take a second dose or vape a small amount, say 15mg, this will spike the DMT levels and help you bring things up to the levels you desire in a more fine tuned way.  After you learn how sensitive you are, you will be able to dose it more easily in the future.  The "multi-dose" approach is used in most aya centers/retreats.  Also note if you want to you could take a test dose of the harmalas without any DMT at any time, just to get a sense for how your body reacts to the harmalas -- you want to find a dose that you can feel, but that does not make you  sick - you should feel relaxed and inward focused, perhaps with some slight closed eye visuals and minor dizziness or visual distortion but nothing so strong that you vomit or have trouble walking  around.  This test dose will help you adjust the dosing as needed in the future.
Q: I'm not very sensitive to DMT, what is the best way for me to have a strong visual experience?
A: First, this is not an uncommon problem.  Here is a proven protocol that has worked for a friend that is not very sensitive to DMT, he wrote "I started with 75mg sublingual harmala mix for 10 minutes, followed 10 minutes later by  pharmahuasca (75mg harmala mix / 40mg DMT mixed in a shot glass of orange juice), followed 20 minutes later by vaping another 40mg of DMT over the span of a half hour. It was an amazing trip, lasting a full three hours, including lots of visuals this time. There was a very pleasant carryover that lasted most of the night and into the next morning"  If this doesn't work, you can try upping the dosages even higher until you find something that works (up to 100mg oral DMT for those that aren't very sensitive to it).

Q: How much harmalas should I take (assuming I am not on any medications or drugs that have interactions with harmalas)?

Unfortunately there is quite a wide range of what is considered "the right amount", so a first time traveller should start at the lower ranges and build up to the higher as needed.  With harmalas, taking them sublingually (put under tongue and let it sit there for 5 to 10 minutes) seems to work best, combining with an acidic beverage can improve absorption if you have freebase form (HCl/salt form is preferred for this reason).  It's somewhat easy to tell when you've gotten enough harmalas, they impart a relaxed, slightly dreamy state of mind that begins about 15 to 30 minutes after taking them.  As for DMT, again it varies widely from person to person.  Some people seem to metabolize it very quickly and don't get the full experience.  You pretty much just have to keep adding to the dosage until it works.  Vaping it with harmalas taken beforehand actually makes this a lot easier because you can just keep vaping more until you get to the place you want to be and then you can sustain that by taking small additional inhalations as needed.

Q: If I'm vaping and using harmalas, do I have to swallow the harmalas after the 10 minutes sublingual or can I spit them out?
A: Multiple people who have put this to the test have suggested that they felt like they got the same benefits regardless of spitting or swallowing, so if that is really the case, there is no need to swallow them.  However others have reported: "I felt like I had a longer, smoother, more satisfying experience after I swallowed them".  So the jury is still out here, for sure it seems you can at least get much of the benefit even when spitting.  As far as I know, no published studies exist that measured sublingual harmala absorbtion rates, it would be a wonderful study for someone to conduct.  If the harmalas don't upset your stomach at all, it may be best to swallow them, especially if you were planning on an extended trip (longer than an hour for example).  Also note that for ORAL DMT you must ALWAYS swallow the harmalas with or shortly before swallowing the DMT otherwise the DMT will be broken down by enzymes in your gut before it can enter your blood stream.
Q: Is it better to take one pharmahuasca dose or multiple doses?
A: Personally I'd rather just take one dose, but if after two hours things have not progressed as expected, a second dose may be necessary (but a vape can suffice as well and may even be preferable as it is less likely to cause an upset stomach).  This will vary from person to person and also with your goal, for example you may need a "warm up" dose to get acclimated before taking a second dose when you are ready to go deeper.  Or you may want to trip for 8 hours which isn't really possible on a single dose (because the harmalas will slowly wear off after 2-4 hours for most people).  
Q: How much DMT is too much DMT in pharmahuasca?  
This varies greatly from person to person.  I find that if I take 80mg, the experience can be overwhelming, it moves too fast for me to get much out of it (although the bits and pieces I can remember are often quite interesting especially when pondered the next day).  This dose also leaves me completely unable to move at times, and sweating bullets - very unpleasant.  I am not the type of person that has any interest in pushing boundaries or trying to be "macho" and taking large doses (I do not consider this heroic either, more on the stupid side honestly).  The best experience for me is one that unfolds gently, has at least moments of euphoria, and involves visions that are highly personal and deeply meaningful.  Doing the mental preparations beforehand are critical to having experiences like this, and also picking the right timing, when you are feeling good and relaxed, and are willing and eager to let go and have an unencumbered, meaningful trip.  Focus on the dosage and mental preparation that will give you the most benefit.
Q: Can I just use syrian rue seeds (peganum harmala) or caapi vine for my MAOI?
A: Some people do, but I don't recommend it, results will vary and are unreliable, plus syrian rue (and caapi vine) contains some nasty compounds that can upset your stomach and ruin an otherwise good experience.  If this works for you, I'm not going to tell you to stop, but there are also risks as well as other downsides to that method.  For one thing, it's very hard to gauge dosage, the scientific literature shows wildly varying levels of harmine/harmaline content in syrian rue seeds, anywhere from a paltry 1.23% (w/w) all the way up to a whopping 9.9%!  So like traditional ayahuasca brews, you never really know what you are about to ingest.  For many people rue tea is unreliable as an MAOI, and it would be very disappointing to go through all the mental preparation, pick the perfect time (for most people that alone is quite rare) with no distractions, only to end up not getting adequate MAOI to support the launch of your journey.
     There are at least 14 significant alkaloids identified so far in peganum harmala (syrian rue) seeds: Harmine, Vasicinone, Vasicine, Pegamine, H3-hydroxylated, Pegamine dimer, Ruine, Deoxyvasicinone, Tetrahydroharmin, Peganine, Harmaline, Harmalol, Pegaline, and Dexoypeganine.  Many of these are described in scientific literature as "toxic", and these explain why many people feel quite sick after drinking syrian rue tea (the same applies to traditional ayahuasca).  Now I know some people seem to like purging, they think it's part of some grand cathartic cleansing process, but I'm not one of those people, to me it's just the body's way of saying "why did you poison me?"  ;).
     Just picking out one of these alkaloids, Vasicine, as an example, this compound is believed responsible for the abortifacient properties of syrian rue (which was once used in traditional medicine to induce abortions).  Who knows what the long term consequences of ingesting these compounds may be?  That said, if you were only doing this rarely (1-2 times a year or less) it probably wouldn't matter (unless maybe you happened to be pregnant).  There could potentially even be health benefits, we really don't know.
Q: Can I do my own harmala extract from syrian rue?
A: Yes, unfortunately it is far more laborious than doing a DMT extract. It's far easier for most people to just buy a quality harmala extract, it is inexpensive and legal in most countries including the United States (not legal in Canada and Australia).  If you want to do it yourself, see my video on the subject.  
Q:  Is there anything someone can give me if I feel like a pharmahuasca/ayahuasca trip is taking a wrong turn or I'm having a horrific experience (bad trip) to pull me out?
A: If you prepare your mind properly, which is highly recommended, you are not likely to have a horrific experience.  Do the preparations I mention in my videos, keep your stimulus/input pure for at least 1-2 weeks going into it, practice deep breathing and relaxation techniques, set your intentions and go over them daily, clear your mind just before the trip, and let go and let things unfold during the trip.  There is some good advice on dealing with bad trips here.
Technically you could take a benzodiazepine to cut a trip short (or turn it around), but it's not recommended, and by the time whatever you take kicks in, you will very likely be past the difficulty anyway.   Just allow the trip to happen, let your subconsious mind show you whatever it wants to show you, it's not going to kill you, and you will learn from it.  Even if you feel quite sick, this is normal for ayahuasca, it will pass.  In difficult times, keep telling yourself this is only temporary, things are going to get better, and I am going to learn a lot from this experience, it is going to be worth it.  
If you start at a lower dose, you are unlikely to have a very intense journey, if not much is happening after 2 hours, you can always take a booster, either a 1/2 dose or another full dose if you aren't having visions at all, you can also vape a little (15-25mg) to put you into the visual state that you are seeking which is a very nice and simple way to fine tune the level of experience.  I recommend putting together a nice long music playlist (some silent periods are good too though), this will comfort and engage you during the trip, don't use a loud volume, you want to give your brain a chance to tune out the music at times when it has something important to show you.

I would also suggest you change your technique, even with the Dream Maker Tool, there are different ways of using it.  If you were trying one big hit, try three (or more) small quick back to back hits instead, this often works better for many people vs. one big hit.  You can even inhale as you vaporize like using a glass bubble type pipe.

Q:  How often can someone effectively take ayahuasca/phamahausca?    I noticed a vape test during the week after an intense pharmahuasca trip was very dull visually and not as pleasant as usual.
A: The consensus is that regardless of the method of administration, DMT creates no meaningful tolerance to itself.  Various factors such as set, setting, dosage, interactions with other things in your body (medications/drugs/food/drink) could have played some role. Perhaps you just didn't get the dose you thought you were getting due to technique or mechanical problem or not holding the vapor in long enough.  Some users even report reverse tolerance (although if harmalas were used such as with ayahuasca, this likely has more to do with the harmalas being in one's system than the dmt).  A follow-up DMT study by Dr. Rick Stassman put this tolerance question to the test and demonstrated a lack of tolerance to the psychological effects of repeated closely spaced doses of DMT, making DMT unique among classical psychedelics.

Q: Why did my DMT extract come out gooey instead of solid?

A: One possibility is that it contains plant oils, this can happen with lower quality bark, and the only way to prevent it is by adding a defat step after adding your acid but before adding the base, this is described in the written TEK.  Another possibility is that your bark contains a lot of NMT.  Usually if its pure white, there isn't much if any NMT, also NMT is typically only an issue with acacia bark, but there are some reports of NMT in mimosa as well.  There are lots of posts on the nexus about separating DMT and NMT.  Here is a newer potential method, but the tried and true method is to use dry ice and xylene to do the separation.  That said, you can still use this contaminated DMT without doing a separation, it will just be less potent and more difficult to dose.  If it contains plant oils it may be more harsh to inhale that vapor as well.

Q: What are your dosing recommendations for harmalas and oral or vaped DMT?

A: These are covered in various videos, but here is one screen shot with some general guidelines:  bit.ly/3qG1MaB Keep in mind that harmala purity may vary, and a person's sensitivity to it may also vary.  Always research carefully before combining harmalas with any other medications or drugs and NEVER use harmalas with 5-MeO-DMT.

Q: I'm having trouble finding THH (tetrahydroharmine) online, can you help?

A: I do not currently sell THH (but it is legal in the US and most other countries).  People have informed me of three online sources: Liftmode, Bodhi Extracts, and BountyBotanicals.  I don't know much about any of these vendors or if they are reliable or have high purity.

Q: What do you think about various authors/speakers who promote certain ideas about what DMT is all about?

A: I try to ignore them and you should to, but its hard when you are really interested in this topic.   I've listened to interviews by various authors and speakers that give me the feeling they are entertaining, but completely misguided.  There are lots of peole that think DMT opens up some magical gateway to real parallel universes, or its some aline technology for interstellar communication, etc.  - that's just not what DMT is or does in my personal view.  I take a much more science minded view.  My biggest problem with people/books like this is that they can essentially become a self fulfilling phenomenon, in other words if you read a book from a guy that believes DMT is all about aliens contacting earthlings through space and time for real communication or some nonsense like that, you are very likely to experience something along those lines when you next use DMT and the weak minded will think "HE WAS RIGHT!!" haha.  It's all so absurd, and yet this sort of "passing along" beliefs about what the DMT experience is or should be has been happening for decades.  Even Rick Strassman and Terrance McKenna contributed to this problem in their own special ways.  When you really study the phenomenon it's kind of humorous.  For example when the hugely popular movie Avatar came out, people started reporting seeing benevolent blue people in their DMT experiences.  McKenna promoted the "circus theme" which somehow morphed over time into the "jester" theme certain celebrities have promoted.  I think the aliens theme really took off in the 1970's when Close Encounters of the Third Kind came out, and Risk Strassman's book kept that theme going, then it was promoted by Joe Rogan and others so its life was further extended.  On one hand, I could say "unfortunately what you expect to happen in your DMT experience can happen" but at the same time, you can use this same feature of the DMT experience to your benefit, you can set your own intent and expectations in such a way that your receive maximum benefit from the experience.

Q: Can I use magnesium instead of zinc to reduce harmaline to THH and how much magnesium should I use?

A:  Yes magnesium is preferred, it is cleaner and easier to use.  You can use less than half the magnesium vs. zinc since the molecular weight is lower.  The actual formula is: (g of harmaline you are reducing)/214.26 * 3 = (g of Mg) / 24.305     Multiplying by 3 above is just a general rule of thumb because you want to use an excess there to ensure a complete reduction. Say for example you had 3g of harmaline, that would mean you should use: 3*(24.305/214.26) * 3 = g of Mg Or 1g of Mg (but it won't hurt anything if you use more).

QUESTIONS ABOUT MUSHROOMS/psilocybin

Q: Can you do a "crystals of the gods" (psilocybin extraction) video?

"Crystals of the Gods" sadly, has been debunked over and over again. Regarding real psilocybin extraction, I've done lots of research on this and have come to the conclusion that it's just not worth it (which is why you don't find much about it in online forums).  Some methods use hazardous chemicals including methanol and chloroform, and you end up with an unstable product that quickly breaks down so you'd have to use it right after the extraction.  The rhodium archives describe "Acetic acid extraction, then basified and extracted with ether, then recrystallized with chloroform/heptane, filtered under a stream of nitrogen gas.  Stored in Methanol at low temp." (No thanks!).  There are also some nonsense / debunked TEKs out there like "Crystals of the Gods" complete with pictures and even testimonials from Alexander Shulgin but these only extract mushroom proteins which are not psychoactive by themselves (these are not psilocybin crystals), all they really produce is a tincture.  Yes, it is psychoactive, but if a person wanted a tincture, it can easily be done with just hot water (strained mushroom tea) or simple alcohol extraction, Lemon TEK (vid) is another alternative.  There is anecdotal evidence that the panaeolus cyanescens species may contain compounds in addition to psilocybin/psilocin that are beneficial to the user experience and it is so potent that as little as one or two "00" capsules can produce a significant experience with little to no nausea so there is really no need to do an extract for most people and the storage life is substantially better in whole mushroom powder form (ideally in an airtight container with desiccant and argon and no exposure to light).

Q: Can you feed the mushrooms certain substances and get them to produce new or novel psychedelic compounds?

A: As for feeding mushrooms and expecting to get something new and novel out - I won't come out and say its totally impossible, but I'm a man of science, I want to see proof that it can work and not just some old published paper no one has ever validated either.  MANY PEOPLE have tried and so far no one has proven it works.  There was a whole psychedelic church formed around this concept called the Church of Psilomethoxin that claimed they were producing a novel psychedelic 'Psilomethoxin' by feeding mushrooms 5-MeO-DMT but I personally investigated these claims and found them to be false (see: Beware of "nonsense" in the psychedelic community).  You can give the mushroom NUTRIENTS like calcium, gypsum, compost, coffee grounds, powdered sea shells, manure, worm castings, etc. and this may potentially make it grow faster or produce higher yields, or even potentially have higher alkaloids although even that as far as I'm aware has never been rigorously tested in carefully designed and controlled experiments.  Sometimes supplementation could even be counterproductive, for example bigger mushrooms typically are not more potent but the opposite, it is the smaller mushrooms and even pins that have higher alkaloids as a percentage of dry weight.

Q: Do you recommend growing different species of psilocybin mushrooms?

A: If you just want to produce a lot of psilocybin with little effort it's hard to beat cubensis, so easy to grow and fast too with big yields.  Being able to thrive on coir is a huge advantage as well since it is cheap and easy to obtain and VERY resistant to contamination.  The Natalensis species however is becoming more and more popular and grows like cubes in unmodified totes, with big yields and you can even use the same substrates plus it has very positive user reports.  Other species are often a little more difficult to grow (less beginner friendly), lower yielding, sometimes more prone to contamination, and/or slow growing.  However there has been increasing interest in growing Panaeolus cyanescens, it has 3 times the potency of cubensis and possibly other positive attributes.  This species is not hard to grow especially when you have the right cultivar.  It grows best on field aged horse manure which many people don't have easy access to (but some big box stores sell manure that works), and coir OR straw.  It requires very high humidity and air exchange, and likes warmer temps.  I'm all for the idea of perfecting the growing of all species, and the more people tinkering, the better as far as I'm concerned, there are many great species out there.  So I encourage people to try new things and contribute to the body of knowledge.  Here is my simple TEK for growing Pan Cyans.

Q: Is there any difference in user experience between species of mushrooms or even pure synthetic psilocybin?

A: There is no real scientific data on associations between species or cultivar and user experience.  I'm not sure there ever will be, but I do hope someone will at least attempt a science based well controlled comparison study (the obvious problem is that most of the experience differences will come down to dose, set, and setting.  You can control dose pretty well, and the setting for the experience, but a person's mindset will always be different from one experience to another and that will influence the actual experience.  I do not have a strong personal opinion on the matter.  All psychedelic mushrooms contain various amounts of major alkaloids (psilocybin and psilocin) and minor alkaloids (like baeocystin, norbaeocystin, aeruginascin and norpsilocin), but the ratios can differ significantly, and some species seem to have minor alkaloids rarely found in other species.  All different species of psychedelic mushrooms can have profound effects, incredible visuals, and numerous mental health benefits.  Many people seem to believe pan cyans produce a superior experience compared to cubes and some old school practitioners like Maria Sabina would never use cubes.

Almost every university researching psilocybin is using synthetic, pure psilocybin made in a lab.  So not even really the same thing as mushrooms and yet based on the experience reports, it certainly sounds like participants are having very similar types of experiences.

The renowned, Nobel prize winning chemist Albert Hofmann gave Maria Sabina pure synthetic psilocybin that he made himself in the lab, and this was his report:

Source: https://maps.org/news-letters/v11n2/11222gro.html
"We explained to Maria Sabina that we had isolated the spirit of the mushrooms and that it was now in these little pills. She was fascinated and agreed to make a ceremony for us.
     "To participate in the ceremony, you always have to have a reason. The mushroom ceremony is a consultation, like going to a doctor or a psychiatrist if you have some problems. Gordon told Maria Sabina: "I left New York three weeks ago and my daughter had to go to the hospital to have a child. I don't know what happened with her. Can the mushroom tell me what happened with my daughter?" So that was the reason they made a ceremony for us. It involved Maria Sabina, her daughters, and other shaman colleagues and it was a beautiful ceremony."

Grof: "I understand that, on this occasion, Maria Sabina gave you the official "seal of approval," that after having taken the pills, she actually confirmed that their effects were identical to those of the magic mushrooms."

Hofmann: "Yes. I gave her for the ceremony tablets of the synthetic psilocybin. I knew that she used a certain number of mushrooms and I assessed the corresponding quantity of tablets. We used them and it was really a full-blown wonderful ceremony which lasted until the morning. When we left, Maria Sabina told us that these tablets really contained the spirit of the mushrooms. I gave her a bottle of them and she said: "I can now also perform the ceremonies during the times when we have no more mushrooms."

Q: How many agar transfers do you usually make before grain spawn stage?

A: I know this is going to sound strange to some growers, and not in line with consensus view, but my answer is ZERO agar transfers unless there is a contamination concern.  In my opinion, hobbyists in online forums have made a far bigger emphasis on this than is warranted.  You will get sufficient strain isolation by taking a cutting from the outer edge of growth and further isolation has no proven benefit in my opinion, doing transfers just delays your grow plus every transfer is a risk of introducing contamination.  Instead I recommend making numerous plates from spores, only use the best looking plate(s) with fast clean growth, take cutting from the outer edge of growth, put them to grain as soon as practical, and you will get the best results.  This is shown in my bulk mushroom grow vid.

Q: What is the best pan cyan cultivar to grow?

A: When I discovered 'Estero' I thought it was the best due to his aggressive colonization and potency (it won the first Cultivar Cup for most potent mushroom), its a great cultivar, but more recently I discovered tamarind tree british virgin islands (TTBVI), it is more potent than Estero, and just as aggressive on grain and substrate, same time from spores to harvest, and TTBVI prints better than Estero!  From my perspective, TTBVI is the best pan cyan cultivar ever discovered so far.  If I find anything else that is noteworthy I will update this answer.

Q: Where should I get spores?

A: If you are a patron, you can get spores directly from me for free, just private message me. My spores are the top genetics in the known world, germinate fast, and have won numerous mycology cups. They are also super clean, minimizing contam risk. Other than that, there are many reputable vendors out there, I don't want to endorse any particular vendors nor can I vourch for all of these but some names I've heard positive things about include Sporeworks, Mushrooms.com (formerly the Hawks eye), lil shop of spores and Ralphsters.  "SporesFast" is the only vendor I know of that sells Estero (pan cyan strain) spore syringes they also have prints.

Q: What can I do with a spore print to grow it out?

A: I show how to do this in 3 different videos: my bulk grow vid, Making and Using Agar and Making and Using a Spore Syringe.  I also show in the bulk grow vid how to make a cheap still air box that works.  The best method is to scrape the spores (in a still air box or in front of a flow hood) with a sterile knife first to loosen them up, flame sterilize your inoculating loop (a paper clip is OK) until it glows orange, dip it in your agar to coat and cool it, then dip it in the loose spores.  Swipe the inoculating loop in a  "Z" or "S" pattern on the surface of the agar plate toward the middle of the plate.  Repeat this until you have 4-6 inoculated plates.  After it grows out you can pick the best looking plate(s) to transfer cuttings to grain.

Another method: Pressure cook a small jar of water (30ML of water is enough), wait until it cools, using a sterile knife, scrape the spores directly into the jar of water.  Let it sit overnight.  Stir then suck the water up into a sterile syringe.  From there you can directly inject the spore water into a sterile grain jar OR you can put a drop on a few agar plates (not ideal though as the water can interfere with growth on agar).

Q: I put spores to agar but I'm not seeing any growth, what did I do wrong?

A: Some possible reasons include: spores were not viable (this is rare, they are typically good for at least 10 years), the agar was too dry (use freshly made agar and follow recommended recipe), the spores didn't like your agar (try a different receipe, MEA generally works well for any species, PDA is also fine).  The agar may have been too wet, or not stored with agar layer on top which led to water pooling on the agar surface, the spores may not grow in too wet conditions.  One mistake some people make is not cooling their implements (razor/knife/innoculating loop) before touching those to the spores, that can kill the spores.  The basic steps to follow (this process should be done in a still air box or in front of a flow hood):

1) Sterilize a knife/razor (you can pressure cook it or flame sterilize)

2) Wait for it to cool, or dip in sterile water to cool but only use when fully dry.

3) Scrape the spore print carefully to dislodge the spores but try not to move them very far, just make a little "pile" of spores where the print was originally located, this should only take about 10 seconds of rapid gentle scraping.

4) Flame sterilize your inoculating loop (a paper clip or bent wire is fine).

5) Dip the inoculating loop into your agar to cool and coat it with agar (use the outer edge of the agar, not the center of the plate).

6) Dip the coated inoculating loop into the loose spores (from #3 above)

7) Rub the inoculating loop in an "S" or "Z" pattern over the center of your agar plate.

8) Put the lid back on your plate.

9) Put the closed plate into a new ziploc bag (or tape it closed with parafilm)

Repeat until you have 4-5 plates inoculated.  Turn the plates upside down (while still in the ziploc bag) after growth begins to prevent moisture droplets from falling on the mycelium).  See Making and Using Agar and Making and Using a Spore Syringe.

Q: Do you recommend putting any nutrients or dung in the agar?

A: There are two schools of thought about agar, the minority group likes adding all sorts of nutrients (including dung for dung lover species) I guess with the theory that you give the mycelium what it loves most to get the best and most vigorous growth.  The other school of thought (majority) believe it's not a great idea to use high nutrient agar.  Agar is a temporary place for mycelium to get its start in life, its not meant to be "substrate".  The more nutrients you put in there, the more it may also feed contamination (or the additions could be a source of contamination).  Also when you move the agar cuttings to grain, you want the mycelium to "leap" off the agar and onto the more nutritious grain.  If it's sitting on high nutrient agar, it may want to stay on the agar instead (don't know that anyone has actually done a careful experiment around that idea).  I want to see more science done on this matter personally.  People have written me to say they had better results with agar+dung, very healthy vigorous growth.  I tried it and had good results so it may actually be a good idea at least when it comes to pan cyans.

Q: What does pan cyan mycelium look like on agar and where should I take cuttings from?

A: Below is a picture, Pan cyan mycelium looks different from most other species, its white, light and fluffy or cottony and rarely segments out unless you do multiple transfers (not worth it).  Blue colors does NOT mean contamination, this species is so potent even the mycelium will blue sometimes from active alkaloids. Take cuttings from the outer growth where it looks most vigorous, preferably before it hits the edge of the plate (see the red circled areas).

Q: When should I harvest if I want to make  my own spore prints?

A: For printing, I like to wait until they are already dropping some spores, you will see the black "spore dust" on top of the caps of the mushrooms below the ones dropping spores.  When it hits that point I will harvest all of the largest caps from the batch, then in front of a laminar flow cut the stems off and place them onto fresh foil, then optionally incubate (80F/27C temp) for 48 hours for nice dark prints (some species are good after 24 hours, pan cyan usually needs longer).  I will wait on the less mature fruit bodies to develop further before harvesting those for printing (usually the next day).

Q: What cultivars or species of mushrooms do you recommend?

A: Certain characteristics like potency and speed of colonization and pin set do seem to vary from one cultivar to another to some extent (moreso in certain species).   For cubensis, B+ , Penis Envy (PE), and golden teacher are very popular cultivars.  The Panaeolus Cyanescens species may be a better choice vs. cubensis, you may not get the same output, but its up to 3 times as potent and many believe it provides a better user experience (less anxiety or nausea, more visual, and a pleasant body high). Be very careful not to consume too much though, 0.5g is a good starter test dose, and 1 gram can be enough for a full blown mystical experience for some people. I recommend the TTBVI and Estero cultivars of Pan Cyan, other cultivars are generally weaker and slower to colonize. I also like natalensis (another species) a LOT, it is very easy to grow, has very big yields like cubes, and is grown almost exactly like cubes (but likes more fresh air). Its mycelium is so strong it can choke out contamination.  Its a great choice for beginners, but should not be overlooked by experienced growers either.  It has very good user experience reports and is more potent than most cubes (less potent than pan cyan though).

Q: Do you recommend making hybrids?

A: This is not something I have much interest in.  I know it's "all the rage" in some circles, and there are endless people doing hybrids and posting about them etc.  So far, no one has produced a hybrid that is superior to the cultivars direct from nature as far as I know.  For example the most potent known cultivar (TTBVI) is not a hybrid.  I have grown out many hybrids and did not find any of them worth growing for various reasons (weaker genetics, less aggressive on agar/substrate, poor printing, lower potency, etc).  I just don't see the point other than the sheer entertainment value and hope of discovering something interesting.  Part of it seems to be ego driven, everyone wants to come up with their own cultivar and give it their own name so they can be "famous", hahah.  I think time is better spent elsewhere, but I'm all for the people who want to do this, it is quite possible that one day they will produce something of lasting value.

Q: Do you recommend growing P. azurescens?

A: My gut feeling is that the P. azurescens species has been "overhyped" most probably because decades ago Paul Stamets said it was the most potent species in his book 'Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World' which gave it some "special status" in the minds of many readers, haha.  But as far as I know, it has never tested above 3% combined alkaloids (Good pan cyan's consistently test above 3% including TTBVI testing several times above 4%).  There are also plenty of anecdotal reports about "weak" Azures.  It's almost certainly NOT the most potent species, and the other problems with it are that it is difficult to indoor grow, and it sometimes reportedly gives people "wood lovers paralysis" which could be scary and possibly dangerous as well (inability to move while tripping).  All in all, I just don't see any compelling reasons to grow it OR consume it and in fact Paul Stamets himself advised Oregon not to allow it under their legal psychedelic mushrooms program. There is a legit concern with "temporary paralysis" while typically not harmful, it can be scary to some people (and theoretically might be harmful for example if you were to vomit and couldn't move that might be a serious problem.  Nausea to the point of purging is not that common with mushrooms but it does occasionally happen especially if a person did not fast beforehand).

Q: Do you recommend growing any wood lover species of mushroom?

A: I don't grow psychedelic wood lovers anymore (I have in the past).  Wood lovers are generally slower growing, more difficult, lower yielding, less potent than pan cyans, and they have the huge added problem of wood lovers paralysis.  I see absolutely no reason to grow wood lovers.  They don't offer any special advantages or superior user experience reports.  That said, when it comes to gourmet mushrooms, wood lovers are amazing, I especially enjoy growing and eating shiitake, lion's mane, king oyster, and others.  You can use wood pellet stove fuel pellets as a primary substrate ingredient which can be found at most big box and hardware stores, check if you need a specific species of wood and try to determine which species is in the pellets (for example some species do best on Oak, and many species need hardwoods not pine).

Q: Do you recommend growing sclerotia species (AKA "Magic truffles" or "stones")?

A: I have no interest in sclerotia, they are generally very slow to grow, much lower yields, the harvest comes out dirty, and they have lower potency vs. pan cyans. I've never seen any compelling reason to grow them, no special alkaloid profile or user experience reports, HPLC results, etc. They are grown in the Netherlands only because for some crazy reason psychedelic mushrooms were legally banned there but sclerotia are a bizarre exception that is still legal 😂. In the Netherlands magic truffles only became popular after the Dutch government put a ban on psychedelic mushrooms in 2007 but sclerotia, or truffles, are not technically a mushroom species and are therefore exempted from this ban.

Q: What is the purpose of a casing layer and why should it have a different pH?

A: From what I've read, mycologists discovered over time that a casing layer encourages fruiting and enhances yields in many, but not all, cultivated mushrooms.  Cubensis really does not need a casing layer, but other species including Panaeolus Cyanescens do.  The intent of a casing layer is to provide the ideal conditions for pinning, airy and wet, but not nutritious so the mycelia (hopefully) do not colonize it.  In addition to supporting pinning, the casing layer helps prevent the substrate from drying out.  Likewise, over time, growers found that different pH values of the casing layer are associated with optimal growth, and this varies by species.  A pH can be too high, or too low.  Many species (but not all) seem to prefer the 7 to 7.5 pH range for casing.  The slightly alkaline pH may help by discouraging the mycelium from colonizing the casing layer, it also offsets the slightly acidic excretions that are produced by growing mycelia.  (Reference:  "The mushroom Cultivator" by Paul Stamets and J.S Chilton)

Q: Why do my agar plates get contaminated even before I add any spores or mycelia?

A:  If the dishes are showing contamination you can pressure cook your agar for 1 hour to ensure all contamination is killed off from the source agar.  If you are still getting contamination after that, it is your clean procedure that needs work.  Thoroughly clean the room, wipe down all surfaces with 70% isopropyl alcohol, take a shower, change into freshly laundered clothing, turn off all fans/hvac, wear a new hair net, dust mask, nitrile gloves, again wipe down with 70% isopropyl alcohol, spray a fine mist inside your still air box, use an elevated surface to work on, wiped clean with 70% isopropyl alcohol, use only slow careful movements, pour your petri dishes with minimal disturbance of the air and put their lids on immediately after pouring, then straight into new zip lock bags.  Practice makes perfect.

Q: I tried to make pan cyan spore prints but nothing happens, how do you do it?

A: They can be tricky to spore print - they tend to only drop spores if the temperatures are above 70F and humidity must also be right (not too dry, but also not too humid).  You also need to basically wait until they are already dropping spores or underside of caps look black (filled with spores) before harvesting them and putting the caps down for printing.  I highly recommend preparing your print  in front of a laminar flow box, I use a fresh sheet of foil, putting that on top of a baking pan/sheet or other flat bottomed container that also has a tight fitting lid you can put over the top.  Using very clean/sterile scissors cut the stems off and place the cap on the foil. Then you have to wait 2 days for a full dark print.  If you follow all of the above, you will get prints.  You can put them in a grow tent with high humidity during the wait time while its dropping spores.

Q: My substrate has some yellowish or reddish liquid on the top, what does this mean?

A: Those colorful excretions are not that uncommon, there is some debate about what they are, some say just normal products of metabolism by the mycelium, but others believe it is a defense mechanism, and these excretions have anti-microbial properties - which could be a sign that it is fighting a minor infection/contamination but it is probably winning.  There isn't much you can or should do about it, keep conditions the same as you would normally, more fresh air could be beneficial though, you want it to get fruiting as soon as possible.  The excretions likely will not mean a failure or even necessarily a lower yield.

Q: My grain jars keep stalling out instead of fully colonizing, what is wrong?

A: Not colonizing or stalled colonization can be from either too wet or too dry conditions, or contamination.  It's hard for me to know which is to blame in your case.  But the grains should look "puffed up" with the volume about twice the dry volume you started with before prepping them.  So that is the first thing to check. Don't leave them sitting around to dry out before packing them into jars for sterilization.  But you also shouldn't see pools of water in your grain jars either.  It IS possible to have "bad grain". I'd recommend just starting fresh, get a big bag of whole oats from tractor supply or your nearest horse feed store.  I would also recommend letting the grains soak in the water longer, min 4 hours but you can even let them sit overnight.  This just ensures all contam spores are fully hydrated and/or germinating, ensuring they die when you pressure cook.  And regarding the pressure cooking, it doesn't hurt to go longer if you are having failures, for example if you were doing 60 minutes, try 90, or if you were doing 90 try 120 (just make sure your pressure cooker won't run out of water).

Q: What is a good spawn to substrate ratio?

A: In general the more spawn you use, the faster it will fully colonize, the less likely to contaminate, and the more flushes you will get.  You can use anywhere from a 1:1 ratio all the way up to 1:10 (maybe higher) ratio with success. For pan cyan, 1:2 to 1:3 is highly effective.  For a bulk cubes or natalensis grow I recommend using 4 US Quarts (approximately 4 lbs) of spawn for a 66QT tote that holds:

1 brick of coir (650g) to 700g (chipped from larger blocks)

4 US Quarts water (4 liters for the larger 700g)

2 US Quarts vermiculite

1/4 cup gypsum

Since the substrate weighs about 10 lbs, that's a ratio of 1 part spawn to 2.5 parts substrate.  For a pans cyans grow using this recipe/TEK I have tried using as little as 3oz grain spawn for a 9x12x2 cake pan size pan cyan grow and it worked fine with rapid colonization, I'm not sure exactly what ratio that comes out to, I haven't weighed it, but could be close to 1:6 but I would recommend using more grain spawn. At 1 : 1.5 the pans produced as many as 7 flushes with no contamination.

With any species that uses shallow substrates I generally don't measure the spawn ratio. My standard method is to sprinkle grain spawn over the top of the substrate until there is a thin layer of grain spawn covering the entire top surface, then I mix it all up and pat it down with sterile tongs (pressure cooked in advance). Generally the more spawn you use the faster it will colonize reducing risk of contams getting a foothold, and this may also result in denser canopies. So its fine to use more. But biological efficiency peaks when you use less (meaning you may produce more mushrooms per unit of grain spawn when you use less). If you made a boatload of grain spawn and don't care about maximizing output or don't even have the space or equipment to maximize output, then use more spawn per tote rather than more substrate and additional totes.

Q: What is the best substrate depth?

A: This is species specific.  There's a balance, too deep and it ends up being less efficient (waste of substrate/spawn) and too shallow it doesn't produce as much. After many years of experimentation, the consensus is that 3 to 3.5 inches is optimal for bulk grow of cubensis.  A 2 inch substrate is ideal for some species like panaeolus cyanescens.  Someone created a neat substrate calculator here.

Q: My mushroom block isn't pinning, is there anything I can do?

A: Depending on growing conditions and species/strain it can sometimes take several weeks (or even months) for pins to form.  Some things you can try to speed it up are to change the temperatures, a fluctuation of temps (colder at night, warmer during the day) can help induce pinning.  Increasing the air exchange can also help, but don't let the block dry out.  Changing the watering can help -- if it seems very wet (moisture on the sides of the tub) stop watering, otherwise try misting more frequently.

Q: What is the ideal temperature for drying mushrooms?

A: This is one of those questions that unfortunately has not been properly addressed by science yet.  I really can't answer that question other than to say that the consensus opinion in modern times is that "up to 165F (74C)" is good, and generally the faster you dry them, the better.  You should use a food dehydrator with heat.  My dehydrator only goes to 145F so I have no experience with higher temp drying than that but 145F works great and the best current value dehydrator has a fixed 165F temp and many have reported that it works well for mushrooms.  Psilocin is unstable and will deteriorate pretty quickly regardless of how you dry the mushrooms, its likely more of a function of time than heat.  So all else being equal, 10 fresh mushrooms are going to be more potent than 10 dried mushrooms, no matter what, because the dried ones will always have less psilocin.

Bottom line: There is considerable debate about "what is the ideal drying temperature?" and as far as I know, no one has conclusively proven or even credibly analyzed this yet (surprisingly) but it is something I very much plan to do.  Many believe that it's really OXIDATION that is the true enemy of alkaloids, so the faster you get those mushrooms cracker dry and out of an oxygen rich environment, the better.  Drying faster at a higher temp may in fact be superior to drying slower at a lower temp (there is evidence for this).  But what exactly is the upper limit?  This is unknown.  For example would 200F be too high?  Probably.  The key is to STOP dehydrating as soon as they are cracker dry.  If you are growing pan cyans, this happens in 4 to 5 hours depending on ambient humidity and drying temp.  If you are using a higher temp and letting it sit in the dehydrator for hours after it is already cracker dry, that is almost certain to cause losses.

I used the 145F temp to set the world record for most potent mushroom ever tested.  You can periodically unplug the dehydrator, take some random samples out, and try bending the thicker parts next to your ear, you want to hear it snap and split in two like a cracker.  While this may happen fast (4 hours) for pan cyan it may take 12+ hours for other species for example thick cubensis mushrooms packed in the dehydrator from a huge harvest).

Q: What is the best way to store mushrooms?

A: Recently published research (Stability of psilocybin and its four analogs in the biomass of the psychotropic mushroom Psilocybe cubensis) has shown that storing dried mushrooms at room temp in a sealed container, in the dark, resulted in the best long term preservation of alkaloids.  I would also suggest including desiccant and purging the jar of air/oxygen using an inert gas like Argon to minimize oxidation risk and ensure the material remains dry.  You can use this inexpensive product to easily remove the oxygen.  But truth be told, dephosphorylation is the real enemy of psilocybin (oxidation is the enemy of psilocin) and dephosphorylation requires WATER.  So by extension, WATER is the enemy of psilocybin (enzymes are also required for dephosphorylation, and the phosphatase enzyme that dephosphorylates psilocybin = PsiP).  So the goal is to get rid of the water as fast as possible and also reduce phosphatase if possible, the psilocybin is breaking down in many cases even before you harvest the mushrooms (harvesting on the early side is best, don't wait for spores to drop).  Go direct from harvest to the dehydrator, and use as high a temp as your dehydrator has, to drive off all moisture as rapidly as possible.  Research has shown that temperatures up to 200F (93C) for 24 hours does not destroy  psilocybin.

Most dehydrators will only go up to 165F (74C) max anyway.  Storing the cracker dry mushroom material in a vacuum sealed dry jar is also best practice, moisture absorbers are always a good idea.  Argon will prevent any psilocin from being oxidized.  But keep in mind, the psilocybin molecule seems to be less stable than others like DMT.  There are plenty of references stating that psilocybin, while more stable than psilocin, is not that stable in general (even light can damage it as shown in the above referenced paper).

Q: For substrates that are prone to contamination (like straw/manure based substrate) is it better to pasteurize or sterilize?

A: One can often use either successfully.  I find that pasteurization is more of a pain, requires monitoring the internal substrate temps and it takes longer and it may not always kill competing spores that are sometimes found on straw or other ingredients.  But I am aware of studies like this one showing the benefit of not sterilizing (trich prefers sterilized substrate) so I can definitely see the advantage of pasteurizing instead.  That said, if you are careful not to introduce trich during spawing, it may not matter much either way.

Q: Why do you pasteurize straw/manure based substrate but not coir/manure based substrate?

A:  For coir based substrate, you can sterilize OR pasteurize, I'm not sure if there is any real advantage of one over the other.  Straw is more prone to contamination, but seems to contain microorganisms that actually protect AGAINST contamination as long as you don't kill them (sterilization kills them, pasteurization doesn't).  This may sound wild but it's pretty well established in science, see: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25763030 the coir is not as prone to contamination as straw so its not as important to pasteurize it, and I'm not sure that it even contains beneficial microorganisms.  Since coir is typically dried and compressed into blocks, I'm guessing most microorganisms die in that process however the manure could potentially contain beneficial microorganisms.  I would love to see someone do a big controlled study with many trays of coir and straw based substrates both pasteurized and sterilized but otherwise prepared the same way and see what the total yields and contamination rates are for each of the four categories.

Q: I am not getting any pan cyan pins or pins are not fully developing into mature mushrooms,  what am I doing wrong?

A: Pins appearing but not growing is one of 4 possible problems:  1) Not enough fresh air (if growing in open air this is not the issue,  usually happens when growing in a greenhouse/ martha), 2) Not enough watering or humidity (if casing looks dry pour a half cup of water evenly over the whole casing surface) increase misting amount,  check that the pans are not taking on water though by tilting them over a sink and making sure no water runs out. 3) Temperatures are not good, too cold and pins sometimes will not mature.  This species likes heat, 80s are best but 70s should work fine. You can put a heating mat under them or a container of water with aquarium heater in it, you can even float your cake pans directly on the warm water by putting them inside the clear tops. 4) Contamination,  you may not see it, but it could be below the surface and this could cause pins to abort or mushrooms to be deformed or bent over. If this is the case, the most likely source is the grain spawn, work on your clean procedure,  use a still air box or flow hood, work in the smallest room in your house and clean it thoroughly first, wipe down surfaces with a dilute bleach solution,  before working shower and put on freshly laundered clothes, wear new gloves and face mask, spray everything down with isopropyl alcohol (70%).

Q: I've read that I should consume 5 grams of dried cubensis for a complete mystical experience but you recommend lower dosages, why?

A: Researchers have actually studied this rigorously, a little more than half of test subjects  can have a complete mystical experience on just 2 grams * [bodyweight/70kg], this rose to 64% at a 3 gram dose * [bodyweight/70kg].  You may need 5g, or you may need even more than that, to reach the goal of a complete mystical experience.  The point is that research found that starting lower and working your way higher until you have a complete mystical experience is the best approach, this reduces anxiety and negative reactions.  Also note that set and setting contribute greatly to inducing a complete mystical experience, this includes mental preparation, entering a state of surrender, using eye shades, focusing within, and using the right type of music.  So if it took a person 5 grams to have a mystical experience without all these things, it might only take 2 or 3 grams with all of these things.  Also as I pointed out in this video, some batches of mushrooms are going to be weaker than others, you might need 5 grams of weaker mushrooms to match 3 grams of someone else's stronger mushrooms - psilocybin content varies pretty substantially from batch to batch and is influenced by how well they were handled (dried and stored properly) and how old they are.

Q: Does psilocybin/psilocin content vary by flush?

A: Researchers found that psilocybin levels did NOT vary in any statistically significant way from flush to flush, however they DO vary tremendously (by up to 400%) from one mushroom to another even in the same flush, there is also huge variation from cap to stem even in the same mushroom.  This is why I recommend you dry and powder the full output so you can get  consistent reliable dosing.  Interestingly though, researchers also found that psilocin levels were low in the first two flushes but higher in subsequent flushes (peaking by the 4th flush). However psilocin levels are generally a lot lower than psilocybin to begin with, also psilocin degrades pretty quickly in the drying process and during storage, so this may not be a significant factor unless you are eating the mushrooms fresh (which is not generally advised if you want careful dosing for the aforementioned reasons).  Reference: VARIATION OF PSILOCYBIN AND PSILOCIN LEVELS WITH REPEATED FLUSHES (HARVESTS) OF MATURE SPOROCARPS OF PSILOCYBE CUBENSIS (EARLE) SINGER

JEREMY BIGWOOD and MICHAEL W. BEUG

The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington 98505 (U.S.A.)

Q: What do you think about microdosing and what amount should be used for microdosing?

A: The science that I am aware of thus far seems to indicate most of the so called benefits of microdosing can be attributed to the placebo effect, but there are certainly many proponents of microdosing out there who feel they are benefitting from the practice so I don't want to draw any conclusions yet. If you want to try microdosing, the general recommendation is to start with 100 to 200mg of your typical dried cubensis or just 30 to 60mg of the more potent pan cyans.  This should be measured on a gem scale for accuracy.

It's worth noting that taking psilocybin and other psychedelics on a very frequent long term basis could have some potential health risks such as heart valve damage, this is not well known yet.  The evidence for heart damage is not very strong but other drugs associated with 5ht2b agonism like many psychedelics are, have been known to cause heart valve damage after long term continuous use.  If you are interested in reading more about the heart valve issue there is a nice article here with lots of references cited.  A less technical discussion is here: https://thethirdwave.co/psychedelics-heart-risk/ and https://thethirdwave.co/dangers-risks-microdosing/

More technical discussion here:  https://www.reddit.com/r/DrugNerds/comments/2mqqww/psilocin_and_5ht2b_agonism_induced_cardiotoxicity/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=comment_list

I've seen many people talking about certain species or cultivars being good for microdosing, but to me that makes no sense. The dose is simply adjusted using an accurate gem scale so you get whatever level of effect that you want.  To me, the less mushroom fiber the better, some people even have allergies to mushroom fiber, lower is always better, so that means the very high potency mushrooms are GREAT for ANY level of experience including microdosing, in fact they are probably superior. If you were doing say 150mg microdose of cubensis, you would probably only want to do about 150/4 or 38mg of TTBVI if it was grown within the last 4 months, maybe only divide by 3 if its older than 4 months.

Natalensis may be more practical for microdosers however, because you will get much higher yields per grow, it also is associated with euphoria at low doses, and it often tests high in minor alkaloids which may be beneficial for microdosing (but there is not much science on that matter yet).  With natalensis you could use the same dosages normally used with cubes or slightly less.  Natalensis normally tests between 0.7% and 1.2% PCBE

Q: Do you recommend psilocybin with harmalas (psilohuasca) and what dose should I use?

A: There is very little research out there on psilohuasca (mushrooms with harmalas), however anecdotes suggest that they are a good combination.  I would suggest following the same exact dosing guidelines as for pharmahuasca, but take the harmalas about 30 minutes  before the psilocybin (use sublingual for 10 minutes method, then swallow or rinse and spit).  If you aren't familiar yet with how sensitive you are to harmalas, you can take various doses of harmalas without other psychedelics at any time to figure out exactly how much to take - you are looking for a calm, relaxed state of mind with a feeling of slight intoxication.  Harmalas are legal in most countries, and likely beneficial to your health, so feel free to experiment.  Just be aware of the interactions, harmalas do not mix well with many other drugs/medication and can be dangerous (potentially even fatal).  Some anecdotes have suggested that harmalas can extend the psilocybin experience by about 50% and intensify the effects on a dose for dose comparison basis but none of these anecdotes are supported by any rigorous science as far as I am aware and some people report that harmalas do NOT change the duration or intensity of psilocybin.  I remain somewhat skeptical of the claims that harmalas can extend or intensify the psilocybin experience but in the least, they should not cause any harm (unless you are taking a medication or other drug that does not interact well with harmalas).  Harmalas could potentially put you into an improved state of mind (relaxed state) which may be beneficial to your overall experience with a more optimal mindset going into the experience.

Q: How can I avoid nausea when consuming mushrooms?

A: Many report less nausea with pan cyans so perhaps you can try switching to that species.  But I think for some people it's just how their body reacts when essentially "challenged", meaning the brain says "You just ate something that is messing with me, therefore I'm going to make you purge to stop it".  Another idea is to put them in capsules like I show in my bulk mushroom grow vid and pan cyan vid, I think that helps reduce nausea , its not exactly intuitive since it's the same substance in your stomach when all is said and done but something about not smelling or tasting it on the way down I think helps, and not lingering in your mouth/throat for hours.  Having it powdered also may help in everything being digested faster which could be a plus.  Finally, some people have reported solving their nausea problem by taking dimenhydrinate (motion sickness/nausea med) with the mushrooms (based on the reviews it seems this med works well in general!).

Q: In your video about meditation and psilocybin I was wondering why it is a passage meditation program and not some kind of a "try to be aware of the thoughts or the breath"?

A: I'm sure there are many different types of meditation that could be helpful, but these researchers picked this particular program because of its history in academia and for its inclusive/non-sectarian approach.  The program has been studied and shown beneficial in prior research, and was taught in an accredited course at a mainstream, reputable US university.  One problem with any method that focuses on breath or breathing is that anxious people using psychedelics can sometimes become very worried (paranoid) that they are not going to remember to breathe or that they might stop breathing, some people might think if they aren't focused on breathing they will die - this of course is all nonsense and the body's autonomic nervous system will keep on breathing no mater what is going on in one's mind, but still, it is commonly believed that people on psychedelics should not focus on breathing - to avoid possible increased anxiety or panic attacks.  Also note that passage meditation is a good way of training the mind to focus within and to become aware of one's thoughts.

Q: What causes some mushrooms to turn blue in color when pinched or cut?

A: Research published in 2019 gave the most detailed analysis of this interesting subject, see: Injury-Triggered Blueing Reactions of Psilocybe “Magic” Mushrooms, upon injury, one enzyme dephosphoralizes psilocybin turning it into psilocin, another enzyme causes the psilocin molecules to oxidize and join together (known as oxidative oligomerization) forming compounds that are blue.  There is a nice write up of this process here.  Within a single species that blues, it is reasonable to assume that the greater the degree of bluing, the higher the content of psilocybin/psilocin, however this does not always hold when comparing between species, as some species of psychedelic mushrooms may not contain the same levels of enzymes that cause this phenomenon.  Psilocybe semilanceata, commonly known as the liberty cap mushroom is an example of a species that has less bluing than other psychedelic mushroom species, and yet is still a relatively potent mushroom.

Q: Should I grow or use Amanita muscaria (fly agaric)?

A: I have no interest in Amanita muscaria and honestly don't know why some people seem so interested in it.  If you've watched Hamilton's Pharmacopeia, you know he will try almost anything, but when he did the show on Amanita, guess what?  He wouldn't touch it.  That should tell you something.  User reports are generally pretty terrible, but even if you find some good reports, they are still inferior to psilocybin mushrooms by almost any standard.  The mushroom is poisonous, sure you can do some work to reduce the toxicity, but why?  It seems dumb to me, I would avoid ;)

Q: Is it odd to feel an affinity towards the fungi?  Almost the consideration level I give my dogs. It's an observation I keep mostly to myself!

A: Haha, I know what you mean.  I give them the upmost respect when growing, almost like in the depths of my mind I have some strange belief that the better I treat them, the better they will treat me.  I think there is probably some legitimate science behind those thoughts, mindset is important to the psychedelic experience, so you aren't just cultivating a mushroom, you are cultivating a mindset leading up to an experience.  Things like respect, love, humility, kindness, are all hallmarks of a constructive and positive mindset.

Q: Do you have any tips for tripping?

A: I recommend fasting (no food) for 3 to 5 hours before taking any psychedelic to avoid nausea.  Focus within, keep your eyes closed or use an eye mask.  Use good trip music (I have published and linked to numerous good options at the top of this FAQ) this can greatly enhance the experience.  If you don't like something you are seeing, you can open your eyes, and "change the channel" mentally, then close your eyes again.  But learn to confront anything that seems negative and ask it why it is there.  Know in advance that it is normal to feel some fear or anxiety during the come up phase, and that it will pass, you are safe and loved and will be fine.  Do not resist, embrace the experience and go willingly down the stream.  The more you focus your mind on the visuals, the deeper you can go, and this is key for having a powerful or mystical experience.

Q: What is "psilocybin equivalent" and why is it preferred vs. psilocin equivalent.

A: For the purposes of having a single "potency" number you must combine the psilocybin and psilocin from mushroom alkaloid test reports.  Psilocybin equivalent means adding the measured psilocybin to the psilocin*[molecular weight of psilocybin=284.252/molecular weight of psilocin=204.273] this is to account for the fact that psilocin is approximately 39% more potent by weight than psilocybin (actual multiplier is 1.3915299624 * psilocin = psilocybin equivalent).  Another option would be to convert everything to psilocin equivalent. It is the psilocin that is psychoactive and that is the compound that makes humans have mystical experiences, so I get the argument that it might make sense to convert to psilocin equivalent, HOWEVER in my opinion, this is NOT a good idea for several reasons:

1) Nearly ALL published research studies use psilocybin, not psilocin, this means there is a certain familiarity with psilocybin dosing.  For example practically every enthusiast knows that Johns Hopkins gives 25 to 35mg of psilocybin in their studies for a full dose.  How many people know how much psilocin equivalent they give? Almost no one, because it never comes up!  Likewise if a person wants to know how much dry mushroom material they should eat to match the result in some research study, for example lets say they want 30mg of psilocybin, they would need to first know the psilocybin equivalent value, lets say it was a strong pan cyan that tested at 3.2% PCBE, so they would simply divide 30mg/0.032 = 937.5mg or just under one gram of dry mushroom material. But I can't think of any scenario where someone would say "I wonder how much dry mushroom material I need to eat to hit X amount of psilocin?" it just never happens.

2) Psilocin is generally considered less stable, this is the main reason why all the researchers use psilocybin instead, so psilocybin is really "the standard".

3) The mushroom does not directly produce psilocin, it is only present due to the breakdown of psilocybin.  This was not known scientifically until relatively recently, when this paper was published: Enzymatic Synthesis of Psilocybin pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28763571
Here is the relevant diagram from the paper:

Note how psilocin is not within the in vivo / biosynthetic pathway to psilocybin, it is produced as a result of damage to psilocybin. This has important testing ramifications because if a sample is testing high in psilocin it's an indication that the sample was probably mishandled either by the lab or the person who collected and processed the sample) or the sample is just old. Mishandling includes oxidation (allowing a sample to sit in oxygen/air for too long), excess pressure applied to fresh fruit bodies (bruising), and destructive extraction procedures. Furthermore some assumptions from the past are essentially obsolete. There is NO SUCH THING as a species of mushroom that is "high in psilocin".  

4) The Psilocybin equivalent number will always be HIGHER than the psilocin equivalent number.  So this actually becomes a safety factor.  If we were to report psilocin equivalent numbers, someone could easily be confused and take too high of a dose. For this reason I don't even like the idea of showing BOTH psilocybin equivalent and psilocin equivalent on reports, I'd rather just have psilocybin equivalent.

Also note that the first and only commercial home mushroom test kit product that does quantification also uses psilocybin equivalent for their results, see: https://doubleblindmag.com/miraculix/

Q: I felt very cold during my psychedelic experience or while I was coming down, is that normal?

A: Feeling cold at various points is totally normal, in psychedelic research trials they usually give people blankets.  The reason for this is the psychedelics can cause a flushing reaction or blood moving to the skin surface (enlargement of capillaries), this in turn causes the body to lose heat, sometimes even leading to people shivering. It's usually not a big deal, but warm clothes or extra blankets can make a person feel more comfortable so it is always recommended to have them on hand when using psychedelics.

QUESTIONS ABOUT Cacti and Mescaline

Q: What species of psychedelic cacti should I grow?

A: First, I don't want to pretend to be a cactus expert because I'm not, but after doing quite a bit of reading it seemed like San Pedro (Echinopsis pachanoi (syn. Trichocereus pachanoi) was the best choice as far as species to grow, it's the optimal combination of fast growing AND containing higher than average mescaline content.  Other species are either very slow growing, endangered, or low potency.

Q: How should I go about growing cacti

A:  While many initially think they should start from seeds, this is probably not a great idea.  I don't want to discourage you from trying, they can be quite fun to start from seed.  But after two years they will be about an inch tall!  It's just so much more efficient to start with a cutting.  You can sometimes find cuttings for as little as $15/each on eBay when you buy a bunch of them at once, they are very easy to grow, just wait until both ends are dry, make sure you figure out which side is up, place the cutting on some cactus mix potting soil or 50/50 perlite and compost mix, and wait for it to put down roots.  Use a stick or rod and string or cable tie to hold the cutting upright and prevent it from falling over.  Once it's growing, they need watering only once every few weeks, and they can grow over a foot a year.  I would suggest starting several of them in case anything goes wrong.  Sometimes they are attacked by insects so you will need to keep an eye on that and make sure they stay healthy.  You can also buy already rooted plants which will help ensure a good start.

Q: How can I test my cacti for alkaloid content?

A: See this fantastic research paper:  Validation and exploratory application of a simple, rapid and economical procedure (MESQ) for the quantification of mescaline in fresh cactus tissue and aqueous cactus extracts

Chromatography Related QUESTIONS

Q: Which method of sample extraction is best?  Magnetic stirring, ultrasonic bath,  ultrasonic probe or microwaves?

A: Something like DMT will rapidly dissolve and homogenize no matter what method you use.  But with plant or fungi, where you are dealing with alkaloids trapped within cell walls, you should really use ultra sonication.  A good ultrasonic bath can get the job done with finely powdered mushrooms in as little as 16 minutes (look for a model with >150Watt power).  Some research has shown the ultrasonic probe method to be as much as 1000 times more efficient than ultrasonic bath so the equivalent results can be obtained in as little as 90 seconds, however the probe sonicators are far more expensive and can only do a single sample at a time vs. a bath that can treat many samples simultaneously. Using microwaves is also an emerging techique that seems to have a LOT of promise and has been increasingly appearing in published research as an excellent option for extractions. MagicMyco has published a method of using microwave assisted extraction for mushroom alkaloids.

Tangential QUESTIONS

Q: What microscope to you recommend?

A: I own this Amscope model: amzn.to/45JavwJ and I think it's good. I've read that their optics are literally made by the same manufacturer, in the same location, as Zeiss optics (top reputation).  You can see the good reviews for yourself. The spore pictures I have posted before came from that scope (using a microscope camera that fits inside the 3rd tube).

Q: Can I make or extract  5-MEO-DMT?
A: First just to clarify, "5-MeO-DMT" is NOT "DMT" in case there was some confusion, so this is a little off-topic but several people have asked about it.  5-MEO-DMT can be synthesized, but more commonly it is collected as an excretion from the  Sonora Desert toad (lots of videos on YouTube showing how it is collected).  I have little interest in 5-MeO-DMT and do not consider it safe to use.  If you vape it, you will lose all control of your body and mind, many will vomit and thrash about, rolling around is common, some scream throughout the experience. Taking even a little too much can be fatal (50mg can be fatal), combining with MAOI can also be fatal.  It is completely unsafe to take alone, always use a sitter if you are going to try it.  Note that even Hamilton Morris has talked about losing a friend to 5-MeO-DMT (who choked to death on his own vomit).  If you insist on using it, watch as many videos as you can find on YouTube to gain some understanding of what to expect, and start with a small test dose (<5mg) to see how your body reacts.  Be extremely cautious and use a sitter.  Some people do not have any visuals (or do not remember anything) from their 5-MeO experience, they just black out but generally feel really good when they regain consciousness (this is what Hamilton reported when he used it).  Avoid sketchy gurus that offer 5-MeO-DMT, there are clowns out there with no common sense putting lives at risk and doing crazy things like pouring water down people's mouths while they are unconscious.

Q: Which is easier, growing mushrooms or extracting DMT?
A: DMT is much easier (and to many, it is also a more interesting compound). Growing mushrooms is fun, but takes a good bit of time, especially if starting from spores, plus equipment and care to maintain clean or sterile conditions.  There are quite a lot of steps, risk of contamination (by undesired mold/fungi) and at the end, you are left with something that is not a pure product (the recent reputable research has been done using pure psilocybin, not mushrooms).  Some have asked if DMT can be converted to psilocybin - in theory it's possible, but not easy or practical for a home chemist.

Q: Would you recommend ibogaine?
A: No, it is one of the more dangerous psychedelic compounds.  "In recent years, alarming reports of life-threatening complications and sudden death cases, temporally associated with the administration of ibogaine, have been accumulating. These adverse reactions were hypothesized to be associated with ibogaine’s propensity to induce cardiac arrhythmias."  Supposedly it is good for treating drug addictions (opioids especially), but I would explore alternatives first.  If your intent is to heal a drug addiction and all other options have failed, then and only then would I consider ibogaine, and I would only go to the most reputable center with trained medical staff and equipment on hand.  Outside of that scenario, I can't think of a reason to use it.  See: Life-threatening complications of ibogaine: Three case reports and The anti-addiction drug ibogaine and the heart: a delicate relation

Q: What do you think of LSD?

A:  I know many people have had incredible, positive experiences with LSD.  But personally I am not a fan of LSD for numerous reasons:

1) I feel that it lasts too long, the longer the duration of a psychedelic, the higher the risk of a negative experience in my opinion, plus its often harder for a person to set aside so much time, and can also be disruptive to sleep, etc.

2) Because such a tiny dose has big effects, it's a bit more dangerous, easy to overdo the dosage, not easy to know what dosage you are actually getting to begin with, this makes it prone to dosing problems.

3) Can't make it yourself very easily, requires a lab and extensive knowledge and precursors that are not easily obtained - again this is a negative because relying on an unknown source can be problematic, do you know its real or is it a research chemical?  Do you know the dosage is accurate, etc. These questions can even come up after you take it, which can cause anxiety and ruin the experience.

4) Not sure it really matters, but many simply prefer "natural" substances (made directly by living organisms, not concocted in a lab).  I can understand the argument - its more difficult to trust a chemical made in some unknown lab by an unknown person containing unknown ingredients that may be contaminated by hazardous byproducts and impurities.  Some will argue that LSD is naturally occurring because it comes from ergot (fungi) but this is not exactly true, it is not directly produced by ergot, that's just a precursor.  You need extensive knowledge and a room full of lab equipment to make LSD (listen to this interview with the most prolific producer of LSD who ever lived).

5) HPPD (Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder) while very uncommon, is a legit concern.  This disorder is usually associated with LSD and not other psychedelics (although there are some rare reports of it being linked to other psychedelics). HPPD is also associated with MDMA, which is another drug I am not a fan of (for some of the same reasons but also it is habit forming and possibly neurotoxic).

Q: What does TEK mean?

A: That's actually a question that most people don't know the answer to.  Many think it means "technique" but if that were actually true, it would be spelled "tec" and wouldn't be all caps (which is traditionally how the word always used to be written although that has changed over time).  The word came out of BBS culture in the 1980's and it was originally considered an acronym from Time & Experience = Knowledge and could be applied to any guide created by someone who put in the time to work on something, figured out how to do something and documented it online for others (who could then follow the guide and try to reproduce the results).  This was in contrast to knowledge passed down in schools or textbooks for example.  A TEK is a different type of knowledge born out of personal experimentation and possibly online based research.  Note that Wikipedia and Wiktionary do not have an entry for "TEK" (as of 2020), and urban dictionary has one, but its definition is not correct as of 2020 anyway but does represent what the majority of people today think TEK means, haha.  I tried to submit the proper definition and it was rejected.

Q: What do you think of THC/CBD (cannabis products)?

A: I think these products have some potential for medicinal use but the scientific literature shows a mixed picture.  There seems to be considerable evidence for the neurotoxicity of THC but the evidence is not definitive, notably there is evidence that CBD is neuroprotective.  Also note that cannabis contains hundreds of cannabinoids that we don't know that much about yet.  One of these is delta 8 THC which is arguably federally legal now in the US even though most people have never heard of this (if derived from hemp, according to the 2018 Farm Bill).  Delta 8 THC is about 1/3 to 1/2 as potent as the more common THC that is still illegal federally in the US.  As far as recreational use goes, these products may be less toxic than alcohol and can be taken orally which may be preferred over inhaled (which could harm your lungs with frequent use).  I would advise caution.  Personally I mostly avoid both alcohol and cannabis except for on rare occasions.

I reviewed the published scientific literature, there is almost certainly more negatives around cannabis than positives.  Some argue that it's just bad for the developing brain (kids should avoid) but OK for adults, but that isn't all that convincing either.  I'm not opposed to enjoying cannabis or delta-8 every now and then just like I'm not opposed to someone having a beer or hard seltzer every now and then (alcohol is probably worse for you than cannabis and is also neurotoxic).  I don't think alcohol or cannabis should be consumed daily or even every week though.  This report has links to many studies: https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/what-are-marijuanas-long-term-effects-brain

"Chronic THC exposure may hasten age-related loss of hippocampal neurons. In one study, rats exposed to THC every day for 8 months (approximately 30 percent of their life-span) showed a level of nerve cell loss (at 11 to 12 months of age) that equaled that of unexposed animals twice their age."   Besides possible brain damage, there may be some links to cancer as well.

Attention Kids: Smoking Pot Actually DOES Make You Stupid

Q: Are psychedelics neurotoxic? What are the long term effects on the body and mind?

A: I don't know of any evidence that commonly used mushrooms, dmt, or lsd are neurotoxic.  There are plenty of anecdotes (including some published research) suggesting that shamans who ritually use ayahuasca or psychedelic mushrooms on a routine basis seem to be associated with long life and excellent brain health.  For example Maria Sabina has been described as ritually using psychedelic (P. mexicana) mushrooms 3 times a week for much of her adult life.  She lived until age 91, which is especially impressive considering she was born in the 1800's.  Also check out Personality, Psychopathology, Life Attitudes and Neuropsychological Performance among Ritual Users of Ayahuasca: A Longitudinal Study where they found "no evidence of psychological maladjustment, mental health deterioration or cognitive impairment in the ayahuasca-using group" (they actually found that the ritual frequent users of ayahuasca had better mental health).

Note that ayahuasca always contains harmalas, and harmine especially has well established neuroprotective properties (i.e. good for the brain), see:

Effects of the Natural β-Carboline Alkaloid Harmine, a Main Constituent of Ayahuasca, in Memory and in the Hippocampus: A Systematic Literature Review of Preclinical Studies

However DMT taken alone may not have similar benefits, I am not aware of ANY published research on the long term health effects of repeated use of DMT without harmalas.

It is likely that some compounds will be more beneficial or harmful than others.  Many people don't even consider them psychedelics, but cannabis/THC and MDMA have pretty clear scientific evidence for neurotoxicity for example (there are some study references cited in this article about cannabis and for MDMA see Neurotoxicity of methylenedioxyamphetamines (MDMA; ecstasy) in humans: how strong is the evidence for persistent brain damage?  (also see "Does recreational ecstasy use cause long-term cognitive problems?") .

Of the classic hallucinogens, one concern from long term repeated use is heart valve damage, but the evidence for this is not very strong (other drugs associated with 5ht2b agonism like many psychedelics are, have been known to cause heart valve damage after long term continuous use).  If you are interested in reading more about the heart valve issue there is a nice article here with lots of references cited.  A less technical discussion is here: https://thethirdwave.co/psychedelics-heart-risk/ and https://thethirdwave.co/dangers-risks-microdosing/

More technical discussion here:  https://www.reddit.com/r/DrugNerds/comments/2mqqww/psilocin_and_5ht2b_agonism_induced_cardiotoxicity/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=comment_list

Q: How often can I take psychedelics?

A: This is a hard question to answer.  I personally view psychedelics as sort of like a good vacation... you can't go on a vacation every week, you'd go broke and you might even get bored or tired of it, but once every 6 to 12 months, it restores your mind, a "reset", it can rekindle your enthusiasm and cause you to have all sorts of new ideas, to set new goals, or to just relax and rejuvenate.  For most people, using psychedelics once or twice a year seems about right.  That said, I know there are some people out there that use them more frequently, and for differing reasons, and some people are less profoundly affected by them, so there is no one size fits all recommendation.  If you are using psychedelics frequently however, and notice any sort of mental health decline, confusion, unclear thinking, mania, depression, employment problems, etc. this is a huge red flag signaling abuse territory - you need to stop.  Psychedelics should be beneficial, not harmful, you will not benefit from an abusive relationship.

Q: What do you think of kratom, MDMA, and alcohol?

A: I'm pretty cautious about anything shown in reputable research to be toxic to humans, especially neurotoxicity, and anything considered "habit forming".  I've read some positive things about kratom, some people say it helps with pain management, but I've also read a lot of negative things as well, there is a summary of many of the negatives here.  Many people have also claimed that kratom blunts the effects of psychedelics, it builds a tolerance quickly, and seems to be addictive for some people.

MDMA is similar in some ways.  One thing to note with MDMA is that many people have an amazing & wonderful experience the first time they use it, and from then on they are always trying to chase that and are never able to reproduce such a positive experience again.  There also seem to be some concerns about MDMA neurotoxicity (also see "Does recreational ecstasy use cause long-term cognitive problems?") .  That said I know MAPS has made a lot of progress in using MDMA as medicine, in particular for treating PTSD.

As for alcohol, I understand it is probably the most widely used and socially accepted recreational drug, and there is probably nothing wrong with its occasional use, but alcohol can also be toxic to humans, neurotoxic, cause liver damage, it can be very addictive for certain people, etc.  My personal guideline is that if any substance causes you to "feel like crap" the next day, its probably not a good idea to continue using it.  Contrast that with most psychedelics for example, where people generally feel AMAZING the next day and usually have no regrets (don't get me wrong, psychedelics can be abused too, and overused, but it isn't very common).

Q: Can I use psychedelics to treat pain?

A: It seems a number of clinical trials are underway, and there isn't a large or robust set of data to draw conclusions from yet, mostly just limited preliminary studies and anecdotes but for sure there is a lot of potential.  See:  pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36066961 (nerve pain) pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34922987
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37540398 (migraines)
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35718005 (headache and chronic pain)
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35001856 (fibromyalgia)  
"an evidence-based overview of the use of psychedelics in chronic pain, specifically LSD and psilocybin." pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36597700

It should also be noted that opioids and other pain meds are known to blunt or block psychedelics in some people (but not everyone oddly enough).  I generally recommend, if at all possible, to wean off of pain meds with the guidance from your doctor.  I also highly recommend seeking alternative non-drug treatments for chronic pain.

Q: What do you think about [insert your favorite magical belief about psychedelics]?

A: I happily listen to and consider all viewpoints on psychedelics but I have a much more evidence based and skeptical viewpoint compared to the majority in the psychedelic community.  All sorts of "magic powers" have been attributed to psychedelics and those that use them over the years, and my feeling is that it's nonsense.  I feel like the psychedelic experience is an internal experience, everything happening within one's own mind. The human mind is very powerful and capable of producing profound mystical experiences when stimulated in the right ways. When you really think about it, the very act of dreaming is pretty "magical" and it happens every night, you can interact with loved ones (living or dead), you can travel anywhere, you can fly, teleport, explore new worlds, etc.

Our brains can make astonishingly realistic simulated worlds, it's even more amazing when "lucid" (gaining consciousness while dreaming, allowing you to manipulate the dream world and navigate it at will) - all of this happens without any external drugs.

I would love to see some rigorous scientific studies on people who heal or find cures using psychedelics, if this is an actual property of psychedelic compounds it would be a Nobel prize level discovery.  My guess is the results will be about the same as for a "medicine man" who does NOT use psychedelics, and both will likely have worse outcomes than a trained medical doctor using modern standards of diagnosis, treatment, and care.  It is likely however that a modern trained medical doctor would be LESS effective at treating mental or mood disorders, something docs today are pretty terrible at dealing with.

While I do believe you can bring back valuable personal insights and inspirations from a psychedelic experience, and you can have a broad range of benefits following the experience including inspiration that leads to making new discoveries or problem solving... I do not believe there is some external source of knowledge that you can tap into in the psychedelic states.  People's preconceptions and beliefs are very often manifested in their psychedelic experiences.  Christians for example often see Jesus, Buddhists see Buddha, Hindus often see Vishnu or Durga.  These are known as archetypal visions.  Psychedelics can also enhance creative divergent thinking while decreasing conventional convergent thinking. One famous example offered as evidence is that psychedelics can magically reveal important new external information is the tale of Francis Crick supposedly discovering the DNA double helix while on LSD.  There are however many problems with this story, Watson & Crick published their findings about the DNA structure in 1953, Crick was not introduced to LSD until 1967.  Even if LSD had somehow played a role (which it didn't) it wouldn't have been any different had the DNA double helix appeared in a dream, these ideas were already in their minds after seeing various evidence including Rosalind Franklin's crystallographic evidence of the structure of DNA.  For every story about psychedelics supposedly helping someone with problem solving or other work there seem to be countless cautionary tales from others.  I remember stumbling upon several reddit threads about mathematicians experimenting with psychedelics to see if they would be helpful and the consensus view is that they are not very helpful when it comes to problem solving or coming up with great new ideas, but they can help a person better appreciate things they already understand.

Q: Are you a shaman? What do you think of shaman?

A: Not only do I NOT consider myself a shaman, I am skeptical about anyone who calls themselves a shaman 😂 Even the so called "authentic" native South American shaman seem to be mostly just plain old facilitators in the best case, and sometimes unethical charlatans in the worst case.  If you've never seen Hamilton Morris' episode where he becomes the shaman's apprentice, you should check it out, I thought it was hilarious but I don't think his intent was to be disrespectful.

The history of shaman is fascinating and misunderstood by many in the psychedelic community. It's not the same of course in every country or tribe. But in general, the shaman used to be the local doctor, he or she mixed supernatural/spiritual beliefs with (non-psychedelic) plant medicine, they would treat common ailments with legit plant based medicines using knowledge that was passed down through the ages.  Even something like the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) which by the way, doesn't contain any DMT and is not really known as being "visual" was used as medicine, it can cause vomiting which helps clear the body of parasites helping the digestive tract. Again only a general statement, but in most cases psychedelics were not traditionally given to common people, the shaman himself or herself would take them, and sometimes this was supposedly used as some supernatural way to diagnose a patient (figure out what's wrong with them). But for most people in modern times we have well educated and trained doctors that use the scientific method and modern medicine to treat physical ailments (although natural medicine is still absolutely legit and effective as well in many cases).

Using psychedelics to diagnose a patient is ridiculous to be blunt, and in modern society would also lead to endless lawsuits. If people want to believe in magical properties of psychedelics, they can go ahead, but in the very least, we should be able to put these ideas to the test in a controlled study - can a shaman using psychedelics diagnose a sick person better than a bonafide medical doctor?  No one will do this study because anyone publishing research knows it would be a waste of time, there used to be a $1,000,000 prize for anyone that could demonstrate any supernatural power (many tried, no one could do it).  Some shaman ascribe other magical powers to psychedelics like using them to find a lost child, again, people love to believe in magic, but these are things we could easily put to the test if we wanted to 😂 some shaman believe they can fly or remotely attack, all kinds of crazy nonsense.

So that leads us to modern times, where the shaman is in an awkward position, to remain culturally relevant, at some point they started giving other people psychedelics and it grew into a tourist industry. For many in the psychedelic community,  Maria Sabina comes to mind as a "good shaman", but did you know that she angered her own people, they did not like that a sacred ritual was degenerating into a tourist attraction and the Indigenous people eventually expelled Maria Sabina from their community and burned down her house!  

I'm not saying psychedelic tourism is necessarily a bad thing, but there are many problems with this in practice.  Tourists want to believe in gurus in the jungle with magical powers that will help them navigate the psychedelic experience but this is mostly just hype/legend/nonsense. Ayahuasca retreats also often give people ayahuasca 3 or 4 times during an extended visit or give people multiple different psychedelics on different days - personally I think this is ridiculous, the experience can take months for integration. After a deep and profound full psychedelic experience I usually don't want to touch psychedelics again for months, certainly not doing it again the next night! This is a recipe for psychosis in certain people. And when problems arise, things can go south fast, especially when no one at the location has proper medical training. Several tourists have died at psychedelic retreats, in one case the shaman buried the body in the jungle because he didn't want to get in trouble! There was a case of one tourist killing another tourist while both were on ayahuasca and another case where a tourist killed the shaman and was later lynched by the locals (source). Some facilities do a poor job of screening participants and they do not know how to help people with mental health problems or drug induced psychosis.

Shaman sometimes mix tobacco in with their ayahuasca brews which can be dangerous or even fatal. They sometimes mix other even more dangerous substances into their brews (scopolamine/burandanga/datura). One shaman's practice of adding scopolamine to his ayahuasca brew ended up killing a British teen whose body ended up being dumped on the side of a road. Sexual abuse is another serious concern. The "industry" has many problems but certain places do a good job (always check reviews from independent sites). The focus should be on set and setting and intent followed by integration. The retreats are often the perfect place for people to clear their minds, be immersed in nature, and experience extraordinary "setting" so in concept they are great, if the people running them would only focus on being the best possible facilitators they could be, help people to have the optimal "mindset" and provide all that is useful for positive experiences it would be amazing. They also need to do a better job of screening participants and exclude more people who are not good candidates. While training as a "shaman" may have some value, training as a psychedelic facilitator is even more important.  Training in ethics and basic first aid is also a good idea.

First published: Nov 18, 2018