DMT – (otherwise known as – Divine Moments of Truth)

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine or DMT is a psychedelic compound, what you might think of as an analogue of serotonin and melatonin, a couple of our brain's essential chemicals.

These days, DMT in it's most infamous form would be in the Amazonian brew called Ayahuasca which is used in Shamanic ritual.

There has been quite a bit written about DMT in the past decade or so, most notably in Rick Strassman's book DMT: The Spirit Molecule; subtitled - A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences. So this doctor discovers DMT and experiments on I think maybe one hundred different people and recounts their experiences and the similarities. For instance, most of the folks involved in the experiment said they experienced what felt like death. Most of them met up with some kind of other being, whether they described that being as angel or alien, spirit or other-dimensional being. It's pretty interesting stuff. But the simple truth is – I don't think anyone truly understands what DMT is or how it works or why it even exists.

I'll skip the supposed science and just relate my own experience.

I've always been an explorer of the more spiritual realms, ever since I was a kitten. Also, I have to

admit, I'm partial to psychedelics, having weaned myself into adulthood on LSD. So when I met this guy in India a decade or so ago and we started discussing such matters and he mentioned DMT, he was surprised I'd never heard of it and told me in no uncertain terms that I should definitely try it.

It took me a whole year before I managed to track some down and by then I had investigated it some. I discovered that it was the active ingredient of Ayhuasca and that those Indians had to mix the DMT with some form of Beta-blocker to stop the body from digesting it too fast, because – the theory is – the body already contains DMT and releases it at birth and at death. Any other time it enters the system, the body promptly casts it out. So this active component which brings on the psychedelic visions and such was synthesized by some Canadian dude way back in the thirties so now we can smoke the pure component straight through a crack pipe and have the full wallop.

This is exactly what I did.

I took one huge inhalation and before I'd even blown that out I could feel this almighty buzz building in the occipital cavity of my skull. I managed to take in one more toke before that buzz built to fill the whole room and the vibrations became visual in nature and the whole room broke apart into fractals and that intense buzz carried me right out of my body.

“Oh shit,” I thought as I lifted off, “I think I may have made a terrible mistake.”

The first thing I felt was Hell closing in on all sides, claustrophobic and infinite. As the demon frequency of reality was permeating my field I suddenly remembered that I had dealt with such things before on LSD and that the lesson was not to fight or fear the demons.

“Fuck it, “ I thought sagely, “Just let go.”

And sure enough the demons receded and I was hurled on into the fractal void. Next my whole consciousness started to fracture and break apart. I literally felt logic dissolving to nothing; the solid ground my mind has always stood firmly upon was turning to mush, my own attention splintering into pieces and parts. I started to panic, fear blooming in me, intimations of insanity lurking on the periphery. And then I remembered that I'd gone through similar ordeals, again, on LSD as a young man and just the remembering of it was enough to bring all those pieces back into one coherent whole again.

That was it for the terror. After that it was just an express train ride through infinity with some blue and slightly feminine being guiding me along the way. Insights abounded. I had so many 'lightbulb-flashing-overhead moments you wouldn't believe it.

I honestly couldn't tell you how long this trip lasted. It felt like days. In intensity of feeling and visuals and insights I would say it was like the peak of LSD times about one hundred. It is not a drug for the feint-hearted. It is not a drug for leisure. Not a drug you might want to take at a party say. But as intense as it was, when I was finally plopped back into my body, lying there on the bed, I felt absolutely normal. I looked at the clock and saw that only fifteen minutes or so had passed. I sat up and tested my limbs. I cast a glance back in my mind and realized I had full and total recall of my adventure. But there was none of that long, torturous come down of LSD, slowly re-integrating myself back into reality. I was right as rain. Perfectly balanced. And I felt somehow clean. And utterly humbled by my experience.

As with all other drugs, this is not the answer.

It is a powerful tool that ought to be treated with the utmost respect. In my opinion, one should come to it as one might a wise, venerable teacher, on your knees.