aka "seeking health and enlightenment through plants and drugs: the thread"


i'm sure i've mentioned already; after a long string of health issues and a few revelations on which direction i want to be going in with my life, i am now studying traditional chinese medicine. primarily to be capable of looking after myself, but i also like the idea of being able to help others regain some amount of balance in their lives and/or health.

before i decided to study chinese medicine, i had been pursuing self exploratory journeys with psychedelics (mainly mushrooms, more recently dmt, acid on a few occasions) for quite some time. i'm thoroughly convinced that the full-blown psychedelic trip is deeply related to the experience of spiritual enlightenment, and that psychedelics can be used to prepare for the deeper journey into the self (i could talk about this for hours but i'll restrain myself). anyway, i hadn't made any connection between this and my choice to study TCM when i enrolled, but the two ended up to be surprisingly compatible.

along with the decision to study TCM came sudden (and surprising) interest in growing plants. initially, my idea was to simply start a garden of herbs such that i can simply treat my own problems with a trip to the back yard, rather than forking out money for a shitty half-baked medical assessment and some synthetic drugs that tend to do jack shit. a trip to the farmacy instead of the pharmacy, if you will.

after starting to do some personal research on medicinal plants, it didn't take me long to stumble upon and realize the number of powerful psychoactive plants that are (fairly easily) available also.

"there are lots of psychoactive plants" is by no means new information for anyone... but i hadn't ever really thought about it in much detail before, because the opportunity to grow things without anybody questioning why i suddenly became interested in gardening hadn't really ever arisen.

so it's by sheer coincidence that my sudden interest in chinese medicine has led me to the perfect excuse to grow a whole variety of psychoactive powerful plants. not only that, but the two angles i'm approaching gardening from are blending seamlessly into what i feel is a path towards an expertise in the shamanistic use of both medicinal herbs, and psychedelics, for self-cultivation. except, with more science and pharmacology, and without a defined belief system or any of that nonsense.

and, obviously, this has recreational benefits... but these are becoming less important to me.

i've started acquiring seeds and cuttings of various plants i want to grow for these purposes (as well as the chinese medicine herb garden i'm working on). some examples of things i've either gotten a hold of, or have on the way in the mail are:
- the caapi vine (strong monoamine oxidase inhibitor/MAOI - that means it potentiates psychedelics hardcore - used to make DMT orally active in ayahuasca)
- calea zacatechichi and silene capensis (both dream potentiators... they do nothing while you're awake, but give you vivid and lucid dreams when you sleep. very interesting)
- p. viridis (source of DMT)
- Hawaiian baby woodrose (the seeds contain LSA; a slightly less potent but still formidable precursor to LSD)
- "lion's tail" or "wild dagga" (vasodilator, potentiates marijuana and others)
- blue lotus flower (sedating, relaxing)
- syrian rue (seeds are a strong MAOI)

some other things i will end up getting at some point but haven't found yet:
- salvia d (australia makes this a pain in the ass to get a hold of)
- iboga (this stuff is a legendary-tier psychedelic, causing trips that are known for being capable of causing introspection such that it'll break even the most severe addictions - incl. shit like heroin)
- milk thistle (this will save someone's liver while we wait for the ambulance, in case of mushroom poisoning. crazy)

you can probably tell, i'm very eager at the moment. i'm going to start experimenting with smoking blends, changa mixes, tinctures, potions and the like. for example, i've got a solid recipe for literally an "anti-freak out potion", including a variety of gentle sedatives, relaxants and anti-stress herbs. also, the psychological value of giving someone who's tripping balls "a potion that will make cure your bad trip" would be significantly effective also (if anyone wants a recipe for this, i can post it). my dad is a chemist, so i've even got a set of glassware to use for distilling and purifying such concoctions.

so yeah, i thought i'd share... if anybody wants some advice on natural drugs i'm really starting to learn this shit seriously, including the pharmacology of it. likewise, i'm getting serious about chinese medicine too, but i don't know if i can do meaningful diagnoses over the internet.


TL;DR: i've found my calling in life and it involves growing a garden of chinese medicine and psychoactive plants to help myself and others seek enlightenment and prosperous health. so i'm basically a witch doctor now

Alright! Glad you found your calling dude. Just...wear pants.

Bro, got anything for persistent upper back pain not caused by strain? I woke up one day with it, and I've had it for weeks now.

i tend to think of this guy:


because my muscles are degenerating and i'm getting shakey also, haha.


[edit] ninja'd

Quote from stone

Bro, got anything for persistent upper back pain not caused by strain? I woke up one day with it, and I've had it for weeks now.

let me guess... radiating kind of from the shoulder/neck, between your shoulder blades and spine, and just under your shoulder blades also? you'd be surprised how many people ask me about that... i had/have it, and all my friends seem to have it also. you tend to block it out and one day you realize "holy shit, i'm in pain!" (note: that happened to me while i was tripping. it sucked.)

it's from computer usage. keep an eye on your posture; note how when you're sitting at a computer your shoulders tend to raise up to compensate for desk height. try to get more sunlight and exercise too; specifically, try to give the sore muscles a bit of a work out... pull-ups are good, for one. be sure to do stretches afterwards, you need to regain your mobility as well as strengthen the muscles.

Stones avatar. Glowlith after spending a night with Scarecrow.

Quote from stone

Bro, got anything for persistent upper back pain not caused by strain? I woke up one day with it, and I've had it for weeks now.

Massage therapy. You have a woman, get her to do it!

Scarecrow, you are such a Junkie. Best of luck to you, sir. This sounds wicked cool.

Just say away from the jimson weed, man.

All complicated and strange foreign herbs aside I'm pretty sure just normal weed is the cure to everything.
Except for cancer.
Oh and shitty work ethic. Or speed.

Weed is the devil's grass!

Have you been taught about anything on memory...? I try the stuff you get at the store (can't remember the name...) but it doesn't seem to work after a while and I eventually forget to keep taking it... ><

Quote from Exilement

Just say away from the jimson weed, man.

good old datura

yeah tropane alkaloids are scary. people keep saying brugmansia is fairly safe to smoke occasionally as an admixture for some weird DMT trips (i understand it's the scopolamine that likely has this effect... but that isn't very reassuring), but i dunno if i'm convinced/prepared to play with my life (yet).

Quote from ChamelNeon

Have you been taught about anything on memory...? I try the stuff you get at the store (can't remember the name...) but it doesn't seem to work after a while and I eventually forget to keep taking it... ><

ginseng, gotu kola, and ginko biloba are three herbs known to improve brain and memory function. good for your immunity, too.

if you get a hold of some of these as dried herbs, try boiling a teaspoon of each or so together into a tea