Windy and I kept trying different experiments in the telepathy department--both with and without entheogenic assistance. It didn't take long for me to see that she was extraordinarily intuitive--like nothing I'd seen, or have seen since. She would very frequently look at me whenever we were hanging out, and suddenly start talking about the exact thing that was on my mind. It was uncanny sometimes.
One late summer afternoon in 1987, we decided to do a half-hit of acid each and go somewhere to talk or walk around outside that evening. As was our ritual in those days, we drove to some fast food place - in this case, McDonald's - and ate a good sized meal, since we knew we wouldn't be hungry again for about 10 hours.
We sat in the parking lot smoking Marlboro Lights (we thought cigarettes were expensive back then at $1.25 a pack) and joking around. The sun was still fairly far up in the sky, I'm guessing about 5:00 pm. After about a half hour of this foolishness, Windy took out the cellophane wrapper with the blotter in it. I looked around very conspicuously--I'm not good at being sneaky. I reached into the glove compartment and took out a razor blade. On a piece of magazine paper I put the hit down and carefully clipped it in half, running diagonally down from corner to corner. I can't remember what kind it was. Probably "Global" blotter.
Each of us licked our finger and gently touched it to one half. There was always a strange taste when I put blotter in my mouth, like a numbing. But I grew to realize that this was a figment of my imagination; a psychological aspect to wanting to sense what I was imbibing. But LSD is tasteless, odorless, and so powerful a dose-ratio that it would be impossible to actually "taste" it even if it DID have a flavor (a standard hit at the time was about 200 micrograms - called "gamma" - or written as "mg," "mcg" or "ug," and is only 200 millionths of a gram, or 200 thousandths of a milligram, the official term for this is "teensy weensy"). See this comparison...
And Windy agreed that there was something to the myth about an LSD taste. At the time there were all kinds of urban myths about LSD. All untrue:
(1) LSD causes chromosomal damage? Not true. A 1967 studies initially seemed to show this, but by 1972, Dishotsky showed conclusively that the previous study was flawed. His new study showed no lasting changes to chromosomes when exposed to LSD (download a pdf of his study here). Unfortunately the government adopted the flawed 1967 data and placed it into propaganda-overdrive; completely ignoring the final findings of the non-effect on chromosomes. To this day, many people still use chromosomal damage as an argument against the safety of LSD.
(2) LSD is "cut" with strychnine? Not true. This was more propaganda stemming out of one lone report in 1971. But as Alexander (Sasha) Shulgin states...
And at Erowid...The observation of strychnine as being present in any street drug, as a by-product, or a contaminant, or an impurity has never been documented. It is a natural plant product, as are the ergots which are used in the synthesis of LSD. But they come from totally unrelated plants; there has never been a report of strychnine and an ergot alkaloid co-existing in a single species. So if the two materials are together in a drug sample, it could only be by the hand of man. I have personally looked a large number of illicit street offerings and have never detected the presence of strychnine. The few times that I have indeed found it present, have been in legal exhibits where it usually occurred in admixture with brucine (also from the plant Strychnos nux-vomica) in criminal cases involving attempted or successful poisoning.
The same argument applies to the myth that occasionally surfaces, that strychnine occurs in the white tufts of peyote. This is equally fraudulent -- it has never been reported in that cactus or any other cactus.
(3) LSD stays in your body forever? Not true. Erowid.Strychnine is not the cause of tracers, cramps, nausea, or amphetamine-like LSD-effects. Its possible that poorly synthesized LSD might have other ergot derivatives in it, which might contribute to the harsh body load that some get on taking LSD. Also, the very close chemical relatives 1-Methyl-LSD and 1-Acetyl-LSD (which break down into LSD in aqueous solution) might be present in some street samples and might contribute to the harsh body load. (Petter Stafford has claimed in his _Psychedelics Encyclopedia_ that 1-Acetyl-LSD is supposedly "smoother" than d-LSD -- thus "strychnine laced acid" may acutally be pure d-LSD, while "pure lsd" may be 1-Acetyl-LSD or some substitute). And the chemicals iso-LSD and lumi-LSD which are breakdown products of LSD might contribute to the body loading on some trips, particularly via a hypothetical synergistic effect. Given this plethora of possible chemicals in street "LSD", its not needed to look to a chemical which has hardly ever been found in analyzed samples to explain variations in the strength and "cleanliness" of street acid.Its also possible that LSD itself simply causes adverse physical effects, particularly muscle cramping, in persons suceptible to it. The reported side effects of LSD (the nausea and apparent CNS stimulant effects) are commonly reported side effects of seritonergic drugs such as fluoxetine (Prozac) and buspirone (Buspar), and also are commonly reported (and typically more severe) with other psychedelics like Mescaline.Or its quite likely that the "strychnine" reactions to LSD are entirely psychosomatic. Both Leary ("The Psychedelic Experience") and Lilly ("Programming and Metaprogramming...", "Center of the Cyclone") have each observed this reaction in people who cannot handle the surge of emotion associated with a trip.
(4) LSD is made into tattoos and given to schoolchildren to get them "hooked on drugs." Not true. Erowid "The Blue Star Tattoo Myth."
(5) LSD taken n number of times makes you "legally insane." Not true. This is an interesting one to read at Erowid "Legally Insane Myth."
But in the mid-1980's none of this was known by the recreational public. There was no Internet, libraries were stocked with only propaganda-laced materials and studies were not practical to be funded. Having an interest in psychedelic issues was a professional death blow to university researchers. This situation has loosened up considerably, and new studies are already being done. There is still a great gulf of misinformation to be replaced.
The air was clear and not muggy at all. The temperature was about 75 degrees. With the yellow sun turning more orange, we headed out of the parking lot and decided to drive out to Pownal, one of our favorite places, Runaround Pond...
Parking place of the First Communion, Runaround Pond, Pownal, Maine.
I reached out and held her hand. She smiled in that disarming way of hers. We began to discuss the upcoming school year again and that brought in a bit of anxiety. I hopped in the back seat and crossed my legs over the front seat, just to relax a bit. We chain smoked butts as we argued a little bit about what it would be like for us with me away at college and playing on the weekends, while she was stuck at Freeport High School. For a while we went back and forth about it. Then we realized we needed to give it a rest. We were coming up fast now into the trip.
I suggested we walk a while outside. No one was around and we could go check out the water. She agreed, and we got out of the car. Suddenly, all the plants around us were glowing and flowing as one colorfully-smeared finger painting. It images were dynamic and ever changing. There was a spirit penetrating the moment. We made our way down to the pond and I skipped a few stone while Windy looked for frogs. The mood got better between us as we played around. Ducks waddled in and out of the water, shaking their rear ends as they planted themselves - looking like small tree trunks - along the shore.
We felt a kind of anticipation that had both positive and negative aspects. What I think now is that we were experiencing what Terence McKenna called a coincientia oppositorum (a union of opposites). It was an optimistic foreboding. After some time we ventured back to the car and sat in the front seat together. She told me that she wasn't worried about next year. She said that she knew it would all work out; that we were meant to be together. We both nodded and smiled at each other. This was a given, even the people who were our friends told us this over and over again. We seemed to have been destined to be together.
A "trip" with another person is really just an exotic ride on the shared train-of-thought. And those conceptual "boxcars" can get moving pretty fast.
The conversation turned to nature. We observed how everything works as one well-oiled machine. But we agreed that human creations always seem a little bit "unnatural." Philosophically, this is not necessarily true. Anything that can exist in nature is to be deemed "natural," even tacky human inventions. But they seemed primitive compared to the majesty of the natural world.
We agreed that there must be a Designer for this vast and highly complex set of physical and life-endowed, structure called, "material reality." Windy had just recently changed her view that were was no Creator, and was really getting into the concepts of the Unknown Book (let's call it the "UB" for short). We both liked how it discouraged the idea that any one organized religion is the TRUE religion, and that humans should be free to pick and choose what works for their own individual world views. The conversation became more and more interesting as we worked out things that neither of us had thought through before.
One of us would ask a question. Then the other one would ask another question which - in the asking - implied an answer to the last question. In this way neither of us was in "control" of the discussion. We felt like their was no leader; a real partnership. Any "leading" seemed to come out of us collectively, from the inside. I knew the UB better than she did and I would frequently insert what it had to say on matters. And she was very interested, asking further questions about the book and its information.
As we spoke we noticed that outside sounds were disappearing and a kind of tunnel vision locked our consciousnesses together. This was very exciting as it seemed to verify our theory that acid could facilitate telepathy. Now there was simply no question.
We used the opportunity to explore the link between our minds, running from subject to subject. When two or more people think very intimately about things together, more work is being done than the sum of the number of people might suggest. Mathematically, one person and another person equals two people. But psychically (via mind cooperation) it is more like the potential power of four minds. In this way, the impact of the "potential mind power" discovery upon a group of two or more individuals might be expressed as...
Potential Mind Power of a Group of Individuals = Number of People Participating, squared
And further, there seems to be a formula that roughly describes the "actual mind power" of the group, which is a lessened state, influenced by various distractions characteristic of the attention or awareness of each individual involved...
Actual Mind Power of a Group of Individuals = Potential Mind Power of a Group of Individuals, minus S [Individual's Distractions, or ID1 + ID2 + ID3 ... |ID|]
So, the closer we got to a conscious cooperation, the more efficient we became at finding intuitive answers to our questions. Always did she get the first flash of insight, and then I would be the one to organize it into the scaffolding of concepts we had already tackled. It was a kind of psychic team work that I now know is available to any human group of people--especially couples.
But to us, it was spellbindingly novel. And the feelings we were having began to come into sync as the information valves were opened with exponentially growing ease. The trip stopped being all-colorful and hypnogogic (minor hallucinations, like pressing on your closed eyelids might produce), and began to take on the grandeur of a spiritual experience. Time went from barely passing by, to flying by. Yet, still, we were able to condense major topics into shorter and shorter moments. It was like a cosmic download of information directly from within our own minds.
But to us, it was spellbindingly novel. And the feelings we were having began to come into sync as the information valves were opened with exponentially growing ease. The trip stopped being all-colorful and hypnogogic (minor hallucinations, like pressing on your closed eyelids might produce), and began to take on the grandeur of a spiritual experience. Time went from barely passing by, to flying by. Yet, still, we were able to condense major topics into shorter and shorter moments. It was like a cosmic download of information directly from within our own minds.
Before long the sun was well below the horizon and the stars began to appear, veiled as if behind a curtain. The moon was full, yellow and just poking up above the eastern treeline. It rose in the sky as we seemed to be approaching light speed. And its cool lunar shine poured into the front seat, illuminating both of us. This was a strange feeling too. It was the addition of this light that kicked the experience up to a new level.
We noted that we were beginning to see only each other's eyes. Our faces were otherwise blending into the white light behind the material world. That matter is a shadow of spirit was never more apparent to me. As if by some kind of law of communicative crescendo, we realized that we were now only saying one or two words, like "So..." and "And..." and every now and then, "Amazing." The rest of the conversation was going on inside our minds. I literally heard her voice in my head, and she heard mine. To say we were ecstatic is to be cheapening the experience. We had somehow (temporarily) evolved as ONE person, to this new level of understanding. It was nothing like a "trip" anymore. It had become a full-length and profound spiritual revelation.
As we passed the peak of our LSD curve, we started using more verbal words again. We had reached the summit of what was possible at that time and in that state of mind. We were simply blended together with a common smile between us. And we admitted to each other that NOTHING could scare us now. We had glimpsed the "other side" and fully felt the impact of its presence. We were cool and fresh feeling--like having the circulation return to a limb that had fallen asleep.
Then... a strange expression came over Windy's countenance... Her smile began to droop slightly. And ice water ran down my spine. She pulled her gaze away from me looked outside the window for a moment and asked, "But what about...the devil?" I became aware that something from the outside world has caused her to hesitate.
"Well, according to the UB, there IS a devil but he has no power over people if they sincerely don't won't to be in contact with him. It is a simple act of asking for celestial protection. Only those who WISH to be in contact with the evil one can be bothered by him. Anyway, that's what the book says."
I felt like we were suddenly not alone anymore...
We both clammed up and looked around outside at the moonlit landscape. The sounds of the night world trickled back into our awareness. She shivered a bit, and it caused me to shiver too. "I'm not sure I want to stay here anymore," she said at a whisper's volume."
"Yeah, I know what you mean..."
With some light distress, not quite at the level of panic in her gaze, she peered deeply into my eyes again. "I feel like he's here..."
I could not convince myself that it wasn't true. So I didn't even try to convince her. Her instincts for picking up vibes seemed more in tune than mine. The air was heavy and gelling around us, in heavy gobs of uncertainty. "OK, it's time to go I think." I said with some definite, but thin authority in my voice.
I reached up and turned the key. A flash went off in front of us.
"Did you just turn the lights on and off again?"
"No," I said.
"I want to go...NOW." Windy was quickly putting on her seat belt.
After securing my own shoulder strap, I turned on the headlights, and for a moment there seemed to be a semi-transparent form that faded--a man. Windy did not see it, and I decided not to mention it. I just threw the car into reverse, and quickly pulled out of the parking space. I backed up into the darkness of the dirt road behind usar, and then turned the wheel and shifted quickly into drive.
Strange sounds, like wind blowing or rain falling on the dead leaves all around the car, became a din, where there had formerly been peace and quiet. I jammed the accelerator down and Ford Country Squire's V8 responded aggressively, spitting sand out behind us as we rocketed to the exit of the park's driveway. I stopped with a skid, and then peeled out onto the road, on our way back to Route 9. We felt safe again. And we were laughing nervously at the thought of all we'd been through that night. There were no residual effects from the acid left to speak of, besides a light glow around everything; aura's of rainbow afterimages.
Strange sounds, like wind blowing or rain falling on the dead leaves all around the car, became a din, where there had formerly been peace and quiet. I jammed the accelerator down and Ford Country Squire's V8 responded aggressively, spitting sand out behind us as we rocketed to the exit of the park's driveway. I stopped with a skid, and then peeled out onto the road, on our way back to Route 9. We felt safe again. And we were laughing nervously at the thought of all we'd been through that night. There were no residual effects from the acid left to speak of, besides a light glow around everything; aura's of rainbow afterimages.
She had to be home soon, and wanted me to spend the night there. I'm not sure why, but I felt like we should get some personal time after what we had just gone through. We were discussing all the possibilities that had now opened up for us, and that we felt reassured in the assumption that we must have just freaked ourselves out back there at the pond... Surely, there could be nothing to negate the place of joy and spiritual satisfaction we had inhabited for those few hours. We thought we knew our way around and what was happening to us...
We were wrong.
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