DOSE: T+ 0:00	15 g	oral	Cacti - T. peruvianus	(dried)
T+ 6:00	1 cig.	smoked	Cannabis	(plant material)

BODY WEIGHT:

160 lb

One Saturday morning, a friend showed up with a large quantity of Peruvian Torch cactus, which was split four ways. We each had 20 grams. Eating Peruvian Torch is an unpleasant way of consuming mescaline, but it was the only method easily available to us, and I found the trip to be well worth it. This was my first experience with any sort of entheogenic drug. None of my compatriots had ever tried mescaline, but they had all done shrooms and salvia. I went in with a positive outlook, quite hopeful, though slightly anxious. I was not disappointed.

Around noon we each ate our allotted portions. We had purchased the cactus in the form of small cubish chunks of inconsistent sizes. I don't know exactly which part of the cactus these came from. The taste was very bitter and unpleasant. I managed to get down about three quarters of what I had bought with the aid of plentiful glasses of water. After about fifteen minutes of slowly eating the cactus, I began to feel quite nauseated. One friend, Mr. B, threw up shortly after eating his dose. The nausea wasn't terrible. It peaked after maybe forty-five minutes, but I managed to hold down what I had eaten by lying on my bed and telling myself, 'I will not throw up. If I can hold this down, I will ultimately have a more rewarding experience. I am sick, but it will pass. It is a sickness I knowingly instigated to see a certain end. I will see what the cactus has to show me.' I lay there for about half an hour.

Once I felt better, my anticipation started to build quite a bit. I was constantly asking myself (and my companions) whether anything was happening yet, but I didn't really feel much until about two hours after eating the cactus. I remember feeling somewhat nervous, realizing that there was no turning back at this point. Still, I did my best to remain positive, and I succeeded.

Once the two-hour mark had been reached, I started feeling different. The drug has a very slow come-up, at least when consumed in this fashion. The most noticable aspects of the coming up for me were a pleasant warmth in my body accompanied by a strong feeling of energy. These sensations commingled and grew stronger until I felt a profound euphoria, which lasted for the duration of the trip.

The experience of the drug was quite clear-headed. I didn't feel 'doped' like after smoking pot. I felt that my thought processes were my own, and I was controlling them. This contrasts with my later experiences with mushrooms, which I always find pushing my mind in certain directions, welcome or not.

At some point, I retired to my room, where I would remain for most of the trip. The setting was quite comfortable for me, because I was able to listen to a good deal of music, which I enjoyed very much. Other participants came and went as it struck their fancy. As the mescaline starting kicking in more and more, Mr. B and I - as well as another friend - Mr. T, who was on a low dose of mushrooms, found ourselves having quite rewarding conversations. We gained insight into all manner of things, facilitated to some degree by the drugs. While I did not have any fantastic revelations, I feel that I did learn something.

Nobody was reporting any visuals, and we were eager to amplify the effects of the drug, so around 6pm we smoked a large joint of marijuana, forgoing the pure experience of mescaline in favor of pot-fueled amplification. I think this was worthwhile. I have since done mescaline alone, and enjoyed it very much, but the pot was quite a boon in this instance.

Soon after smoking the joint, we started experiencing stronger effects. Mr. B reported 'crazy' closed-eye visuals, and I noticed these as well. I find it difficult to describe effects of this nature, but I can definitively state that my senses were quite strongly altered. My vision sort of 'swam,' in a pleasant wavy fashion, similar to mild mushroom effects. I often felt that I could see objects continuously rushing at me, and I saw a beautiful pattern overlaid on everything else is my vision. This could best be described as a more noticable (and aesthetically pleasing) version of the 'floaters' which some people experience in their everyday vision. The entire world and each of its constituent objects held a warm glow, mirroring my own. Occasionally, I would see a wave a distortion slowly pass across my vision, from the top down, blurring everything.

This is the best I can recall the effects. All of them were essentially pleasing, and I was easily able to grasp why I have heard mescaline called 'warm.' This was manifest in the way my body felt: warm and energetic, in a very comfortable way. The warmth was also present in the general state of euphoria and empathy which I experienced.

I also see why mescaline is called 'subtle.' The visual effects were pleasing, if not astonishing. I imagine they could become much stronger with a higher dose, but with this method of intake, I don't know if a much higher dose would be possible, at least for me. While pleased with the trip, I felt no attachment to the remaining portion of the cactus, which I gave away.

I was left with a sense of well-being well into the night. The drug started wearing off around 10pm or so. I stayed awake until probably 1 or 2am. Overall the trip was comfortable, insightful, and fun: a pleasant introduction to entheogens on the whole.

Exp Year: 2005	ExpID: 51988
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Mar 14, 2007	Views: 10,632
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Cacti - T. peruvianus (69) : Small Group (2-9) (17), Glowing Experiences (4), First Times (2)