Is peyote really that healing, gentle and educational?

The title pretty much says it all. I've smoke alot of ganja, and though I've never done psychedelics of any kind, they absolutely fascinate me. Will I ever have the guts to try one? I don't know, so I just might have to come here and bug you people with all my questions!

I've been reading up un peyote today. (I ordered some seeds a few weeks ago and plan to grow some just for the hell of it - and maybe by the time it's ready, I will be as well). Not alot of trip reports on Erowid, no trainwrecks, and just one badtrip. Lots of glowing and mystical experiences. Alot of people say that it is kind of gentle even though it lasts 12 hours or so, and that the positive outweighs the negative almost 100% of the time.

For those of you who have taken peyote - would you say that it has been life-changing? Would you say that it has been very different from other psychedelics?

 

Ive done San Pedro a few times which is another mescaline containing cacti used ceremonially. San Pedro is very gentle, the experience is not really as forceful a 'teacher' as I find mushrooms to be but it makes me feel cleansed and healed on the inside after every single trip.

 

It wasn't life changing the first time I tried it although I had experiences with other cacti that were profound. If anything it was an uncomfortable ordeal and the first few times I got very sick. The taste was far worse than my previous cactus tea experiments. San Pedro never made me puke like the first time Peyote grabbed ahold of me and shook the darkness from me. I had to form a relationship with Peyote by seeking it out multiple times working through many long nights at solemn ceremonies far from my home, puking in front of total strangers, and really trying my best to get to know the medicine. It was almost as if i had to prove myself to the Peyote through intense self sacrifice. I had to overcome my limitations in sitting still cross-legged all night, and also my own body's resistance to eating it after puking profusely. After a while I guess the cleansing part was over and finally It revealed itself to me. I finally understood why people went through this all night ordeal....because after that comes a powerful cleansing and an enhancement of everything beautiful and sacred in life. After a while I stopped getting sick in ceremonies. I started to pick up on the songs that the others sang to the drone of the water drum and the sound of the rattle. It did change my life for the better and showed me lessons about grounding and how to carry myself. It showed me how to walk the best path there is, and no that is not the easiest one. The Peyote road is not a straight one. It's a circle. I know many peyote people and although they are good they all have much work to do- none of them are perfect but I really believe this medicine is perfect and if people ask for It's healing and teaching it will oblige whether they are ready for it or not. live accordingly to how righteous human beings are supposed to, eat a lot of peyote in ceremonies, and it will reveal itself. After a while you can begin to understand how subtle and yet powerful the humble little cactus is.

A lot of trip reports are exaggerations about the visual aspects and fail to grasp the totality of the experience. In reality if you treat it like a psychedelic drug it wont behave as such unless you eat a large amount but it is not just limited to that; its so much more dynamic. A few know what's up and this is clear in subtle clues in their writing but they don't really offer much to folks who are looking from an outside perspective. It is definitely sacred and there are many more potent and less endangered things to "trip" on for thrill seeking. It is totally different from other psychedelic substances. If you want to look at it from a chemistry perspective it isn't just one active alkaloid you are feeling from ingesting Peyote but hundreds and in variation from cactus to cactus. Less than consistent for someone trying to get a high.

 

Having tried peyote in the form of tea twice and san pedro in the form of tea 30+... not to mention 10+alkaloid extractions from san pedro, I can say That those are the most profound, gentle and healing psychedelic experiences I have known.

Next to dmt.

As said before the, the total experience is dynamic and has many aspects. IT can be a ritualistic, healing thing with visuals that are mind blowing.

 

Thanks for your responses guys. I am at an impass right now and I'm considering a psychedelic as an option to gain relief or perspective.

 

I think you might be downplaying what psychedelic drugs are. I do know that you're quite the cactus man, but still feel the need to say this.

Of course there's some that lend themselves to getting "fucked up" better than others, and some that are more powerful than others, but there are many very powerful medicines, from iboga to peyote to LSD. And at the same time, I don't see anything wrong with enjoying your medicine. You don't have to be on a quest to rebuild your life every time you take drugs, and because you don't always doesn't mean that you can't ALSO take the same drugs in that manner.

Also, I've yet to do it, but I'm not sure a ceremony is needed to harness a psychedelic drug. I would love to partake in a proper peyote ceremony, and while the ceremony might help, it's important to remember that it just helps channel the drug, it's not essential to what it does.

If puking all night was the profound part, we could pass ipecac around a drum circle and get the same thing.

 

The words healing, gentle and educational do not come to me as I recall my 2 peyote experiences from many years ago. Far out (sort of like old time MDA) & acid like with much laughter were more like it. Nothing else I ever did was like it, but I wouldn't personally call it a life-changing experience. The coming down I remember was not bad, especially if you toked.
LIVING life is what changes one.

 

I see where you're coming from but you have to realize that i wasn't putting people into categories. There is a fine line between recreational and spiritual seeking when it comes to psychedelics, im aware of that. Not everyone's use is so clear cut some people are in both camps. I also agree with you, nothing wrong with enjoying the healing the medicines have to offer. However there are certain ways that work for some and ways that work for others.

I do not, and will not use peyote like a drug. I can only speak for myself, and I'm on a path that's different. Its not just a trip or a ceremony where you improve yourself, its a way of life that you carry yourself through. Its in and out of the fireplace (where peyote ceremonies happen). Both in the sacred spaces and the mundane world. Why do I do this? Because it works for ME. Peyote teaches me the best way to be true to Myself.

Thats very presumptuous to assume and you really have no Idea what you are talking about. Peyote isn't acid or mushrooms or any of that shit and trust me Ive tried it all. Not another psychedelic drug. It's totally different in the proper ceremonial context - which is not in any way an insignificant factor in the experience. I would Imagine it difficult to asses the inner workings of something that you have never seen or investigated for yourself.

 

But how exactly would one ''find'' a ceremony? that's the thing. I have a feeling that any ceremony that just anyone could attend would just be from people trying to make money.

It's not everyone that has the opportunity to be invited to this sacred family event

 

Mushrooms would be different in the proper ceremonial context, even synthetics like dpt and LSD have been used in ceremonial context. I don't go into a rave taking MDMA with a 'ritualized context' set in my mind but even MDMA can be spiritual in that setting.

So I think while there may be ways to appreciate peyote more and possibly you feel you have a deeper understanding of the peyote experience (much like I do with MDMA and the rave) I think roor's point that many of the features/lessons of peyote can be extrapolated outside the ceremony context. All these psychedelics/plant teachers are versatile and multi faceted, if you have preference that is fine, like you said what works for you but you seem to be talking the healing powers of the plant up and then limiting it saying how it should be used.

I'd never use peyote or San Pedro recreationally but I doubt I'd use it in a strict ceremonial context either. The first time I did San Pedro I had my friend lead us off with a pagan ceremony but my most valuable San pedro trip thus far was a solo journey.

 

Peyote has not crossed my path as yet- I welcome it when it does, or like you when I feel inspired to grow it.
The fact you are taking the time to grow and nurture the plant is great! I feel your journey depends on where that plant is sourced varies, if its out in the desert picking up the elements and natural environment to one that has been shop brought and on mass cultivated- my friend has been growing a Peyote for years for us both oneday to smuggle to Mexico to take from the UK, this thought does make me smile!!! How ever it comes, what ever journey you have will be an experience
Enjoy !

:sunny:

 

Im just telling it like it is. This plant is not a psychedelic drug and you are limiting it, confining it in a box when you call it that. Actually to call it that shows a lack of humility and understanding of it's capability. There is a right way and a wrong way to approach peyote. If it were as simple as just eating it and tripping out and learning a lesson there would be no NAC, no huichole peyote pilgrimage, no peyote dance. Obviously different peoples have different perspectives on how to approach it, but those with the knowledge know its not a fucking E pill at a rave and to compare it to such hedonistic tomfuckery is short-sighted.

I love this whole modern western paradigmn of exploitation where people cherrypick ideals and say "its all the same, you can do it this way or that its all the same." I hate to burst your bubble but its not. You tripping out in your room on shrooms soul searching or making braincell Flambé at a rave is a selfish endeavor and total different from what I'm talking about. Like I said, I'd imagine it hard for an outsider to even begin to undersand.

 

Me in a giant circle with us each taking turns dancing in the center and reaching the 2 am moment when we all reach our hands up at once as the beat elevates is everybit as spiritual as your ceremonies. You're the only one with narrow sight here, you just want to feel your experiences are somehow more meaningful than others, I got this vibe from you after reporting a few of my trips.

Mushrooms is a unique collection of various alkaloids as well so even that argument doesn't hold.

 

Soooo. I dont know if this is bad form or not since i'm fairly new here, but would you mind sharing your opinion on this: http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=422892

 

Shit, Im gonna start calling ecstasy a mixture of alkaloids :rofl:

 

lol! You probably can since what I've heard is that E pills are shit mixed white a whole bunch, and maybe some MDMA in there if youre lucky

 

I'm sure youve been to both to make that comparison right? give me a break.

neither experience is any more significant than the other. Every single moment can be a spiritual experience. The pitfall is to compare two completely opposite things and call them the same from perspective lacking firsthand experience. done the whole rave thing for years and it's fun but there is much more out there in the way of profound collective experiences. I feel ravers are the most naiive, misled subculture out there.

 

oh wait you just said neither experience is more significant, your head is so far up your own ass with your own bullshit.

I'm not going to believe shit from someone who *cough* omactl *cough * couldnt even distinguish a Shpongle dj set from a live performance. no one was calling the experiences the same.

 

See, I think what you're saying about psychedelic drugs is confining them. MDMA is one of the most powerful psychotherapy tools there is, a powerful introspective experiance when properly guided, or even self guided.

What you say about raves, well you're right. Naive hedonists fucking around. And while I'm not one of them, I can have fun with them, I don't do or see things their way, but I can have fun doing it slightly differently around them. They are misusing MDMA in the same way that you might consider me to be misusing peyote if I where to use it with no structure or plan on my own.

Taking drugs is selfish. Trying to better yourself, ultimately for the sake of feeling better about yourself, is selfish. Don't throw that around like a negative word, it's actually pretty neutral. Cutting up rare endangered cacti to sit in a circle and puke is selfish incarnate....

MDMA or other drugs being misused does not change what they are, or what they can do, any more than all the shitheads around here who get shovels and go destroy collective hundreds of years of growth of peyote and then drink beer and try to smoke green buttons, roots and all, change what peyote is.

They are all ultimately psychedelic drugs. Some are more powerful than others, but I'm sorry that you haven't been able to break through to a better place with others, instead of partaking in hedonistic tomfuckery, as you say. They're all unique things, because peyote is a psychedelic does not mean I'm calling it JUST THE SAME as LSD. But they share a lot, in methods of chemical action, and mentally, what they do, and how they do it.

 

Lophs wont mature till 4-7 years of solid growth in the right conditions.

quotes or It never happened.

Really? Is it selfish when it's to help heal a terminally sick person, or bring a broken family back together? For a person to help their alcoholic father recover only a few years after watching their own mother die of cirrhosis in their arms is selfish? To hold a space for blessing a child that is just reaching its first year of life is selfish? Never once occured to me that any of that was selfish.

FYI this cacti is only at risk in the US. In its native regions of the chihuahuan desert it grows in vast stands so remote and away from roads that many specimens will never have human eyes come to rest on them. Hundreds of years of growth. You obviously have never been to wirikuta if you think it's endangered.

agreed.

I strongly disagree and you can read above as for reasons why.