ESSAY | KNOW THYSELF HEAL THYSELF
Psychedelics
Expanding Consciousness, Creativity, and Interconnectedness
The first time I ever came into contact with a psychedelic was in the mid-80s. I was 18 or 19 at the time and had gone to a party with some friends. I’d drank way too much alcohol, so when one friend told me to close my eyes and open my mouth, my inhibitions were low and I did what he said. I felt a small tablet on my tongue that disintegrated quickly. When I opened my eyes, everyone was watching me and laughing. They knew I would drink with them and smoke cigarettes, but that I didn’t participate in “the bud” they freely shared among themselves. I didn’t feel anything immediately, so I didn’t know what the laughter was all about. Finally, the host of the party, the one who’d given me that little tablet, leaned over and whispered, “Just stay sitting there and let go.” Again, I did as he suggested.
We were all sitting around a campfire. Some friends were hooking up and others sat drumming or playing tambourines. It was laid back and casual. A few more minutes went by and then suddenly everything around me became bright and colorful. People’s faces became echoes, branching off behind them into infinity with all the colors of the rainbow spiraling around them. Their words were slurred, their actions performed in slow…
