Whenever discussing harm reduction related to psychedelic use, we need to consider not just how psychedelics are used but also if they should be used at a particular moment in time. In his book The Joyous Cosmology (1962), Alan Watts famously cautioned psychedelic users: When you get the message, hang up the phone. For psychedelic…
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Among psychonauts, drug combinations are sought out, experimented with, and appreciated due to their potential to modulate or intensify psychedelic states, and perhaps introduce novel states of mind not yet experienced. But with these potential rewards – new mental realms explored – can come greater risks. Unexpected effects and intensity can carry a psychological risk…
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At the end of John Koenig’s book The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, which I reviewed here, the author invites readers to invent new words (or neologisms) as he has done throughout the book: …that’s what words are good for – they give meaning to everything they touch. We have the power to use them as we…
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It is a common experience to find that you tripped more regularly and frequently in your younger years, with experiences happening less often with age. Initial psychedelic use typically occurs between ages 15 to 19, with 19 being the most likely age for people to first experiment with these compounds (note that this refers to…
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Mystical experiences are characterised by ineffability – that is, what is subjectively experienced is difficult, or impossible, to adequately put into words. However, we can go a step further and say that such experiences are transrational: their ineffability relates to the fact that these experiences lie outside the scope of reason. While on the one…
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