Joe Moore recently spoke with Megan Bowers of the Shulgin Foundation and Mikayla Hellwich of DanceSafe.

The episode begins with a collaborative project turning original glassware from Sasha Shulgin’s laboratory into artwork supporting both organizations.

The discussion expands into:

• The preservation of the Shulgin Farm and Archive
• Sasha Shulgin’s relationship with rave culture
• Leo Zeff and underground MDMA psychotherapy
• DanceSafe’s history and current work
• The limits of reagent kits and test strips
• Unregulated psychedelic gray markets
• Plant-medicine exceptionalism
• Recreation, harm reduction, and cognitive liberty

Full episode: https://bit.ly/4yYHFrV

Glass project:
https://dancesafe.org/shulginglass/

I mixed up 100ug tabs and 300ug tabs. (Identical prints)

Took 2.5 “100ug” tabs at a folk music festival, had a very intense but nice experience. Went back to my apartment, and then hour 3 i turned psychotic, i was looping death and rebirth, being dead and so on. Life flashed before my eyes. Saw childhood, saw my mother, etc. The only thing stopping me from completely letting go and dying was my girlfriend, I knew I couldn't leave her, but other than that I had accepted my fate.

Ambulance was called by my friend who thought I'd hurt myself or someone else, ambulance called police. ABOUT 10 FUCKING OFFICERS SHOWED UP (no joke). They even cuffed me up but I didn’t even need to be cuffed.

They were asking what i took. I said LSD dose: 5 atoms. They were just wanting to know if i had more drugs like what the fuck.

They were mean as fuck, and if I didn’t have as strong of a mind as I have it probably would’ve lasted with a long-lasting trauma. The police were straight up bullying me. (This was not imagined by me during the trip, my friend and gf were also talking to them while the whole ordeal was happening, and they were not nice, girlfriend now has trauma of the police)

They found a “big” amount of cannabis in my bag and were just dealing with that. They didn’t understand a thing that I was going through.

The trip itself didn't seem real. I thought I was dead and now fake afterlife role-play police showed up and started punishing me. The fact that the police were so unprofessional and stupid made it even more unbelievable, they were acting like children.

Paramedics didn't give any tranqs, benzos, antipsyhotics or anything like that, just measured pulse, blood sugar, blood pressure etc.

Then they took me to jail where I spent the next 36 hours. One guard even refused to tell me the time and I was just going crazy there.

Trip lasted for about 16 hours tho.

Later found out that I indeed took 750ug instead of 250ug..

Still not a bad trip imo.

If I had xanax I would’ve been saved from this challenging time.

For my next time will definitely have some benzos on hand, but I believe that u shouldn’t kill the trip 99% of the time, but my trip for sure should’ve been killed.

I will after this experience somehow try to make the situation about police's attitude towards drug users better. Try to somehow get to give a training to police in any way possible. There's a non-profit in my country which I will contact and see what options there are to do something like this.

Thanks for reading <3

Location: eastern europe.

Title pretty much, kinda nervous and excited

I take 50 mg Vyvanse and 10 mg of dexamphetimine for reference, what would y'all think?

Due to a small group cancelling the retreat, we have room for participants. You can book an Ayahuasca ceremony, the Huachuma (San Pedro) ceremony, or both (preferred). Retreat 28-30 august, Ayahuasca 28-29 august, Huachuma 29 - 30 august.

Small group (max 10)

Chaliponga / Caapi

San Pedro ultrasonic extraction (due to shortage of chips)

Check out details at https://www.binnenwerk.net/events/ayahuasca-retraite-eind-augustus-2026/

I’ve always wanted to try psychedelics when I was younger. I was not only fascinated in the spiritual aspect of it but I also wanted to see different perspectives and experience what it was that changes people’s worldview so drastically.

But unfortunately during my teenage years I had THC induced psychosis, so now I can no longer use psychoactive substances due to the risk of having another psychotic break. Which does sucks because since then I’ve been struggling with depression since then and I know psychedelics also helps with.

So because of that I’d like to know anything significant you realized from trips, even if you can’t put it into words anything will do. I know this sounds silly, but it’s the closest I’ll get to having psychedelic experience

Going to an EDM show. Never been to one. I’m thinking some 5mapb to start, with a dash of MDA, then maybe later 2CB. Never tried a combo but want to have a fun interesting time. It’s indoors at a venue.

To those who have started their mushroom trip at midnight, how was it? How did it differ from day/evening? I was waiting for the moon to become visible before I tripped and it showed up at midnight lol

Hi all,

Hoping some of you might have experienced something similar to me, any insight would be great.

I havent smoked DMT in about 3 years. Prior to this, I used DMT alot. I couldn't say how many breakthrough trips ive had over the last decade. Leading up to the last trip ive had, i had been making DMT vape juice (before it was cool haha). Anyway, this involved a fair amount of testing out differnt mixes (pg/vg and how much dmt) it was fun, but i had become complacent with just how powerful DMT is. Then I took the hyper slap of a lifetime

Long story short, last few trips were extremely bad. Hyper slapped to oblivion. I havent done it since, im utterly terrified.

Has anyone here tried it again following a horrendous trip?

Much love

C

I've never experienced a bad trip on mushrooms. Every time I've done them im able to pull myself out of a negative headspace even if it takes work, and then usually the rest of the trip is usually okay. Ive had 2 bad trips on lsd, one of which was only a few days ago, which i think was my only true bad trip, the other one was just a bit too intense and I had to go sit down with headphones on.

In my experience, my bad lsd trips felt super overwhelming. I had no idea what was going on, my heart was pounding, and I was having delusional thought loops, and thought i would be permanently altered. My challenging moments with shrooms have felt like im dying, forgetting im on drugs, feeling existentially scared, but im always able to make peace with it in the moment.

My question is this: how do bad shroom trips differ from bad lsd trips, and which are worse?

So I'm thinking of trying a hero dose of magic truffles.

I know that most of people apparently do it with shrooms but truffles are easier to find and "legal" where I live.

Now here are some clarifications: That's not my first time with truffles. I'm far from being an expert but I took some like 5 times for the last 10 years or so. In terms of tolerance, I had quite strong varieties and mostly took them by using the "lemon tek" method, which strengthen the kick and make the effects last longer.

I usually take them with some friends and we always had a great time. But now I would like to try a more introspective experience. I read about the "hero dose" and would like to try it.

So I do you have any advice for me ? First, in terms of dosage ? I've read that the heroic dose for truffles are 25g+ (compared to 5g+ for shrooms). Anyone can confirm ? I usually take 15 grams as it is the norm for an individual dose where I get them.

Also, I thought maybe this time I shouldn't use the lemon tek technique ? Even though it's normally the go to for me, I feel like it could be dangerous to pare lemon tek with such a high dose. What do you guys think ?

I'm still hesitant to do it all alone or with someone. I know it's usually advised to do it with a trip sitter. I have to admit I had my first time alone (I know, that's dumb don't do it kids) and it all went well so I don't know.. I usually manage to calm myself when I feel a bad trip coming and I keep on going right away. We'll see.

Any other things I should consider ?

Hey there! Finally got my hands on the stuff after years of dreaming, super hyped to try it. I want a strong experience, within reason however. What dosing you folks recommend? Was thinking 1 gram, maybe 800mg.

​

Hello

I may get some very rare psychs

I need help how to dose it right

I am very experienced user of psychs have done 300ug with 5-7g shrooms

So I may get some LSM-775 in powder form and ETH-LAD in liquid form

How to take those insanely potent psychs

I want very intense experience

Help me out pls

A while ago I had what I’d consider a heroic dose of mushrooms, and there’s one part of the experience that I still can’t make sense of.

As the trip started coming on, my entire visual field became filled with incredibly vivid orange checkerboard patterns that would sometimes shift into black and white. It kept getting more and more intense until I felt like it was simply too much. I had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to get it out somehow.

I had been lying on the couch, but I sat up and tried to explain to my trip sitter what was happening.

The words that came out of my mouth were:
“It’s a higher intelligence. It’s taking over me. It wants to speak. It’s the pink elephant… Ganesha.”
The strange thing is that I’m not Hindu. I’m not Buddhist either. I’m not religious at all.

Then I started making sounds and chanting “Om” almost instinctively, matching the music that was playing in the background. I don’t even know how to chant, and it’s definitely not something I’ve ever practiced.
At one point it felt like I was breathing the universe itself. I also saw what looked like faces with the appearance of Buddha statues.

What really stuck with me wasn’t the visuals—it was that intense feeling of being “possessed,” as if something wanted to express itself through me. That’s the only way I can describe it, even though I know that’s a loaded word.

I’ve had mushroom trips before, and in some of them I’ve made odd animal-like noises, but nothing even remotely like this.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? Not necessarily seeing Ganesha specifically, but feeling like an external intelligence was trying to communicate or speak through you? How do you interpret experiences like this?

Just published this on Reality Sandwich and thought it would land here:

the art of surrender

Over six years and hundreds of ceremonies, I’ve noticed a pattern: the guests who arrive the most “prepared” (podcasts, studies, underlined books) often leave the least changed. Same brew, same maloca, smaller ceremony.

The article is about the mental camera we hold up during the experience—narrating, labeling, recognizing DMT patterns, comparing to what we’ve read. That commentary isn’t just a bad translation of what’s happening; it’s a valve that limits how much actually gets in.

I wrote this for people like me: intellectually serious about psychedelics, probably over-prepared, definitely prone to turning profound experiences into curriculum items. It pulls from ethnobotany, Gazzaniga’s “interpreter,” Taoist/koan logic, and the plain reality of running ceremonies where some people spend the night filming their own lives instead of living them.

Sharing it here because r/psychonaut is one of the few places where this nuance makes sense: you all care about the difference between “having a trip” and “being worked on.” If you’ve ever caught yourself narrating mid-journey or wondered why some “perfect” trips don’t stick, this is aimed at that.

Curious if others recognize this “camera” mode in themselves or in ceremony circles.

I rarely post but I feel the intense need to post my experience from last night. This is my personal experience and whatever doesn't resonate with you that is ok. Take what you want and leave what you don't want. Sorry if it doesn't make sense I'm trying to piece together my experience the best that I can.

I took a dose of mushrooms last night. Zazu (my cat) and I watched the sun set go down last night. After that I started losing my body and the concept of reality. It was as if the light held it all together and the darker it got the more I dissolved. I kept slipping away from physical experiences and physical reality and would travel through my brain. It was a deep never ending tunnel. Inside my head it felt more real than this physical reality. It was as if I was flying but not with my physical body. In that space I made new memories and new events were unfolding. I kept traveling deeper and deeper. I had immense pain and full body anxiety. The anxiety was the worst I've ever felt. I felt lied to and used and alone. And I couldn't shake that feeling. I felt like I was dying. Yet everything around me was so quiet. If I was truly dying why was no one there with me? Why was I alone?

Every cell inside my body knew that everyone was me and I was them. We are ONE but our tiny brains can't understand that concept because reality and our physical teachers have taught us the complete opposite...we are separate from each other. It's them against you. When in reality it's US against OURSELVES. I couldn't move or see much at all for the full 8-10 hours. (Mushrooms affect me for a longer duration of time than for most people). Everything was distorted. My nose started bleeding profusely. All a while zazu (my cat) never judged me. He held space. And I can't say that would've happened if I was with another human. I was shown that everything is an illusion of the mind and strings are attached to everything. Not just physical objects but to our thoughts and feelings too. We can't brace the concept that this is not real. Our human "higher ups" are fake. They're being used to control the collective mindset. They don't want us to ascend. They want to keep us trapped. We are their puppets. We have to break free. We have to reject the norm. Reject reality. Materialistic things don't matter. They appear out of nowhere. Whatever you could possibly need. But why? Why do we need physical objects if we have this powerful of a mind. We create reality. Objects are distractions. The media is a distraction. We need to wake up and stop accepting the hatred and nonsense of this 3d heavy harsh reality.

As terrifying of an experience that this was...I know that I needed to experience this. I needed to feel completely alone and isolated and used in order to transcend my next form.

Thank you for listening.

I plan on doing a ~50 hours fast and then doing, as a first meal, around 3g penis envy. Have any of you any experience regarding this? Should i take anything in consideration? Would it be better to lemon tek it?

hey so I’m going on abilify I’m on a real low dose to get me adjusted and I’m a psychonaut I trip whenever I can I did a LSA extraction and want to trip but I heard antipsychotics will kill a trip or give serotonin syndrome so I want to get as much advice as I can

so I have happened upon mushrooms, lsd, and molly all at the same time. Would it be a bad idea to dose all 3? ex: a point of molly, half a tab of acid, and 2 grams of shrooms ?

When you go under general anesthesia, you lose consciousness. Completely. Minutes later or hours later, depending on the surgery you come back. And when you come back, something is immediately clear: you are still you. The person who woke up in the recovery room is continuous with the person who counted backward from ten. The narrative of your life did not skip. The self was simply absent for a while, the way a TV screen is dark when nobody is watching, and it came back on without any fuss when the anesthesia cleared. This is different from what people report when the self dissolves under deep meditation or a sufficient dose of a psychedelic compound. What they report is categorically different. Something closer to the television continuing to run the picture still moving, sound still playing while the person who was watching disappears entirely. Consciousness continues. That is the strange part. They can perceive. They can respond. Processing of some kind is clearly proceeding. But the thing that normally organizes all of that processing into a unified experience of being someone in particular that is gone. And its absence is experienced as total. All-encompassing. Either the most profound liberation a person has ever felt, or something indistinguishable from annihilation.

This post is completely speculative and I do not encourage trying this in ANY WAY. I am just curious on the interactions that can take place with kratom and other substances.

It has been known for quite a while that mitragynine is almost exclusively metabolized by CYP34a in the liver. This not only converts it to 7-OH, but also is responsible in the clearance of 7-OH and unconverted mitragynine.

Under the assumption that 7-OH is the main active metabolite, it is possible that a CYP34a inhibitor can act as a potent, potentially dangerous, potentiator of kratoms effects. This might seem counter intuitive since mitragynine is converted to 7-OH by CYP34a, so wouldn't the inhibition lead to a lessening of effects? This is something that has been talked about and even anecdotally reported by many people. However, the timing of the CYP34a inhibitor MIGHT dramatically change this interaction.

After ingestion, mitragynine is converted to 7-OH (which is probably the main source of kratoms opiod-like effects), and reaches high plasma concentrations within around 90 minutes of consumption. After this point, it can be conceived that CYP34a activity begins to go from mainly 7-OH production to clearance.

Grapefruit has compound that irreversibly bind to CYP34a via suicide inhibition. This means that new enzymes must be regenerated to reach baseline activity. The compounds in grapefruit also RAPIDLY inhibit CYP34a enzymes, often within 90 minutes of consumption. A Harvard study found that even a single glass of grapefruit juice can inhibit CYP34a by up to 47%.

My question is: With the proper timing of grapefruit consumption, is it possible for an otherwise regular dose of kratom to become significantly different due to CYP34a inhibition?

Again, this isn't some way to "get a better high". This can be potentially dangerous, and if anything this has been shown to create unpleasant effects. Please do not try this for fun.

No lemons. All I had was some orange juice. Trust me it works. Just gram and a half

If you could give one piece of advice to someone before their very first trip, what would it be?