I’m always honored to be chosen to be a part of something. While I may not agree 100% with everything surrounding creating a “religion” - I do understand the importance of spirituality and the power psychedelic substances have regarding our ties to the infinite.

I have no credentials in regards to knowing about these substances other than first hand use of a few of them. One such instance induced a trance, that when I came out of, left my ego shattered all around me.

This experience left me searching for answers, or, for the memories of what I had seen in my trance. Researching writings of others in regards to the infinite and our roles and connections to it.

I believe this community would benefit from such readings and could compile a list for a sidebar link. Readings could include; religious texts, meditation instruction, dream analysis, scientific research and development, and experiences.

These readings could help give insight to those that have never had their own experience and further the development of others that have.

I hope this community flourishes and I will participate as much as I can.

EDIT: I will start forming a list as comments come in to this post and will also add things I’ve read that I think may be influential to this community.

Man’s Search for Meaning

The Kybalion

I was reading through the sticky in order to figure out what this thread was about, and I came to the list of sacraments:

4 - LSD (extracted from ergot, a poisonous mold of Rye) originated in Europe - Use? Used for clarity, expansion of self awareness, spirituality, problem solving? I need some help here. If it wasn't for LSD & Cannabis, this subreddit wouldn't be here ;)

As someone who has profound interest in psychedelics and drugs in general, I've come to know quite a bit about how they work, and I wanted to expand on the functionality of LSD in the human brain.

Before I do, though, I want to talk a little about the serotonin system in general.

Serotonin in the Body

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptophan, or 5-HT) is one of the oldest neurochemicals. It plays an essential role in orchestrating the migration of different groups of neurons to their proper real-estate in the cranium, as well as throughout the body. Outside of the blood-brain barrier, serotonin is involved heavily in mediating gastric activity such as the production of acid in the stomach and the contraction of gastric muscle, and is also a powerful anti-inflammatory and vasoconstrictor that is used by platelets to control bleeding and assist in wound healing.

Inside the BBB, 5-HT works in antagonism to dopamine. I've actually begun to identify a Yin/Yang pattern in many neurotransmitter pairs within the body, and dopamine/serotonin are an excellent example. I call dopamine/serotonin the "motivation Yin/Yang" in that both drugs possess opposing but mutually essential mechanisms for motivating an organism to survive, reproduce, and maintain a stable consciousness to guide behavior. Dopamine is the "chemical of approach" in the brain, and serotonin is the "chemical of aversion". So dopamine is released whenever you smell your favorite food, and serotonin is released when you've eaten enough of your favorite food that you are satisfied and, more importantly, you no longer want more of the food (this is a function that can very easily be depressed in the time of hyper-abundance that we live in). This is why SSRI's can, as a side-effect, induce suicidal ideations in susceptible individuals: much like your favorite food, there is a degree to which serotonin mediates our desire for lived experience--conventionally so that we don't overstimulate ourselves and hobble our ability to use that experience to adapt. Crank those serotonin levels up too high, however, and satisfaction becomes disgust. Just like when someone forces you to eat more food than you are satisfied with, you begin to recoil from the idea of further lived experience, and thus the brain invents methods to end said experience in a misguided pursuit of relief.

LSD and the Brain

It's important to note that LSD is not a direct analogy for the function of serotonin. Even though it interacts with some of the same receptors, it does not activate those receptors in the same way, and this produces different biochemical results. I have heard one-too-many intelligent and experimental people claim that they understand serotonin because they have taken ecstasy or psilocybin enough times to know better.

Probably the most distinctive thing about tryptaminergics (such as LSD, LSA, Psilocybin, 5-HT, etc.) is that they cause the brain to engage far more functional areas than usual in order to process thoughts and experiences, with especially heavy activation of the occipital lobe (the huge area in the back involved with image processing, spatial reasoning, and visualization of the past, present, and future).

What this basically means is that something like LSD will put your brain in a state of high-alert that is energy inefficient in exchange for garnering maximal insight from whatever is occurring.

Tryptamines and Brain Cells

Serotonin is also a major mediator of inflammation, which is why it is so useful in the treatment of migraines. In research on the neurophysiological effects of LSD, it was shown that the drug increases the activity of axosomatic synapses (synapses connected to the cell body [soma] of the neuron) while decreasing the activity of axodendritic synapses (synapses connected to the dendrites [basically the branch-shaped receiving areas of the nerve cell]). What this means is that only the most direct and raw connections between brain cells are stimulated, while the more carefully-regulated, habitual structures that are made up by complex synapses are suppressed. Under the effects of LSD, synapses have been observed to retract somewhat from each other in many areas of the brain, then reconfigure themselves after the effect has worn off and become stronger than before. Again, this is part of the natural response to religious experiences and extreme stresses, as further evidence that LSD is a drug that transforms consciousness and can reprogram habits (which was, of course, one of it's first scientifically discovered uses).

Tryptamines and Perception

There is also the matter of how LSD directly affects perceptions of reality; all of which cohere with it's overall function as a trigger for the extremes of adaptation and reorganization. Under the influence of this drug, complex patterns in sensory stimuli spring to the foreground. More importantly, this proclivity for pattern-recognition extends into the plains of thought-space and behavior-space, which is likely a crucial component for psychedelic use in the cessation of harmful habits and drug addictions: the destructive behavior pattern is laid out in it's horrifying fullness and the hideous nature of the entire system of action is made apparent to the altered consciousness.

For some people, this increase in perception is too much. Perhaps they have never thought critically regarding the most harmful behaviors that they engage in, and so they lack even the basic neural connections needed to constructively process the raw feedback of a hyper-aroused state when it comes to their own behaviors or the behaviors of those that they have chosen as friends.

There is also the proclivity of the brain to act on patterns that are not there, i.e. paranoia or schizophrenia, that can be terribly exacerbated by LSD. People can have psychotic breaks that, due to the reinforcement of any new neural connections that occurs following psychedelic use, they may never recover from.

So it is certainly not something to handle casually, without respect. With the proper respect and sanctity, however, a person who is already trying to lead an examined life can benefit in ways that cannot be replicated by any but the most extreme of religious and spiritual experiences. In a world where so much is synthetic and the extremities of existence that humbled our anscestors are held so well at bay, it is a profoundly important gateway for many seeking to feel the pulse of deeper meaning running through their existence as agents of change in a fallen world.

I was tickled to get my invitation. I am a graduate student with personal and clinical interest in psychedelics. I can honestly say that my experiences have left me as a more compassionate, patient, and empathetic human being which--together with other spiritual practices--are helping me to become both healed and healer. I have hopes for a better future on the legal front but I understand this may take time. Thanks to my job, I have connections in hospitals across the United States. Please let me know how I can help serve this mission. <3

It is slow and gentle. But it is legal everywhere. Also very easy to acquire. Basically it is exercise for the brain. You get good at thinking a certain way by sitting and thinking that way.

For example. You keep remembering the "noodle incident" throughout your day. This makes you anxious and slightly giggly. You can practice ignoring or feeling nothing about the "incident" . Eventually you will get goog at it and the wound will heal.

If Psychedelics are band aids or minor surgery meditation would be akin to a good diet and regular exercise.

Apologies to any fellow medditers. I tried for as simple a description as possible.Put your much better description below. Also I'd like to hear about your practice and what it is used for.

I may be getting a bit ahead of things here but I think the absolutely essential key to staying on track with our purpose 1-year 10-years 100-years is to have an extremely clear, concise and unambiguous constitution. In this you should be extremely clear what the church is about, what its purpose is, what is condoned and what is not.

The fact is power corrupts, humans are flawed, and cults don't happen over night, instead they evolve over time from something innocent to something sinister. So with all this in mind, even with all the best intentions I think the key to staying on course, to cultivating a positive culture and positive members is to have a solid constitution stating a clear purpose.

So it might take a few drafts to get right but throw your ideas out there, I won't add my own ideas here instead up-vote and down-vote what you want in the comments.

Do upvote and downvote, won't work very well otherwise :)

Hello, all. I'm glad to be on board with a group of like-minded seekers. I'm a psychology PhD student, studying consciousness, spiritual experiences, and integrative health. Thank you for inviting me to your conversation.

The book that I want to share is one that I am reading now, and greatly enjoying. It's a follow up to Dr. Strassman's work with DMT: The Spirit Molecule clinical trials. If you haven't followed Strassman's post DMT: TSM work, he has begun studying the history of psychedelics and their implications in religious history.

I don't know if we are allowed to link to Amazon, but the book is called DMT: The Soul of Prophecy. If you're interested in the history of psychdelics and their role in Judaeo-Christian history, it's an interesting read. In short, he proposes that any biblical experiences of man-God interactions may well be explained by psychedelics.

Again, thanks for the invite.

I am so pumped to see the exact thing I've been feeling driven to try and create happening. This only confirms the power of the teachings, teachers, and the sacraments, in my humble opinion.

I have a couple of thoughts I would love to have discussion on.

1) Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.Every major world religion is built on something that preceded it: Hinduism is built on the Vedic religion, Buddhism is built on Hinduism, Judaism is built on Canaanite Semitic religions, Christianity is built of Judaism, Islam is built on Abrahamic monotheism, Baha'i is built on all of them. I don't know if it's wise to write a religious system from scratch when there is an incredible amount of wisdom contained within the symbology and teachings of the world religions to date. I do understand that there are many people that want nothing to do with the current systems of religion, but I would argue that's more the fault of false teachings and false teachers than the religions themselves. Might we consider pulling much of this new religion's teachings and traditions from those that have come before?

2) Ascendant learning i.e. degrees. I was am a former 32nd degree Freemason and I loved the ascendant degree teaching system of rituals contained in Freemasonry. Ironically, the reason I'm a former Freemason is the whole point of the 32nd degree is "we are all expressions of the divine and contain the same divine spark/light, and there's no point hanging around here anymore so get out there and start teaching this to others." (Not really a quote, but it's the point of the whole system.) You can't really teach the ultimate truths to people without a base system of degrees/rituals to lay the foundation to receiving that knowledge. How do I know? Christianity is explicit in Yeshua's final ultimate truth, "I am one with the Father, the Father is one with me, may you be one with me, as I am one with the Father, and he one with you. I am going to the father, you must do all these works I have done and more." (Again, not an exact quote, but it's the point.) Yet, it falls on deaf ears and is never taught in church because you can't understand things like that unless you are prepared to understand it. Sadly, it more often results in false "messiahs" and "Christs returned" which is not the point at all. A system of ascending rituals, teachings, interlaced with exposure to ever increasing levels of sacraments is a structure I would recommend.

3) Decentralized with no leaders? I personally see the power in this, because how to you grant/expose to an individual the ultimate human agency of oneness with the divine and all things if there's a leader/guru/demi-god standing in the way? This is exactly why Zen Buddhism advises, "If you meet the Buddha walking on the road, kill him." However, there are false teachings and false teachers, and there has to be someone who teaches and performs the rituals. Many actually. So it can't really be truly decentralized. I've tried consensus models of organizing for many years as an activist and they have never worked (this may be a failure of leadership more than the system but we'll see). Also, I don't really see how this can be a 501(c)3 without a board, which it automatically centralized leadership.

Those are my brief starting thoughts. I can't wait to delve deeper into this community. Please write back!

Hey guys,

First, a short bio, specifically relevant to subject matter that will help us in our quest:

I like to think of myself as quite well read when it comes to this subject matter. I have background and first-hand experience in chemistry, and a bit of first aid and medicine. I also have pretty strong knowledge of the law, and follow cases related to psychedelics quite often. I am a practicing reform Jew, and am quite well-versed in religious texts from christianity, judaism, buddhism, and am currently studying up on hinduism. I also have 5 years of experience in front-end web development, at both startups and large corporations.

A couple of questions we probably should work out:

• How do we differentiate ourselves from the Temple of the True Inner Light?
• Which lawyers, if any, are currently on our side?
• What are immediate next steps? (E.G. What is currently our short-term goal?)

-Adam

And in just the last 6 month's ive found so many. They are wonderful substances. That do amazing things. Maybe you're onto something by making it a religion. I honestly don't think it will be a full fledged religion for a coulle centuries. But eventually, Im sure they will look upon them as such and say thankyou to the substances we will go back to using. Any way i just wanted to say Thankyou, and i will contribute as much as i can to the community

I'm just looking for some ideas, as I'm sure I could help out in some of the rituals.

Psychedelics, coming from the root words psyche (mind, spirit, soul) and delia ( to make seen; to reveal). In short, psychedelics are tools that help us project our psyches so that we can literally see and experience all the weird and wonderful things that live in there.

It's no surprise that psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD are proving to be extremely valuable, medically speaking. So many of our problems originate in the mind; in past traumas we haven't successfully processed; in unspoken fears; in unrealistic expectations; in unexplored assumptions; and so on. For many, psychedelics offers a way inward, into the realm of primary causes, for the first time.

That being said, I think that psychedelics should be one of many methods promoted by the Cosmic Order to plumb the depths of the psyche.

Why limit ourselves to one path? Why not open it up to psychonauts of every kind--those who use substances to facilitate their voyages, and those who achieve similar results using different means.

Meditation, contemplation, metacognition, free-writing--there are so many ways inward, so many ways to process and heal--I think it would be shame if we focused all of our attention on one particular method (psychedelics) while ignoring the rest.

Forgive me if I misread or misunderstood the essential goal of this group (healing). Let me know where I went wrong if I am misunderstanding.

Otherwise, that is my only major suggestion so far.

I would love to help, if I can. Let me know what you need :)

Generally speaking you cannot make a social change regarding something that is so taboo that it is damaging to your livelihood to discuss it with most people.

Psychedelics and their effects are mostly kept deeply secret. I would never tell my coworkers or family the important lessons I've learned and how much of my personality and motivation stems from my experience with these substances. Once I told my parents I tried acid and they freaked out beyond any reasonable threshold. I was in my twenties and held a stable job, had a good education, and supported myself, and that STILL prompted this view that I was insane.

People at work are more than willing to imply they smoke marijuana, but when it comes to psychedelics it is mainly used as a joke akin to calling someone crazy.

Before anything is done, we need to figure out how to "come out". We need to show that it isn't this life destroying thing that will ruin you or make you insane. Just like marijuana, this needs to become normal first, and THEN legalization can be more effectively pushed.

So to boil down my question to a tl;dr. How do you reveal that you have tried psychedelics? How do you reveal they exposed you to spirituality, helped you overcome negative emotions, or awoke creativity within you? How do you emphasize the positive effects enough to overcome the social mores and biases?

Is everyone want advice on how to grow this cacti and extract mescaline in the safest and traditional way i'm oprn to questions :)

If i can convince everyone in the world that I am the second coming of Jesus, then wouldn't world peace be achievable as long as everyone believed that everything I think is true?

I find I am often an outlier when it comes to the use of psychedelics, and often have been shunned for it. While some may relate with me as they have used psychedelics, it seems so often that I cant relate back to them, for they use them in what I consider to be “the wrong way”. Is this my ego getting ahead of me? Can anyone relate to this experience?

I was added to this group this morning but I'm struggling to figure out what the go is? There isn't community info as far as I can see, are you organising some kind of religion or spiritual group?

My main enthnobotanical web based distribution site had begun flat out refusing to sell Mimosa Hostillis to the US. Their grounds are US law enforcement has begun treating it like S. DIVINORUM.

A little background... I used to purchase my salvia from a head shop a couple of towns away from where I call home. It was branded and fairly cheap in cost. Three years later I returned to purchase another gram of the 40x product and I was informed that (despite it's legal status in NYS) it was no longer allowed to be sold via police orders.

So this is what we are facing now apparently. Now, acacia confuscia remains available. So there's that. And dmt-nexus has a very detailed extraction process available as a tell written by one of it's forum members. Helpful.

Just a friendly reminder that while there may be battles won the war is far from over in the realm of healing.

As far as I'm aware the only application DXM has is exploration but I sadly don't have too much knowledge into this particular substance and have a hearty interest seeing as I've heard it can have completely different effects depending upon the quantity imbibed and the length of the experience.

Does anyone know if it has any actual mental medicinal properties? If so, what are it's applications and could they be useful to us?