Taking shrooms for the first time

Hi Sara,

I know this question is directed towards Ernst, but I wanted to share my thoughts on this in case you find them helpful.

I would also say that taking psychedelics is essentially a Piscean, 12^th house experience. Most people I have heard speaking about their experience with them describe it as dissolving the boundaries between them and the universe at large. Due to my own experiences, I would say to look at Pisces and its condition in particular. What Lajitaadi Avastha is/are the planets in that sign in? I think this is going to be a major clue towards what your subjective experience with all things Piscean (such as psychedelics) will be. (Chances are if your Mercury is combust, that it's agitated and if that's the case, a part of your experience could actually be quite stressful and you might get frustrated because the experience wasn't what you were hoping for. But for a full picture you need to look at all the LAs of the planets in Pisces.)

My own experience with them is mixed. I have Ketu in Virgo and Rahu + Mercury in Pisces. I had always been a “goody two-shoes” and ran Rahu dasa quite early on in life. During that time, I did a few things that in retrospect were completely out of character for me, such as trying psychedelics. As I said, I was quite young, curious, and just jumped in and tried them out without much prior knowledge about them. I tried them during Rahu/Mercury (go figure).

The first time was a relatively low dose and I was in a comfortable environment, dimmed lights with my boyfriend at the time, just saw a few colors and shapes like flowers growing out of the wall. It was an overall pleasant experience, but not life-changing or great enough for me to say that it was worth it. The second time, however, was quite horrible. The dose was much higher (I’ve always been on the thin side with Saturn aspected my Ascendant) and I was fully propelled into the scary Rahu jungle. I was on vacation with friends that time, camping. I completely disassociated, saw my friend as the Cheshire cat with a malicious grin and my hands as those of a pixelated robot. Those were some of the worst 12 hours of my life and I was terrified at the time that I’d never see the end of it. I experienced about 12 hours of complete and uninterrupted terror. My friends tried to calm me down, to no avail. It was not a fun experience and it didn't teach me anything about myself. Know that this is towards the spectrum of a worst case scenario.

Since, I’ve read a lot about how psychedelics work and I would not do them again. Not because of my bad experience, but because of the following: Psychedelics are pretty potent and their effect on your particular brain chemistry is unpredictable. You might have a wonderful, expansive experience that makes you feel connected to the universe. There are clinical studies where psychedelics and similar psychotropic substances are being used to treat chronic depression and anxiety that look pretty promising. But they are under medical and psychological supervision. The dose is adapted to you individually and the environment is such that the risk of a horror trip are minimized.

On the flip side, you could be playing Russian roulette with your system. Perhaps you don’t know it, but somewhere down the line you have a dormant gene for schizophrenia or some other mental health condition that happens to get activated with the psychedelic. Then, what was supposed to be lovely experience turns into a life-altering one (for the worse). I actually went to school with a guy whose mother had schizophrenia. He habitually smoked pot in really high doses and took psychedelics on a regular basis and ended up developing the condition himself. There's no knowing whether he would have developed it anyway. But studies suggest that taking such a psychothropic substance can accelerate the process or facilitate it in a way that could have been avoided had a person not "messed" with their brain chemistry. In short, there’s a pretty wide range of outcomes and knowing what I know now, it seems like a pretty big gamble to take. To me, the potential risks are not worth the potential benefits. You’re probably already aware of these risks, but I wanted to still make sure to include them for the sake of being completeness.

I would personally advise against taking psychedelics. I think many people seek an experience that brings them closer to God. And certainly, psychedelics can be a short-cut to feeling like you are just a part of the great ocean. But, in my opinion, there’s a pretty hefty price you might potentially be paying for this shortcut. Many people manage to feel that connection and dissolution without ever taking mind-altering substances and still have powerful, life-changing experiences by meditating, chanting, etc. It just takes more time and effort, but the risks are also low and the process will be more gradual. You won't get exposed to anything you are not ready for at the time.

The same thing goes for wanting to reveal what's in your subconscious and healing patterns that don't serve you. There are many great tools on this website that will let you do just that without any of the risks I spoke. Have you taking any of the Rahu/Ketu courses or courses on the Lajitaadi Avashtas yet? I found those to be quite revealing to me personally. Like you suggested, chances are with Ketu in your 12th your comfort zone is to deal with things like these through 12th endeavors, such as taking psychedelics. But since it's Ketu you might only get so much out of it and it won't be satisfying. You might find that you do psychedelics and it doesn't actually feel like they pushed you towards anything and it's sort of a let down. Or, rather than learning anything new about yourself and pushing you towards growth, the experience might actually reinforce old safety paradigms that hinder your growth. If it's a Ketuvian experience, you might just find yourself in an echo chamber where what you're exposed to is some limited belief that keeps you stuck in your Ketu house/sign and hinders your development of Rahu. In that case, you might be of self-sabotaging and potentially delaying your Rahu development. I don't know your chart, but the way to actually address those "Rahu monsters", subconscious desires, fears, etc. might be to do just the opposite and approach the subject quite analytically, health-consciously and put in the "arduous" detail-oriented work. Using astrology, a Mercury related approach, might be a good way to go for that.

That being said, if you are going to do it, please make sure to pay attention to the following: Source the psychedelic from as reputable a place as you can and make sure you know what you are taking and that it is not laced with something chemical that you potentially don’t know what effect it’ll have on your body. Make sure you are with someone you fully trust and who isn’t going to take advantage of you in that state. Ideally, you want someone there who has experience with it, who is not also taking the psychedelic, and who can potentially do damage control should you try something dangerous or show signs of distress. Next, be really careful about the dose and err on the side of caution. Then, and I can’t stress this enough: Make sure you are in a peaceful, calm state of mind before taking the psychedelics. If you’ve had a stressful day, a fight with your boyfriend, feel anxious about doing them, postpone. All the subconscious feelings and fears you have will make it into the experience and once you’re in, you have little control. Including over whether the experience will actually be constructive and teach you anything about your fears or if it's just hours on end of pure anxiety. Make sure you are in a calm, peaceful environment. Whatever makes you feel safe and makes you produce oxytocin. Perhaps that is dimming the lights, cuddling up in bed, listening to your favorite music. And make sure to eat and stay hydrated (your sober chaperone should be helping you with this, too). When your body gets dehydrated and you have low blood sugar, your body starts producing cortisol. This stress hormone will affect your experience (for the worse).

Again, please be really careful and do reconsider the potential risks. I hope this helps.

Hi Francesca, 

Thank you for sharing your experience. Overall I’m in a great place and wake up most days feeing joyful and grateful, despite the Dashas I’m running. I’m also not someone who jumps into things quickly so I’ve done some research into psychedelics and will be taking all the necessary precautions. I’m also not looking for the feeling of connection to God through psychedelics or dissolution, if it happens cool, but generally it’s not something I’m pursuing so I’m more just open to the experience and seeing what happens. Thank you for sharing and for the advice and I’m sorry that your experience wasn’t more positive. ???? 

I know nothing about them other than how to identify them out in the woods so that I don't accidently eat them when I am hungry, haha. I have heard they are using mushrooms in clinical conditions to help people make breakthroughs, but I don't know anyone who has gone through that process. Psychedelics are ruled by rahu, so you would want to look at the condition of your rahu to see if they pose any risk to you or what they may open you up to in  yourself. Mushrooms are not addictive, which is good. And I have not heard of damaging mushroom trips from clients though I have heard of several damaging trips fromAyahuasca. It is important that there is a non shroomed individual around. One client told me the story of when her and her bf did them the first time. He started to strangle her and she passed out. Accidents are also possible, so really important to not do alone. I have never taken any myself. 

Ernst, 

I honestly thought you’d be a shroom veteran I don’t know why loll

I’m going to have two people there with me who will not be on shrooms, they’re going to guide me through it etc. so it should be okay safety wise.

I will have a closer look at the condition of my Rahu now, and I’ll let you know how it goes!