Mushrooming Awareness

A few years ago I experimented with magic mushrooms. The first few times I tried them, the experience was quite mild. I noticed a few strange visual effects, and became fascinated by things around me that a straight person would not have found at all fascinating, but for the most part I could still function as a normal person. I could sense and avoid dangers around me, and I could communicate effectively with other people.

The next and last time I took magic mushrooms was only a few weeks after my first experience. I had what I thought to be the same dosage as the earlier times, but the effect was on a whole nother level. In this series of posts I recall my thoughts and experiences during my one intense mushroom trip.

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Part 1: Preparation

On the day of the trip, I rode my motorcycle to a Glen Waverley house that was owned by the parents of a friend of mine named Gus*. The basement of the house had become a hangout for the group of friends I socialised with at the time, and five others were already there when I arrived. Present besides myself and Gus were Juan, Dunric, Aiden, Pab, and Mikhail*. Dunric had brought mushrooms that he and Pab had picked earlier near Dunric's house in Doncaster. The previously arranged plan was to meet at Gus' house in the late afternoon, brew some mushroom tea, drink it, then move to nearby Norton's Park to enjoy the trip amongst the trees and natural surrounds.

Dunric, Pab, and Gus were busy preparing the tea when I arrived, and a short while later Dunric announced that the tea was ready to drink. He emerged from the basement carrying seven mugs on a tray, and Gus followed him with the teapot. All were gathered in the bright afternoon sunshine as the drinks were poured and passed around. It was a beautiful day. Some added honey to improve the taste of the tea, then we held our mugs and looked around nervously until Juan broke the silence. "Well, are we going to drink this stuff or not?"

We had reached the point of no return. All who were present raised their mugs and met the eyes of the others in the circle that had formed. We clicked our mugs together in silent ceremony, then downed the beverages quickly. Most of the group left their dregs behind, but I scooped them from the bottom of my mug with my fingers and devoured them all. The taste was not unpleasant.

I had assumed we would all walk to the park as we had done on previous occasions, but as I was preparing for the walk, Pab announced that he intended to drive. That did not seem such a smart idea to me, so I reminded Pab that he had just ingested an hallucinogenic drug, and that the effects of that drug would likely impair his driving ability. Pab was no fool however. He remembered clearly the mushroom tea he had drunk less than a minute ago, and was well aware of its likely effects. He argued that the mushrooms would not kick in for at least another half-hour, and since the park was only five minutes away by car, he would arrive long before he was affected. Pab's decision worried me a little, but I realised that further argument was futile. I ended up walking to the park with Juan, Dunric, and Aiden, while Gus and Mikhail rode in the car with Pab.

A short while later, as Juan, Dunric, Aiden, and I were walking along a service lane of High Street Road, in a rush of heightened perception I became aware of the effect of the mushrooms. I stopped and looked around at my suburban street surroundings, studying the subtle distortions that had begun to appear. I looked at Aiden who had stopped too, and saw that his pupils were hugely dilated. He looked at me and his excited but apprehensive expression must have mirrored my own. Aiden suppressed his giggling long enough to express our shared thoughts in words. His prediction: "I think we're in for a hell of a trip."

* Names have been changed to protect the privacy and dignity of those concerned.

Continued in Part 2: Disorientation