#tikhal

[synapsenstau]

[seeking-soma]

TIKHAL (Book Review

Available from Amazon

Tikhal was kind of a hodge-podge of essays by the Shulgins, unlike Pikhal which is very roughly chronological memoir of their lives. Also unlike Pikhal, Tikhal’s best parts are Ann's chapters, though Sasha has a few great chapters too.  All-in-all a good read, but long and at times dull while Sasha enumerates every location he's ever found DMT.  I would put this book as a supplemental reading instead of critical reading such as Pikhal.  Though, the one chapter that stands out over the others was Ann’s experiences performing MDMA therapy which I feel is an instructional essay on the protocols for using MDMA in a therapeutic setting.  She covers scripts, procedures for administration, privacy, harm reduction and so on, in story format.  Quite excellent. My next favorite chapter was also by Ann where she discusses where psychedelics and entactogens can take the user.  Of these her description of the oceanic experience resonated with me most.  The term implies the feeling of dissolution and integration with the outside world, related to ego death, but specifically the bliss of being one with the world.  

Next item of note was the last section, where Sasha describes the political situation around drug use, and the draconic political measures done without input from the people on drug criminalization.  As he puts it “Cui Bono?”; he analyzes who is the ultimate beneficiary of the war on drugs, because it’s not the populace, but the governmental agencies, prisons and pharmaceutical companies whose existence and profits depend on the enforcement of these barbaric laws.  When considered that less than 1 percent of drugs smuggled into the country are caught, and the vast amount of expenditures, this war is really a superfluous government expenditure to reshuffle money into the hands of the powerful. The life stories were fun to read, like the trip to Brazil and the Dr who charge 25g for sessions, or the mysterious Russian drug scientist that corresponded with Shulgin over the course of a few years.   A good book, but not one I’m clamouring to recommend unless you are a chemist, a therapist looking for a primer on MDMA therapy, or interested in essays on drug politics.

[entheognosis]

Shulgin’s lab was in his garage. He was for years the only chemist licensed by the DEA to do this kind of research. PIKHAL and TIKHAL detail the results of his work and give the results of ingesting each new compound with Ann.  

[clandestinewarrior]

Sasha

[clandestinewarrior]

Shulgin

[mysoulstayschemical]

What sort of plans do you have for DPT? First/second/third dosages? Set and setting? (if you've planned any of this, that is). I'd really love a trip-report if you're up for it.

Ha. I have to get it first. Which is about a month away. The reports of DPT sound like a hypervisual form of Ketamine to me so I'll probably do it in contexts similar to K or other dissociatives: At home, alone or with a close friend or three, listening to industrial or ambient music to help me surf the astral, light some Chocolate and Cinnamon incense and go around the room chanting the Vajra Guru mantra to clear the vibes, fresh fruit (pears, mangos, peaches, or clementines depending on season), and a steaming cup of Rooibos or Green-White tea with honey in it, I'll probs put the DPT powdah on some sexy book that's either of occult, poetic, or cutting edge science nature and sniff a line while laying down on a couch and slowly sipping my tea and see how far out I can go. I generally use tea to help with the sometimes gross drip of arylcyclohexylamines, and I use fresh fruit and chocolate to ground myself if I'm having a difficult experience as I like to go farrrrrrr outtttttt on ketamine and the experience can be frightening if I'm not mixing it with an entactogen. I used to use MDMA during K-holes as a psychological safety net, but just the smell of the fresh fruit, the smell of a clementine as you peel it, if I've been terrified by what I've seen in the land of the dead can oftentimes help turn the experience around and the sensation of eating on dissociatives is strange but pleasurable. Other than that I have no idea what use I will be able to find for this compound but I've been looking for it for years and am excited to taste it I do wonder what the subpsychedelic headspace is like and if it's the kind of headspace that's worth it at lower doses and if you can dance on it.

[gallivanderer]

I hear the word Guatemala and instantly a vague memory will pop up of the New Zealand soap 'Shortland St' and the famous quote "We're not in Guatemala now Dr Ropata!" closely followed by mental movies and images of a lush, wild, vine ridden tropical jungle with echos of howler monkeys and parrot screaches reverberating from the steam shrouded depths within.  Flashes of Mel Gibsons Apocalypto movie popped up as we tore through the hot plains towards Flores the tourist capital of El Peten and the jumping off point for the infamous Maya Ruins of Tikhal.

Sleeping in a tree house with 2.5 open walls and a view of bananas and mangoes growing outside your eternally open window is a treat. Seeing the sunrise creep over the distant mountains and light up the draped weaved ceiling is also not bad at all.  But being woken up to a gong show circus of 4am temple enthusiasts and the staff required to cater for these insane beings is not so much fun.  The clanging of doors, high pitched Spanish, sounds of the kitchen.....you forget the soothing sounds of rustling leaves and rain is just as easily equally cancelled out and the idea of an airtight, lightproof room seems like a great idea. 

Hanging out with ancient ruins is fun, so much fun, it's exercise disguised as fun.  It's basically a giant ancient theme park minus the annoying kid inticing kitsch crap, your own Indiana Jones adventure with less risk of dying.  Climb, relax and imagine to your hearts content.  Temple V pretty much the coolest temple I have climbed to date. Honestly no less than a 70 degree ladder (bruises in my shins prove it) up 60 metres to the top of the limestone temple where you feel like a monkey and a bird all at the same time with views over that sultry green sea of life. The feeling you have scaling something so precarious that would be so illegal to do so in any western country and be rewarded by that cool refreshing canopy breeze feels like that ice cold Kokanee beer at the end of your first ever shift of summer dishwashing.  Equally as awesome, same same but different.