The Six Pathways of Destiny

Jump to Section

Jump to Section

 

The following excerpt is adapted from The Six Pathways of Destiny by Ralph Metzner, published by Regent Press.

Join Ralph Metzner for his first-ever live, interactive video course, “Entheogenic Experiences: Finding the Pathways of Your Soul in the World.” Ralph Metzner’s distinguished career has brought a trained psychologist’s perspective to the insights that come from psychedelic exploration. He will discuss the six archetypal pathways of the soul and how they can help us articulate our soul’s destiny. This six-session course begins June 29. Learn more.

 

Each of us, as a human soul, incarnates by choice with a purpose, an intention or vision for this life – what we came here to do and to be. The ancient Zen koan – what was your original face before you were born ?– provokes us into asking about and tuning in to that vision. The soul chooses one or more of six great archetypal pathways in society, in which to express its talents and realize its vision: Healer/Peacemaker, Explorer/Scientist, Warrior/Guardian, Artist/Musician, Teacher/Communicator , and Builder/Organizer. In our heart and mind we carry an intuitive sense of this vision during the formative years of childhood and youth. We may have glimpses or dreams, messages from Spirit, as well as contacts with teachers and role models, that inspire us on finding our way, our unique destiny.

In traditional societies, the role you were to play in society was predetermined by the family you were born in and therefore could not be changed. In ancient India, for example, the principle of dharma meant that you were born into one of four basic castes: the warrior/ruler, the priest/teacher, the merchant/trader or the laborer/servant. In medieval times in Japan, four walks of life were recognized – the ways of the knight, the farmer, the artisan and the merchant. In medieval Europe there was a similar division into the four orders of knights/nobles, peasant/serfs, priest/monks and merchant/traders. Whereas the land-owning aristocracy and land-working peasantry/slaves were totally locked into their roles by family heredity, the religious orders and merchant guilds afforded somewhat more freedom of choice and mobility.

The abolition of hereditary aristocracies and colonialist serfdom/slavery through revolutionary wars of independence created socio-economic space for burgeoning middle classes with increasing gender equality and differentiated professions reflective of individual interests and talents. These developments in the political realm, initiated in North America in the late 18th century spread over the next two to three hundred years to Europe, Russia and eventually to all parts of the world, accompanied by blood-soaked spasms of war and violence that killed millions.

During the same time period, the industrial revolutions re-ordered modern societies, with exponentially increasing populations, into the two broad socio-economic classes, as described by Karl Marx: those who make products – the wage-working proletariat, and those who own the means of production – the capitalist bourgeoisie. Both the political liberation wars and the socio-economic class struggles continue world-wide to this day, with varying degrees of open violence, as entrenched dominator states and class systems of oppression resist liberation movements.

In the modern world, although equal opportunity and choice are afforded to all in theory and in law, one’s birth into one or the other socio-economic class to a large extent still determines or predisposes one’s choice of profession. As Marx envisioned and predicted, continuing class struggle is inevitable and necessary to break down the patterns of oppression, domination and prejudice that restrict the freedom of opportunity for each individual to unfold their creative genius.

Nevertheless, the core essential value of the hereditary connection, from the most ancient times to the present, is the guidance, education and assistance that parents are able to provide for their children. For most of us, a key theme during our formative years was and is to work out to what extent we are “following in the footsteps” of one or both parents and to what extent we are finding and following our own unique path. Similarly, when we are in the middle adult phase of lives, helping to guide and prepare our offspring for their role and work in society are central concerns – sometimes to the extent of obsession and conflict, particularly when matters of inherited wealth are involved.

In the officially accepted Western worldview, which does not recognize the existence of soul and Spirit, only genetics and early familial environment are the key determinants of personality development. Ancient traditions, particularly Eastern, that have preserved the truth of reincarnation, teach that the incarnating soul (not, of course, the personality) chooses to be born, by agreement and in communion with the parental souls.

The parents provide the genetic matrix and the original home – for the soul to grow the personality which will be the vehicle or vessel in the time and place of its existence on Earth. Of course, as a proponent of radical or first-person empiricism, I cannot know if it is always true, for all persons, that the soul chooses its incarnation and birth. My personal experiences and the accounts of other observers have led me to the conclusions I am presenting.

In choosing a family, the soul connects with two genetic lineages, each with its strengths and weaknesses, its traditions, values and capabilities. In choosing a community and society and a particular time and place to be born, we enter into the matrix of forces and conditions that provide the learning ground for our present incarnation. The ancient divinatory art of astrology uses the arrangement of the planets in our solar system at the time of our birth, and their position in relation to the place of our birth, i.e. what planets were “rising” or “culminating,” as symbolic indicators of our life’s path and learning challenges.

In the Tibetan Book of the Dead, an esoteric Buddhist text dealing with death, the after-life and rebirth, there are extensive passages describing the interlife bardo states in which the soul is dealing with the karmic tendencies drawing it into a new incarnation. According to these teachings, the degree of conscious intention we bring to this process is crucial in creating the preconditions for a truly human life – a life that affords the “precious opportunity” for liberation and enlightenment. The bardo-travelling soul is urged to slow down and resist the unconscious pull of the winds of karma and instead choose wisely and carefully a new family in which to be born.

It is always a function of continuing mindfulness that we are able to choose the kind of life we want to have, regardless whether we are in the realm of ordinary life or in the after-death and pre-birth realms. In everyday waking life, we are always either consciously choosing the next thought and word and deed, or sleep-walking along preconditioned habits of mind and body. The making of choices, moment to moment in our lives, constitute our character. An ancient saying, said to be from the Talmud, spells out the sequence of steps: our thoughts become words – our words become deeds – our deeds become habits – our habits become character- and our character is our destiny.

Karma, Fate and Destiny

In making the choice to incarnate, the soul chooses the threads of fate, the karma from other lifetimes, and the genetic threads of ancestry and family to weave together at the very beginnings of our life path. The default determinants of the conditions of our life are given by karma, the consequences of our past thoughts and actions, both from past lives and from our present life. We carry the karma of our past lives into the present life, as tendencies or ‘seeds’ – and it is our life-task and our opportunity to nourish those seed-tendencies we want to grow and develop, and not to nourish those we want to outgrow and leave behind.

In the Western philosophical traditions karma corresponds to fate (from the Latin fata ‘what has been decreed’) and to lot, the allotment of gifts and debts we carry with us from the beginning. Karma and fate are the unavoidable, fixed pre-conditions of our existence, the cards we have been dealt in this round of the game of human life on planet Earth.

In the Greek myth of the three moirae, sisters of time and of fate, Clotho (whose name relates to ‘cloth’ and ‘clothes’) is the one who spins the genetic double-helix thread of each life into its unique pattern and texture before we are born. The Romans called her Nona (the ‘ninth’) and invoked her name especially in the ninth month of pregnancy, just before birth. Lachesis is the one who ‘dispenses the lots’, or casts the die, or deals the cards, or lays out the runes, and thus determines the time-space conditions into which the new life is to be born.

In the Norse traditions of the three norns, fate is the realm of the one called Skjuld, whose name relates to the German word for ‘guilt’ (Schuld) as well as ‘debt’ (Schulden). Guilt is the subjective feeling of owing a debt, the nagging inner voice that motivates us to repay a debt – at which point the voice can stop. When we become aware of having inflicted an injury, whether of word or deed or neglect, the feeling of guilt motivates us to make amends, to apologize and to repair the damaged relation. Thus it is the social function of guilt, not to self-inflict punishment or retribution, but to rebalance and repair our interpersonal relations. In our meditations and divination we can connect with the norn  Skjuld in order to ask for deeper recognition of our unpaid karmic indebtedness – at the level of the individual, the community or the society.

Fate and karma connect us to the past – the unavoidable consequences of our genetic patterning and of our actions in this and previous lives. Destiny, on the other hand, which corresponds more closely to the traditional Indian notion of dharma, is future-oriented and open-ended: it is the purpose and destination of our life, what we choose to be and to do with the gifts and talents we have been allotted, how we chose to play out the roles we have been given in the games of human society. I wrote about the paradoxical relationship between the concepts of fate and destiny in The Unfolding Self:

We fulfill our destiny by exercising our free will. But until our will is, in fact, freed from the fateful binding consequences of our past karmic actions and tendencies, we cannot really exercise that freedom. We have free will in theory, potentially, but not in practice or actuality – until we are liberated. When, through the processes and practices of transformation, we no longer experience ourselves as victims of our fate, we can become masters of our destiny (p. 73).

In the Norse tradition, destiny is the realm of the norn called Urd, whose name refers to the invisible web of potential connections and evolving forces weaving through our lives. The Norse word urd relates to the Anglo-Saxon wyrd or weird, the strange twists and turns of fate and destiny that wizards and witches (the “weird sisters” of Shakespeare’s Macbeth) could tune in to discern what was hidden and anticipate the unfolding lines of our probable and possible futures.

Each of us is born of a certain gender, with a genetically given psychophysical constitution, the traits and talents, weaknesses and challenges of our particular genetic genius. When we are born, our souls have chosen to be born within the particular social and historical condition of our family of origin. These are matters of fate, our lot in life, the starting point of our present incarnation. What we make of our gifts and talents, how we respond to the obstacles and challenges of our fated origin – these are the open-ended outlines of our potential destiny.

We may reflect on the fact that the word talent – the inherited, inborn gifts of creative expression – is derived from the word talenton, which was a form of money currency in the Graeco-Roman world. You might say that if you develop or invest in a natural talent to the point where people will pay you to exercise it – you’re a professional. Those who are amateurs develop and practice their talents for the sheer love of the game. On the other hand, we all know of gifted people who waste their talents and fail to develop their potential genius. Having talent, like having money, is no guarantee of success or of happiness.

This theme is illustrated in the biblical parable of the talents (Matthew 25, 14-30). In this story Jesus speaks of a man with three servants: one is given five talents, goes and invests them to make five more – he is rewarded with more responsibility when the Master returns. Another is given two talents, he invests them and makes two more – he too is rewarded when the Master returns. The third is given one talent, which he hides and hoards, because he is afraid of losing it – and he complains that the Master is “a hard man, who reaps what he did not sow.” We are told in the story that the Master rejected this third servant, because he hoarded his talent and complained over his hard fate, his difficult lot in life – rather than using and developing whatever allotted talent he had.

Connecting with the Ancestors

In my book The Life Cycle of the Human Soul, I described the divinations, with or without entheogenic amplification, through which one can tune into, and even at times perceive, a kind of cluster of ancestral souls whom we recognize as being our deceased parents and ancestors – some of whom we may never have known in person in this life. Using such a process, which one can think of as a kind of reflective remembering, we can tune in to and acknowledge with gratitude the qualities which were genetically transferred from the parents at the time of conception and also those transmitted from our parents in the childhood years. The recognition of ancestral connections can also occur spontaneously in dreams. For example, I never personally knew my father’s father, who had started the family publishing business, since he died before I was born. Late in life, I dreamed of my grandfather for the first time. I saw him standing among a group of others, looking formal but regarding me in a manner that expressed friendly acknowledgement of our connection. It was as if he was still engaged with or interested in the family business, ninety years after his physical demise.

After tuning in to, and acknowledging with gratitude, the traits and qualities genetically and developmentally absorbed from one’s parents, from the time of conception on through the formative years, there are deeper questions one can ask that can bring us more explicitly to the level of the incarnating soul and its purpose. We can ask the divinatory question – why did my soul choose this family to be born into – this mother, this father, these circumstances?

The answers we receive to such reflective questioning can often bring surprisingly enlarged and deepened understanding, self-acceptance and compassion for others. Some may find that the soul’s choice of parents reflects a working out of some karmic entanglement or indebtedness from another existence. For example, a woman may find that she and her mother were rival lovers of the same man in a past life – the man who is the father of one and the husband of the other in this life. Seeing such connections can change the feeling of being burdened by a difficult fate, and circumstances which one did not choose, to an acceptance of lessons to be learned in a situation we did choose. It’s as if souls are playing out some of the infinite possible variations of a cosmic learning game.

Often, the soul’s choice of birth family seems to be clearly related to the anticipated life path and purpose. Inborn inclination and parental example in childhood may converge to guide the child of a physician into medicine or the child of a soldier into the military. Someone born into a family of musicians may turn out be one whose life is dedicated to music – clearly the soul had chosen an early environment in which its innate talents would be recognized and nurtured.

Although the soul may intentionally choose the family, the actual time-space conditions of its earthly birth may or may not support the realization of its life-purpose. The film Mozart’s Sister tells the poignant story of Wolfgang’s older sister, who although also musically gifted, was reluctantly blocked from developing her talents by her concerned parents, in recognition of the realities of the 18th century European society, in which only marriage and motherhood were the pathways for a woman to survive.

Recognition of a soul’s life purpose sometimes emerges from a person’s growing awareness of the parents’ disparate or conflicting ethnicity, religion, class, nationality or culture. This was true for me, with a German father and British mother, when I came to recognize that my life-long almost obsessive interest in resolving international conflicts and differences was undoubtedly shaped by my childhood experience of the war between the nations to which my parents belonged. I once heard a woman physician relate how her peace activism was based on her history of growing up the child of an American Jewish mother and an Arabic Muslim father. It’s the story of Romeo and Juliet and countless others in world literature and film, where a couple decide to ‘make love, not war’ – building bridges of love across chasms of hatred and misunderstanding. The offspring of such unions may very well find that the reconciling of such differences is a core aspect of their life’s purpose.

Our genetic ancestors, when alive or in the spirit world, individually or in a council, function as our guides and supporters in issues arising out of family entanglements and survival in this present world and lifetime. The council of elders and teachers, and individuals from it, function as spiritual guides for the Immortal Soul in working out its karmic lessons and evolutionary purposes over many incarnations, where we may have lived in totally different familial and social conditions. The pauper may have been a prince and the princess may have been a prostitute.

Transitions, initiations and disciplines

For each of the six pathways, the work we do in society has its characteristic disciplines that are to be learned during the formative years. We must acquire the knowledge and practice the skills and techniques of our profession in order to become its practitioners. In doing so we connect with the lineages and traditions of those who have walked these paths before us. We pass through a series of examinations and initiations to finally become colleagues and collaborators, as well as potential competitors, in our professional field.

The great mythologist Joseph Campbell, when asked how one chooses one’s work in the world, used to say you should “follow your bliss” – the feeling you have when your work is in alignment with the soul’s vision. This begs the question of how you find your bliss in order to follow it. This is the challenge and task of our formative years and at other transitional times in our lives.

There may periods of confusion and distress, decidedly not blissful, when you can’t identify the paths or fields of action occupying your time or identify with any of the professions or paths you see around you. Such periods may be times of retreat and recovery – times to find a new vision for your life, a new path or direction.

Some of these transitions may involve a more or less traumatic re-organizing of our entire life-world, uprooting our assumptions of who we are and what the world is. A future shaman, for example, may find themselves going through a ‘shamanic sickness’ with uncertain outcome – but during which they learn to connect with the spiritual helpers and allies that make their healing work in the world possible. In some indigenous societies, such traumatic initiations were deliberately programmed into the adolescent transition rites, to emphasize the discontinuity between childhood and adulthood.

On the other hand, some individuals may find their path in life without traumatic initiations or disruptions, in a more or less orderly fashion, acquiring the necessary knowledge and discipline for their chosen profession. In this book we will discuss, for each of the six pathways, what are the characteristic disciplines one must acquire in the formative years and the initiatory transitions that may be involved when entering one’s chosen path or finding a new one.

On each path, in each field of action, one may be a leader, or play supporting roles. One may be the chief executive of a corporation, or a worker in it; the head surgeon of a hospital or an attendant nurse. Although such differences in social status and professional rank can have profound implications for a person’s remuneration and hence their self-esteem, their ability to support their family and the role they play in their community – from the point of view of their spiritual development, these are not the most important issues.

It’s like in the parable of the talents – we are each given some gifts and some opportunities to develop them. Happiness and the fulfillment of our destiny are a function of how we respond to the challenges of fate and how we deal with the talent cards we have been dealt in the great game of human life on Earth.

The Roles of Women in Society

As is well known, there are special challenges faced by women in finding and following their chosen life-path. One of the hallmarks of the evolution of modern societies is the increasing equalization and liberalization of the social status and therefore life-path opportunities for women. In the global political scene, the struggles for political freedoms, economic opportunities and access to education swirl around the issue of equalizing the socio-economic status of women. Even in the 20th/21st century Western world however, where this social evolution has progressed the furthest, we can still recognize how profound the obstacles to professional advancement have been for women, especially in the older generations.

This is why, in this you will be asked to reflect not only on your own chosen life-path, but also on the life-path of your father and mother. A married woman with children may have given up the dream of her life-work to play a supportive role to her husband’s path and be a mother to their children. Some may focus on marriage and motherhood for twenty years or so and then go on to, or return to, their chosen and original pathway. Some have, heroically and improbably, found the energy and the social support to practice both their mothering role and their creative-spiritual pathway.

Wholeness and Mastery

Each of the six pathways is not only a career or profession, our work in the world, each is also, at a deeper level, a pathway of spiritual development that the soul has chosen. Some may find they have to differentiate their work in the world, the job they do to support their family, from their spiritual growth practices and beliefs. For many, perhaps most of us, finding or creating work that provides both the material support for our lives and creative-spiritual nourishment for the soul’s growth remains an ongoing challenge.

It has been said that all the pathways of the human soul are variants of the ‘earth-path of service’ – service to others, to life and to the world. The healer, the explorer, the warrior, the artist, the teacher, the organizer – all are contributing to others while exercising their own special skills and talents. Some find fulfillment in devoting themselves with single-mindedness to one particular path and practice. Others feel incomplete or imbalanced if their interest and time is invested too exclusively, and want to be involved in several fields. On the other hand, such imbalance, if extreme, may lead to being a ‘jack of all trades and a master of none.’

G.I. Gurdjieff, who has always been one of my main teachers, used to say you should develop one pathway of skills to the point of mastery, but then also ‘try your hand’ at one or two others – for overall balance and wholeness. In working with the six pathways we are studying in this course,  I have found that most people identify with more than one path, and would say they would feel incomplete or imbalanced if they only pursued one of them.

There need be no value judgment placed on whether a person chooses to concentrate on one or several. Integrating the different interests and values of our life, both those we know and those more hidden, unconscious and undeveloped, into a functional wholeness is what C.G. Jung called the process of ‘individuation’. The guidance that emerges from considering the relative strengths of your talents and interests in the different pathways is that  you develop your strongest talents for mastery in your field, and you may develop your lesser interests for more wholeness and balance.

This is the reason why, as we go through this course, you will be asked to assess to what degree you are involved in each of the six pathways. The simplest way to do that is to estimate how much time and energy you devote to the activities of that path. And for each pathway you can ask yourself how your relationship to that path has changed over the course of your life.  Assessing other significant members of your family and community in terms of their chosen pathway is also a way to get a deeper appreciation of their talents and challenges.  

6pathwaysLg

Psychedelic Resources

A Foraging Trip: Where Do Magic Mushrooms Grow?
Eager to learn more about the origin of psilocybin species? Read this article to find out where magic mushrooms grow and more!

How to Make Shroom Tea: Best Recipe and Dosage
A step by step guide on how to brew shroom tea, and why entheogenic psilocybin tea is a preferred method for psychedelic connoisseurs.

R. Gordon Wasson: Author and Mushroom Expert
Learn about R. Gordon Wasson, the “legendary mushroom expert” and popular figure within the psychonaut community.

Shrooms vs Acid: Differences and Similarities Explained
Ever wondered what the differences are between shrooms vs acid, or if you can take both together? This guide explains what you need to know.

Quantum Mechanics, Reality, and Magic Mushrooms
Scientist and author Dr. Chris Becker takes an in-depth approach in understanding how we perceive reality through magic mushrooms and quantum mechanics.

Psilocybin Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to Psilocybin has everything you want to know about this psychedelic fungi from its uses to its legal status.

The Psilocybin Experience: What’s the Deal With Magic Mushrooms?
From microdoses to macrodoses, the psilocybin experience has been sought after both medicinally and recreationally for millennia.

Psilocybin and Magic Mushroom Resources
Curious to learn more about psilocybin? This guide is a comprehensive psilocybin resource containing books, therapeutic studies, and more.

Paul Stamets Profile: Mushroom Guru, Filmmaker, Nutritionist, Scientist
Learn about Paul Stamets, read his thoughts on psilocybin mircodosing, the future of psilocybin, and his recent film “Fantastic Fungi”.

Microdosing Psilocybin & Common Dosage Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivably, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing psilocybin.

Psilocybin Nasal Spray: Relief for Anxiety, PTSD, and Depression
Microdosing nasal spray with psilocybin, is that possible?! Oregan a start-up Silo Wellness believes so and has created this new option for PTSD treatment.

Mazatec Mushroom Usage: Notes on Approach, Setting and Species for Curious Psilonauts
A look at traditional Mazatec psilocybin mushroom usage, and a comparison to the cliniical therapeutic approach, with an examination of the Mazatec setting and species used in veladas.

María Sabina: The Mazatec Magic Mushroom Woman
Magic mushrooms are incredibly popular today. How they became introduced to into American culture isn’t usually a topic discussed while tripping on psilocybin fungi. We all may have María Sabina to thank for exposing the Western world to the healing properties of the psilocybin mushroom.

Guide to Magic Mushroom Strains
Are there different types of psilocybin? Read our guide to learn about the different magic mushroom strains and their individual effects.

Kilindi Iyi: Mycologist, Traveler, Teacher
Learn about traveler and mycologist Kilindi Iyi known in the psychedelic community for his research and exploration of psilocybin.

How to Store Shrooms: Best Practices
How do you store shrooms for optimal shelf life? Learn how and why the proper storage method is so important.

Shroom Chocolate Recipes: How to Make Magic Mushroom Chocolates
This recipe provides step by step directions on how you can make mushroom chocolates with the necessary ingredients. Read to learn more!

Why Do People Use Psilocybin? New Johns Hopkins Study
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicines has just published a new study on psychoactive effects of psilocybin. Read here to learn more.

How-To Lemon Tek: Ultimate Guide and Recipe
This master guide will teach you how to lemon tek, preventing the onset of negative effects after consuming psilocybin. Read to learn more!

How to Intensify a Mushroom Trip
Learn about techniques like Lemon tekking, or discover the right time to consume cannabis if you are looking to intensify a mushroom trip.

How to Grow Magic Mushrooms: Step-by-Step
This step-by-step guide will show you how to grow magic mushrooms at home. Read this guide before trying it on your own.

How to Dry Magic Mushrooms: Best Practices
Read to learn more about specifics for the best practices on how to dry magic mushrooms after harvesting season.

How to Buy Psilocybin Spores
Interested in psilocybin mushrooms? We’ll walk you through all you need to know to obtain mushroom spores. Nosh on this delish How To guide.

Hippie Flipping: When Shrooms and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Explore the mechanics of hippie flipping and how to safely experiment.

Having Sex on Shrooms: Good or Bad Idea?
Is having sex on shrooms a good idea or an accident waiting to happen? Find out in our guide to sex on magic mushrooms.

Gold Cap Shrooms Guide: Spores, Effects, Identification
Read this guide to learn more about the different characteristics of gold cap mushrooms, and how they differ from other psilocybin species.

Guide to Cooking with Magic Mushrooms
From cookies to smoothies and sandwiches, we cover various methods of cooking with magic mushrooms for the ultimate snack.

2020 Election: The Decriminalize Psilocybin Movement
Are you curious if mushrooms will follow in marijuana’s footsteps? Read to learn about how the U.S. is moving to decriminalize psilocybin.

Oregon’s Initiative to Legalize Mushrooms | Initiative Petition 34
Oregon continues to push ahead with their initiative to legalize Psilocybin in 2020. The measure received its official title and now needs signatures.

Canada Approves Psilocybin Treatment for Terminally-Ill Cancer Patients
Canada’s Minister of Health, Patty Hajdu approved the use of psilocybin to help ease anxiety and depression of four terminal cancer patients.

Mapping the DMT Experience
With only firsthand experiences to share, how can we fully map the DMT experience? Let’s explore what we know about this powerful psychedelic.

Guide to Machine Elves and Other DMT Entities
This guide discusses machine elves, clockwork elves, and other common DMT entities that people experience during a DMT trip.

Is the DMT Experience a Hallucination? 
What if the DMT realm was the real world, and our everyday lives were merely a game we had chosen to play?

How to Store DMT
Not sure how to store DMT? Read this piece to learn the best practices and elements of advice to keep your stuff fresh.

What Does 5-MeO-DMT Show Us About Consciousness?
How does our brain differentiate between what’s real and what’s not? Read to learn what can 5-MeO-DMT show us about consciousness.

How to Smoke DMT: Processes Explained
There are many ways to smoke DMT and we’ve outlined some of the best processes to consider before embarking on your journey.

How to Ground After DMT
Knowing what to expect from a DMT comedown can help you integrate the experience to gain as much value as possible from your journey.

How To Get DMT
What kind of plants contain DMT? Are there other ways to access this psychedelic? Read on to learn more about how to get DMT.

How DMT is Made: Everything You Need to Know
Ever wonder how to make DMT? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how DMT is made.

Having Sex on DMT: What You Need to Know
Have you ever wondered about sex on DMT? Learn how the God Molecule can influence your intimate experiences.

Does the Human Brain Make DMT? 
With scientific evidence showing us DMT in the brain, what can we conclude it is there for? Read on to learn more.

How to Use DMT Vape Pens
Read to learn all about DMT vape pens including: what to know when vaping, what to expect when purchasing a DMT cartridge, and vaping safely.

DMT Resources
This article is a comprehensive DMT resource providing extensive information from studies, books, documentaries, and more. Check it out!

Differentiating DMT and Near-Death Experiences
Some say there are similarities between a DMT trip and death. Read our guide on differentiating DMT and near-death experiences to find out.

DMT Research from 1956 to the Edge of Time
From a representative sample of a suitably psychedelic crowd, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who couldn’t tell you all about Albert Hofmann’s enchanted bicycle ride after swallowing what turned out to be a massive dose of LSD. Far fewer, however, could tell you much about the world’s first DMT trip.

The Ultimate Guide to DMT Pricing
Check out our ultimate guide on DMT pricing to learn what to expect when purchasing DMT for your first time.

DMT Milking | Reality Sandwich
Indigenous cultures have used 5-MeO-DMT for centuries. With the surge in demand for psychedelic toad milk, is DMT Milking harming the frogs?

Why Does DMT Pervade Nature?
With the presence of DMT in nature everywhere – including human brains – why does it continue to baffle science?

DMT Substance Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to DMT has everything you want to know about this powerful psychedelic referred to as “the spirit molecule”.

DMT for Depression: Paving the Way for New Medicine
We’ve been waiting for an effective depression treatment. Studies show DMT for depression works even for treatment resistant patients.

Beating Addiction with DMT
Psychedelics have been studied for their help overcoming addiction. Read how DMT is helping addicts beat their substance abuse issues.

DMT Extraction: Behind the Scientific Process
Take a look at DMT extraction and the scientific process involved. Learn all you need to know including procedures and safety.

Microdosing DMT & Common Dosages Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing DMT.

DMT Art: A Look Behind Visionary Creations
An entire genre of artwork is inspired by psychedelic trips with DMT. Read to learn about the entities and visions behind DMT art.

Changa vs. DMT: What You Need to Know
While similar (changa contains DMT), each drug has its own unique effect and feeling. Let’s compare and contrast changa vs DMT.

5-MeO-DMT Guide: Effects, Benefits, Safety, and Legality
5-Meo-DMT comes from the Sonora Desert toad. Here is everything you want to know about 5-Meo-DMT and how it compares to 4-AcO-DMT.

4-AcO-DMT Guide: Benefits, Effects, Safety, and Legality
This guide tells you everything about 4 AcO DMT & 5 MeO DMT, that belong to the tryptamine class, and are similar but slightly different to DMT.

How Much Does LSD Cost? When shopping around for that magical psychedelic substance, there can be many uncertainties when new to buying LSD. You may be wondering how much does LSD cost? In this article, we will discuss what to expect when purchasing LSD on the black market, what forms LSD is sold in, and the standard breakdown of buying LSD in quantity.   Navy Use of LSD on the Dark Web The dark web is increasingly popular for purchasing illegal substances. The US Navy has now noticed this trend with their staff. Read to learn more.   Having Sex on LSD: What You Need to Know Can you have sex on LSD? Read our guide to learn everything about sex on acid, from lowered inhibitions to LSD users quotes on sex while tripping.   A Drug That Switches off an LSD Trip A pharmaceutical company is developing an “off-switch” drug for an LSD trip, in the case that a bad trip can happen. Some would say there is no such thing.   Queen of Hearts: An Interview with Liz Elliot on Tim Leary and LSD The history of psychedelia, particularly the British experience, has been almost totally written by men. Of the women involved, especially those who were in the thick of it, little has been written either by or about them. A notable exception is Liz Elliot.   LSD Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety LSD, Lysergic acid diethylamide, or just acid is one of the most important psychedelics ever discovered. What did history teach us?   Microdosing LSD & Common Dosage Explained Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing LSD.   LSD Resources Curious to learn more about LSD? This guide includes comprehensive LSD resources containing books, studies and more.   LSD as a Spiritual Aid There is common consent that the evolution of mankind is paralleled by the increase and expansion of consciousness. From the described process of how consciousness originates and develops, it becomes evident that its growth depends on its faculty of perception. Therefore every means of improving this faculty should be used.   Legendary LSD Blotter Art: A Hidden Craftsmanship Have you ever heard of LSD blotter art? Explore the trippy world of LSD art and some of the top artists of LSD blotter art.   LSD and Exercise: Does it Work? LSD and exercise? Learn why high-performing athletes are taking hits of LSD to improve their overall potential.   Jan Bastiaans Treated Holocaust Survivors with LSD Dutch psychiatrist, Jan Bastiaans administered LSD-assisted therapy to survivors of the Holocaust. A true war hero and pioneer of psychedelic-therapy.   LSD and Spiritual Awakening I give thanks for LSD, which provided the opening that led me to India in 1971 and brought me to Neem Karoli Baba, known as Maharajji. Maharajji is described by the Indians as a “knower of hearts.”   How LSD is Made: Everything You Need to Know Ever wonder how to make LSD? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how LSD is made.   How to Store LSD: Best Practices Learn the best way to store LSD, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long LSD lasts when stored.   Bicycle Day: The Discovery of LSD Every year on April 19th, psychonauts join forces to celebrate Bicycle Day. Learn about the famous day when Albert Hoffman first discovered the effects of LSD.   Cary Grant: A Hollywood Legend On LSD Cary Grant was a famous actor during the 1930’s-60’s But did you know Grant experimented with LSD? Read our guide to learn more.   Albert Hofmann: LSD — My Problem Child Learn about Albert Hofmann and his discovery of LSD, along with the story of Bicycle Day and why it marks a historic milestone.   Babies are High: What Does LSD Do To Your Brain What do LSD and babies have in common? Researchers at the Imperial College in London discover that an adult’s brain on LSD looks like a baby’s brain.   1P LSD: Effects, Benefits, Safety Explained 1P LSD is an analogue of LSD and homologue of ALD-25. Here is everything you want to know about 1P LSD and how it compares to LSD.   Francis Crick, DNA & LSD Type ‘Francis Crick LSD’ into Google, and the result will be 30,000 links. Many sites claim that Crick (one of the two men responsible for discovering the structure of DNA), was either under the influence of LSD at the time of his revelation or used the drug to help with his thought processes during his research. Is this true?   What Happens If You Overdose on LSD? A recent article presented three individuals who overdosed on LSD. Though the experience was unpleasant, the outcomes were remarkably positive.

The Ayahuasca Experience
Ayahuasca is both a medicine and a visionary aid. You can employ ayahuasca for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual repair, and you can engage with the power of ayahuasca for deeper insight and realization. If you consider attainment of knowledge in the broadest perspective, you can say that at all times, ayahuasca heals.

 

Trippy Talk: Meet Ayahuasca with Sitaramaya Sita and PlantTeachers
Sitaramaya Sita is a spiritual herbalist, pusangera, and plant wisdom practitioner formally trained in the Shipibo ayahuasca tradition.

 

The Therapeutic Value of Ayahuasca
My best description of the impact of ayahuasca is that it’s a rocket boost to psychospiritual growth and unfolding, my professional specialty during my thirty-five years of private practice.

 

Microdosing Ayahuasca: Common Dosage Explained
What is ayahuasca made of and what is considered a microdose? Explore insights with an experienced Peruvian brewmaster and learn more about this practice.

 

Ayahuasca Makes Neuron Babies in Your Brain
Researchers from Beckley/Sant Pau Research Program have shared the latest findings in their study on the effects of ayahuasca on neurogenesis.

 

The Fatimiya Sufi Order and Ayahuasca
In this interview, the founder of the Fatimiya Sufi Order,  N. Wahid Azal, discusses the history and uses of plant medicines in Islamic and pre-Islamic mystery schools.

 

Consideration Ayahuasca for Treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Research indicates that ayahuasca mimics mechanisms of currently accepted treatments for PTSD. In order to understand the implications of ayahuasca treatment, we need to understand how PTSD develops.

 

Brainwaves on Ayahuasca: A Waking Dream State
In a study researchers shared discoveries showing ingredients found in Ayahuasca impact the brainwaves causing a “waking dream” state.

 

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a pro cannabis Peruvian Shaman.

 

Ayahuasca Retreat 101: Everything You Need to Know to Brave the Brew
Ayahuasca has been known to be a powerful medicinal substance for millennia. However, until recently, it was only found in the jungle. Word of its deeply healing and cleansing properties has begun to spread across the world as many modern, Western individuals are seeking spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical well-being. More ayahuasca retreat centers are emerging in the Amazon and worldwide to meet the demand.

 

Ayahuasca Helps with Grief
A new study published in psychopharmacology found that ayahuasca helped those suffering from the loss of a loved one up to a year after treatment.

 

Ayahuasca Benefits: Clinical Improvements for Six Months
Ayahuasca benefits can last six months according to studies. Read here to learn about the clinical improvements from drinking the brew.

 

Ayahuasca Culture: Indigenous, Western, And The Future
Ayahuasca has been use for generations in the Amazon. With the rise of retreats and the brew leaving the rainforest how is ayahuasca culture changing?

 

Ayahuasca Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
The Amazonian brew, Ayahuasca has a long history and wide use. Read our guide to learn all about the tea from its beginnings up to modern-day interest.

 

Ayahuasca and the Godhead: An Interview with Wahid Azal of the Fatimiya Sufi Order
Wahid Azal, a Sufi mystic of The Fatimiya Sufi Order and an Islamic scholar, talks about entheogens, Sufism, mythology, and metaphysics.

 

Ayahuasca and the Feminine: Women’s Roles, Healing, Retreats, and More
Ayahuasca is lovingly called “grandmother” or “mother” by many. Just how feminine is the brew? Read to learn all about women and ayahuasca.

What Is the Standard of Care for Ketamine Treatments?
Ketamine therapy is on the rise in light of its powerful results for treatment-resistant depression. But, what is the current standard of care for ketamine? Read to find out.

What Is Dissociation and How Does Ketamine Create It?
Dissociation can take on multiple forms. So, what is dissociation like and how does ketamine create it? Read to find out.

Having Sex on Ketamine: Getting Physical on a Dissociative
Curious about what it could feel like to have sex on a dissociate? Find out all the answers in our guide to sex on ketamine.

Special K: The Party Drug
Special K refers to Ketamine when used recreationally. Learn the trends as well as safety information around this substance.

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

Ketamine vs. Esketamine: 3 Important Differences Explained
Ketamine and esketamine are used to treat depression. But what’s the difference between them? Read to learn which one is right for you: ketamine vs. esketamine.

Guide to Ketamine Treatments: Understanding the New Approach
Ketamine is becoming more popular as more people are seeing its benefits. Is ketamine a fit? Read our guide for all you need to know about ketamine treatments.

Ketamine Treatment for Eating Disorders
Ketamine is becoming a promising treatment for various mental health conditions. Read to learn how individuals can use ketamine treatment for eating disorders.

Ketamine Resources, Studies, and Trusted Information
Curious to learn more about ketamine? This guide includes comprehensive ketamine resources containing books, studies and more.

Ketamine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to ketamine has everything you need to know about this “dissociative anesthetic” and how it is being studied for depression treatment.

Ketamine for Depression: A Mental Health Breakthrough
While antidepressants work for some, many others find no relief. Read to learn about the therapeutic uses of ketamine for depression.

Ketamine for Addiction: Treatments Offering Hope
New treatments are offering hope to individuals suffering from addiction diseases. Read to learn how ketamine for addiction is providing breakthrough results.

Microdosing Ketamine & Common Dosages Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing ketamine.

How to Ease a Ketamine Comedown
Knowing what to expect when you come down from ketamine can help integrate the experience to gain as much value as possible.

How to Store Ketamine: Best Practices
Learn the best ways how to store ketamine, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long ketamine lasts when stored.

How To Buy Ketamine: Is There Legal Ketamine Online?
Learn exactly where it’s legal to buy ketamine, and if it’s possible to purchase legal ketamine on the internet.

How Long Does Ketamine Stay in Your System?
How long does ketamine stay in your system? Are there lasting effects on your body? Read to discover the answers!

How Ketamine is Made: Everything You Need to Know
Ever wonder how to make Ketamine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how Ketamine is made.

Colorado on Ketamine: First Responders Waiver Programs
Fallout continues after Elijah McClain. Despite opposing recommendations from some city council, Colorado State Health panel recommends the continued use of ketamine by medics for those demonstrating “excited delirium” or “extreme agitation”.

Types of Ketamine: Learn the Differences & Uses for Each
Learn about the different types of ketamine and what they are used for—and what type might be right for you. Read now to find out!

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

MDMA & Ecstasy Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to MDMA has everything you want to know about Ecstasy from how it was developed in 1912 to why it’s being studied today.

How To Get the Most out of Taking MDMA as a Couple
Taking MDMA as a couple can lead to exciting experiences. Read here to learn how to get the most of of this love drug in your relationship.

Common MDMA Dosage & Microdosing Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing MDMA.

Having Sex on MDMA: What You Need to Know
MDMA is known as the love drug… Read our guide to learn all about sex on MDMA and why it is beginning to makes its way into couple’s therapy.

How MDMA is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make MDMA? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how MDMA is made.

Hippie Flipping: When Shrooms and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Explore the mechanics of hippie flipping and how to safely experiment.

How Cocaine is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make cocaine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how cocaine is made.

A Christmas Sweater with Santa and Cocaine
This week, Walmart came under fire for a “Let it Snow” Christmas sweater depicting Santa with lines of cocaine. Columbia is not merry about it.

Ultimate Cocaine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
This guide covers what you need to know about Cocaine, including common effects and uses, legality, safety precautions and top trends today.

NEWS: An FDA-Approved Cocaine Nasal Spray
The FDA approved a cocaine nasal spray called Numbrino, which has raised suspicions that the pharmaceutical company, Lannett Company Inc., paid off the FDA..

The Ultimate Guide to Cannabis Bioavailability
What is bioavailability and how can it affect the overall efficacy of a psychedelic substance? Read to learn more.

Cannabis Research Explains Sociability Behaviors
New research by Dr. Giovanni Marsicano shows social behavioral changes occur as a result of less energy available to the neurons. Read here to learn more.

The Cannabis Shaman
If recreational and medical use of marijuana is becoming accepted, can the spiritual use as well? Experiential journalist Rak Razam interviews Hamilton Souther, founder of the 420 Cannabis Shamanism movement…

Cannabis Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to Cannabis has everything you want to know about this popular substances that has psychedelic properties.

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a procannabis Peruvian Shaman.

CBD-Rich Cannabis Versus Single-Molecule CBD
A ground-breaking study has documented the superior therapeutic properties of whole plant Cannabis extract as compared to synthetic cannabidiol (CBD), challenging the medical-industrial complex’s notion that “crude” botanical preparations are less effective than single-molecule compounds.

Cannabis Has Always Been a Medicine
Modern science has already confirmed the efficacy of cannabis for most uses described in the ancient medical texts, but prohibitionists still claim that medical cannabis is “just a ruse.”

Related Posts

Ready to explore the frontiers of consciousness?

Sign up for the Reality Bites newsletter and embark on a journey into the world of psychedelics, mindfulness, and transformation. It’s where the curious minds gather.

Become a conscious agent with us.

Featured Partner

Cosmic Melts

Cosmic Melts are the latest mushroom gummies we’ve been munching on. Choose from five fruity flavors, each gummy containing 350mg of Amanita muscaria.
 
Amanita muscaria offers a unique (and totally legal!) mushroom experience, and Cosmic Melts is an ideal entry point for the curious consumer.
Featured Partner

Lab Link Supply

Our go-to source for spores so you can grow your own shrooms right at home. Carrying several of our favorite species including B+, Golden Teacher, Jedi Mind F*ck, Blue Meanie and more. Browse their selection of spores and get started with your home grow.

Our Partners

Welcome to Reality Sandwich. Please verify that you are over 18 years of age below.

Reality Sandwich uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By entering Reality Sandwich, you are agreeing to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.