I am Rock and Roll

Jump to Section

Jump to Section

 

Wat a minute, am I rock and roll? Yes and no.

As Soupy Sales and White Fang, circa 1965, would ask, “What do we mean by that!?” “Yeah. What do we mean by that!?”

We mean that rock and roll and the being-ness of moi are one and the same, but it is a troublesome identification and it requires a sense of history to make it tolerable. Let me explain.

Everybody, all humans, came out of Africa. There is no longer a serious debate about this. You, I, and our various neighbors came out of the lower east side of the African continent.  Let’s start there.

Our foremothers and forefathers began walking out of Africa 65,000 years ago, left, right, left, right, one, two, one, two, stepping northward along the beaches carrying babies, to populate first southern Asia, China, Java, and later Europe. At first we all had dark skin, and later, in the places where sunlight was less intense, skin pigmentation became less too, so that honkies could get vitamins from the limited light.

That mama and papa had music at the start of it goes without saying. There are all kinds of speculations in the literature about how that happened; such wonderings are pointless and at the same time many of them could be more or less true. Darwin thought that music originated as mating calls and territorial tags. OK. Right. So what? The problem is that differentiating the calls of birds from, say, the symphonies of Beethoven, has become a false distinction framed in an underestimation of the bird, on the one hand, and an overestimation of the bourgeois male, on the other. We don’t need to go there. And Ludwig noted the songs of birds in his sixth symphony, apparently without worrying about his position in any grand scheme vis a vis “lower” species, and this makes him a rocker. Again, Soupy says, What do we mean by that?, etc.

Listen to that first movement, one, two, one, two, with a touch of swing, where the three comes in. There is a kind of stuttering in the strings, where one, two, one, two becomes twelve or two sixes. This either makes sense to you or it doesn’t, based on what you know of Ludwig and the blues, but the point is that beats can be divided by three as well as two. In Europe, classically, we have tended to use either twos or threes at any given time, but in Africa, in spite of all the variations of musics across hundreds of ethnic groups, playing two and three at the same time became a kind of universal underlying musical characteristic.

Scholars have speculated variously about why this is, and we mustn’t take these sorts of speculations about ye olde origins too seriously, but I like the one about mama swinging the baby one, two, one, two, while pounding turnips on a cycle of three. According to this theory, babies grow up in Africa experiencing polyrhythms in the movements of the mother more or less constantly, because in these cultures, babies spend most of their time on the body of the mother as she goes about her business. And of course there is music in that environment that expresses polyrhythms, and the kids absorb that too. Latin American musicians, particularly Cubans and Puerto Ricans, call the combined rhythm of three and two clave, and it is the basis of their music. One, two, three, one-two.

I once jammed on stage with the Nuyorican poet Miguel Algarin, and started by snapping my fingers in the clave rhythm, and the bongo player got in right away with something very complicating and, to my ears, very African, and Miguel immediately began yelling for Chango, one of the west African deities who followed the slave ships across the middle passage to the Americas. Three against two is that evocative, that culturally specific, and immediately goes to the god realm one way or another.

So why was African polyrhymical practice, as well as African religion, retained in Latin America and not so much in Anglo America? Broadly, there are two answers to this. One has to do with the conditions of slavery being different in the two Americas, and the other has to do with religion. I’ll take the religious explanation first, because it’s the shortest.

The Latin countries are Catholic, and the north is predominantly Protestant. Catholicism, though fairly rigid in its dogma, has exhibited more flexibility in its tolerance for some native cultural practices than has Protestantism. Drumming persisted in the Spanish Caribbean, but in the Protestant north, it was made illegal before the American Revolution. It is worth noting in this regard that the location in North America where African musical customs had their strongest persistence — New Orleans — had been a Catholic town. 

The slavery issue is more complicated, but it comes down to two main factors.

1) In North America, slaves were shipped into large ports, like Charleston, and then dispersed over a vast territory. In the Caribbean, the area of dispersal was much smaller. This meant that in the islands, slaves from Dahomey, for example, might be concentrated in a small area, rather than being mixed in with slaves from other regions. Under such circumstances, particular customs had a better chance of persisting over time.

2) The working environment in the North was not as harsh as in the Caribbean, where climate and disease took a heavier toll. This meant that the Caribbean plantations required “fresh” supplies of slaves from Africa on a regular basis to replace those who had died. In the north, slaves tended to live longer so that, for example, by the time of the American Revolution, the majority of slaves in North America were American born, thus making the continuation of old customs less likely.

In all places where European and African peoples lived in close proximity, there was cross-fertilization. Whites learned to grow rice from blacks, for example. But in a master-slave structure, it is to be expected that the burden of adaptation is on the slave, not the master. The master has the privilege of freely picking and choosing from the slave’s way of doing things for his own profit and advantage. The slave adopts major aspects of the master’s culture, such as language and religion, not as a matter of choice but of necessity. North American slaves had to learn English. And those who were able to adapt to the master’s music found some advantage there, fiddling in the master’s ballroom, one assumes, being more pleasant than field work. It took some time before the master got around to taking on the rhythms of the slave’s music, but at a certain point,  it became advantageous to the dominant class to finally adopt, on a large scale, elements of the African style in music. 

By the mid-nineteenth century, whites performing in black-face minstrel shows had adopted the banjo, an instrument with African origins that had been played by Africans in the Americas from early days, and the Civil War served to popularize the instrument further among white musicians. But the music of minstrelsy, written by northern, city-dwelling whites with little or no exposure to real southern black culture, initially bore more resemblance to Scottish ballads than to African American song.

Hymn singing during the great religious revivals of the period did serve to meld black and whites styles of music to some extent, since call and response and repetitive songs somewhat akin to the African style were easily learned and performed by large gatherings, and given the fervent celebration of the holy ghost, segregation receded in this context to a degree unprecedented in other social contexts.  

The inoculation of the white population by the pseudo-Afric affectations of white artists in blackface makeup had a couple of notable effects. One was that it served to humanize blacks for the white masses. This seems counterintuitive, because minstrelsy was a parody based on a stereotypical fantasy, and might rightly be considered by African Americans an insult and a rip-off which, rather than improving on racism actually perpetuated it, but the effects of cultural phenomena are complex, and not all are so negative.

American popular songs had always carried a strain of sentimentality. Mass market popular music, in the sense of a modern pop culture business phenomenon, got its start at about the time of the American Revolution. The memory of that great founding upheaval was very real for those who experienced it first-hand and it persisted in family legends, fostering a founding mythos of the nation that featured the struggle of ordinary individuals against seemingly invincible powers. This was given a boost by the Romantic urge that emerged in the arts in general in the post-Revolutionary period in Europe and America. But the American audience in particular had a taste for songs that dealt with the struggle of the heroic underdog and the sadness of the soldier, sailor, or poor boy a long way from home. One result of this sentimentalism was that in minstrelsy, after the initial phase of mocking a stereotyped happy-go-lucky rural idiot character had run its course, there emerged blackface characters who displayed humanizing emotions of love and loss. Thus minstrelsy, which began by sanitizing and even idealizing life under slavery, played a role in abolishing it.

The other effect of minstrelsy that I want to note here is the way it fed back into black musical practice. Mistrelsy  emerged roughly twenty years before the Civil War and emancipation. So by the time that large numbers of free blacks were moving into the labor market, the minstrel style and all its conventions had been well established. This meant that black performers who wished to go into show business had to adopt the fake “Ethiopian” accent and stylized shuffle and mannerisms falsely attributed to African Americans. In a final ironic twist, they had also to adopt the blackface makeup, because key to the effect was the uniform coloration of the performers’ faces. A dozen white guys in black makeup are all the same color, but a dozen black guys out of makeup are not. So blacks had to learn black style from white artists who had made it up with little real reference to the way real African Americans actually behaved.

By the late nineteenth century, a free black middle class had emerged, and from its ranks came a number of classically trained musicians, the best known of whom are probably Scott Joplin, who popularized ragtime music, and W. C. Handy, whose adaptation of a song he learned from a country singer (St. Louis Blues) marked a milestone in the evolution of commercial popular music.

So we have two interlocking musical trends here, and for two hundred years they have happened in the context of a commercial popular culture. One is Africans adopting European music and blending it with whatever elements they were able to retain from their original cultures, and the other is whites taking up elements of African musical practice and carrying it over into European styles. It’s a feedback loop that has been going on for centuries, it is the engine of American pop.

The blues is an example of the two trends meeting in a commercial popular environment. I realize I’m on dangerous ground here, because the blues, like most folk-based musics, carries a sense of a pure strain that is prior to, beyond, and even opposed to a perceivedly co-opting and corrupting commercialism. The simple answer to this is that labels such as “blues,” “jazz,” and even “folk” are themselves commercial categories generated and propagated for purpose of marketing. Duke Ellington is supposed to have said that there are only two types of music, good and bad. Once we get beyond this and into names of styles, one way or another we’re talking commerce. Robert Johnson probably referred to what he was doing as “the blues,” but he was selling it, no? The ethnomusicological literature is full of conversations with traditional singers who have no particular label for what they do. What do you call that? — “I call it a song,” or “it is the story of a great hero and his bride.” It aint “folk music” until it comes time to market it.

The point is that it is in the American marketplace that black and white styles most fully merged, beginning with blues and jazz, and moving into rock and roll, which is where I came in. American music is a hybrid, and it happened from the start in an ethnically mixed environment without which it would not have happened, but it happened in an environment of oppression, and therein lies a problem, particularly for a teacher of music, such as myself, and a white musician, ditto.

Now I have to go into the balancing act that occupies me every time I teach this stuff, and particularly when I teach a course in song writing, as I have now more or less every year for a decade, and where, inevitably, half the males in class are white guys from the burbs who, in the presence of a drum beat, instantly assume the peculiar, rounded vowels and crisp consonants of thickest black-Bronx English. Why does this make me cringe? 

Questions multiply. Am I uncomfortable with this because I see it as a sign of ignorance? Am I assuming that if they knew where this music was coming from, if they understood what it was, they wouldn’t assume that voice? And when I play a blues-inflected solo on the guitar, am I doing the same thing?

For more than a century, racism and segregation permitted white artists to present as their own styles of music innovated for the most part in the black community. This allowed Irving Berlin to plagiarize Scott Joplin with impunity, and George Gershwin to be marketed as “the King of Jazz.” Elvis was a particularly good example of the musical consequences of segregation. The producer who discovered him, Sam Phillips, was looking for a white singer who sounded black, in order to market a hybrid style of music with strong black roots to a white segregationist audience. 

Again, as with minstrelsy a hundred years earlier, the effects were not all negative for the black side of the non-equation. First of all, segregated communities provided the conditions for intense experimentation in black musical practice that might not have happened at all in an integrated society. Also, the segregation of the recording industry allowed the development of black entrepreneurship in music that culminated in the successful cross-over of black artist into the mass market, as with Motown Records in the 1960s.

Michael Jackson, may he rest in peace, is a particularly good example of the hybrid, on many levels, from his musical style to his success and of course his efforts to, shall we say, deracialize his appearance. The fact that as late as the 1990s, he became the first black artist to regularly play the rotation at MTV is testament to the longevity of segregationism in the US. Things continue to improve, seemingly, and even the premature label of “post-racial” America is in some ways a positive sign, but conditions are still far from ideal, and conditions of exploitation continue.

So does all this mean that my white students shouldn’t be rapping? Does it mean I shouldn’t be playing rock and roll? Are the two things the same? Rock and roll is substantially hillbilly music, which has roots in the British Isles, where I was born. And I learned it from white musicians before I was even aware of its black roots in any meaningful way. But is rap the same thing? Is it more black than rock? And does any of this matter? Doesn’t music belong to everyone? And maybe the fact that we bought all this music justifies our sense of owning it? Well, I’ve come to a position on all of this, sort of.

In graduate school, when I was taking my oral exams for the doctorate in music, I was asked the following question: What if you were teaching a class on jazz, and someone asked what right you, as a white man, had to teach black music, what would you do?” I found myself saying that we would have to make that question, the issues it raises, a part of the course content. That’s where I’m at with this.

I don’t rap; in performance, I don’t pretend to have an accent that I don’t use in my normal speech; I don’t tell my students they can’t co-opt other people’s musical styles, but I do try to understand where my music comes from and help my students to understand where there’s comes from, and to make issues of appropriation part of the curriculum.

In a culture where participation in indigenous peoples’ spiritual practices can be arranged for you by a travel agent, it is important to understand the history of the things we choose to practice, particularly with regard to historical conditions of exploitation, to respect the traditions behind all cultural practices, and to make decisions on what and how to practice in light of these considerations.   

P.S. I want to note here that I probably would not publish this piece in a venue where readers couldn’t easily respond to it with comments. The cool thing about this format is that RS allows us to experiment, to put out ideas that are not fixed and may never be settled, and to learn from the community’s response. I look forward to readers’ feedback. 

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.