First Psychedelic Experience Guide

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Psychedelics offer a doorway to entirely new dimensions of consciousness and creativity, but crossing this threshold without proper preparation can be disorienting or even dangerous. 

If you feel called to explore these visionary realms, this guide provides essential advice to maximise your insights and growth whilst minimising risk. 

With the proper set and setting, these substances can catalyse profound healing, inspire brilliant problem-solving, and awaken mystical states of oneness with the universe. 

Let this guide illuminate the path so you can travel courageously – with or without a coach – into the wonderful world of psychedelics.

What You Will Learn in This Guide

You will learn practical strategies to set intentions, prepare your mindset, obtain substances responsibly, and integrating insights. 

The guide covers how to navigate both mystical and challenging states, with or without a guide. 

You will gain knowledge to explore psychedelics safely as tools for creativity, healing and spiritual development. With this condensed wisdom, you can feel fully prepared to embark on consciousness-expanding journeys with confidence, wisdom and reverence.

Index of This Guide

Our Guidance is Grounded in Experience

As your guides through the psychedelic realm, we want to assure you that we have walked this path before. Together, we have over two decades of personal experience with psychedelics, encompassing more than 150 journeys between us.

Floris has studied psychology and built Blossom, the largest database summarising scientific psychedelic research. He is intimately familiar with these substances’ risks, benefits and appropriate uses.

Lotte is a licensed therapist and coach, with nine years of experience holding space for others during challenging transitions and facilitating deep personal insights. Although she only recently started working with psychedelics in her practice, her background allows her to offer invaluable perspective.

We come to this guide not as detached observers, but as fellow travellers who have navigated mystical heights and emotional depths these substances can open. We have seen their incredible potential for healing and growth when used responsibly. And we are humbled by the wisdom they can unlock when approached with reverence.

We intend to pass on hard-won knowledge so that you can explore safely and meaningfully. We believe psychedelics handled with care are tools that can help make the world more compassionate, conscious and connected. By sharing this guide freely, we hope to empower and educate those called to walk the psychedelic path.

Information About Psychedelics

Psychedelics have been used for centuries, and in recent decades their use has become more widespread than ever before. This section provides a quick background on what psychedelics are, their different uses, what psilocybin-containing truffles (mushrooms) are, and the effects you can expect from their use.

You will learn valuable information about:

  • How psychedelics have been used in spiritual and healing contexts across cultures and history
  • The discovery of psychedelics like LSD and their early promising medical research
  • The range of perceptual, emotional, and physical effects psychedelic truffles can produce
  • The potential for meaningful insights, transformative experiences, and healing through psychedelics
  • Ways psychedelics can reveal the interconnectedness of mind, body, self, and world

What Are Psychedelics

Psychedelics are substances that allow someone to perceive and experience the world differently. The sense of time and space can change. During a trip, everything someone sees, smells, and feels can differ from normal awake consciousness. Colours may seem more vibrant, and it often appears like things are moving. Psychedelics provide access to other layers of consciousness. They are powerful “consciousness enhancers” that can be used for many purposes.

The history of psychedelics

Psychedelic mushrooms and plants are found all over the world and have a long history of ritual use. In many indigenous cultures, psychedelics are revered as sacraments and are used in rituals to promote health, strengthen social connections, and connect with the spiritual world. The use of psychedelics is fully integrated into those societies and often plays a central role. Psilocybin mushrooms are still ritually used today by the Mazatec, an indigenous people in Mexico. There, the mushrooms are seen as a wise teacher and medicine.

The recent history of psychedelics in the West begins with the first synthesis of the drug LSD. In 1938, scientist Albert Hofmann first synthesised LSD. It was not until years later, in 1943, that he discovered the strong effects of the substance on the human psyche. In the following years, the new interest in psychedelics reached a peak. The potential of psychedelics seemed enormous – not just for expanding the ‘healthy’ mind, but also for treating psychiatric disorders. Early research into treatments using psychedelics showed promising results. The treatments were increasingly used in psychiatry.  However, the research was stopped when measures were taken to combat drug use. 

Nowadays, psychedelics have made a comeback in science. After a radio silence of over 50 years, psychedelic research is back on the worldwide scientific agenda.

How to Use This Guide

This guide is designed to be used flexibly according to your needs and interests. Feel free to jump to the sections that seem most relevant or useful to you. There is no need to read the guide all in one go from start to finish.

The guide is meant to provide knowledge and tools to enrich your psychedelic experiences, before, during, and after a session. We recommend returning to the different sections over the course of days or weeks, as you prepare for and integrate a psychedelic experience.

Take your time to explore the practices and perspectives. Integrate the learnings through reflection and experience. This guide is intended as an ongoing reference to help you on your psychedelic journey, whenever you need it.

The Effects of Magic Truffles

The intensity of the experience

Preparing for Your First Psychedelic Experience

Proper preparation is key to ensuring your inaugural psychedelic journey is safe, meaningful, and leads to long-term positive outcomes. This section provides essential advice on setting intentions, choosing optimal settings, obtaining substances wisely, preparing your mindset, and arranging support.

You will learn concrete strategies for:

  • Clarifying your goals and desired outcomes to guide your experience
  • Researching legal contexts and selecting suitable psychedelics and dosages
  • Considering ideal physical locations and sitters to provide comfort and safety
  • Examining your mental state and establishing healthy pre-journey practices
  • Enlisting a guide, informing loved ones, and making emergency plans

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