Anadenanthera Colubrina….

Another Excursion Tale...

Originally published in The Entheogen Review, years back. A big thank you to Jon Hanna, Trout and others. It was a time.

Gwyllm

Flash Back to the early 2000’s

Anadenanthera Colubrina….

I had been thinking about Anadenanthera for several years. I had first investigated it back in ancient times (the 80’s) when it was as rare as rare could be. Along with Virola, it was a great mystery. I had seen film usage of it, and it looked very, very painful. Now, I am not drawn to pain, especially in the nasal passages. I gave it a miss for a long time, though the reports that I had from many was positive. It started showing up in my consciousness again in a grand way about 2 years ago. I saw my first trees (albeit baby ones) in the hills of Oakland. Lovely. Then, all of a sudden, seeds were becoming available on the market. The carrier wave kicked in, and I started asking questions. Changes occur, and my interest is taken to other directions. I let it go…

Earlier this year, I receive a new revised copy of Plants of the Gods, by Schultes, Hofmann, and Ratsch. Lovely book, greatly expanded and has Ratsch’s influence all over it. (The book had been sent to me for a review, which if the Gods favor me with time, I will.) I go through it off and on for a couple of months until I stumble on two chapters I had never seen before, Anadenanthera Perigrina (Yopo) (pages 116-119) and Anadenanthera Colubrina (Cebil) (pages 120-123). I have always been drawn to Yopo, and I had thought that Cebil was just another name for it, but no, they are different. I read the chapters again and again and discover that there are some basic differences in the chemical constituencies. Yopo, seems to have a strong representation of DMT, and 5-hydrodimethyltryptamine (Bufotenine), as well as ringed tryptamine derivatives such as 2-methyl- and 1,2-dimethyl-6-methoxytetrahydro-B-carboline. Cebil on the other hand though similar in many ways has some different constituents in its make up, some varieties only have Bufotenin (C12H16ON2) whilst others contain 5meo-MMT, DMT, DMT-N-Oxide, Bufotenin, and 5-OH-DMT-N-oxide. It seems that some seeds contain up to 15 mg of Bufotenin. Intriguing stuff. Compounds I knew little or nothing about. I read the different chapters again and find out something I had never known. The usage of Colubrina/Cebil, seems to be (going on archaeological investigations), possibly the longest/oldest psychedelic in South America. Seeds, snuff kits, and pipes with burnt seeds have been found buried with mummies that are at least 6,000 years old. I have an affinity for smoking, and the fact that this was one of the early methods I get excited, noting that the chapter on Cebil is titled; Seeds of Civilization… ideas start to coalesce. I make enquiries. A friend gives me ten seeds, with a caution: “It can be very uncomfortable, watch your dosage”… I am cautious, and do nothing with them, but examine them for several weeks, then, I head off to Mind States.

So, I am visiting in California, and whilst there after the conference, I come across some seeds. Obviously, this was meant to be. I obtain them and ask acquaintances about dosage and experiences. Some are positive and others not. Some say two plus seeds, others caution that such a dose could be very, very uncomfortable. One friend reports back that one seed smoked drove him to suicidal thoughts for the length of the voyage. Obviously, a plant not to be taken lightly… When following this line of enquiry I found people were also using it a third way, via doing it sublingually combined with the same lime that you use for betel chewing. This method seems to bring it on slowly. Though a sensible method of approach, I settle on smoking.

I get my courage up. I toast two seeds, until they make a popping sound. I take off the outside husk, and grind them to powder, then gently toast again. Then, cleaning out my favorite pipe, and as habit has it, wait for midnight. I load the pipe with two seeds. I settle back in darkness. I fire up and take a small hit. I close my eyes, and put the pipe down and I drift…

First thing I feel is like I have had a large dose of niacin. My face is becoming quite warm. My heart seems to be swelling in my chest just beating a regular tattoo. Then, it drifts back and everything shifts ever so slightly. I fire up again, and then again. Something is taking form in front of me. Then the realization comes, that the boundaries have gone. All that is, is this place, this moment. All that I was cautious about was for naught. In the inky blackness, red swirls pulsate, slowly a form begins to emerge through the patterns. It is jewel, a black jewel, multi-faceted, the facets delineated by pulsing silver lines, and white globules pooling. It is beautiful, and starkly alone, floating. Contemplating, my mind reaches out to it. With that, something occurs. Out from behind the gem emerges an old, ancient Indian women. Bent with age she excitedly hobbles up to me. She smiles, and says in some language, not English, not Spanish, “ You are here! You have arrived!” She is beside herself with excitement. More forms emerge around from the jewel. It seems the whole village is here. They gesture, reach out, touch and converse with me, and among themselves. Great excitement fills the air. I look beyond the slowly disappearing jewel. I see rolling hills, a village and Cebil trees, swaying in the hot breeze. All seems achingly familiar, then I slowly fall to sleep as the visions fall from me like dust. Little snakes of color remain, guarding where the jewel once hung, suspended in consciousness.

I wake the next morning, totally refreshed. I am very happy, and feel that something momentous has happened. Life usually good, is even better. I am excited for the coming evening. I am going in again. I want to converse with these people again. I want to see that landscape, and to behold the jewel.

Midnight again. I settle back, and take a large hit. As my head hits the pillow I can feel a great pressure beginning to bear down on me. Then, the heart starts up, with the heat in the face. The pressure grows. I sit up, feeling like I have taken about 4-6mg of 5meo-DMT. The universe is pressing against me with great urgency. I surrender to it. I feel the tryptamine carrier wave vibrating and sounding through my being, all beings, throughout the creation. The feeling recedes. Another hit, and in I go.

Fractals, spiral nebulae, and the presence. Out of the void, the jewel returns. I smile inwardly, I have been awaiting this. The jewel, pulsing with its blackness and facets expanding, fills the inner sky. I reach for the pipe, once more. It grows in detail and presence. It is everything. The pressure I had been feeling had been coming from this source. Everything that my search had been for would be answered in this place. The tryptamine carrier wave grew louder. Out of the jewel comes a jaguar. Its head is thrashing about. The vision moves in a stuttering motion, and as it stutters, the jaguars head becomes a dragons’, then back again to the jaguar. It starts snapping its jaws together, flailing its head (s) back and forth. It sees me. The heads speed up, and it lunges, grabbing me by the chest, deep into my heart, and shaking me like a poppet. It goes on and on, I feel like it is feeding on me, yet I feel detached, like an observer to all of this. The vision recedes back into the jewel. I lay there exhausted. The sky is pulsing with color, and the jewels presence is now a brooding one. I hear a noise, and feel a vibration. My eyes open, and out of the jewel and sky, a giant dancing figure comes forth. It is an Indian, almost like an Eastern North American Indian, with a mohawk haircut. He dances from foot to foot. His head reaches into the sky, fading into stars. He perceives my form lying there, he hesitates for a moment, then jumps into my chest and sinks into my being. He is chanting the whole time. He emerges out of me and then grabs me again, and we merge and become one. The Carrier sound is now screaming loud. I start to fade, and lose consciousness of self altogether…

I awake two hours later. Colors are swimming, and the sense of self is morphing, flowing from object to object in consciousness, out into the walls, then trees, then back into the house again. I feel like I am going mad. I walk out into the living room, and gather my thoughts slowly as I look out the window into the darkness. The panic subsides. By the time I get up and head to bed, all parts of my being have reassembled, and are whole again. I fall asleep, smiling.

The morning comes with all its beauty, and I decide to give Cebil a rest for awhile. The amount of what I have harvested from these excursions, keep me very busy for several weeks examining all parts of the experience.

More writing soon. Hit a few speed bumps, hopefully back on track.

Take care,

Gwyllm