DMT and the Psychedelic Pineal.

[Tarantism]

Originally Posted by Turtle

I would like to find more on the circumstance of the DMT synthesis in 1936.

you know, there is definitive information on that, which i had in my brain at somepoint. the difinitive information i speak of is in my copy of the book DMT: the Spirit Molecule. i lent it to Orb a few months ago. he moved to florida.

as far as i know, as with most drug synthisis, it was accidental. well, acutally, the chemical has been used for centuries in shamanic use in south america, by way of the drink Ayahuasca.

HEY! ORB! you got that book handy?

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Tarantism

you know, there is definitive information on that, which i had in my brain at somepoint. the difinitive information i speak of is in my copy of the book DMT: the Spirit Molecule.

Roger
I see in reading all this chemistry stuff, we need to differentiate between DMT and 5-MeO-DMT.

Originally Posted by Wicky

Dimethyltryptamine, also known as DMT and N,N-dimethyltryptamine, not to be confused with 5-MeO-DMT, is a psychedelic tryptamine, similar in structure to the neurotransmitter serotonin.

So it appears that DMT isn't found in the toads, rather it's 5-MeO-DMT.

[Tarantism]

yes, 5-Meo-DMT is found in the psychedelic toads and N,N DMT is found in the human brain. im looking into the synthisis question now, it appears i read that elsewhere, as Orb has informed me that he cannot find the information in the book.

[Tarantism]

ah!

The original synthesis was conducted by a British chemist, Richard Manske, in 1931.

off to find info on Manske.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Tarantism

haha turtle thats right up there with the true story to alice and wonderland! it seems that many old fairytales were drug induced, many of them were written during the height of opium use i THINK.

This is a myth. Author of Alice In Wonderland The Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, AKA Lewis Carroll did not use psychodelics. The story contains deep mathematical & philosophical statements.

Originally Posted by Wicky

Possible Drug Use [of Lewis Carroll]
There has been much speculation that Dodgson used drugs, however there is no direct evidence that he ever did. It is true that the most common painkiller of the time—laudanum—was in fact a tincture of opium and could produce a 'high' if used in a large enough dose. We can infer Dodgson probably used it from time to time since it was the standard domestic painkiller of its day and was to be found in numerous patent medicines of the time, but there is no evidence he ever abused it or that its effects had any impact on his work. The rumour that he smoked cannabis is entirely without any foundation in any known fact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles...sible_Drug_Use

[Tarantism]

some more DMT info:

DMT has a long history of sacramental use. Native shamans in South America have been using various DMT-containing plant preparations since the eighth century AD, possibly earlier, in their visionary and divinatory ceremonies. Ayahuasca, Yopo, Cohoba,
and Epena are some examples of the preparations. Ayahuasca means literally, “Vine of the Dead.” All of these brews allow the shaman to enter the land of the dead, for the purpose of guiding newly departed souls into the light, or defending his tribe from hostile spirits. The brews are still used today in the Amazon, but their use has spread throughout the world, as people within urban society begin to become aware of their primal, tribal roots.

The pure form of DMT was first synthesized in a lab in 1931 by the British chemist Richard Manske. Soon after, it was learned that DMT is produced naturally in the human brain, most likely by the pineal gland. It is a neurotransmitter that resembles serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) structurally; the serotonin molecule looks like a slightly stripped-down version of DMT, as illustrated below:

DMT is so similar to serotonin that it actually binds with the 5-HT receptors in the place of serotonin and acts as a neurotransmitter. The function of endogenous DMT is a fascinating mystery, and some interesting theories have been posed. Dr. Rick Strassman proposes in his book, DMT: The Spirit Molecule, that DMT is responsible for spontaneous altered states of consciousness such as religious, mystical, and meditative transcendence, near-death experiences, and out-of-body experiences. More importantly, he believes that DMT is responsible for the death experience. Strassman administered over 200 intravenous doses of DMT to 60 subjects as part of his investigation of the physical, psychological, and spiritual effects of DMT, conducted an the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque from 1990 to 1995, while he was an associate professor of psychiatry. It is known that DMT occurs in a very high concentration in the brain tissue of human cadavers, while the concentration of DMT in living subjects is relatively low. This indicates that there is a massive release of DMT at the moment of death. This, coupled with the numerous reports of DMT inducing profound mystical states in even the staunchest of agnostics, leads to the theory that the DMT and death experiences are one and the same.
I believe DMT is a natural gateway to other dimensions. The chemical itself does not give knowledge; it simply opens the door. It is a mode of transportation. The DMT experience is an anticipation of the dying process, or, as the Tibetan Buddhists refer to it, the Bardo level beyond physical death. It seems likely that our physical lives are a type of launching pad for the soul. As the esoteric traditions say, life is an opportunity to prepare for death, and we should learn to recognize the signposts along the way, so that when death comes, we can make the transition smoothly.

ref.

[Tarantism]

and then...

The proposal by Dr. Callaway was the first to suggest a useful function for the endogenous production of DMT; i.e. to facilitate the visual phenomenon of normal dreaming.

that would be JC Callaway.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Tarantism

and then...

that would be JC Callaway.

Finally! Something useful. In this light it is interesting to note the effects of sleep paralysis, wherin there is often described a being in the room or setting on the chest (the Old Hag).

Originally Posted by Wicky

More specifically, a hag or "the Old Hag" was a nightmare spirit in British and also Anglophone North American folklore which is essentially identical to the Anglo-Saxon mæra – a being with roots in ancient Germanic superstition, and closely related to the Scandinavian mara. According to folklore, the Old Hag sat on a sleeper's chest and sent nightmares to him or her. When the subject awoke, he or she would be unable to breathe or even move for a short period of time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_hag

Originally Posted by Wicky

Sleep paralysis is a condition characterized by temporary paralysis of the body shortly after waking up (known as hypnopompic paralysis) or, less often, shortly before falling asleep (known as hypnagogic paralysis).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnogogic_paralysis
Snicker snack went the vorpal blade....

[Tarantism]

this thread gets ever more interesting, turtle!

last week i was laying in a park relativley near to my home. i was attempting to nap, as i had been awake the entire night before. it is important for the purposes of my story to note that i am totally and completely sober.

so, i go to close my eyes, and for some reason before i can even finish making my world dark my eyes begin to move to REM and my eyelids flutter. my body become unmovable, and instead of panicing i just sort of "go with it". i figured there isnt much to worry about.

when eyelids shut (by no fault of my own), i instantly am somewhere where i was not just minutes ago. i am standing in from of a Seven-Eleven, and my friend is there. i still cannot move, and i am speaking. my friend is there, and i am asking her questions. she is answering them. after a few "minutes" (in dream time), i finilly have had enough and i force my eyes open. i then can once again move my body.

this happens three times in a row on that same day while i am trying to fall asleep.

thanks to some discussion with Orb, i have almost positivley narrowed this down to sleep paralysis. what really alarmed me was the lucid state that i was in during the hallucination/dream.

i had learned QuiGong Meditation not a day earlier, and had been meditating hours before. the old indian woman who taught me told me that sometimes when you are at peace and have been meditating often, if you have questions for people they will answer them in your dreams.

perhaps there are ties to the DMT in the human brain and not only dreaming but meditation??

hm.

[Turtle]

Tracing back the Old Hag to Baba Yaga we start seeing themes common to DMT experiences:

Originally Posted by Wicky

In Russian tales, Baba Yaga is portrayed as a witch who flies through the air in a mortar using the pestle as a rudder sweeping away the tracks behind her with a broom made out of silver birch. She lives in a log cabin that moves around by means of a pair of chicken legs that dance. Her fence outside is made with human bones with skulls on top. The keyhole to her front door is a mouth filled with sharp teeth. In another legend the house does not reveal the door until it is told a magical phrase: turn your back to the forest, your front to me.

Her house is connected with three riders: one in white, riding a white horse with white harness, who is Day; a red one, who is the Sun; and a black one, who is Night.

She is sometimes shown as an antagonist, and sometimes as a source of guidance; there are stories where she helps people with their quests, and stories in which she kidnaps children and threatens to eat them. When people do seek out her aid, it is usually described as a dangerous act. An emphasis is placed on the need for proper preparation and purity of spirit, as well as basic politeness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Yaga

I have added the red highlight myself as emphasis. In particular, "purity of spirit" may relate to the intent or "current state of mind" we have discussed in other psychoactive phenomena threads, as well as the rules Tart mentioned.