Tripping the Right Fantastic

By FRANK LINGO

It was a pleasant surprise to see an April 21 New York Times headline that read, “Some Faith Groups Call To Legalize Mushrooms.”

“It may sound like blasphemy, but some religious scholars say they see an overlap between the pursuit of the divine and the use of psychedelic drugs,” stated the article.

Far out, man!

Yeah, far out of the ordinary is a movement sweeping America to legalize tripping without going anywhere. You know it’s widespread if even right-wing religious types approve it.

Last year, Colorado followed Oregon’s lead from 2020 and passed a bill to de-criminalize psilocybin, a naturally-occurring hallucinogen that psychological therapists have found brings relief to some people suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The article said over 70 bills related to psilocybin have been introduced (but not yet passed) since December 2023.

Magic mushrooms grow on every continent and have been used for thousands of years, often for a spiritual experience. So have mescaline, peyote and other hallucinogens. In 1938, Swiss chemist Albert Hofman synthesized a similar psychoactive property and dubbed it lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD, commonly known as acid. Acid is more concentrated and can be overwhelming for some. It’s worth comparing this open-minded scientist’s revelations to others’ non-scientific mushroom experiences.

Hofman wrote his story in a book entitled “LSD – My Problem Child.” Hofman’s first trip was fraught with conflicting feelings. He felt that he had been invaded by demons and that he was going insane. A doctor came, but found no abnormal symptoms other than dilated pupils. Later that day, Hofman felt more relaxed and began to enjoy what he described as “kaleidoscopic, fantastic images.” Finally, he was exhausted and fell asleep.

In the morning, Hofman wrote, “A sensation of well-being and renewed life flowed through me. Breakfast tasted delicious and gave me extraordinary pleasure. When I later walked out into the garden, in which the sun shone now after a spring rain, everything glistened and sparkled in a fresh light. The world was as if newly created. All my senses vibrated in a condition of highest sensitivity, which persisted for the entire day.”

Hofman’s trip was similar to my own on psychedelics decades later. He probably took too high a dose on that first trip. And even tho he had a scary freakout, he discovered that the drug could be a positive experience, just as mushrooms and other psychedelics had been for inner adventurers around the world for ages.

I attribute discovery of my spirit to trips that took me out of my body. Others have tripped and had a bad time, even a psychotic reaction. But my experience, which I had meant just to get high, was enlightening. I was raised Catholic and, having rejected the Church, I was surprised to feel the very thing I had dismissed – a spirit that exists beyond my body. Religious strictures have tried to constrain and define the infinite, but psychedelics can help re-acquaint us with that part of our being that has been ironically repressed by religions. No need to throw the baby Jesus out with the bathwater of the Church.

A personal positive for me was at the age of 19, I was tripping and smoking a cigarette when I had an hallucinatory vision, like an x-ray, that revealed the smoke blackening my lungs. I quit smoking, and never had another. Over half a century later, the trippiest thing I do now is a cup of green tea.

The mushroom movement needs professional supervision but it’s a promising alternative to artificial prescription drugs in treating many conditions including drug addiction, manic-depression and PTSD. As with women’s reproductive rights, we’ll be much better off if we get the politicians out of our bodies — and our minds.

As Jefferson Airplane sang, “Feed your head!”

Frank Lingo, based in Lawrence, Kansas, is a former columnist for the Kansas City Star and author of the novel “Earth Vote.” Email: lingofrank@gmail.com. See his website: Greenbeat.world

From The Progressive Populist, June 15, 2024

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