Credentials

So if I'm going to journal experiences of psilocybin because of some sort of duty to humanity, because there's something to be gained, then I had better have some credentials, right? I don't have any. I have no experience as a psychotherapist, or a medical professional, or a bio-chemist, or any of that. I am simply an enthusiast. When it comes to psychedelics, I have an interest that comes primarily from the experience itself and have no other reason to be associated with the subject matter. So why am I qualified to talk about mushrooms? I didn't know I needed a reason.

What's my personal experience thus far with respect to altering a human's consciousness with substances?

• Cannibis - I love cannibis. I have no concept really of how much cannibis I have consumed so far in my life, let's just say, my fair share.
• Psilocybin - My first trip was on psilocybin in 1999 and I have been in love with it since. I've probably tripped on psilocybin close to 100 times now. I stopped using it for about 5 years, picked it up again pretty heavily between February and October in 2008, and have had it twice since. My largest dose is somewhere around 10 dry grams, my preferred dose would be 4 to 5 grams. I believe this is a truly special, yet overlooked entheogen, hence this effort to give it the attention I feel it deserves.
• LSD - I've tripped on LSD maybe 10 times and my largest dose here would be 10 hits. I think my preference is 4 to 6 hits. I like LSD, and I wouldn't turn it down, but I don't feel that it's special in the same way psilocybin is. Psilocybin has both a liveliness and an otherness that I appreciate, but don't find as much in LSD.
• DMT - I tried DMT once in 2001. I'm not sure of the dosage and I don't remember the experience (and I wish very much that I could).
• MDMA - I've tried MDMA on two occasions now, .10 and .30 grams. It was enjoyable, though I would say unremarkable, maybe it shouldn't even be listed here. I had some pretty strong trips before trying it and I must say I was never impressed. MDMA doesn't have shit on the tryptamines.
• And the rest, only rarely, in "reasonable" amounts: cocaine, meth, nitrous, ritalin, lithium, adderall, opium, various other pain killers, anti-anxiety meds, etc.
  

Now I don't intend this as bragging, that's lame, and there's some stuff here not worth bragging about. Think of it as stats on a baseball card. When I speak about the experiences one has with these substances, these are the past experiences I'm using as personal reference points. This is to help you understand me.

I also consider myself to be a "spiritual person", but in a very dynamic and indirect sense. I would assume myself to be in disagreement with many of the popular understandings of "spiritual", most of them make me gag. I'm not going to give a definition, I'll just say that my life has generally been a path of growth and liberation. I have encountered so many different worldviews, and I have managed to mentally decimate them fairly readily, and at the same time have many intense experiences of the ineffable. I know there's more and at the same time I know I know next to nothing. I know there's something amazing in all of us and I know most of us are still usually full of shit. That's my spirituality.