Saturday, April 3, 2021

The Mushroom Diaries - vol. 11


 There is a little known fact about these lovely bits of fungus i so enjoy devouring. They are excellent pain relievers, granted the caveat is you might be out of your "mind" for a bit but the relief is there and from what i've read you don't really need to take a huge dose, more a micro-dose, but what's the fun in that? Having spent two of the past three weekends shuffling the I-mac off to various futbol matches in my native state, one in Cincinnati and one in Canton/Akron, between the driving and the standing around in the rain, sitting on freezing cold metal benches, the lack of swimming for the last year due to the pandemic, my back was/has been in right shit shape. Knowing what i know about the lovely experience of back spasms the last fucking thing i felt like doing was going through that again but when you add in the fact that my gig as a modern serf means i drive quite a bit, albeit locally,  i was in a word, fucked. 

Add in the fact that i'm still houseboy and receive little to no help in the domestic department only compounded the fact that i was walking a tightrope between pain and agony. It sure would be swell if the Breadwinner recognized the fact i could use some help when the back goes to shit or even give me a day off from riding in a car, something i still have to do as adult-sitter on her weekday off, but as we know that is not in her plans. As previously documented after being chastised for my back issues i no longer talk about it and do my best to get through it while trying to take care of it the best i can. The boyos actually understand now but it's still a laugh to be busting my ass with a sore back while someone takes a nap or sits at the kitchen table scrolling the Iphone and sucking the e-cig. Luckily Jah has provided me the bread, namely cannabis and psilocybin. 

But enough pissing and moaning, these missives are about joy, the joy of laying on the couch and wandering the universe that is you and me and everything in between. What's lovely about shrooms is that if you keep them cool and dry they last damn near indefinitely. In one of the bags i acquired there was a specimen that was absolutely perfect. To be honest they're all perfect but this one was such a beauty i actually took a photo of it, set it aside in it's own bag and waited for a special occasion to take it. Apparently any random Friday night can be a special occasion and so with the back screaming and a weekend off the soccer circuit i decided it was time to become one with my special friend. 

One may be asking themselves right about now how far gone is this tall and wasted man hiding in his downstairs lair in some suburban enclave who is claiming to be friends with a bit of fungus? My reply would be to smile. You see i respect these plants and their properties because of the wonderful things they can do. As Terence McKenna said, the mushroom speaks to me, and this particular mushroom had told me all along that she would be a fine dance partner when the time came. Usually because of my trouble downing said fungus i grind them up to make them easier to ingest but this perfect little beauty i could not bring myself to grind, i had to eat it, albeit dipped in peanut butter to help mask the taste. So i stood in my little room and gazed adoringly at my friend who would soon be me and me it. Alan Watts was once asked about eating meat and the animals involved in it. Alan of course responded in the way only Alan could be stating while one could debate the facts and merits of carnivores the truth was that animals tended to eat each other and that if this cow or chicken or pig or what have you has given it's life for my sustenance then i should honor it by preparing, cooking, and eating it in the best way possible. Relish it and respect it for you and it are now one. Alan then reminds us that as some point we will be the nourishment for something as well. My hope is that i can be firmly planted under a young fruit or food providing tree where the physical part of me can go back into the universe in any number of ways. Seems about right. Let me feed the plants, birds and animals as they have fed me. 

And so i ate my mushroom, followed by a two pinches of dust. Once again i wasn't sure how much i'd taken but i sat back and waited for the stars to rise... and rise they fucking did. My gorgeous friend did not take long to kick in and when she did she was absolutely glorious in her wisdom and beauty. I was laying on the couch grinning and the only word that really came to mind was Wow! As the mushroom took hold there are times when i take these deep breathes, not consciously mind you they just sort of happen, it's a bit like the universe flowing through you and the whole body is tingling and the mind is doing what it does and the body feels as if every synapse and nerve is vibrating in glorious joy with the universe at large. The best way to understand it is to experience it. It really is an amazing thing. 

In my, i guess you'd call it more serious exploration of the fungus, i've become adept at letting it take me where it wants. Sometimes it takes me into the beautiful nothingness and sometimes it lights up the mind like a carnival midway. It casually strolls and drifts from thought to thought to memory to nothingness before doing it all over again. That was this trip. The mind was at ease and drifted to thoughts of women, of Veronica in particular but others as well came and went, i understand why seeing as that's been at the forefront lately but it wasn't planned and there was no conscious effort to do so. In between there would be those exquisite moments of nothingness which i have come to love so well. When it all becomes clear that so much of this modern world is rubbish and that the only thing that matters is love, for the people, animals, plants that occupy your brief existence. Call it sappy, call it naive, i call it the truth. 

Of course being human can't all be about philosophical musings and there is a definite physical component to these forays. There are times when i'd like nothing more than to be laying naked with a woman while this is all happening, of course i'd be a gentleman and bring her a dose as well, so we could lay there naked and add to an already intense and blissful experience, it's been a long time since i've been tripping and fucking and as one gets older it does seem a bit more difficult to find a partner in this exercise. Yes i'm sure i could join a "dating" site and state that i'm a lover of psychedelics and would like to find a partner who would like to experience/ partake in said activity but i'm not sure what sort of response that would get. I don't know many people my age period who are still into this sort of thing except of course for the lovely humans who periodically stop by the lounge for a visit. But there is always hope as they say. There is karma and dumb luck and cosmic accidents and so i will keep my antenna alert because one never knows when the universe will turn your way and grin... (actual photo of my dance partner.)




No comments: