A visit from the DMT fairy

A chemistry project and an interesting synthahuasca experiment

Substances: DMT, Peganum harmala

First of all, I did a little chemistry experiment with an ounce of Syrian Rue seeds. The seeds were ground in a mortar and extracted for 1 week with 5% acetic acid (white vinegar, total volume seeds + solvent 400-500 mL). The resulting orange-brown mixture was filtered, and the filtrate was basified with addition of NaOH (lye). After settling, most of the supernatant liquids were decanted, and the what remained was extracted twice with ~200-300 mL methylene chloride. The extracts were pooled and evaporated to give an orange-grey goo which, from which a small quantity of orange oil separated upon settling in a small vial.

A moderate dose of the extract (approximated to cause psychoactive effects alone) was dissolved in 20 mL 5% acetic acid and ingested on an empty stomach (t = 0). At around t+15, slight nausea was experienced, and at t+40 a distinct sedated stoning effect was present. This experience deepened with some variations over the next hour or so to encompass some mild closed-eye visuals and some unique open-eye effects: A unique "visual flutter" was evident for objects on the periphery of vision, and moving my limbs through the air produced a halo and following "ghost image" (both appeared translucent gray).

Some slight nausea was intermittently present after t+2:00. At t+2:45, a threshold dose of synthetic DMT absorbed onto a few flakes of marijuana was smoked. In truth I was expecting a DMT flash, but the dosage absorbed by the marijuana was less than I expected, and even had the dosage been high enough, I doubt the flash would not have occured as with DMT alone: the effects of two hits from the pipe in quick succession were experienced quite distinctly, and AFTER both hits had been inhaled. The DMT buzz and accompanying visuals built slowly. The visuals ranged cartoon-like to menacing but easily distracted (I do not find smoked DMT to be particularly entheogenic). Other physical effects included feelings of being alternately pushed and pulled, as if my body were made of rubber. The harmala alkaloids substantially increased the duration of the DMT effects.

The effects of the harmala persisted at low level for quite some time, and I had trouble sleeping. The next day I woke up with a mild hangover, as is often reported for moderate to high doses of harmala. The combination of harmala and smoked DMT did not significantly, in this instance, include the noted harmala "weirdness" that often results from harmala+psychedelic combinations.