Reminiscings of a Psychonaut

Dropping acid for me wasn't so much 'the doors of perception are opening' as 'the walls of reality are collapsing'. I am sitting in front of a wall at a local dance club in the early 90s, the bricks begin to morph, suddenly a giant mouth bursts through. Covered with bright red lipstick another mouth appears, and then another, until the very bricks themselves begin to crumble before my eyes only to be replaced by yet more scarlet coloured mouths. In unison they stick their equally red tongues out in a perfect display of the famous Rolling Stones lips logo.

My friend is tapping me on the shoulder, he wants to go chill out in the car for a while. Now I am staring out the window of a second story car park. I can see the tops of buildings nearby, still giggling inanely at the spectacle of mouths those same buildings now begin to move, marching in unison on the giant chicken legs they have suddenly sprouted. I can hear them clucking and gobbling in time with the beat of the march, "cluck, cluck, gobble, gobble, cluck cluck, gobble gobble." I let my gaze drift elsewhere for a second, reeling back in surprise as a small green goblin runs across the bonnet of the car. Now I am staring at another car, the occupant sitting in the front seat lights a cigarette, I am drawn to the glow of the tip, starting at it like it's the most fascinating thing I've seen in my life. And then he morphs through the window of the car, turning both himself and the glass into a viscous liquid that twists and turns.

Another night, another trip. I am at the beach with a group of friends. The stars are sparkling diamonds, the moon is absent but the night sky seems to crackle with electricity. I am standing atop a sand dune, with a rocky outcrop below. The ocean that is spread out before me is now a wave of undulating black silk. And then the scene changes, and the the ocean is traversed by a grid of bright yellow lines. I am now watching the cycle scene from Tron on the world's largest theatre screen. Climbing over the rocks that lead to the beach we stay for a bit longer, walking along the sand that twists and twirls with patterns of colour beneath my fit. I am suddenly struck by just how ancient this sand really is, I begin to feel as if I am sensing time itself.

Later, as the first light of dawn explodes in a display of brilliant scarlet and purple slashes across nature's very own paint canvas, we drive home. Along the way there are giant steel electrical towers, now no longer towers but chattering robots that bend towards us and bow to one another.

I am home now, the acid is wearing off, I am in the come down phase. I reach for an assortment of pills on my bedside cabinet, a few Serepax and a handful of Valium should do the trick. It will be a while until I sleep, but for now I am content to drift into a benzodiazipene fueled haze.

#LSD #acidtrips #psychonaut #doorsofperception