I broke a 24 hour fast with about 5 grams of potent Psilocybe Cubensis mushrooms, powdered and added to some orange juice. It went down easily. Effects were felt almost immediately. Within 10 minutes I was feeling the first alerts. At the 25 minute mark I went into my room to be alone.

In my darkened room I sat on the floor as the psilocybin began working in earnest. The urge to lie down came upon me. Initially I resisted it, but it soon became overwhelming. I gave up trying to fight it and lie down.

Unlike my previous journeys, I was not alone in the house. My roommate was in the living room listening to music. The sounds of Steely Dan reached me in my bedroom, and my thoughts were somewhat occupied by the music. The lyrics seemed alternately personally relevant and completely absurd. The shrooms were starting to really kick in visually. Bright colors with lots of movement.

Around this time, as the shrooms were really starting to roll, my roommate went into the bathroom to shave. The sound of his electric razor was an obnoxious whine that seemed alive. It felt as if it were boring into my head. It was very disturbing and I really wanted it to stop. I even considered asking my roommate to stop shaving. While the noise was going on, I found it difficult to think about anything else, though I tried.

While trying to forget the distraction of the buzz coming from the other room, I had a quite remarkable experience. I was lying still and I felt a wave of psychedelic energy coming up on me. I knew that if I could let go, and go with this wave, it would alleviate my physical discomfort and my annoyance at the buzzing razor. As the wave rose in intensity, I surrendered myself to it, entering a deep trance state that gave way to a "Clear Light" experience, as described in The Psychedelic Experience, by Leary, et al. All perception gave way to a clear field of white light and silence. It only lasted for a brief time, but it was intensely wonderful, and spontaneous. I came back to myself in awe.

After what seemed like a unreasonably long time (though I'm sure it wasn't) the noise finally stopped, allowing me to think about other things. My consciousness left my body and seemed to fill the whole room. I simultaneously felt that I was dissolving, sinking and floating in the air. I seemed to be the room itself and my body, lying on the floor, seemed only a small part of me. This feeling came and went throughout the night.

The music coming in from the other room seemed relevant to my trip, in a weird way. I don't think mushrooms do as much for music as LSD does, but it was an interesting effect. When Steely Dan ended, my roommate put on a James Brown greatest hits album. That was weird, to say the least.

About this time, a friend of my roommate's showed up. Their conversation, as it drifted back to me, seemed really funny. I began giggling at what they were saying. After conversing for a few minutes, his friend used our phone, which was right outside my bedroom door. The half of the conversation I could hear was very surreal, largely because he kept repeating himself. Finally, after ten minutes or so, he left.

James Brown was getting stranger and stranger. The whole trip up to this point had been rather uncomfortable. I was very distracted by the presence of other people in the house. The whole trip had been very turbulent. I was unable to get into a comfortable position and I was nauseous on and off. I felt thirsty, but didn't want to go out into the kitchen to get any water. My thoughts seemed to dwell on negative elements of my psyche.

Suddenly, I knew I was going to vomit. It came out of nowhere. I sat up quickly and grabbed a trash can I had prepared for that eventuality and vomited into it explosively. It felt really good, in a bizarre way. At almost that exact moment, my roommate turned off the stereo. I thought at the time he had done so in response to my puking, but later found out he hadn't even known I was being sick. I puked again about a minute later and immediately felt a lot better. I heard the front door shut and I was alone.

I sat there, holding my bucket. I knew I should take care of it, but it seemed like a lot of trouble. I set it aside and lay down. I felt warm and peaceful. I became aware that the universe itself was Love and I felt totally tuned into it. It was an extremely euphoric feeling, somewhat like MDMA, but a lot more real. I was going into and out of a trance state in waves. I could smell myself, and I decided to take a shower.

Deciding to take a shower was the easy part. I sat up again and grabbed my bucket. My room felt huge and I was disoriented. I wasn't entirely sure where the door was, or even where to begin looking for it. After some concentration I realized where I was and was able to find the door and open it. I went into the bathroom and dumped my bucket into the toilet. I returned to my room for a change of underwear and a clean towel, which took far longer than it should have.

After returning to the bathroom, I decided I wasn't quite ready to get into the shower, so I sat on the floor to think. I had hopes that this trip would provide me with some insight on my previous mushroom trip, so I began thinking about that trip. Immediately, I felt almost as if I were back in that trip. I began receiving images and thoughts from that experience. Again I received the idea that something monumental was to happen in 2012. I was seeing images of McKenna, along with things like 2012, Are YOU ready?. I was told that we make our own reality, that no one needed to be unhappy. When I asked if the 2012 thing were real, I was told (the voice was now present) again "We make our own reality. It is as real as you want it to be". I knew suddenly that this could happen. I realized that 2012 is just a date and that I could transform my own consciousness by then if I wished to so so. I decided right there to do so, and to help as many others to do so as I could. It was a very religious feeling.

The whole experience (as many of my other mushroom experiences) was overwhelmingly religious. I was reminded that religion, although it often hurts people, is really about love and happiness. I knew that what was important was to spread that love and joy. Everything else was secondary. I felt reborn.

After an hour or two of thinking about all of this, I felt I was down enough to be with other people. I got dressed (I never did manage to take a shower!) and brushed my teeth. I took care of a few other minor hygienic details, and went over to see some friends of mine. I was positively glowing. We smoked some cannabis and I told them a little about the trip. My daughter woke up (one of these friends is my exwife) and came out to see me. I just beamed love at her and I know she picked up on the vibe. I couldn't stop smiling (and didn't want to) and after a bit she said "I can't stop smiling". I laughed and told her that was a good thing. We hung out for a couple of hours, then I went home and went to bed.

This was an extraordinarily beautiful trip. My mushroom experiences continue to develop. I am hopeful and optimistic that future trips with the mushroom will teach me a great deal. I look forward to it.