Hi Ana,
I agree with much of what you say - certainly the ways to prepare for an interesting, sound experience are all spot on. When going through a difficult time it is important to realise that it will pass. It is the substance causing this and it will pass and you will be okay. When I experienced a bad trip and said those things to myself, it really helped.

I have been reading some books about the idea that taking psychedelics was an important part of pre-Christian, pagan ritual. It is argued that the original Eucharist was also a carry on from pagan practice, with the wine being mixed with a hallucinogenic substance. The subsequent spiritual experience was therefore profound and deeply meaningful.

Some of my psychedelics experiences have had an enormous spiritual effect on me. In fact, life changing, incredibly beautiful and deeply meaningful. I will always remember them. They changed how I viewed the world and myself as part of it.

However I have also had a couple of bad trips. And I use that word because they count as some of the worse experiences of my life. With hindsight it was very foolish and it should have been expected. We took some ‘magic mushrooms’ served in a omelette in a cafe on a tiny island in Indonesia. We had been on the island for just 24 hours. Although we rented a shack on a topical island beach, the island was still unknown to us and that fed into some terrible paranoia and acute anxiety for both of us (my partner - Laura - and I). To add to this we took the mushrooms with an Austrian travelling companion who was experiencing psychedelics for the first time. Although we got on very well with her, for the few days we had known her, our limited language skills, English/German, proved to be a barrier for meaningful conversation, which did not help. I guess it underlines the importance of proper preparation and making sure you are in the right environment. Being on a topical island I thought we were in the right environment, but looking back now many years later I realise we were stupid and naive. It was night of hell. I prayed for the dawn - I had it in my mind it would end in the first light of day. I remember walking along the beach as the first rays of a new day peeped over the horizon, feeling enormous grateful I had survived the experience, and without having my mental health crated and shipped away, never to be seen again!Many thanks for posting.