Pointers on the Path

Reader should take note; the opinions expressed here are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the staff of this institution. The following is offered as a cautionary tale to those who choose to explore the many avenues of accessing alternative consciousness.

The forces of Law and Order have not succeeded in vanquishing the need to know, and it is in the spirit of educated seeking that we record the following information for your perusal. This should not be construed as an encouragement to individuals in breaking existing laws. Responsibility for one's behavior is not suspended when exploring new territories; it is even more essential. Be aware and make wise choices.

Introduction The boundary between nature and magic is a touchy one. Rarely do we see the two realms shake hands and acknowledge one another. Derision and mistrust have kept these two brothers at bay, with resulting loss of credibility to both. Each has its place in the alchemy of the Soul.

Our task is to call a lucid truce, blessing both the hand that holds the beaker and the lips that drink from its rim. Outside of laboratories and candlelit rooms, we sought to find a voice that could speak to this issue. Those of us who have been "sliding the spice" for eons find satisfaction in knowing that the torch has been effectively passed.

Let us visit now with one such voice, a "young" arcanoloth who carries on the tradition of responsible use of plant and potion to cue the "mind's eye". An alchemist's mind with an artist's hands, he embodies the best of both worlds. We are withholding his name and we will refer to him simply Nate. We share with him today to lay our questions upon the table.

Were you to pass him on the street, you would note his striking appearance. He is not only an accomplished bard and second-generation diplomat, but also a talented cook and student of alchemy. His wolfish hair and strong demeanor lend an aura of conviction to the type of young seeker we reach out to with this article. As a peer, his opinions carry the weight of authority that comes with hard won experience, without sounding preachy.

INTERVIEWER: Please tell us a little bit about your background.

NATE: Well, during my younger years, I began to experiment with Jarra spice often. It got to where I spent many a day "sliding," taking multiple sniffs at a time. Later, I became more of a connoisseur of all the psychedelics including planar hibiscus. I gathered a great deal of chant about these substances. I began to recognize the difference between good spice and bad spice.

Let me tell you, nowadays I rarely trust street spice for "sliding". I generally have to know something about the source, or I have to have the recommendations of friends who have already experimented with the batch, because for me too many cutters out there are cutting corners and making mistakes.

INTERVIEWER: What are some of the options available to seekers of mind-expanding substances?

NATE: What I see today the most available is Jarra spice, and most of that is minor spice. I'd say somebody is really trying to corner the market by driving some of the top shelf loths out of the spice business. Most of the spice out there is mixing in with hibiscus, it's still good stuff but it won't get ya the mind-blowing experience that cutters are searchin' for.

Looking back on my experience, I would say my mushroom experiences were overall pretty good. The price of piecochet has come down and right now may be a better buy than minor spice. There are some newer hybrids coming out that are basically derivatives of planar hibiscus. The most attractive substance of that breed is called "Xac". It's basically PHP (planar hibiscus powder) and the price for it has gone sky high. It has more of a psychedelic feeling than an actual mental effect.

INTERVIEWER: Based on your knowledge of the magical components of Jarra spice, how do available samples of this substance measure up?

NATE: Jarra spice to me is like a long skeleton key that sticks into your ear and rotates a varied array of different cogs that twist and turn. Don't start thinking I am Guvner, that just how I think it feels. When you end up taking a snort of spice obtained from someone you don't know, like I have many times, you are trusting a great deal to the magical alteration of the actual raw spice. There is a large amount of variation between the spice samples that I've had in my past.

The age of the spice is becoming a potential factor. Decomposition of the raw spice is part of its aging process. Jarra spice transforms itself back down into elemental compounds. Some of my more experienced "friends" believe that this elemental portion is responsible for the "Jarraflash" sensation. These spice flashbacks often strike me as a strange shivering experience, which I find highly undesirable.

Regarding my own experiences, I'm pretty sure I've had "Volcano" grade Jarra spice maybe 4 or 5 times in my entire "sliding" career. The first time I ever experienced this, I was told it was imported directly from Krangath. It was contained within a small dark green sniffer, and was very expensive at the time. The effects one snort produced were beyond multiple snorts of what I would have called "good spice".

I remember one experience where I had multiple perspective, like a dragonfly. I think I saw several possible futures, but it was so confusing I couldn't really tell. I also experienced my entire body vanishing before me. That was an unsurpassed experience for me. At that point, I began to look for the differences in spice.

Most of the time, from what I know, Jarra spice gets made somewhere on Mungoth from different magical alterations which are highly guarded and supposedly unknown to everyone except the top echelons of my race. Anyway, the magics used in making Jarra spice are "watchlisted" by the Harmonium. Mages who are believed to be able to fuse the spice components together are very, very difficult to get hold of. So, a lot of people have started to experiment with other magic spells.

Most of the time, spice is mixed with sugar or salt during the fusing process. However, recently some berks have tried to mix it with sand, dust, and rocks. Needless to say, I wouldn't go that far when other forms of "sliders" are available. Some bloods just can resist trying to see the future.

People should look at the components of a sniff of Jarra spice, you are getting the stuff they were shooting for, as well as twenty other side elements that do who knows what to you in varying amounts. It makes a very wide variation between each experience. Sometimes that's part of the journey, or at least it seems so when you're young, but later on it tends to wear on you a bit.

A lot of people will say that you can't get "good spice" now like you could an eon ago. Fortunately, I have managed to obtain the real thing a few times in my "sliding" career, but I would say that it definitely is not common. It's not what you find in the Hive on a dark street corner for two stingers, with the Lady printed on it!

INTERVIEWER: Does this impact on the type of experience available in contrast to the historic expectations of today's "sliders"?

NATE: Yes, definitely. I would say that a blood describing their last ten spice experiences does not describe the same experiences as somebody who had taken "good spice" during their "sliding" career. They're talking about two entirely separate issues. It sometimes makes it so the younger generation can't relate to the older generation of "sliders" because of the difference in spice.

When Jarra spice was a relatively new thing about two hundred years ago, it was more likely to be made from fertile plant stems and powerful magic fusion. The amount of micropinches in a sniff was often greater than what ends up in a little sniffer now. Sometimes the concentrations that were taken years ago were much more dense and varied and unpredictable. Now, a snort is more likely to be a watered down standard where to me one just barely gets you off the ground, and six to eight really get you out there if you can handle all the side components.

INTERVIEWER: Some of us have felt the presence of sentient, benevolent Entities behind the experience of ingesting naturally derived substances such as magic mushrooms. Have you felt such guidance and personality with potions created in spice labs?

NATE: A psychedelic can offer a taste of the experience of bliss that serious meditaters aspire to in a lifetime of practice. They can experience the oneness of all life, and contact the "planar mind's eye". I've had several experiences where I went in and came back out of this sphere of experience, and most of the time it was with Jarra spice, but it has happened a time or two with magic mushrooms. I must say, magic mushrooms, which some berks like to call piecochet, are the most pure substances because you can ingest a lot of them with few side effects and go really far. Sometimes they are really potent and surprise you.

I remember one especially good mushroom experience. I was sitting by a huge dune on the elemental plane of Dust, just staring at the unstoppable winds and suddenly I had this awesome vision of the entire multiverse. The whole perspective I envisioned was indescribable.

INTERVIEWER: How do you see these powerful substances used by your contemporaries, and what cautions would you pass on to the novice?

NATE: The use of such drugs is becoming more and more common, and I think it's really good. I think it opens up the minds of all planers. I think sharing psychedelics in a group can cause experiences that are unforgettably awesome. They really tend to cause us to think in different ways. The way I see it, just because awareness was induced by a magically altered chemical doesn't mean it didn't originate with something that was your own.

As far as my advice to young "sliders", I would offer the experience of going home and visiting my cousin after being gone for a while. He told me that he'd had his first spice experience, and he'd bought a large sniffer of something he didn't really know what it was, and he snorted the whole damn thing at once. It was his first trip, and he got completely fried! Luckily he blacked out or he woulda been ready for the Gatehouse. He's afraid of it now, even though he's tried mushrooms and hibiscus multiple times. He doesn't want to try spice again because of the way it made him feel after having so much the first time.

The advice I've always given for a first time "slider" is to take somebody with you who was either going to be "sliding" also and has done it lots of times, or is just going to watch while you do it. It's just good to have somebody to check back with, to make sure that you're not going to stay where you are, because it is like walking out on thin ice. You want to make sure that you can get back to the shore when all is said and done.

Sometimes when you're new at this, it is not entirely obvious how to accomplish the journey and the return. Find someone you trust to accompany you, someone who knows what they are doing. Also, if you do choose to use spice, make every effort to find out exactly what it is you're taking. Ask friends that have had it and can describe the experience, check to see if anyone has had a negative experience.

I, as a psychedelic explorer, would recommend mushrooms or planar hibiscus first. I think that taking those would probably be a healthier first trip than taking spice. If you are going to take spice, you should talk to somebody who has already taken some from that batch, and make sure that it didn't cause any detrimental effects.