DMT: key to another world

There are books in circulation that never will be placed in the window shelves of Barns and Nobles or make the New York Times best-seller list, yet achieve a higher level of recognition from the reader that any amount of stars could reveal. DMT: The spirit molecule is one of these books. The cover bears the artwork of Alex Grey, a visionary artist who specializes in spiritual and psychedelic pieces. His mesmerizing work is incredibly unique and most people that lay eyes on it find themselves transfixed for sometime. The pages inside document Dr. Rick Strassman’s research into the biology of Near-Death and Mystical experiences—a topic many know little about.
From 1990 through 1995 the physiologist conducted clinical research with DMT in 40 patients through the University of New Mexico. He took literally thousands of pages of notes exploring the diverse effects the compound had on people’s physical and mental well-being.
DMT is an exceptional psychedelic molecule. The scientific name is Dimethyltryptamine because of its chemical makeup. At its base is the building block Tryptamine, which is a derivative of tryptophan, an amino acid found in our diets. When two methyl groups are added to tryptamine DMT is created.
For thousands of years Indigenous cultures, especially Amazonian Shamanism, have used DMT in rituals to explore out-of-body experiences and open windows to other dimensions where they could communicate with different spirits and ancestors. The mixtures are made with organic materials and usually have the consistency of powder (this is called Epena or Jurema) or a liquid mixture (Ayahuasca or Yage).
This psychedelic is found in almost all living things. In the book TIHKAL: Tryptamines I have known and loved Psychedelic alchemist Alexander Shulgin writes, “DMT…is in this flower here, in that tree over there, and in that yonder animal…it is most simply almost anywhere you choose to look.” But, more interestingly DMT is found in the human body. It is produced by the pineal gland in our brains. The pineal gland is a little pinecone shaped gland, that is located above the spinal cord, near the middle of the brain between each hemisphere. It is exactly located where the Anja or Third Eye Chakra is said to be in the Hindu religion. Through the eyes of science, the pineal’s main function is to produce and regulate melatonin—a hormone that affects sleeping and waking patterns. Although scientists agree that DMT is produced from the pineal gland during normal metabolism, many have not come to a consensus on why it is there or what the absolute function of it is.
Although our brains are extremely sensitive in what chemicals they allow to enter through the blood-brain shield, DMT has a high turnover rate. This means that when DMT is released into the blood stream the brain quickly pulls it in and uses it up. There are only a few different essential molecules the brain does this with, one of them being glucose—the energy it burns to work. Not even complex carbohydrates and fats, the necessary energy of other organs, are allowed in. Strassman poses the question in his book, “if DMT was only an insignificant, irrelevant by-product of our metabolism, why does the brain go out of its way to draw it into its confines?”
Strassman theorizes that DMT is released at stressful times in our lives—two of the most obvious being birth and death. He speculates that this is a way for our spirit, soul, consciousness, or being to more easily transition into our living physical bodies and then out again when they expire.
Even more boggling is the fact that in The Tibetan book of the Dead Buddhist scripture teaches that it takes 49 days for the body to reincarnate. Coincidentally, it takes 49 days from conception for a human embryo to show the first signs of a pineal gland and also at 49 days the fetus becomes either male or female. Could this potentially be when the spirit enters the physical body? Could DMT be the necessary lubricant for the rocky start as a human being?
Many of literally hundreds of tests with DMT are documented accordingly in DMT: The Spirit Molecule. They range from people encountering elves, aliens (Strassman speculates that sporadic alien encounters across the world may be the accidental, but natural release of DMT), clowns, a god or goddess-like being, amazing geometric patterns unlike anything they had ever imagined, to feelings of rebirth and a total connection with all beings and entities in the universe.
This radically altered reality that is induced by the molecule is what makes DMT so fascinating. Terrence McKenna, in his book, “Food of the Gods, A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution,” goes into detail about his own transformations with the molecule. He writes, “The extraordinary ease with which DMT utterly destroys all boundaries and conveys one into an impossible-to-anticipate and compellingly Other dimension is one of the miracles of life itself.”
Although all people’s experiences with DMT are subjective and unique, Strassman found that many were similar in that they literally shot people out of their bodies into another dimension where they felt a loss of their ego and became mere energy connected to all that is.
As of right now DMT is noted as a schedule 1 drug (highly addictive with no medical use) in the United States—listed right next to LSD and Marijuana. Yet, the compelling evidence that DMT could potentially be used to explore our individual consciousness and the purpose of our existence is out there. The fact that it surrounds us in many parts of nature, including our own heads, may lead one to think it is there for a reason and our culture has yet to unlock that secret. For those who feel truth coexists with experience, it is hard to deny the power of the natural world, and the gifts it hides among the grass and flowers.