Fog, Psychedelics, and the Golden Light of the Morning Sun

An unusual and heavy fog settled over the desert as I drove home from work, exhausted and filthy. Most of my commute involves driving through an urban area but a short stretch crosses a small patch of wilderness and the thick gray mist surrounding the low mesquite bushes and sandy, natural paths between them gave the normally bright and vibrant environment an alien sedateness that was striking to look upon. There was a new air of mystery in the familiar landscapes and roads. Objects appeared to materialize out of the dingy void and I marveled at how they seemed to pop into existence when I approached them. As I neared the end of my journey, I suddenly broke through the dense cloud that descended from the sky to shroud and hydrate the parched earth and the morning sun bathed the near by buildings and the rusty mountain behind them in a beautiful golden glow. I came to a high point on the road which allowed me to see, with perfect clarity, for miles and I was reminded of the psychedelic experience.

When one consumes psychedelics, he or she enters an alien universe without leaving the comfort of his or her home and this morning's weather reminded me of that aspect of a trip. Like the fog, these drugs allow us to see what would normally be familiar new novelty. I could imagine that strange beasts and undiscovered treasures hid behind the mist and that same sense of wonder seems to accompany the psychedelic experience. With fantastic intensity reality warps around a user and the old becomes new and exciting. Visual hallucinations manifest before the psychonaut, like the cars in the fog, and preform meaningful interpretive dances in colored light while the environment seems to bend or breath as though the walls have come to life. The imagination is uninhibited and the world becomes its canvas as the fog had been for mine this morning.

I saw further parallels between the psychedelic experience and my exit from the fog. There was a refreshing beauty in my return to normality and it was reminiscent of the end of a trip. After one crosses the psychedelic "fog," his or her reemergence into reality is a relief and often carries a new appreciation for the real world. The enhanced understanding and increased clarity that is gained after a psychedelic journey is the golden light of the morning sun.

Peace.

All the images in this post are sourced from the free image website, unsplash.com.