Losing My Psychedelic Virginity
Set and What?
Do not try this at home.
For that matter, don’t do it in a supermarket either.
This is something if you are going to try, your home might be a good spot.
What did I know about set and setting?
At 14, what did I know at all?
It was 1971.
LSD became illegal in 1970.
The idea of altered states fascinated me. Rock and roll music spoke to me about it and it was in the books I was drawn to and the images and stories I read in Rolling Stone Magazine amplified it.
You were either on the bus or off the bus.
My formative years were on suburban Long Island, New York, about 30 minutes from New York City. You grow up fast in and around the city without even realising it.
We had no comparison, so it was just life.
Being the youngest of 4 children, my older brothers and sister had already broken some boundaries and rules by the time it was my turn to walk the teenage path. There were stories, whispers of other stories I had not heard all yet, and of course, there were elder cousins, friends of my older siblings and the media showing me many things.
My desire to grow up was something I pondered as a child as I played with my Matchbox cars and trucks.
Growing up seemed like something that would be fun to do.
You could also say I was corrupted very early.
Some may call it enlightened.
Others may call it downright crazeeeee.
There were stories that people had taken LSD and thought they could fly and jumped out of buildings. The old joke is why don’t you just see if you can take off from the ground first? Most of these stories were urban myths. We do know that people with mental health issues should probably avoid taking a trip that could exacerbate their condition or bring it to the forefront.
Back in the 60’s and 70’s, we were not aware of these things.
We rolled the dice.
Most of us made it back.
There were casualties.
Campus Life is a program of Youth For Christ, a non-profit organization that has been active throughout the United States for over 65 years. When I was beginning high school, my sister and her friends got involved with this group.
Their focus was a chance to bring adolescents together for fun after school and in the community. Their gatherings were always raucous and filled with laughter. I tagged along and enjoyed the frivolity.
Jesus was not part of the regularly scheduled programme until the end of the fun. You could hang and listen, or you could make for the door. As I was raised a Catholic and had already turned my back on the Lord, Jesus was not part of my reason to hang out with these folks.
More waters being tested, hanging with people with different ideas and ages was a way to learn.
I liked to laugh.
Somehow I got my hands on 2 hits of brown dot blotter acid. I recall many things but where they came from is lost over the 50 years since it occurred.
I stashed it in my wallet and I could feel it burning a hallucinogenic hole in my pocket. None of my friends had gone down this path yet, I was only 14, and so I waited until this one night when I was working in a supermarket.
Not just any supermarket.
This was a derelict supermarket, and it was Halloween Weekend. Campus Life had been running a haunted house situation for a couple of years and I got involved with working with them one Friday night. Campus Life sold tickets and made some cash as they scared the bejesus out of people for a few days around the 31st of October.
Can you scare Jesus into someone?
We had padded the back stairwell and entrance to the building with foam and a trap door that would shut when about 20 people were in the dark hallway. The door slammed shut and the people were in darkness for a short bit. There was a lot of screaming.
Positioned at the end of the hallway was one person with a flashlight who would guide people into one of 2 small tunnels that would take them to the rest of the very scary haunted supermarket.
I was that one person for part of this evening.
Prior to starting my time down in the darkness, I decided it was time to drop one of those hits of blotter onto my tongue. I had only smoked marijuana at this point in my young life so I figured this little piece of paper should just be some more fun.
What could possibly go wrong?
20 minutes passed and I felt no difference.
This stuff is not working, I thought.
Reached into the little insert in my wallet and popped that other little piece of paper onto my tongue.
This was a rookie error I would never make again.
I took up my position down at the gates of doom and waited for the first load of revelers to come into the hallway.
SLAM!
The door closed, people screamed, I turned on my flashlight and I had so much fun splitting people up and sending them through different tunnels. I used the spookiest tones I could as a 14-year-old kid and enjoyed the time I was down there.
People were laughing and scared a bit and I even thought some of the faces were of people I knew. I found out later that quite a number of people I knew had seen me down there.
They were just cackling faces to me.
Time slipped and I decided maybe I should have a cigarette break and a chance to get out into the evening air. Yes, I was smoking as a teen. Smoking was cool.
Coming out into the evening, I was met by a few people, and I was also greeted by the lights outside and really seeing things tht may or may not have been there.
That second hit must have had something in it.
I was not experienced enough to know that I had double-dipped into Albert Hoffman’s Cookie Jar.
“Hey Paul, where have you been?”, Jerry asked.
“Was down in the entrance putting people into the tunnel. I came out for a break”, I said.
“You were down there for almost 2 hours, about time for a break.”
Now I knew I was tripping because I thought I had been down there for about 30 minutes.
Taking the cigarette from my pack of Marlboro, I held it between my fingers and followed the brown filter to the white cigarette that went on and on and on.
I laughed to myself, or maybe out loud, and thought this is going to be difficult.
The cigarette was at least 6 feet long and I was a bit mesmerised by it all.
Someone may have lit it for me.
Taking LSD before going to a haunted house as a spectator is something people may do for fun.
Working in the same place as a volunteer for Campus Life where no one knew I was tripping could turn out as one badass mistake.
Alas, good karma was on my side and I had the time of my life. I was able to navigate the world I was in and enjoy the hallucinations and the fun in an environment that some people may have freaked out in.
Trial by fire and I survived my first ride.
This was the experimental, carnival ride side of LSD for me.
It was such a fun night I camped out in the haunted supermarket so I could help out the next day.
There would be concerts, wandering around NYC, going to museums, and hanging out in parks while the world flowered and glowed and amazed me at every turn.
My initiation was all about the experience. That was probably the last time I dosed on my own for some time.
After that experience, I found many other travelers who were also on the bus.
More stories from the bus and beyond coming up.