DOSE:
140 mg
IM
Ketamine
(liquid)
[This report originally appeared as handwritten notes in the Shulgin Pharmacology Notes Book C, PDF page 246]
On November 23, 1986, I took 140 mg of ketamine injected intramuscularly. I entered the session physically and emotionally drained, and psychologically lost. It was the first time I had used ketamine, and my expectations were limited. Ketamine had been described to me once as producing a mental world of mechanical and monochromatic images; nevertheless, in this session I was hoping for a degree of introspection that might allow me to see some sign of the roots of my existing problems.
During the session I was lying blindfolded on a bed, listening to music (primarly Jarre's Oxygene). The session fell into three phases: a first, acute phase in which my consciousness was stripped down to a bare minimum, and I felt a process of very powerful transformation; a second, in which I moved in and out of a series of purely visual images, but with a reasonably complete conscious persona; and a third, during which I lay recovering my strength and balance and chatting with my guides. The three
phases were approximately an hour each. The first phase was interrupted once when I sat up and took off my blindfold for a moment or two--apart from that I had no contact with my guides during the first phase, and only occasional contact during the second.
My memory of the session increased steadily during the first six hours, after which I wrote down a detailed description of it. Since then, although I have thought about it frequently, no other details have come to mind. My memory of the first phase feels somewhat fragmentary, although I am sure I have all of the main points. In particular, and perhaps because of the brief period in which I woke up, the transition to consciousness at the end of that phase feels somewhat disjointed.
There was nothing pleasant in any part of the experience--the first part, in particular, was oppressive, disturbing, and sometimes agonizing. The visions, while multi--colored, were largely drab in tone and substance, like faded tapestries. Nevertheless, I emerged from it feeling much stronger, and calmer, and centered--wiser. That feeling has persisted since the session, and it is most welcome I emerged from it feeling much stronger, and calmer, and centered--wiser. That feeling has persisted since the session, and it is most welcome