I enjoyed mushrooms & LSD in my college days. There is also DMT, which I hadn't heard of until recently. LSD & DMT sound like chemicals, but they are both derived from plants. LSD comes from a type of mold and DMT is said to be in hundreds of plants, maybe more. DMT is the main active ingredient in Ayahuasca, which is a brew that South American shamen use. DMT has been called "The God Molecule" because the trip tends to have strong spiritual leanings for many, if not most users. I've tried it once, so I can't give the most detailed descriptions of it. One thing that really surprised me initially about it was the instantaneous effect it had. As soon as the DMT vapor is inhaled it takes effect. There is almost zero lag, maybe 5-10 seconds. The entire trip is quite short-lived, about 15-30 minutes. Ayahuasca, being a brew that is drunk, I think lasts 4-5 hours.
It's been 30 years since I had mushrooms or LSD, so my memory and my mind/mindset have likely changed over time, so I can't really give an accurate or fair comparison of them to DTM. But my experience with DMT last year made it very clear why it's called The God Molecule. It was so much more than a recreational "trip". I remember a strong spiritual feeling that I was in the presence of higher beings, and that I felt they had "invited" me there, and had been waiting for me to arrive. No one was visible, but I felt their presence and their love surrounding me. God seemed to be nearby, but I knew we wouldn't meet that day. I understood that it would have been overwhelming.
The visual hallucinations I had weren't actual hallucinations. Besides the initial first moments of the trip, all of the visuals were with my eyes closed. I didn't see any beings. I saw richly colored mosaics, whose colors and shapes continuously evolved. The colors were a rich pallet of transparent jewel tones. A rainbow of colors like ruby, topaz, amethyst, and cobalt blue. The mosaics shapes were very sharp and precise, but stretched in a linear fashion. It was like being in a long cavern, and the ceiling and walls were covered in the mosaics that stretched like looking down a tunnel.
So, to sum it up, while my mind & heart were bathed in love and hope my eyes were being treated to a fantastic kaleidoscope-like display.
I realize a lot of people wouldn't enjoy such an overwhelming trip. But it wasn't overwhelming to me. I immensely enjoyed it. I read about it beforehand. So I had an idea of what to expect. I knew that I needed to be in a peaceful calm place, I turned down the lights, lit a couple of candles, and turned on some good music on medium-low volume.
I'm looking forward to the time when I can try it again.
There is a wealth of information online about these and other entheogens (natural based drugs). I've read a little of it out of curiosity. There's a type of root bark that with a high concentration of DMT that is imported from tropical places which is popular for extracting it. The process consists of a combination of acid & base cooking & washes to break down the fiber and release the active ingredients. That's eventually dried into a powder form that's smoked in a vaporizer.
There are dozens of other plants that contain high enough levels of DMT to extract. Most of them are tropical & require warm climates, like Florida, to grow. But there are actually types of grasses that contain DMT, and those will grow in much colder climates.
There seems to be a culture of hippy science geeks that figure all this stuff out. Probably a fair number of them work in universities, big pharma, and the mental medical fields.
Note: I have read warnings for people with certain types of conditions. I don't recall all the details, so you need to do your homework. I do remember that these are not good for people with Schizophrenia.
