Dmt The Spirit Molecule
by Rick Strassman · first published 2000
15mentions
6recommended by
14HN commenters
2010–2025first – last mentioned
43% recommend57% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Eye-opening account of the human clinical studies on DMT, useful for readers curious about psychedelic research and how the drug's effects vary between people.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…activity (but I have doubts about the general population being able to manage harder drugs). Having said this, there is great value in research. I saw the value of research for the first time when I read 'DMT: The Spirit Molecule' by Rick Strassman, M.D.[1]. It was truly an eye-opening experience for this particular (naturally occurring) drug. It led me to read (for a while, many years ago) about other psychedelics as well as…
on “Research into psychedelics, shut down for decades, is yielding results (2015)” ↗It effects everybody differently.I highly suggest Rick Strassman's book 'DMT the spirit molecule'. It shows how different and similar they are
on “Drugs and the Meaning of Life (2011)” ↗"Breaking Open the Head", by Daniel Pinchbeck "DMT: The Spirit Molecule", by Dr. Rick Strassman "The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge", by Jeremy Narby "The Law", by Frederic Bastiat
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗…into a psychological, clinical one. Interestingly this is covered in the context of psychedelics too (which in my opinion are often touted in a similarly misleading way) by Dr Rick Strassman's fascining DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Making things like this too clinical or for lack of a better word mundane can alter their effects enormously.
on “My mindfulness practice led me to meltdown” ↗Interestingly, there are hundreds of plants that produce it. Even more interesting, the human body also produces it. There was some human studies that took place in New Mexico. Check out: DMT: The Spirit Molecule for some interesting reading if such studies are of interest.
on “The Drug of Choice for the Age of Kale” ↗…context and cultural factors. For some references see "The Antipodes of the Mind", a book by an Israeli cognitive psychologist who spent years doing phenomenological study of ayahuasca experiences, and "DMT: The spirit molecule", a book about studies using DMT done in the 90s.
on “How ayahuasca changed my perspective” ↗Not psilocybin, but this exact topic is covered in the book DMT: The Spirit Molecule, by Dr. Rick Strassman. My memory is a bit fuzzy on his exact points, but the clinical setting was definitely found to have a detrimental effect on the experience.
on “Some doctors, therapists get Health Canada permission to use magic mushrooms” ↗…interesting is that in double blind academic studies, multiple people have very similar encounters with alien entities even though they have no had no contact with each other. (C.f. Rick Strassman's book DMT: The Spirit Molecule.) (E.g. machine elves: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_elf)
…only 20 or so people in the field, and they all help each other to get their studies approved. I think that Rick Strassman is the one who came up with this idea, and he writes about it a bit in his book DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Then all the other investigators started doing this as well. Roland Griffiths may have also talked about this in one of his talks, I forget.
on “Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change” ↗…like entities are a common element in many alien abduction accounts. They're typically in the background, silently watching the proceedings while letting the little greys carry out the examinations. In "DMT: The Spirit Molecule" author Rick Strassman theorises that DMT enables the brain to tune in to other parallel realities beyond "channel-normal". If the interdimensional hypothesis for alien abductions is correct, perhaps…
on “Why Do DMT Users See Insects from a Parallel Universe?” ↗I feel at some point we changed what an NDE was really categorized as. When Rick Strassman did his research in the 90's and wrote DMT the spirit molecule he stated that classical NDEs were distinct from alien encounters and that in his trials alien encounters were far more common than NDE. Now it seems that alien encounters are also considered NDEs.
on “A DMT trip 'feels like dying' – and scientists now agree” ↗…english? I've read it in polish). Great piece of essay. The Art of War by Sun Tzu - bit sad 2 books by Greg Egan: Distress & Teranesia The Invention of Nature : Alexander Von Humboldt's New World DMT: The spirit molecule One Hundred Years of Solitude by Marquez (WOW) The book of dead philosophers by Simon Critchley (funny!) & some more (I have to start noting it down :P) Currently: The Systems View of the World by…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗…little more of a plunge (myself included in this) -- increased heart rate can really send people through some weird feedback loops, especially on peak. perhaps mileage varies. [0]: Dr. Rick Strassman, DMT: The Spirit Molecule -> this is mostly a clinical study on the effects of DMT but Strassman does have general observational commentary on psychedelics such as LSD.
on “Dose-response relationships of LSD-induced subjective experiences in humans” ↗In the 90s, psychiatrist Rick Strassman proposed in his book DMT: The Spirit Molecule that large quantities of DMT (an endogenous psychoactive substance), are released into the brain upon death. I don't know that we have any clear evidence of this, but its certainly an interesting perspective…
on “First recording of a dying human brain shows waves similar to memory flashbacks (2022)” ↗…scientists, who are also going to have a pretty accurate guess. What's more important is that they have some training in 'trip sitting' and that the experimental environment be appropriately designed, DMT: the Spirit Molecule has a number of stories about how things go poorly when this aspect is neglected.
on “The magic of mushrooms forces us to rethink what intelligence means” ↗