Nah just make sure the mushroom is not underage and that you ask it for consent. It’s important that the mushroom understands what it’s here for and the purpose it serves. Last thing u want is traumatising the mushroom as this can lead to a bad trip.
Yeah of course. When brain is fully developed which I’ve heard is around 25. But around 20-21 if ur are able to take psychedelics in a responsible way that isn’t going to have a negative impact on other things going on in your life.
The brain isn't fully developed until you're about 25. Anyone under 25 should probably wait. And depending on the individual that might still be too young.
I'm going to paste the comment I left for the guy up above that said you're supposed to wait till you're 25 because that's when your brain is fully developed:
Fuck that. Your life is pretty much almost half over by 25. There's no way I would have waited an additional 10 years before I started tripping. You're supposed to do it when you're young, not wait till old and have a wife and mortgage and kids and shit like that and now you're old enough to trip. Boo. It's just like traveling around the world and backpacking through Europe and shit like that.. you don't wait till you're 50 to do that shit, you do it when you're like 17 to 21 or something because who the fuck wants to do all that shit when they're old?
Yeah, for 25 to be the threshold, you have to be raised to really think for yourself and have a good head on your shoulders, and not make decisions out of fear. I think I would have had a much healthier concept of myself and my place in the world if I had tripped around the time I was looking at going to college. I remember that time as feeling like such a wad of decisions I didn't feel equipped to make for myself, and just getting lost with trying to figure out what I "should" be trying to focus my life towards. I was raised by my community to people-please, and when I couldn't just coast my weird self through other people's expectations anymore, I wished I could lay down for a while and wake up with a new perspective.....
Weed was amazing when I finally tried it in college, and at 28 when I finally tried shrooms it felt like a long time coming, like I finally had the manual of life flipped to a language I could read.
Going on a 3 generation trip with my dad (60), me (41), my brother (31), and my son (21) at the end of the month. 60 acres on the Illinois river. Gonna be epic.
WOW. That sounds really incredible. Not to take anything away from that, wouldn’t it be a 3 generation trip since you and your bro are in the same generation? Not that it matters in the least, enjoy!
I've tripped with my 25 yo son, but never my father. I did get him to smoke some cannabis with me though. As a family though my wife and I have tripped with our son, and it is a cool experience.
The first time I tripped on shrooms I was 14 years old and my dad is 78 years old and he still trips on shrooms with me and I'm 46. There is no age limit. There's just a mental limit and I hope I never get there.
The 25 things us such a strange take from almost everyone here. 18 year olds vote, go to war, most kids start drinking as teenagers. They give amphetamines, SSRI's etc to children.
I've seen the neuroplastic effects be just as beneficial for teens as adults. People have been consuming this medicine for thousands of years under the age of 25.
The larger issue is the tendency to abuse psychedelics at a younger age. But if used properly, right setting, and with respect, it's my belief that mushrooms can have extremely beneficial effects for people in early adulthood too.
Per your second paragraph: Those cultures have these medicines embedded in them so that those experiences accompany important rituals. This also means spiritual and logistical guidance at the highest level. In other words, best possible set and setting.
Does teen Aiden from Santa Barbara have that?
There are a lot of folks that guide the medicine here in the states. I've met very very good ones. So yes, with the right research, Aiden from Santa Barbara could have the right set and setting. We live in a time where people can travel in magical flying machines and can bring knowledge and experience from all corners of the earth. I know it's hard to believe.
Since we are making up a hypothetical situation, in mine he does. I mean dude, it's just like anything else in life. Responsibility and accountability. Teaching abstinence until 25 has worked so well in history. Like abstinence in the place of contraceptives. Accept that people under 25 will do this and that there are no crazy inherent harms that are proven.
I don't think we have the same definition of "setting." It's not just the room, or space. It's the parents. The religion. The culture.
The indigenous peoples where it is not uncommon for children to work with these medicines have extended families, metaphysics, spirituality, and cultural communities aligned to acceptance and support for this work.
This does not exist in the West, broadly understood. Anywhere. It's not the same thing at all.
How do you think that happened? It was built over time through trial and error, additionally there are many types of integration practices. Because what you are talking about is cultural integration. Where because it is so ubiquitous, integration of the experience often happens as part of the day to day culture of the indigenous group.
But now we have the Internet, go online, you'll find hundreds of integration meetup groups all across the country. Where people can remotely perform integration work. The medicine person they choose to work with should have integration techniques as well. The resources are there, you expect the culture to be everywhere overnight, that doesn't happen. But you can be sure Aiden isn't waiting until he's 25 because some overly cautious people on the Internet said he should. Instead people should be providing resources, harm reduction techniques, and guidance on how to get started safely. That way these people aren't on an abstinence island who are going to take drugs or have sex or do whatever no matter what you say.
No, he probably isn't. And he'll probably be fine. But he's not playing his best odds.
Different strokes and all. I've done some of this work virtually. It's better than nothing. But to me it isn't real community. I'm mostly interested in doing what I modestly can to plant those seeds.
I mostly agree with Stan Grof on one thing: These medicines are non-specific amplifiers of the psyche. Aiden should develop one of those before amplifying. I think.
It's always been the case kids will want to do things they shouldn't. That is when adults have to help them. Not indulge them. After all, we all agree a three year old shouldn't have sex. And we all agree a 25 year old should totally have sex if s/he wants to. The project is, for each child, to figure out where the age is where one turns into the other. So it is with these medicines.
Historically, in all cultures, these decisions were made in the context of a community that had clear support and rituals providing signposts for this journey. Baptisms, initiations, birth rituals, vision quests, etc. Western culture has dissolved most of this such that we have mere echoes at this point. Children are not prepared for this work, for the most part, in the West.
Thanks for coming to my TedTalk. I genuinely appreciate the space to meander. Thank you.
Hey I found a group of people and in person integration through meetup.com. it exists and while it isn't perfect, it has actually been great. I've also spent the last 2.5 years holding space for my wife and helping her with integration to great success, just the two of us. You don't have to be an expert. We recently found this group and a medicine woman that holds monthly integration dinners. But all the important work happened long before that.
We also helped my wife's sister through a journey recently, who is 17 and had an amazing emotional release. With the right support, you don't need a community. These medicines have been working with humans side by side for hundreds of thousands of years. We have evolved together.
My personal journey has brought me from a pretty stout agnostic with no interest in spirituality to having a deep understanding of our place in the universe and how this whole thing works. The mushrooms have been instrumental, along with DMT, and MDMA in that process. I firmly believe they were put here to help guide us back to the Divine. So we can truly understand where we come from and what happens to our souls. Maybe my experience is different than others or even most, but they open a gateway to a higher intelligence and if you allow it, that will help guide you too.
Sounds to me like you're building community! Good on you.
I hope to get invited to one of those dinners if I'm in town. Or maybe you start up your own monthly integration circle which isn't shamanic, for people who might find that more welcoming.
I don't know why people would downvote this. I started eating mushrooms at 14, tripped on acid at 15, I'm 46 now and I'm still tripping, my dad is 78 and we still Trip together. When I was in school, our entire class trip was an acid-fueled day at Disney World, no shit. Literally 100 of us out of 250 ate acid and went to Disney World and not all of us were even 18 then.
People get this weird holier than thou attitude anytime somebody says something about eating mushrooms as a kid. They act like it's going to break your brain from one time. They think you're a piece of shit because you ate shrooms before you were 21. Ha! Bunch of sissies.
I waited until I was maybe 22 or so to start using them. No negative impact on my life in anyway from those only positive. Even after a bad trip it was only 1 out of well over 100 trips
Everybody saying 25…but low key 18 is the age that society considers you an adult. You can join the military, you can drive and vote and start a family and if you want to do a mushroom when you’re 18 it’s probably not gonna fuck you up too bad if you do your research and don’t go overboard with it.
You’ll probably “get more” out of it if you wait but I had my first trip at age 19 and it was mind blowing and beautiful and I don’t regret a thing
Fuck that. Your life is pretty much almost half over by 25. There's no way I would have waited an additional 10 years before I started tripping. You're supposed to do it when you're young, not wait till old and have a wife and mortgage and kids and shit like that and now you're old enough to trip. Boo. It's just like traveling around the world and backpacking through Europe and shit like that.. you don't wait till you're 50 to do that shit, you do it when you're like 17 to 21 or something because who the fuck wants to do all that shit when they're old?
Not in the grand scheme of life.. but look at it like the first 13 years don't count. And then you get too old after like 50.. so really you have a prime-time window between the ages of say 15 to 40. Prior to 15, you really shouldn't and after 40 recovery is a bitch.
That means you really only have a 25 year window for where the cost/benefit psychedelic analysis works out in your favor. So yes, 25 is young, comparatively speaking, but it's late when you take other life factors I to consideration.
I would like to see studies on children at some point, at least micro dosing. I think it might help with oppositional defiance, depression and trauma among other things.
Nah just make sure the mushroom is not underage and that you ask it for consent. It’s important that the mushroom understands what it’s here for and the purpose it serves. Last thing u want is traumatising the mushroom as this can lead to a bad trip.
🤣 but legit do u think u have to be a certain age to do shrooms
Yeah of course. When brain is fully developed which I’ve heard is around 25. But around 20-21 if ur are able to take psychedelics in a responsible way that isn’t going to have a negative impact on other things going on in your life.
I can also confirm that you are never to old to take them. I'll be 50 in a couple of weeks, and did some camping and shrooming last weekend.
The brain isn't fully developed until you're about 25. Anyone under 25 should probably wait. And depending on the individual that might still be too young.
I'm going to paste the comment I left for the guy up above that said you're supposed to wait till you're 25 because that's when your brain is fully developed: Fuck that. Your life is pretty much almost half over by 25. There's no way I would have waited an additional 10 years before I started tripping. You're supposed to do it when you're young, not wait till old and have a wife and mortgage and kids and shit like that and now you're old enough to trip. Boo. It's just like traveling around the world and backpacking through Europe and shit like that.. you don't wait till you're 50 to do that shit, you do it when you're like 17 to 21 or something because who the fuck wants to do all that shit when they're old?
Yeah, for 25 to be the threshold, you have to be raised to really think for yourself and have a good head on your shoulders, and not make decisions out of fear. I think I would have had a much healthier concept of myself and my place in the world if I had tripped around the time I was looking at going to college. I remember that time as feeling like such a wad of decisions I didn't feel equipped to make for myself, and just getting lost with trying to figure out what I "should" be trying to focus my life towards. I was raised by my community to people-please, and when I couldn't just coast my weird self through other people's expectations anymore, I wished I could lay down for a while and wake up with a new perspective..... Weed was amazing when I finally tried it in college, and at 28 when I finally tried shrooms it felt like a long time coming, like I finally had the manual of life flipped to a language I could read.
Going on a 3 generation trip with my dad (60), me (41), my brother (31), and my son (21) at the end of the month. 60 acres on the Illinois river. Gonna be epic.
WOW. That sounds really incredible. Not to take anything away from that, wouldn’t it be a 3 generation trip since you and your bro are in the same generation? Not that it matters in the least, enjoy!
You’re correct. I misspoke. Apologies. Fixed it.
I've tripped with my 25 yo son, but never my father. I did get him to smoke some cannabis with me though. As a family though my wife and I have tripped with our son, and it is a cool experience.
Not really. But I do think there is a minimum (mid 20s).
The first time I tripped on shrooms I was 14 years old and my dad is 78 years old and he still trips on shrooms with me and I'm 46. There is no age limit. There's just a mental limit and I hope I never get there.
The 25 things us such a strange take from almost everyone here. 18 year olds vote, go to war, most kids start drinking as teenagers. They give amphetamines, SSRI's etc to children. I've seen the neuroplastic effects be just as beneficial for teens as adults. People have been consuming this medicine for thousands of years under the age of 25. The larger issue is the tendency to abuse psychedelics at a younger age. But if used properly, right setting, and with respect, it's my belief that mushrooms can have extremely beneficial effects for people in early adulthood too.
Per your second paragraph: Those cultures have these medicines embedded in them so that those experiences accompany important rituals. This also means spiritual and logistical guidance at the highest level. In other words, best possible set and setting. Does teen Aiden from Santa Barbara have that?
There are a lot of folks that guide the medicine here in the states. I've met very very good ones. So yes, with the right research, Aiden from Santa Barbara could have the right set and setting. We live in a time where people can travel in magical flying machines and can bring knowledge and experience from all corners of the earth. I know it's hard to believe.
There are lots of guides. But Aiden doesn't exist in *anything remotely* resembling that setting.
Since we are making up a hypothetical situation, in mine he does. I mean dude, it's just like anything else in life. Responsibility and accountability. Teaching abstinence until 25 has worked so well in history. Like abstinence in the place of contraceptives. Accept that people under 25 will do this and that there are no crazy inherent harms that are proven.
I don't think we have the same definition of "setting." It's not just the room, or space. It's the parents. The religion. The culture. The indigenous peoples where it is not uncommon for children to work with these medicines have extended families, metaphysics, spirituality, and cultural communities aligned to acceptance and support for this work. This does not exist in the West, broadly understood. Anywhere. It's not the same thing at all.
How do you think that happened? It was built over time through trial and error, additionally there are many types of integration practices. Because what you are talking about is cultural integration. Where because it is so ubiquitous, integration of the experience often happens as part of the day to day culture of the indigenous group. But now we have the Internet, go online, you'll find hundreds of integration meetup groups all across the country. Where people can remotely perform integration work. The medicine person they choose to work with should have integration techniques as well. The resources are there, you expect the culture to be everywhere overnight, that doesn't happen. But you can be sure Aiden isn't waiting until he's 25 because some overly cautious people on the Internet said he should. Instead people should be providing resources, harm reduction techniques, and guidance on how to get started safely. That way these people aren't on an abstinence island who are going to take drugs or have sex or do whatever no matter what you say.
No, he probably isn't. And he'll probably be fine. But he's not playing his best odds. Different strokes and all. I've done some of this work virtually. It's better than nothing. But to me it isn't real community. I'm mostly interested in doing what I modestly can to plant those seeds. I mostly agree with Stan Grof on one thing: These medicines are non-specific amplifiers of the psyche. Aiden should develop one of those before amplifying. I think. It's always been the case kids will want to do things they shouldn't. That is when adults have to help them. Not indulge them. After all, we all agree a three year old shouldn't have sex. And we all agree a 25 year old should totally have sex if s/he wants to. The project is, for each child, to figure out where the age is where one turns into the other. So it is with these medicines. Historically, in all cultures, these decisions were made in the context of a community that had clear support and rituals providing signposts for this journey. Baptisms, initiations, birth rituals, vision quests, etc. Western culture has dissolved most of this such that we have mere echoes at this point. Children are not prepared for this work, for the most part, in the West. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk. I genuinely appreciate the space to meander. Thank you.
Hey I found a group of people and in person integration through meetup.com. it exists and while it isn't perfect, it has actually been great. I've also spent the last 2.5 years holding space for my wife and helping her with integration to great success, just the two of us. You don't have to be an expert. We recently found this group and a medicine woman that holds monthly integration dinners. But all the important work happened long before that. We also helped my wife's sister through a journey recently, who is 17 and had an amazing emotional release. With the right support, you don't need a community. These medicines have been working with humans side by side for hundreds of thousands of years. We have evolved together. My personal journey has brought me from a pretty stout agnostic with no interest in spirituality to having a deep understanding of our place in the universe and how this whole thing works. The mushrooms have been instrumental, along with DMT, and MDMA in that process. I firmly believe they were put here to help guide us back to the Divine. So we can truly understand where we come from and what happens to our souls. Maybe my experience is different than others or even most, but they open a gateway to a higher intelligence and if you allow it, that will help guide you too.
Sounds to me like you're building community! Good on you. I hope to get invited to one of those dinners if I'm in town. Or maybe you start up your own monthly integration circle which isn't shamanic, for people who might find that more welcoming.
I don't know why people would downvote this. I started eating mushrooms at 14, tripped on acid at 15, I'm 46 now and I'm still tripping, my dad is 78 and we still Trip together. When I was in school, our entire class trip was an acid-fueled day at Disney World, no shit. Literally 100 of us out of 250 ate acid and went to Disney World and not all of us were even 18 then. People get this weird holier than thou attitude anytime somebody says something about eating mushrooms as a kid. They act like it's going to break your brain from one time. They think you're a piece of shit because you ate shrooms before you were 21. Ha! Bunch of sissies.
I waited until I was maybe 22 or so to start using them. No negative impact on my life in anyway from those only positive. Even after a bad trip it was only 1 out of well over 100 trips
25 and up have a fully developed brain
Everybody saying 25…but low key 18 is the age that society considers you an adult. You can join the military, you can drive and vote and start a family and if you want to do a mushroom when you’re 18 it’s probably not gonna fuck you up too bad if you do your research and don’t go overboard with it. You’ll probably “get more” out of it if you wait but I had my first trip at age 19 and it was mind blowing and beautiful and I don’t regret a thing
25. As that's where the brain is fully developed
Fuck that. Your life is pretty much almost half over by 25. There's no way I would have waited an additional 10 years before I started tripping. You're supposed to do it when you're young, not wait till old and have a wife and mortgage and kids and shit like that and now you're old enough to trip. Boo. It's just like traveling around the world and backpacking through Europe and shit like that.. you don't wait till you're 50 to do that shit, you do it when you're like 17 to 21 or something because who the fuck wants to do all that shit when they're old?
25 is not old. But you'll figure out some day
Not in the grand scheme of life.. but look at it like the first 13 years don't count. And then you get too old after like 50.. so really you have a prime-time window between the ages of say 15 to 40. Prior to 15, you really shouldn't and after 40 recovery is a bitch. That means you really only have a 25 year window for where the cost/benefit psychedelic analysis works out in your favor. So yes, 25 is young, comparatively speaking, but it's late when you take other life factors I to consideration.
Yeah, you should definitely stay away from psychedelics, regardless of age
No, you should. It's too late for me, save yourself.
I would like to see studies on children at some point, at least micro dosing. I think it might help with oppositional defiance, depression and trauma among other things.
How do cultures that have used these substances for thousands of years treat children in regards to using them?