My Dutch Life: A Surreal First Encounter with Magic Mushrooms

Dec 22, 2017

It had been a little over four months since I arrived in the Netherlands.

Known for its freedom and openness, this country allows the legal use of marijuana, and magic mushrooms are also openly available for purchase.
Since I was in the Netherlands, I couldn’t miss out on this rare experience.

The Different Types of Magic Mushrooms

One day, while shopping with friends in The Hague, we had a sudden idea: why not try magic mushrooms? We found a shop in the suburbs called Herbal Spirit that sold them.

The store offered four main types of magic mushrooms, each in 15-gram packages:

• Psilocybe Hollandia
• Psilocybe Utopia
• High Hawaiians Truffles
• Dragons Dynamite

The shopkeeper recommended Psilocybe Hollandia, which had the best reviews and was known for providing an excellent experience.
Dragons Dynamite, on the other hand, was for more experienced users seeking a thrilling, rollercoaster-like trip.
For safety, I chose Psilocybe Hollandia since I had never tried magic mushrooms before. One 15g pack cost €17.5, which was a bit pricey. 🥲

How to Consume Magic Mushrooms

These magic mushrooms are consumed a bit differently than usual.
The shopkeeper gave us instructions on how to prepare them.
First, you choose your dose:

• 7.5g = Very mild
• 10g = Medium intensity
• 15g = Strong

Typically, magic mushrooms are eaten directly, though they often have a sour, unpleasant taste and can upset your stomach.
However, the shopkeeper recommended cutting the mushrooms into small pieces and simmering them for 25-30 minutes.
This allows the active compounds to infuse into the water.

Afterward, you discard the residue and just drink the liquid.
It’s suggested to add any tea bag of your choice to mask the mushroom taste.

A Mind-Blowing Experience

That evening, I locked myself in my room and decided to try 7.5g of the magic mushrooms.

After drinking the mushroom tea, I sat at my desk, working on my computer.
About 20 minutes later, I started to feel dizzy.
At first, I wasn’t sure if it was because of the mushrooms or if I was just tired.
Soon after, my hands became too weak to continue typing, my thoughts became unfocused, and my vision started to blur.
Slowly, I began to feel cold, starting from my hands and feet, and it felt like my body was being pulled away from reality.

I was fully aware that the mushrooms were kicking in!
Feeling both dizzy and cold, I decided to lie down in bed.

I wrapped myself in my blanket and stared at the ceiling.
Slowly, the ceiling seemed to be breathing, and the tiny particles on its surface began to move, forming distinct patterns.
At first, it looked like a starburst, but when I looked away and back again, the particles morphed into floral shapes.

I sat up and looked around the room.
I focused on the floor and noticed that the usually unremarkable stone patterns were becoming more pronounced and three-dimensional.

The lines on the floor that extended from under my wardrobe started to sway like seaweed, and suddenly, my floor transformed into an underwater world.
The dark wood grain of the wardrobe also seemed to protrude from the surface and wiggled slightly, resembling a fish burrowing in the sand.

I turned my attention to the curtains, where the folds bulged, spinning and shifting back and forth like ocean waves.

The house pattern next to my bed was particularly fascinating.
After staring at it for a while, I noticed that the two side houses were slowly inching toward the center, pushing the tallest house in the middle to grow taller.

Out of everything in the room, the floor remained the most interesting.
The gray surface expanded outward, condensing into a crystal-clear layer.
It was like watching a movie as I witnessed the floor gradually freeze over.
A thin layer of ice slowly spread, encasing the entire floor and making time feel frozen.

Suddenly, white ice flowers appeared on the floor, constantly shifting to create beautiful patterns, each one different from the last.
Faces of animals even began to emerge — it seemed they had been locked inside the floor all along, and now they were finally being set free!

While I was watching, I felt the need to use the bathroom, so I got up.
However, the ground felt slightly tilted, and I found myself wobbling to the bathroom.
Thinking back on it now, it was a bit amusing.

Looking back, I wonder if I had placed a Van Gogh painting in front of me at that moment, would I have fallen into his world?
Imagining the “Starry Night” swirling right before my eyes would surely have been an intense experience!
I’ll have to save that idea for next time (maybe?).

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The magic mushroom trip reminded me of a novel I once read — The Yellow Wallpaper.
The protagonist stares at the patterns on her yellow wallpaper every day, imagining all sorts of things, even seeing a woman in the pattern struggling to escape.
It made me think the author might have been under the influence of magic mushrooms to describe such vivid imagery!

This feeling of being detached from reality lasted for about 3-4 hours before I finally started coming back to myself.
The experience of 7.5g of mushrooms was smooth and gentle.
I wonder what it would feel like with a higher dose?

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Five months later… I tried magic mushrooms again! 🤣 This time, I chose a different brand and increased the dose, and it was an unforgettable experience! 🤫🤫 After that, I decided it might be time to stop with the mushrooms, haha.

Click here 👉👉 My Dutch Life: The Madness of My Second Magic Mushroom Trip

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