Visual journeys

DMT is an endogenous tryptamine found across the plant and animal kingdoms, producing one of the most intense and short-lived psychedelic states known, often described as a journey to another dimension.

DMT

Psychotria viridis

Psychedelic · 5-20 minutes (smoked) · Intense

The paradigmatic visionary substance. Smoked DMT produces some of the most consistently described visual content in psychedelic literature.

Ayahuasca is an Amazonian brew that pairs the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with DMT-containing leaves to produce one of the most profound psychedelic experiences known, used in healing ceremonies for centuries.

Ayahuasca

Banisteriopsis caapi + Psychotria viridis

Hallucinogenic · 4-8 hours · Intense

The orally active form of DMT, slower and more sustained. Visions are central to its traditional and contemporary use.

Salvia is a mint-family plant from the cloud forests of Oaxaca that produces one of the most intense, short-lived altered states known, acting on kappa-opioid receptors rather than serotonin.

Salvia Divinorum

Salvia divinorum

Dissociative · 5-30 minutes (smoked) · Intense

A distinct flavor of visual experience: mechanical, geometric, sometimes deeply strange. Not a classical psychedelic but visually one of the strongest.

Peyote is a small, spineless cactus from the Chihuahuan Desert, sacred to Native American peoples, containing mescaline and used ceremonially for thousands of years.

Peyote

Lophophora williamsii

Hallucinogenic · 10-12 hours · Intense

Mescaline in its traditional cactus form. Visions characterized by warmth, depth, and a slower onset than the synthetic psychedelics.

San Pedro is a towering Andean cactus containing mescaline, used in healing ceremonies for thousands of years and prized for its gentle, earth-connected psychedelic quality.

San Pedro

Echinopsis pachanoi

Psychedelic · 8-14 hours · Intense

A second mescaline-bearing cactus, longer in duration than peyote. Common to Andean ceremonial practice.

LSD is a semisynthetic ergot alkaloid and one of the most potent psychedelics known, producing 8-12 hours of expanded perception, emotional range, and cognitive flexibility.

LSD

Claviceps purpurea

Psychedelic · 8-12 hours · Moderate

The classical synthetic psychedelic. Long-duration visual experience often described as more analytical than its plant counterparts.

Psilocybe cubensis is a family of fungi containing psilocybin, used in Mesoamerican ceremony for millennia and now at the center of a renaissance in psychiatric research.

Psilocybin Mushrooms

Psilocybe cubensis (and 200+ species)

Hallucinogenic · 4-6 hours · Moderate

Mushroom visions tend toward the organic and emotionally textured. The most widely used classical psychedelic worldwide.

2C-B is a synthetic phenethylamine psychedelic that blends vivid visual enhancement with empathogenic warmth, often described as a milder, shorter version of MDMA combined with low-dose LSD.

2C-B

4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine

Psychedelic · 4-6 hours · Moderate

A widely loved visual substance with a relatively short duration and gentler emotional profile than other classical psychedelics.