INDEX

• Disclaimers
• Preparation: best method
• Operational Guidelines
• Chemical Hypothesis & Alternative preparation methodologies
• Morning Glory Wine
• New Update!
• Warning / Note

SECONDARY DISCLAIMER
{([Secondary Disclaimer] personal firewall) Educational Deficiencies} The author is not a chemist. I have had only basic chemistry supplemented with reading and various forays into chemical synthesis and extractions primarily involving indole alkaloids and other psychotropic molecules as well as explosives. These experiments were all conducted twenty years ago or more. Throughout this faq various premises will be presented. These represent informed hypotheses based on experience and what knowledge I do have. I would welcome the supplementation of these premises with hard information or equally their refutation. However, the methodologies presented here *do work* and the experiences chronicled in Part II of this faq: Alchemical Considerations *did occur*. Actual mechanisms and meanings are up for grabs.

A. Here is a simple way to process morning glory seeds which produces the best possible results as well:

• Equipment:
  
  • Coffee Grinder or equivalent to powder seeds
  • 2 Jars with Lids
  • 1 Coffee Filter or Funnel
  • Coffee Filters or Filter Paper
• Chemical/Biological:
  • Morning Glory Seeds (1 seed = ~ 1ug) (50-500ug=1 dose)
  • Petroleum Ether
  • Ethanol-based liquid suitable for human consumption in approximate order of preference:
    Reagent Grade Ethanol
    • EverClear or similiar substance
    • 100 Proof or better vodka or gin
    • 151 Proof rum
    • other beverages 80 proof or better
      - or -
    • Water-based beverages (not preferred (nausea))
• Processing Methodology:
  1. If using treated seeds wash thoroughly in detergent and cold water first.
  2. Grind seeds to powder in coffee grinder
  3. Place powder in jar with a "healthy" qty of petroleum ether.
     (~360-500 ml/500 seeds (can't use too much, can use too little))
  4. Put lid on jar and shake it vigorously for a while. Let stand 20 minutes (you can shake it more if you like)
  5. Shake jar, remove lid, and pour suspension into filter (with filter paper in place). Use second jar to catch the petroleum ether than comes through the filter paper. (Windows should be open or do this outside otherwise you will get prematurely in a non-canonical fashion). If some seed powder clings to the side of the jar, rinse it out with some of the filtered ether. When finished, you will have slightly discolored petroleum ether in a jar and the powder on the filter paper.
  6. *** DO NOT DRINK THE PETROLEUM ETHER ***. Put the lid on that jar and save it to reuse next time (you can get at least five processing cycles out of it). Dry the seed powder THOROUGHLY. Wash and dry the empty jar.
  7. When powder is thoroughly dry, place it back in the jar and add alcohol. The amount of alcohol is critical, since you will be drinking it later, and will vary according to your propensities, tolerances, and the intended intensity of your proposed voyage. For light, recreational use, assuming reasonable alcohol tolerance use 1 oz. of alcohol per 30-50 seeds. For intense meditation use 1 /250 seeds. If you use a high seed/alcohol ratio you will want to prepare a large number of seeds at a time otherwise you will be working with micro-quantities and it gets more tedious (unless you like that sort of thing).
  8. Soak the seed powder in the alcohol, shaking frequently, for three days.
  9. Filter again, as before. Discard the seed powder (unless you wish to make 'soap'). Keep the alcohol for use.
  10. Drink the alcohol to achieve desired effect.

A. Heavenly Blues (most common), Pearly Gates, and Flying Saucers are all known to be effective.

A. The virtue of this processing methodology will become clear if you sip a bit and hold it in your mouth before swallowing. VOILA: Instant Experience! No wait, no wondering "Did I do enough?". Because lysergic acid amides are soluble in ethanol, and because ethanol passes through mucus membranes directly to the blood stream, the effect is virtually instantaneous. Because of this, you can carefully meter the intensity of your experience in the same way you can with hemp.

Q. How long will the experience last?

A.Your voyage will last the standard 8-12 hours. The morning glory experience is clean, pure, intense and particularly enjoyable out of doors in the daytime (drink at dawn). This is the preferred hour for the flower and seems to be preferred for its tincture as well (this is coming from a confirmed ). (Night trips are cool too, but the sun does interesting things in the daytime)

A.My personal experience with morning glory seeds began in June of 1958, the day I graduated from eighth grade. Herb Caen had written something to the effect that "If you eat 100 morning glory seeds, you will go to morning glory heaven. Heavenly Blues, Pearly Gates, and Flying Saucers will do the trick.." A friend of mine had read this and invited a bunch of people to her house to try it out. I was the only person who managed to eat a full hundred, but probably didn't chew them enough and had only mild effects. Since then I have tried many ways of preparing them, and this is far and away the best. There are a number of approaches that are downright horrible.

Based on my experiences I believe the following to be true (though am wide-open to getting "scientific"/factual refutation/corroboration. In addition to the lysergic amides present in the seeds, there are two chemicals or chemical complexes which are toxic. One of these, relatively mild, is associated with nausea and is contained in the seed pulp. This is soluble in water and will form long 'strands' in it which are clearly visible. This material can be processed into a kind of 'soap' which lathers somewhat. It is not soluble in alcohol nor petroleum ether. This is evidenced by soaking the spent powder in water.

A second chemical or complex is much more malicious. Ingesting it results in headache, blurred and 'fish-eye' vision, and it also seems to counteract the psychedelic effect. For lack of a better term with the expectation that it is chemically non-descriptive, we will call this the 'strychnine effect' and the associated compound(s) the 'strychnine factor'. This factor is contained in the seed husk and is miscible with petroleum ether but only slightly soluable in water. If you chew the seeds you break the husk but do not usually chew it well enough to digest. Same thing if you pulverize the seeds with a hammer or similiar instrument before eating or swallowing. In both cases, the 'strychnine effect' is not observed except as background. However the high is not as lucid and bright as when the factor is removed. On the other hand, if you grind the seeds into powder and do not remove the 'styrchnine factor' with petroleum ether (or other solvent(?)) but ingest the powder itself, you will experience the 'strychnine effect' in great and unpleasant intensity. If you put the powder in water, filter the water, and drink it (effectively the traditional method for indigenous peoples), the nausea factor will be pronounced, but the 'strychnine effect' will be weak.

The only approach that effectively eliminates both side-effects is the one described above. The additional benefits provided by this method beyond the immediate high effect will be discussed in Part 2.0.0 of this FAQ.

A. Strictly speaking, No. Morning glories prepared this way do not provide anything like *pure LSD-25*. Instead, you get a complex of various lysergic acid alkaloids which are psychoactive to varying degrees in isolation, but which taken together produce a full blown psychedelic experience no less powerful than that produced by LSD.

Q. If this is true, wouldn't it be better to refine the chemistry further to isolate/synthesize pure LSD?

A. The question of the value of additional chemical processing is a subject open to discussion and possible experimentation. IMHO, only, it is unnecessary and hence undesirable. This is from the engineering perspective and from the naturalist perspective as well . The additional effort required to produce pure d-lysergic diethylamide tartrate is not work I have done myself and will not be discussed here. I personally feel there is a much more fruitful opportunity in exploring additional herbs which may be macerated along with the seeds. Various such have been tried with varying results. Possibilities include ginseng, damiana, kava, nutmeg, psycilocybe, valerian, yage, etc.

A. The flowers of the morning glory may be steeped in water for a week or two to produce a mildly alcoholic wine with a distinctively pleasant flavor and very mild psychedelic effect, on the order of hemp. Once again herbs and/or honey can be added to good effect.

A. Part 2 is concerned with the particulars of specific experiments which may fall under the classification of "irreproducible". It details a set of non-scientific protocols more aligned with shamanism and alchemy than chemistry. It also attempts to develop a model for the understanding of the results produced by these experiments that is somewhat coherent with accepted thought although extrapolates fairly loosely from it. The author considered that the audience for each of the two parts was potentially different and that individuals who could accept the first might have problems with the second. Further, should anyone implement the protocols defined in the first part (and it must again be emphasized that the author does not 'intend to advocate violation of local laws, customs, and prejudices'), they may well observe some of the effects described in Part 2 independently of the author's description of them, thus providing additional validation and possibly rendering these results anything but "irreproducible".

Q. When and where can I get part 2?

A. Part 2 will be published in this same place in 1 month's time.

1. Proceed with a water extraction from the seed meal: Soak the meal in water and then filter off the water with a coffee filter, discarding the filter and solid matter, keeping the water.
   
   
2. Evaporate all the water until only a brown sludge remains. Do this maintaining the lowest possible temperature since lysergic compounds break down at relatively low temperatures. If you have access to a vacuum pump, use it. If you can perform this processing 5-10,000 feet above sea level or higher, do so. Otherwise, try blowing a fan across a flat pan such as a cookie sheet or pizza pan.
   
   
3. When only sludge remains, redissolve it in alcohol, perform any shamanic rituals desired with this material, then filter again and drink.