Subject: Morning Glory FAQ Part 1
From: [email-masked] (TrakMan.Du)
Date: Wed, 1 Jun 1994 14:25:06 UTC
Newsgroups: alt.drugs

The Compleat MorningGlory FAQ
                         (Part 1, Preparation and Use)
                               Revision 1.001

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{([Standard Disclaimer] lexical exceptions) Context Definition} The author's
intent: This report is based on personal research conducted on the psycho-
tropic effects of heavenly blue et. al. morning glory between June 1958 and
the summer of 1973.  Research proceeded with intermittent intensity throughout
that period, sometimes occupying <7dayweeks{24hrdays}> for intervals up to
three months, other times nil. Since this work has not been duplicated else-
where to the best of my knowledge, it seems appropriate to publish it, if
only for historical interest and to correct what appears to a general lack
of knowledge regarding this plant and its uses. This material is 'intended'
as referential only and the author does not publicly advocate the violation
of any local laws or statutes, nor in the same sense does he support any
current attempts to reproduce these findings should such an attempt be in
conflict with local prejudice and deemed criminal. This document may be
freely reproduced in any media so long as appropriate attribution is
maintained and the document reproduced intact including this disclaimer.
Contextual quoting is ok 2.
=============================================================================

============================================================================
{([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.
=============================================================================

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
               The Compleat Morning Glory FAQ 1.0.0 Part I
PHYSICAL DYNAMICS
    Preparation: best method
    Operational Guidelines
    Chemical Hypothesis & Alternative preparation methodologies
    Morning Glory Wine
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q. How do you prepare morning glory seeds to best activate their psychedelic
properties?

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:
   0) If using treated seeds wash thoroughly in detergent and cold water
      first.
   1) Grind seeds to powder in coffee grinder
   2) 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))
   3) Put lid on jar and shake it vigorously for a while. Let stand 20
      minutes (you can shake it more if you like)
   4) 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 <stoned> 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.
   5) *** 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.
   6) 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. <shot>
      of alcohol per 30-50 seeds. For intense meditation use 1 <shot>/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).
   7) Soak the seed powder in the alcohol, shaking frequently, for three days.
   8) Filter again, as before. Discard the seed powder (unless you wish to
      make 'soap'). Keep the alcohol for use.
   9) Drink the alcohol to achieve desired effect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. What kinds of morning glory seeds can be used?
A. Heavenly Blues (most common), Pearly Gates, and Flying Saucers are all
   known to be effective.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Operational Methodology
Q. Why is this method superior to others?
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 it 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 person>). (Night trips are cool too, but the sun does interesting
things in the daytime)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chemical Hypothesis and Alternative Preparations
Q. I tried morning glory seeds and only got a headache and blurred vision.
Q. I tried morning glory seeds and got sick to my stomach
Q. What do you know about this anyway?
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. Does this method extract LSD-25 from morning glories?
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 <if it ain't broke, don't fix it>
and from the naturalist perspective as well <organic is better than synthetic,
tread lightly on the earth>.
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Morning Glory Wine
Q. Is there anything else you can do with morning glories?
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. What is the focus of part 2 of this faq and why is it separated into 2
parts?
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.

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