8 Psychedelics You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of, Part II
Welcome to the Psychedelic Blog. I write about the Impact of Psychedelics on Grieving, Relationships, Culture & Death.
This week: Part II! Eight more strange & sacred molecules — proof the Psychedelic pharmacy runs far deeper than most imagine.
A lot can be said for the infinite mercies of God, but the smarts of a good pharmacist, when you get down to it, is worth more. — Philip K. Dick
Recap
For those new here (welcome!), before we dive into Part II, here’s a quick look back at the first batch of 8 Psychedelics You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of — you can read the full piece here:
Samadhi (Visionary Harmala + DMT Blend) — The Ayahuasca-like brew most people haven’t heard of.
Jurema (Mimosa Hostilis) — The lost sacrament of northeastern Brazil.
Kambo (Phyllomedusa bicolor secretion) — The purge before the portal.
Chaliponga (Diplopterys cabrerana) — The dark cousin of Chacruna.
Syrian Rue (Peganum harmala) — The underestimated gatekeeper.
Yopo (Anadenanthera peregrina) — Snorted like a warrior, seen like a mystic.
Toloache (Datura spp.) — Drunk for love, remembered with regret.
MDA (Sassafras / 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine) — MDMA’s trippier, wilder ancestor.
The Other Side of the Psychedelic Map, Part II
The first list barely scratched the surface.
While Psilocybin, Ayahuasca & LSD dominate the conversation, the Psychedelic world is bigger, stranger, and far less forgiving. Some of these medicines come from deep cultural lineages. Others are lab-born & party-tested. A few sit in that uneasy space between healing tool & spiritual weapon.
These aren’t the “friendly” Psychedelics you read about online. They’re the deep cuts, the wild cards, the substances that slip through cracks in the cultural conversation. Some are gentle whispers. Others are sucker punches from another dimension.
Here’s Part Two of 8 Psychedelics You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of — the ones that didn’t make the first list, but deserve a seat at the table.
1. 2C-B (4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine)
Shulgin’s most versatile creation. Somewhere between MDMA & LSD, but with better dance moves and a lot more nudity.
I caught a lot of shit for leaving 2C-B (or Tusi, as the kids call it) off the first list. In my defense, I didn’t think it was obscure. But I was wrong. I apologize. And to make it up to you — Tusi comes in at #1 on Round 2 of 8 Psychedelics You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of (Trademark pending).
I enjoy it, but I suspect not as much as people in their twenties — where it’s become wildly popular. The come-up is smooth, the visuals are playful, and the body high is…distractingly good. If MDMA is the date that wants to talk all night, 2C-B is the one that wants to dance until sunrise.
2. Brugmansia (Scopolamine, Hyoscyamine, Atropine)
Once used to discipline children (yes, really). Potent, disorienting, and best admired from a distance.
Known as “Angel’s Trumpet” for its massive, fragrant flowers, Brugmansia hides a darker nature. One of its alkaloids, Scopolamine, is infamous as “Devil’s Breath,” whispered about in Colombian street lore for its ability to erase memory and bend will. Stories range from pickpockets using it to disarm victims to shamans using it to bind lovers or rivals.
In folk traditions, it’s been wielded for protection, sorcery, and sometimes straight-up mind control. If Ayahuasca is the wise teacher, Brugmansia is the unhinged substitute who flips the desk and dares you to complain.
3. Amanita Muscaria (Muscimol, Ibotenic Acid)
The red-and-white Mario mushroom. More dreamlike & sedative than Psilocybin. Think “drunk wizard,” not “forest elf.”
For centuries, Siberian shamans have brewed Amanita tea in midwinter rituals — sometimes followed by reindeer literally drinking the participants’ urine to recycle the psychoactive compounds. The effects are strange: equal parts drowsy, euphoric, and dissociative.
It’s not a kaleidoscope of geometry so much as a sideways slip into an older, odder reality — the kind where you sway like a ship in rough seas while a bear spirit asks about your childhood.
4. Salvia Divinorum (Salvinorin A)
Legal (sometimes), short (always), weird (guaranteed). Often described as turning into a fabric, a fence post, or a memory.
There is no warm-up here. One moment you’re holding a pipe — the next, you’re on a kaleidoscopic conveyor belt made of your childhood bedroom wallpaper, the sound of your own laughter looping like a broken record. The trip lasts five minutes but feels like hours.
Among the Mazatec in Oaxaca, low doses are still used for divination & prayer. Among Westerners, it’s usually the plant that makes people say “never again” after a single try.
“The shaman’s pharmacy holds compounds modern science still can’t explain.” — Wade Davis
5. DPT (Dipropyltryptamine)
Less famous than DMT but with a similar metaphysical sledgehammer energy. Sometimes called “The Light.”
DPT is not here to hold your hand. It’s here to blast you into a raw, unfiltered contact with…something. The visions can be ecstatic or annihilating, and the body load is heavier than DMT — like your cells are vibrating out of sync with the universe.
It hits harder in the body than DMT — like your atoms are being re-tuned mid-flight. Some come back radiant. Others, shaken. It’s a key that can open the cathedral or the crypt. Sometimes both in the same trip.
6. Blue Lotus (Nymphaea caerulea)
Mild euphoria, soft heart-opening, legal. Don’t expect fireworks.
In ancient Egypt, guests at lavish banquets sipped wine steeped with Blue Lotus, the petals floating like tiny suns. Part ritual aid, part aphrodisiac, it’s a plant with a subtle charm. It won’t melt your ego or rewire your trauma — but it will make the air feel warmer, the music sweeter, and the person beside you more interesting to touch.
Gentle relaxation, heightened sensuality, and a hint of the sacred — more a whispered prayer than a burning bush.
7. 4-AcO-MiPT (4-Acetoxy-N-methyl-N-isopropyltryptamine)
Synthetic Psilocybin cousin with a little more body buzz and a lot more laughter.
If Psilocybin is a slow climb up a mountain, 4-AcO-MiPT is a bouncy hike with a stand-up comedian who won’t stop pointing out how weird the trees look. Visuals are soft but saturated; music feels alive; and your stomach may ache from laughing at things that make zero sense later.
It’s still capable of pulling you into deep introspection if you wander off alone — but in the right company, it’s one of the rare “fun” tryptamines that prefers a dance floor to a dark night of the soul.
8. Bufotenine (5-HO-DMT)
Found in Yopo and some toads. Visual, intense, and wildly unpredictable.
Bufotenine is tricky. In a Yopo ceremony, it joins DMT & 5-MeO-DMT in a triple punch of visions, entities, and bodily upheaval. On its own, it can be physically rough and mentally chaotic — flushed skin, pounding heart, and the sense that reality’s walls are bending inward.
When it does reveal itself, expect alien architecture, impossible geometry, and an ancient, unblinking presence. It’s an old spirit — unpredictable, proud, and not here to make friends.
The Map Is Still Unfolding
The Psychedelic landscape is vast — and not all compounds are created equal. Some are sacred, others synthetic. Some open doors you never knew existed. Others…slam them shut behind you.
As underground chemists keep tinkering and ethnobotanists keep unearthing old plant allies, the edges of the map keep expanding. New names, new molecules, new risks. A few will change lives. Others will just leave scars.
Curiosity is good. Recklessness is not. Respect the molecule. Because whether the trip takes you to a dance floor, a jungle, or a place no language can describe — you’ll be the one who has to live with what you find there.
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Interesting reading. I know of a couple of these but the rest are new to me. Thank you.
Love these posts. It’s cool to see the spotlight on compounds outside the usual suspects. Makes me wonder, how many other tools are out there that we’ve overlooked just because they aren’t trending? Would love a deeper dive into one or two of these in future posts.