Ketamine is essentially a less-potent version of PCP. While ketamine and GHB and MDMA provide out of body experiences and whack reality quite a bit, it is still a bit below the out-to-lunch level of PCP trips. But, of course, that varies with the amount taken and other drugs combined with it. And, flashbacks from ketamine are common...
One Ket user stated, “If you take enough [it will] give you a preview of your own death, put you in contact with seraph-like entities, and convince you that you’ve just seen God in a disco ball.” ...
Ketamine is a psychedelic anesthetic classified medically as a dissociative anesthetic.....It is sold legitimately only to hospitals and physicians. Since it does not depress critical body vitals as much as other anesthetics, it is often used in procedures with burn victims, for example. It produces a dissociative state in the central nervous system in which amnesia and profound analgesia (loss of pain) are induced, though the patient does not appear to be asleep...
It may produce pleasant dream-like states, vivid imagery, hallucinations and possibly extreme delirium. This usually lasts only a few hours. Excitement and visual disturbances can recur days or weeks after exposure to ketamine; the problem with “flashbacks” may be greater with ketamine than with other hallucinogens. It also produces ataxia, slurring of speech, dizziness, confusion, blurred vision, anxiety and insomnia...
Signs of being under the influence may vary greatly. It may produce bursts of energy, disorientation and mild-to-severe hallucinations. The effects are much briefer than PCP, lasting only 30-60 minutes versus hours.
Tolerance and psychological dependence can develop with daily exposure. Chronic users may have short-term memory loss, impaired vision or attention span limitations.
What are some characteristics of the emergence state?
The most profound impact of Ketamine is it's effect on time. When becoming "emergent," time begins to slow to a shuddering, thugging crawl - each moment stretches out into a sea of infinity and rolls sluggishly into the next. Seconds become minutes, minutes become hours, and eventually, in the peak, time ceases to have any meaning whatsoever. One enters a state of "eternity" (referrred to as "alternity" by John Lilly in The Scientist). This is not an eternity in the classic sense - meaning "now" stretched on until the end of time - but "eternity" in the singular sense, when all branches of linear time bend in on themselves and collapse into a timeless and eternal state of simultaneous existence.
In "eternity" all events, actions, and interactions of the past, present, and future coexist simulteneously in one solid state. Not only can you see the "domino" cause and effect relationships between events which exist in close temporal and spacial proximity, you can also witness any event reverberating and iterating throughout the entireity of space and time. In "eternity" it becomes apparant that all events are simply shadows and echos of one massive primordial event or "proto event" which occured or occurs somewhere outside of linear time and 3-D space. It is not an event which occurs and ends - as we perceive events in linear time to do - but it is an "eternal" event, one which is constantly happening everywhere all the time which we are all a part of. Every action, event, sound, energy tranferrence, etc., are all just ripples of this singular event unfolding in a timeless, fractiline structure.
What can one accomplish in the "emergent" state
Ketamine is good for personal analysis because in "eternity," one can see all of the events and actions which shape and mold individual behavior. One can see the ego as a billiard-ball interacting, bouncing, and reacting in very methodical ways to events in temporal and spacial proximity. This is the "gem" of the Ketamine experience - the objective viewpoint one gets of their own ego and actions. It is as if one's "eternal" self - that self which exists outside of linear time and 3-D space - is brought to the forefront of consciousness so it can look objectively down on the "solid" or "flesh" self. Facets of ego and personality begin to unravel into intricate cause and effect chains which shape who we are, how society functions, and how human beings interact within that society.
This process of objectively observing and intentionally altering personal behavior is called Metaprogramming - a term coined by John Lilly. Ketamine enables metaprogramming in individuals to a point where it seems like synaptic pathways are almost consciously being rerouted to acheive a desired reality shift. In the emergent state, one can literally "try on" new facets of personality, perception, and reality. For instance, you can invoke a new attitude for yourself, fit it into your old reality paradigm, judge possible outcomes and effects, then keep it or scrap it. You can project yourself into the future, into a new relationship, into a new career, or into a new life. This is not an abstract projection, it is as if it is actually happening! When you find a new reality, resolution, or answer that suits you, you can live it out and measure it against the reality you just came from. If you want to keep it, it's yours upon reentry into the physical. How long it lasts is up to you.
Can you function in the physical world while in the "emergence" state
On lower doses of Ketamine, you can walk around and function pretty much normally, but at higher doses (emergence doses), there is a marked loss of dexterity. Simple things like dailing a phone are out of the question while in the peak, partially due to dexterity loss, partially due to the inability to remember phone numbers, and partially due to how "mind-blowingly huge" the thought of something as simple as a phone can be when you are in that state.
Gravity also becomes a whole new experience on Ketamine. Balance is difficult, and walking requires intense concentration and an almost mechanical determinism. Vision is also drastically altered. Ketamine is not hallucinogenic in the classical sense, but while under the influence, vision becomes blurred and distorted as if anything you attempt to focus on is softly pushing your attention elsewhere. You can move around, grab things, etc., but is kind of like you are operating your body remotely while looking through a fishbowl. Light is oddly refracted and does not hit the retina cleanly - or, light hitting the retina is normal, but the translation to the brain is somewhat softened and distorted.
Needless to say, hazardous activities that require acute attention, like driving in traffic, riding a bike, performing surgery, etc. should not be attempted while under the influence of Ketamine.
Speech also becomes difficult while in the peak. Coming up with the simplest sentences, like "I am experiencing something very phenomenal right now" can take an immense amount of concentration and deliberate intention - partially because there is no tactile feedback on the lips, and partially because thoughts you might wish to express on Ketamine don't always translate quickly or easily into English.
Another problem is that while experiencing the phenomenon of "eternity," each thought, action, and word takes on a new and complex weight. Because you are so aware of the cause and effect relational web that transcends time and space, each word you speak seems to carry an immense weight and power. For instance, uttering a simple word like "slurp" can conjure images of the first creature who pulled itself from the primordial sea onto land, and the sound it made as it struggled through the thick mud on its evolutionary journey towards self-awareness. You not only get images, but an actual physical reliving of this event!
The same word can also conjure images and feelings of sex, internal bodily functions, birth, the collapse of a universe, etc. While trying to string a complete sentence together, one can become completely overwhelmed by the power, history, and depth of meaning packed so deeply and densely into every grunt, inflection, and phoneme of human speech.
Often, in the middle of what one thinks is going to be a coherent utterance, one will find oneself repeating a single word or phrase over and over like an incantation - savoring each sound, each delicate curvature of the tounge and lips, the emotional impact of the tone and meaning, the linguistic origin of the words, etc.
