Machine Elves: Does DMT open our eyes to another realm?
Many people who have used the drug DMT report seeing Machine Elves during their trips. Could these creatures be real and, if not, why do so many report seeing the same hallucination?
“The drugs modify our brains in ways that only our individual brain can be modified—because of who we are individually—and then we perceive things that we normally cannot perceive.” - Dr Rick Strassman
What is DMT?
DMT, or dimethyltryptamine, is a powerful psychedelic substance found naturally in certain plants and animals. When used recreationally, DMT is typically consumed by smoking or vaporizing it. This leads to rapid and intense psychedelic experiences, often described as hallucinatory journeys with vivid visual and auditory effects. These experiences are relatively short-lived, typically lasting around 15-30 minutes, but they can be extremely intense and profound. Users often report encountering otherworldly entities, intricate patterns, and a sense of transcending reality during a DMT trip.
Dr. Rick Strassman has proposed a theory that a tiny part of the brain called the pineal gland could release DMT in certain situations, like near-death experiences or during mystical experiences. This could provide an explanation for why people have such intense visions during near death experiences and while on their death beds.
However, this theory is not widely accepted. Scientists generally think that the pineal gland helps regulate our sleep patterns and produces a hormone called melatonin, rather than making and releasing DMT.
In the 1950s, there was a theory called the transmethylation hypothesis that suggested the body's natural production of mind-altering substances could explain hallucinations in some mental illnesses. Some ideas propose that our brains make a substance called DMT naturally, and it might play a role in certain mental and emotional states.
The High Strangeness aspect of this phenomenon is in the content of the hallucinations DMT causes. People who have taken this drug often describe seeing very similar things, in particular elf-like beings that seem to be composed of fractals of light. These have been dubbed the Machine Elves.
What are the Machine Elves?
The term "machine elf" was coined by ethnobotanist Terence McKenna, who encountered these entities during a DMT experience in 1965. McKenna's descriptions influenced artists and musicians, sparking debates about the meaning of these entities within a cultural underground.
In the first few minutes of a DMT trip, according to McKenna, you might go through a vibrant and intricate pattern, like a brightly colored mandala. On the other side, there are these strange entities eagerly welcoming you. They're like colorful bouncing balls, and they approach you, vibrating and jumping into and out of your body. Everything is happening very fast, with thousands of details per second. They tell you not to be too amazed and to pay attention to what they're doing.
These entities create objects with their voices, singing them into existence. They show you these impossible, intricate, and beautiful things that seem alive. It's like being in a UFO nursery filled with celestial toys. The toys can sing other objects into existence. The entities insist that you do what they're doing, urging you to sing things out of your mouth. As you do, you experience a burst of vision instead of sound. This continues for about 4.5 minutes, and you start speaking in a kind of language without clear meaning. After a while, everything starts to collapse, and the entities move away. Before leaving, they wave goodbye and say "Deja vu! Deja vu!"
McKenna's experiences in 1965 influenced artists and musicians, contributing to the ongoing debate about the significance of DMT entities.
Dr. Rick Strassman, in his DMT studies, noted similarities between participants' reports of encounters with entities and mythological descriptions of figures in ancient religions. Strassman suggests that the more positive entities may be analogous to angels, acting as spiritual forces bringing specific messages or experiences based on the individual's psychological and spiritual development.
Strassman also acknowledges concerns about the diversity of entity encounters, ranging from angelic figures to insect-like creatures. Some participants reported experiences resembling alien encounters, leading to speculation about the connection between endogenous DMT and these phenomena. Auditory hallucinations, including loud laughter or chatter, have been linked to encounters with these entities, resembling descriptions in religious texts.
Machine Elf Encounters
Ali, whose name is changed for privacy, had a breakthrough experience during his second attempt with DMT. In this experience, the initially overwhelming kaleidoscopic shapes transformed into a distorted version of his bedroom where the journey began. Five tall, slender beings with alien-like skin surrounded him, and peculiarly, their faces mirrored those of Ali's friends who were in the room before the DMT experience. The sensory overload was intense.
Time felt arbitrary, and there was a sense that a significant amount of time could have passed in the altered state. Language in Ali's trip took on a visual quality, with the beings speaking in rainbow-glowing vapors formed by an indiscernible rune-like language. These captions floated out like a cartoon, but Ali couldn't quite grasp their meaning despite intense focus. Amidst the vivid visualizations, Ali felt a deep-seated tranquility, likening the experience to a meditative state that felt intuitive.
A neuroscientist named Michelle Ross talked about her experience with DMT in an interview on the reset.me YouTube channel. She described seeing little cartoon cats and ice cream cones during her first time smoking the drug. Then, she felt like she was with people who had passed away but were incredible and significant. These were influential people who cared about her and wanted her to be there and safe. The whole experience was emotional and abstract.
Could the Machine Elves be real?
If the Machine Elves are simply a hallucination then why do so many people who use DMT see the same things? Dr. Strassman offers an interesting perspective:
“The drugs modify our brains in ways that only our individual brain can be modified—because of who we are individually—and then we perceive things that we normally cannot perceive. These things may exist within us, in our psyche; or, they may exist outside of us. What is ‘outside of us’ is difficult to determine, because the arena, the platform within which we experience the psychedelic state is our subjective mind, consciousness. Thus, it doesn’t really matter, at least at this point, where that information resides—dark matter, our visual cortex, God, the Pleiades—what matters is how much information we can garner in the state, then how to apply it for the greatest benefit.”
It seems that DMT opens up our minds to realities we cannot normally see, whether they originate within us or from outside of ourselves. It is possible that DMT is allowing us to break through to a reality outside of the one we currently reside in. What that reality is and how it interacts with our own seems unknowable for now.
Have you ever tried DMT or seen the Machine Elves? Tell us about your experience in the comments.
If you enjoyed learning about the machine elves you might also be interested in Sam the Sandown Clown or the Solar Plexus Clown Gliders.
