Stoned out
of my mind Pink Floyd float. Listened to Meddle and then Obscured by Clouds.
This float was truly one of a kind and had a deeply impactful meaning and
revitalization for me...
I believe
that I have perfected my ritual of entering the tank and preparing it's
environment to my personal taste. I had a pre-emptive shower and ran the pump
for 20 minutes or so with the heating pads cranked up, went and then smoked a
joint and had a smoke before getting into the tank. The temp was 97.5 and then
I left the door open for the first few minutes while I got in with my head by
the door and stared up at the shifting colors of the LED lights (which sub
sequentially caused my visuals during the float to be very color dynamic). I
then closed the door and switched positions to the back end with my head by the
speakers. I was able to quickly enter into the void and heavy visuals started.
The amount
of things that I saw were baffling. I used the flame and the void technique to
help clear my mindscape, but when certain images occurred I did focus solely
upon them. For example, multiple occasions I saw a distinct form of an aged old
patriarchal bonobo appear (my power animal?) and hold it's place amongst the
chaotic swirling images surrounding it with an extremely stern and forceful
presence. This then faded and another bout of evil faces within my lower right
field of view emerged. I then started to force movement of my eyes and applied
various levels of pressure on my optic nerve. Looking far upwards and rolling
my eyes into the back of my head caused massive amounts of white and blue
lights to fire upwards from below to beyond me. A handful of spasmodic twitches
then occurred and I closed and opened my eyes to reset.
When I
opened them again I was somewhere within a cellular world with monads evolving
and consuming each other, when I focused upon one individual cell it divided a
few times and then out of nowhere it became multicellular. During this period,
I started to notice that my toes were becoming cold and it induced a feeling of
a cooled down bathtub, I put my attention on my toes and all of a sudden it hit
me about the subject effect of temperature upon my consciousness during the
float. I moved around a bit and found that by crossing my legs/feet I was able
to fully submerge my toes under the water and officially found my new and
improved floating posture. While figuring this new posture out a drip of salty
condensation feel upon my right nostril and into my mustache and due to the
startling nature of it I took a big inhale (I breathe most often through my
nose in the tank) of salt water went into my nostril. I exhaled immediately but
was too late to stop a slight drip of it hitting the back of my throat. I
coughed and ended up having to get out of the tank and having a shower to clear
off my face and wash out my mouth. Oddly this occurred right at the end of
Meddle and as Obscured by Clouds began I was re-entering the tank.
I
practiced a bit of my breath work and played around with a few mantras while
losing myself in the music. My mind started to become clearer and clearer and
my internal conversations began. I debated about Nietzsche's Will to Power, me
thriving off being a devil's advocate, and that amazing discussion that I had
with Gregory the night before. There was an overwhelming emotional of
acceptance that has occurred and realizing what I can do with my own nature
when I want to. This then transitioned into a more defined argumentative
experience with my internal debate on the ever changing and growing nature of
Float House. Projecting a handful of possible futures I was delighted to test
the metaphysical verses that each small decision can have. Also, when I reflected
back to Buddhist ideal of having to polish and purify the mirror of the mind,
yet in truth the is no mirror, my mind instantly went black and there was a
strong sensation of me 'flying' through the intensity of space, in my new
floating captains chair position, with stars, nebulas and galaxies soaring by
me. They speed and rate of projection was tied directly now to the notes of
Pink Floyd. At one point, my attention was then drawn to the word 'Choice' and
in a flash of intense images I lived and died three times. Each time I was
faced down by the same Patriarchal Bonobo. No words were spoken but a deep
understanding was transferred. A sense of conflicting moralities was swept over
me, but with each conflict there was a surrendering to it, "without pain
and suffering we would have nothing".
The final
chanting of the album began and a strong wave of hilarious laughter consumed me
and I laughed deep and heartily as I exited the tank. Tom Waits "Old
Shoe" started playing while I was cleansing myself in the shower and I
sang loud and proud. The cycling of colors were also extremely pleasing and
added to the impression of my ever forming ritualization of my floats.
