Łåbšçøpęįµs Alephæ
Photography by MJMartini
The Webster St.
Laboratories
∞
Only Friends are Real
Embrace Shulgin-ness
DON’T SCARE THE HORSES
DO BETTER!
≈Ω≈
TheVacantCleft.com
©2025
d’Çłęfțïį VVækåńțęæ
——CIRCS——
Category: Shulgin-ness
Whø’d’Åd ê VVįż VVÿmµńì
Visit from the Wise Woman Who’d’ad
Here is a short poemoid which was borne of a text conversation I had with Stacy Schaefer.
Below the poem is a recording of a reading done in my best Bill Boroughs voice (well, maybe not best), but first the written version.
Visit from the Wise Woman Who’d’ad
(Who’d had Words & Meals with the Huichols)
It’s a nightmare my dear,
I’m quite disturbed by Saul ‘n’ all.
But, here to protect ‘n’ preserve
things since 2011, FALL!…
I’m keeping things cordial, (for now)
N’still tryin’ t’save FARM & scene.
15 years here…roots DO’W, now
“So, what happened?”
Known eventually…
(Oh, and by the way…
they stopped paying me back in May)
Could harm only my efforts & luck
pointing out each’s deeds that sucked
So please, play along today, as
I shan’t be out-lucked!!!
∞
Only Friends are Real
Embrace Shulgin-ness
DON’T SCARE THE HORSES
DO BETTER!
≈Ω≈
TheVacantCleft.com
©2025
d’Çłęfțïį VVækåńțęæ
——CIRCS——
d’Øç Śhµÿłgn ê Męmœrµęm
‘Bad Jokes and Perfectly Timed farts’
He was something man.
A wild sense of humor to say the least. A consciously developed skill Sasha began practicing at a very young age after realizing the negativity conjured in others by his intelligence.
A highly developed program of groan inducing puns, dirty jokes, and the development of the rare ability to produce perfectly timed farts. All of which allowed Sasha to be himself while avoiding any “scarring of the horses*.”
listen to Bruce Damer for the Psychedelic Salon:
Sasha Shuglin Memorial Interviews & Abridged Service
or,
watch the service in full without the attendee interviews:
* “Just don’t scare the horses!”, being a phrase Sasha used say when asked to explain how he’d been getting away with his backyard toolshed antics all his life with only minor interference from Law enforcement and other authorities.
∞
Only Friends are Real
Embrace Shulgin-ness
DON’T SCARE THE HORSES
DO BETTER!
≈Ω≈
TheVacantCleft.com
©2025
d’Çłęfțïį VVækåńțęæ
——CIRCS——
Sesciones d’Shulgin p.IV
The Shulgin Sessions
Session 4
Alexander Shulgin Anniversary Seminar:
Philosophy and Chemistry of Psychedelics
This 12 week seminar happens in two hour sessions, every other monday at 9am (California time), is chaired by Andrzej Serafin PhD, and Jitka Nykodemová MSc. and features lively round table discussions as deep in the chemistry as we are into the character of doctor Shulgin with a global cadre of Sashaphiles sharing stories and adding to the chemistry of the talks.
They would like to invite you to join the Alexander Shulgin Anniversary Seminar, an online seminar dedicated to systematically exploring the life, work, and legacy of chemist and pharmacologist Alexander Shulgin (1925–2014).
This seminar is a unique opportunity to engage with the historical and scientific impact of one of the most influential figures in psychedelic research, in order to examine the philosophical assumptions and consequences of his work.
We will delve into Shulgin’s groundbreaking research, guided by his publications (PiHKAL, TiHKAL, The Shulgin Index, scientific papers), as well as recordings of his lectures and interviews.
Furthermore, we will trace the evolution of Shulgin’s research, analyze his contribution to science, and discuss its philosophical underpinnings. The seminar is chaired by Andrzej Serafin PhD, and Jitka Nykodemová MSc.
Session No. 4
Session 1: Handout / Recording / Transcript
Session 2: Handout / Recording / Transcript
Session 3: Handout / Recording / Transcript
Session 4: Handout / Recording / Transcript
MORE DETAILS:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1nvymzS6z6kDN56dy3M6jKw1zRJouM1LuZDyGVY93Vcc/viewform?edit_requested=true
UPCOMING SESSION 5/19/25 9am PST
Session 5: Handout / Access link
∞
Only Friends are Real
Embrace Shulgin-ness
DON’T SCARE THE HORSES
DO BETTER!
≈Ω≈
TheVacantCleft.com
©2025
d’Çłęfțïį VVækåńțęæ
——CIRCS——
Sesciones d’Shulgin p.I-III
The Shulgin Sessions,
sessions 1-3
Alexander Shulgin Anniversary Seminar:
Philosophy and Chemistry of Psychedelics
This 12 week seminar happens in two hour sessions, every other monday at 9am (California time), is chaired by Andrzej Serafin PhD, and Jitka Nykodemová MSc. and features lively round table discussions as deep in the chemistry as we are into the character of doctor Shulgin with a global cadre of Sashaphiles sharing stories and adding to the chemistry of the talks.
They would like to invite you to join the Alexander Shulgin Anniversary Seminar, an online seminar dedicated to systematically exploring the life, work, and legacy of chemist and pharmacologist Alexander Shulgin (1925–2014).
This seminar is a unique opportunity to engage with the historical and scientific impact of one of the most influential figures in psychedelic research, in order to examine the philosophical assumptions and consequences of his work.
We will delve into Shulgin’s groundbreaking research, guided by his publications (PiHKAL, TiHKAL, The Shulgin Index, scientific papers), as well as recordings of his lectures and interviews.
Furthermore, we will trace the evolution of Shulgin’s research, analyze his contribution to science, and discuss its philosophical underpinnings. The seminar is chaired by Andrzej Serafin PhD, and Jitka Nykodemová MSc.
MORE DETAILS:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1nvymzS6z6kDN56dy3M6jKw1zRJouM1LuZDyGVY93Vcc/viewform?edit_requested=true
Session 1: Handout / Recording / Transcript
Session 2: Handout / Recording / Transcript
Session 3: Handout / Recording / Transcript
UPCOMING SESSION 5/5/25 10am PST
Session 4: Handout / Access link
∞
Only Friends are Real
Embrace Shulgin-ness
DON’T SCARE THE HORSES
DO BETTER!
≈Ω≈
TheVacantCleft.com
©2025
d’Çłęfțïį VVækåńțęæ
——CIRCS——
d’Vįvå Prįmœ
‘The Good Life’
The best possible LIFE one can hope for
A war that seems NEVER-ENDING. Then, when it does finally come to an end, it takes you 10 years to get back home.
The entire journey is a never-ending parade of horrible calamities, monsters with infinite heads, and unseen perils that eventually kill off ALL of your friends.
Every time you come across a small, calm little island and just hope to catch your damn breath, it invariably turns out that it’s populated by some asshole with a very limited view of the world trying to eat you alive, or some bitch trying to turn all your buddies into pigs.
When you do finally make it home nobody seems to recognize you, and when they do they resent you for being there.
Someone always kicks your dog.
in the end you die
That’s if you are lucky enough to be the one who makes it HOME and don’t die somewhere mid-journey like everyone that was with you.
This is all the stuff in life that WILL happen, that one has ZERO power to control or prevent.
Any & all attempts to avoid these things and stay on shore, leads to an even more miserable state of existence. ANY & ALL.
Always heed the call to adventure!
What one does have some small amount of control over is who is on that damn boat with you. When choosing your companions for this voyage, there’s a counterintuitive wisdom to making a musician the 12th member of your war party.
∞
Only Friends are Real
Embrace Shulgin-ness
DON’T SCARE THE HORSES
DO BETTER!
≈Ω≈
TheVacantCleft.com
©2025
d’Çłęfțïį VVækåńțęæ
——CIRCS——
įÅ Łôúdę d’Üūń
‘One Louder‘
I once had a neighbor next-door,
Who simply said “yes” to my “more?”
He said “two plusus and a half”,
and I started to laugh,
Skipping right from a 1 to plus 4.
A slightly modified & explainified Shulgin Scale:
– Minus. No effect
-/+ Minus/plus. Maybe something
+ Plus 1. Def something don’t know what
++ Plus 2. Oh I see where this is going
+++ Plus 3. Full effects elicited.
+++* Plus 4. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Technically it follows three so four is not wrong, in that you are unlikely to encounter a +++* (+4) below the full +3 effects of a (psychedelic) drug,
+++*(+4) is NOT,
as Nigel Tufnel might suggest,
“one louder”
+++* (+4) is a rare condition where the effects of the compound serve only as one (pre-requisite) piece of what unlocks access to such states.
+++* replaces ++++
The heterogeneous fourth symbol being a glyptoglossic gimmik that reminds us that The Shulgin Scale is
not a four category system; +1 through +4.
It is a five category system; – through +3,
–
-/+
+
++
+++
With a bonus sixth category +++* or (+4), a rare, significant, special state of affairs which has been occasionally encountered, where the effects of the drug seem to….uuuuuum yeah.
It is wise advice that once one has acquired at least two of something (be it white powders, +++* experiences, or anything really) it’s prudent to create a label.
∞
Only Friends are Real
Embrace Shulgin-ness
DON’T SCARE THE HORSES
DO BETTER!
≈Ω≈
TheVacantCleft.com
©2025
d’Çłęfțïį VVækåńțęæ
——CIRCS——