"One of the most remarkable features of the DMT experience is the frequency with which users encounter non-human intelligences, often resembling aliens. Even more remarkably, some users come away from these encounters convinced that these entities are somehow real" - Rick Strassman, 2001.

DMT and the Pineal Gland

Strassman's tests showed that the pineal gland of mice produces small amounts of DMT and their spinal fluid has traces of DMT as well (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23881860).

It has been heavily speculated that much like the brains of rats, our brain also produces DMT. If this chemical is naturally produced by our brain and is present in almost all biological life, then perhaps it deserves some more scrutiny.

DMT and Entities

Two of the greatest researchers of the DMT experience are Rick Strassman and Terrence Mckenna. Both were fascinated by the fact that almost 60% of their volunteers reported interacting with intelligent entities that they were strongly convinced were real.

Strassman reported that “about half” of the 60 volunteers entered what he described as “freestanding, independent levels of existence” of a highly unusual nature. These places were inhabited by what volunteers described as intelligent “beings”, “entities”, “aliens”, “guides”, and “helpers”. These appeared in a variety of forms, such as “clowns, reptiles, mantises, bees, spiders, cacti, and stick figures.” These beings have been reported by other investigators, including Terrence McKenna, who described them as “self-transforming machine elves,” as well as in more sober case reports from research on people with schizophrenia conducted in the 1950s. Strangely enough, reports of these kinds of beings seem to be unique to DMT, as Strassman was unable to find anything similar in the research literature on other psychedelic drugs.

Ancient Egypt and the Third Eye

To the Ancient Egyptians, the Tree of Life represented the hierarchical chain of events that brought everything into existence. The spheres of the Tree of Life demonstrate the order, process, and method of creation.

In Egyptian mythology, in the Ennead system of Heliopolis, the first couple, apart from Shu and Tefnut (moisture and dryness) and Geb and Nut (earth and sky), are Isis and Osiris. They were said to have emerged from the acacia tree of Iusaaset, which the Egyptians considered the tree of life, referring to it as the "tree in which life and death are enclosed." ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_life)

Why is this important? Because the symbology of the "third eye" is apparent all throughout Ancient Egyptian culture. In Ancient Egyptian culture the third eye is seen as the harmonious balance between the pulls of our creative left and our logical right. In a lot of Egyptian art the third eye is actually symbolized with a serpent. Graham Hancock does an excellent breakdown of the symbology involved with the third eye in Egyptian art here.

Egypt to Wonderland

Who are these entities? I would like to suggest that what is actually going on here is that the consumption of DMT lifts a veil where the user's consciousness enters a realm not perceivable by a brain at rest. The Egyptians worshipped the altered state of consciousness that the Tree of Life had to offer because they viewed it as the "bridge between the celestial heavens and man". They fully believed the DMT experience was an experience reserved for those ready to peer into the afterlife such as high shamans and priests. This implies that the entities encountered during the DMT experience are not just subjective hallucinations, but an interaction between our consciousness and some other realm of reality.