Looks Like Rain

Of all my extraordinary experiences, this series of events is perhaps the most complex, as well as the most profound.

Complex, because the entire experience played itself out over the span of five years, and in three episodes. It involves recreational experimentation with the powerful psychedelic, lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD.

For those that may have a negative opinion of psychedelic drug use, but have never experienced it for themselves, what follows is a positive example of the possibilities which exist within. Silicon Valley was practically built on its use, and continues to this day.

Profound, because the second of these episodes was also the first of the divinely supernatural events to have manifested, and done in such dramatic fashion. It had the most witnesses, and participants, of all my extraordinary experiences, to date.

The fact that this experience played itself out in three parts, it seemed appropriate to present it as a three act set.

Act I
The date was July 10th, 1987, during the summer between my junior and senior years of high school. My friend RB and I were armed with a pair of tickets to the Grateful Dead concert at the JFK Stadium.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

The plan was that on this day we would be experimenting with LSD, a first time for us both. For those who never had the opportunity, the atmosphere at a Grateful Dead show was ideal for such and experience. And certainly, when in Rome….

Almost as soon as we pulled in to our parking space, we were approached by somebody offering exactly what we were looking for. Not quite believing that it could be this easy, we made the purchase.

An hour before the show was to start, we placed the little paper squares, adorned with colorful little clown faces, on our tongues and found a spot on the grass close to the stage. As an unexpected bonus, we were treated to the full cut of Pink Floyd’s masterpiece, Dark Side of the Moon, pumped from the wall of high fidelity speakers in front of us. By the end of the album, the effect of the drug was surging with an electric spark.

As the band began to tune up, people quickly filled in around us. At the moment the music started, the scene burst into a frenzied kaleidoscope of swirling colors, a result of the whirling dervishes which sprang to life out of seemingly nowhere.

My buddy RB was overwhelmed by it all, so we made our way to the back of the stadium where we could sit in peace. This change in setting was agreeable for me as well, as it allowed me to enjoy the full effect of the altered perception; manifesting in waves of euphoric emotion guided by the melodious rhythms bursting out of the giant sound system.

The band began to play a song I recognized: Looks Like Rain. It quickly became apparent to me that the clear blue sky, which had existed all morning, was beginning to gray. A few moments later clouds were forming. By the middle of the song, it was clear to me that rain was imminent. Making mention to RB that it was about to rain evoked a quizzical look of disbelief, as he turned back to the show. Moments later, a fine, shimmering, silvery rain began to fall on the arena. The rare beauty of the rain had me captivated in amazement. As the song came to a close, the rain disappeared as quickly as it came, and the clouds rapidly dissipated. By the beginning of the next tune, the sky had returned to clear blue.

It was then that I realized that I had experienced my first LSD induced hallucination, and honestly, I loved it.

This video is from months later.

Act II
As mentioned in a prior post, the date of my graduation The Mercersburg Academy was June 6th, 1988. The occasion was rather momentous for me, not just due to the fact that I made it to that day, but because my maternal grandmother was in attendance. This would be one of the last times that I would see her alive, as she passed away a year later.

The day could not be more ideal, with a sun that was shining bright in a cloudless sky. The ceremony was well choreographed, with several speeches by students and faculty preceding the handing out of diplomas. The graduates were called to receive their diplomas in alphabetical pairs. Perhaps the only tangible benefit of having completed all four years at this school was that we would receive our diplomas before our other classmates. As fate would have it, I was paired with fellow mischief-maker, Allen Shevey. He, like myself, could just as easily have not achieved the privilege of standing on that graduation platform.

With approximately six pairs to go before our names were called, the sky began to turn gray. With four pairs to go, the clouds formed. With two pairs to go, the rain was imminent. As Walter Burgin called our names, the rain began to fall. The rain was so fine that it seemed to evaporate as it made contact. As I was in such a euphoric state, simply by having reached that moment of glory, I really didn’t even take much note that the rain was coming down. The moment I sat down, the rain stopped. In no time, the sky had returned to being a cloudless blue. Mr. Burgin, in his closing statements to the graduating class, made distinct mention of how the rain fell only on Allen and myself, calling it “God’s commentary on the two of us”.

 Myself (left), Allen, & Mr. Burgin in the midst of that magical moment.

Act III
As clearly linked as the vision was to the actual rain that fell at my graduation, it would be another four years until I would make the connection between the two events. During the Winter break of my senior year at Syracuse University, I attended a New Year’s party at the Timberline Resort in West Virginia. A mixed group of friends, from both St. James School and Mercersburg (with a few others thrown in), had rented a house alongside the icy ski slopes. Believe me when I say icy, because that’s exactly what it was… a perilous sheet of ice.

The night’s festivities included an unexpected treat… the Camdyman (R.I.P.) came to town.

With him, he brought enough LSD for those who were so inclined to partake. It had been since the Summer of 1987 since I had experienced an acid trip, so I saw this as a providential opportunity.

While driving home the next morning with Christopher, the connection between my hallucinatory vision at the Grateful Dead concert and the very real graduation day rain event, was finally made. As I explained all of this to Christopher, he was summarily unimpressed with my revelatory anecdote… despite his having been present that day, sitting on the same graduation platform, receiving his diploma only minutes after Allen and myself had done so, in the rain! Regardless, I was impacted by the fact that it had taken five years to make the association between the two events.

What I did, and still do, find fascinating was the fact that only by being under the effects of Dr. Albert Hofmann’s gift to humanity was I able to connect these dots.

Let this serve as official consent, that should I be trapped in a coma for an extended period of time, that I may be used as a test subject for high doses of lysergic acid diethylamide, akin to Aldous Huxley on his deathbed.

As to what the reason, or the meaning, for this welcome phenomenon, that is still a mystery. Stanislav Grof, M.D., after performing over 4,000 LSD research sessions on subject patients during the 1960’s, offered this:

“After years of conceptual struggle and confusion, I have concluded that the data from LSD research indicate an urgent need for a drastic revision of the existing paradigms for psychology, psychiatry, medicine, and possible science in general. There is at present little doubt in my mind that our current understanding of the universe, of the nature of reality, and particularly human beings, is superficial, incorrect, and incomplete.”

And finally there is this recent study out of England where subjects, under the effects of a minor dose of LSD, had their brains analyzed by MRI. The results verify every single positive word that has ever been spoken or written about this much maligned gift to humanity.

There have been ample times when I have encountered this rain ever since. Typically it arrives during moments of profound happiness and joy…. thus the inspired name: Heaven’s Divine Tears of Joy.