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As good a guess as any, but I vote Salvia Divinorum.

I always find it interesting that so many people have horrible experiences with salvia.

I always found it a somewhat enjoyable experience, extremely reality melting during, but short in duration with an interestingly profound "afterglow".

I guess it having been sold in gas stations and head shops as ridiculously potent extracts with no readily accessible dosing data might have a lot to do with that.

The author refers to "psychedelic pyrotechnics of my particular story" so i'd say some LSD/LSD RC/Shrooms.

whatever it was it was clearly the good shit

Mushrooms or LSD

LSD can do it.