Timothy Leary

 

Claudio Naranjo: "My Psychedelic Explorations"

 

"My Psychedelic Explorations - The Healing Power And Transformational Potential Of Psychoactive Substances" is Claudio Naranjo's psychedelic autobiography with previously unpublished interviews and research papers _, Explores Dr. Naranjo's pioneering work with MDMA, ayahuasca, cannabis, iboga, and psilocybin _, Shares his personal accounts of psychedelic sessions and experimentation, including his work with Alexander ',Sasha' Shulgin and Leo Zeff _, Includes the author's reflections on the spiritual aspects of psychedelics and his recommended techniques for controlled induction of altered states In the time of the psychedelic pioneers, there were psychopharmacologists like Alexander ',Sasha' Shulgin, psychonauts like Aldous Huxley, and psychiatrists like Humphrey Osmond. Claudio Naranjo was all three at once. He was the first to study the psychotherapeutic applications of ayahuasca, the first to publish on the effects of ibogaine, and a long-time collaborator with Sasha Shulgin in the research behind Shulgin's famous books. (...)

You can order this book here  ( pages 448 - $ 29.99 ) or on the usual book sources like Amazon.

Let's Support EROWID

With more than 60 thousand pages published online,   Erowid  is the main no-profit source of information about psychoactive plants and chemicals since 1995. Each September Erowid holds its annual public support drive, this time trying to reach 1422 donations. Sin ce this support drive will finish at the end of September, don't hesitate and support asap this independent and fundamental organization, taking note that donations of $ 10 to $ 500 will be automatically doubled.

Make your donation HERE  

X

 

Farewell Dear Ann

At 91, few days ago ( July 9 ) our beloved Ann Shulgin has finally reached the cosmic dimension and is now freely flying  with her lifelong companion Alexander "Sasha" Shulgin (1925 - 2014)

A talented painter, Ann, who met "Sasha"  in 1978, pioneered the use of psychedelic substances in psychotherapy and with ber husband co-wrote the seminal psychedelic tomes "Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story" (1991) and "Tihkal: The Continuation" (1997).

She also co-founded Transform Press, which published the two Shulgins' classics and other books by Sasha.

Ann, a talented, compassionate woman, will be sorely missed by all the worldwide psychedelic network. 

Thank you dear Ann, you will be not forgotten by all the people who met you, who read your books and loved you so much.....

Please read Ann's obituary here and make a visit to Transform Press

The Psychedelic Frontier

Being the old freak that I am I have mixed feelings about the "medicalization" of the psychedelics and more than some doubts about all these "clinics", companies, therapists and many self-appointed "shamans" who, in various degrees and modalities, have put the hands on the psychedelics to treat and cure patients but in many cases just to make (a lot of) bucks and get power, in particular in  sight of a possible (near?) legalization of compounds like  psilocybin, ibogaine or MDMA. That said, I firmly believe in the healing properties of the entheogens to successfully cure depression, PTSD, addiction, pre-agonic people or "spiritual emergencies". Hopefully there will be no exploitation or speculations of these sacred molecules. 

Farewell Lucius !

Lucius Werthmüller (b. 1958) was a Swiss consciousness researcher, parapsycholigist and editor.

He was project manager of the International LSD Symposium in 2006 on occasion of the 100th birthday of Albert Hofmann in Basel and of the World Psychedelic Forum held in 2098 and was a founding board member of the Gaia Media Foundation

In 2013 he co-authored Mystic Chemist, a wonderful, exhaustive biography of Albert Hofmann (strongly recommended- see here)

Lucius suddendly passed away on April 9. He will be sorely missed by many. RIP

Being Ram Dass

Perhaps no other teacher has sparked the fires of as many spiritual seekers in the West as Ram Dass. While many know of his transformation form Harvard professor Richard Alpert to psychedelic and spiritual icon, Ram Dass tells here for the first time the full arc of his remarkable life. "Being Ram Dass" begins at the moment he was fired from Harvard for giving drugs to an undergraduate. We then circle back to his privileged youth, education, and the path that led him inexorably away from conventional life and ultimately to his guru, Neem Karoli Baba. Populated by a cast of luminaries ranging from Timothy Leary to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Allen Ginsberg to Jack Kornfield, Aldous Huxley to Charles Mingus-this intimate memoir chronicles Ram Dass's experience of the cultural and spiritual transformations that resonate with us to this day. Ram Dass's life and work prefigured many current trends: the conscious aging and death movement, the healing potential of psychedelics, the use of meditation and yoga in prisons, the ubiquity of those same practices in the wider culture, and more. Here, with his characteristic mix of earthiness and transcendence, Ram Dass finally tells all.

At the moment the book seems available just on Amazon, personally I haven't find any other sources on the web, but maybe you will....A strongly recommended reading....

Sacred Solidarity Bicycle Day 2020

For all you guys interested in psychedelics and states of consciousness, this Bicycle Day, Sunday 19th April (77 years after the first intentional LSD trip), Spore, MAPS, The Psychedelic Society and other groups and associations will co-host a free online festival supporting COVID-19 Mutual Aid Efforts and celebrating our connection with Earth and each other.
The festival runs from 5pm to 1am (UK time) and features Alex and Allyson Grey, Rick Doblin, Paul Stamets, Louie Schwartzberg, Gabor Maté and many others.
Read more and get your free ticket on The Spore and join the facebook event

MAPS' Psychedelic Science 2020 webinar

Presented by MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies),  the Psychedelic Science 2020 webinar series is about to begin. From April 9 through May 21, the webinar will host many leaders of the psychedelic renaissance for insights into the latest research into the medical and therapeutic uses of MDMA, psilocybin, ketamine, and more. You’ll also get a sneak peek at key issues affecting the wider availability of psychedelics for healing and spirituality, and explore the role of psychedelics in healing trauma.
If you are interested in the topic and wish to participate, pleas visit MAPS   for complete info about the event here

Psychedelic Press XXIX

If you are interested in psychedelics and states of consciousness don't miss the new issue of Psychedelic Press.
Psychedelic Press XXIX  features:
1. Replanting Christ: Entheogens in Christianity  by Mark Juhan
2. Tom Turkey's Tie-Dye by Mike Fiorito
3. Up Wychbury Hill by Kerry Rowberry
4. My First Trip by Roger Keen
5. The Stuff that Dreams are Made of  by Daniel A. Kelley
6. Sunbathing with Shiva by Anthony Pellegrino
7. Divine Rascal  by Andy Roberts:  A review by Robert Dickins
Cover Art by Tom Andrews

Order your copy here 

Ram Dass' Mahasamadhi

Psychologist, psychedelic pioneer, spiritual seeker and writer Ram Dass (formerly known as Richard Alpert) has left the material dimension at 88. There are no words to sufficiently describe Ram Dass' enormous contribution to the modern spiritual rewakening and  human evolution: he was an endless inspirational source, a brother, a friend,  a teacher for many,  a rare colourful flower......Have a smooth trip, great soul.......
Ram Dass

Dennis McKenna speaks

A trippy interview with psychedelic luminary Dennis Mc Kenna, discussing entheogens, science, nature, therapeutic versus spiritual versus ricreational use of psychedelics and much more...On Reality Sandwich 

" ...I think they create this distortive perspective on the idea that nature exists for us to dominate, and use, and exploit, rather than partner with. So it lead to this idea of a devaluation of nature, and part of that is actually a devaluation of biology in a certain way. Because we are biological beings. Like it or not, we are machines that run on drugs."

Erowid's Support-A-Thon 2019

Each September Erowid ( the most complete and reliable source of psychoactive drugs info on the web) tries to increase the number of donors banding together
to support reliable drug info, lab drug checking, & harm reduction in a single month. This year their goal is 1,249.

Even a donation of $5 or $10 can make a difference. Donations of $10-500 made by September 30 will be Doubled! 

Few days left...Please make your donation 🙏

https://erowid.org/sept_drive 

Breaking Convention 2019

The 5th Breaking Convention, one of the more successful European conference on psychedelics will be held in London from August 16 to August 18.
Get more info here 

In Memory of Claudio Naranjo

Few days after his acclaimed participation at the World Ayahuasca Conference in Girona (Spain), Chilean psychiatrist, anthropologist and pioneer psychedelic psychotherapist Claudio Naranjo passed away at the age of 86 (July 12). Author of several books - "The Healing Journey: New Approaches to Consciousness" (1975) is a well known psychedelic classic - Claudio was a respected elder of the international entheogen/therapy network and will be sorely missed by many. RIP
Claudio Naranjo

Psychedelic Press XXVII out now!

A new exciting issue of the great Psychedelic Press review which this time celebrates 100 years since the first synthesis of mescaline.
Among other articles, you can find:
"Basil Beaumont: Mescaline Report" by Mike Jay and Basil Beaumont
"Mike Jay's Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic" (a book review) by Robert Dickins
"Peyote's People: Can a Cactus Teach Us about Race?" Ethan Weinstein interviews Alec Dawso
If you are interested in psychedelics and literature, don't miss Psychedelic Press and order your copy  here  

Bicycle Day 2019

Today - April 19 - the Bicycle Day is once again celebrated all around the world. On April 19th, 1943, the Swiss (al)chemist Albert Hofmann intentionally took the first dose of LSD in human history. The effects of the legendary psychoactive molecule  intensified while the good doctor was traveling home from his laboratory by bicycle.
Read about the Bicycle Day and the history of LSD here

Farewell Ralph !

Few days ago I announced the publishing of the latest book of Ralph Metzner, "Searching for the Philosofer's Stone"; now I sadly learn of Ralph's death happened few days ago (April 14) at the age of 82 years.
Ralph Metzner was an original member of the Harvard psychedelic "trimurti" with Tim Leary and Richard Alpert (later known as Ram Dass) and a regular at Leary's commune in Millbrook. A pioneer psychonaut, psychoterapist and prolific writer, Ralph has been a prominent figure of the international psychedelic network for decades. He wrote fundamental books about entheogens, spirituality, ecology and alchemy like "The Psychedelic Experience" (with Leary and Alpert, 1963), "Sacred Mushrooms of Visions: Teonanacatl" (2005) "Birth of a Psychedelic Culture: Conversations about Leary, the Harvard Experiments, Millbrook and the Sixties" (2010) and  "Ecology of Consciousness" (2017)
Fatally, the "original psychedelic generation" is gradually passing away and we've lost a great, gentle soul, and a giant of human self-discovery. RIP dear Ralph...
Ralph Metzner wiki
(Below: Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary and Ralph Metzner)