THE VARIETIES OF PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1966

This is an extensive documentation and interpretation of 206 drug sessions (LSD and peyote) which reveal that these drugs not only ""afford the best access"" to the human mind but are capable of expanding, intensifying and altering perceptions on all levels. Everything is MORE. While a good many of these changes (hallucinatory; sensory; mystical; etc.) have been recorded in print ever since Poe and Huxley et al, the authors here claim that the experience can be a ""deeper"" one in which symbols are internal and then proceeding to the ""integral"" level which seems to be the desideratum of the psychedelic journey. Then there are indications of alteration in behavior, and even though they say that ""conventional psycheanalysis"" is not part of their technique, it is obvious that they are recommending the use of these drugs ""as a standard therapeutic shortcut"" since, through the mass of material they have accumulated, they have also seen indications of definite behavioral changes. They also outline the ""guided session"" and ways in which to orient the ""guide"" so that they can steer the subject through their travels in inner space toward some desirable end... However Dr. Blaine of Harvard (which was certainly a seedbed for much of this activity) takes a strongly opposing view on the usefulness of these drugs-- ""the results have been disappointing""-- in his Youth and the Hazards of Affluence (p. 294) and this is a book which will require both professional vigilance and judgment since it is a dangerous area for dilettante experimentation. The authors do not have medical degrees and are connected with the (their own?) Foundation for Mind Research.

Pub Date: July 11, 1966

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1966

Categories: NONFICTION