Psychedelics in America: Entheogens for the Masses
In my
first installment, I talked of renowned philosophers who used entheogens. In
this installment, I will bring my history of entheogen-using philosophers to
present day, as well as speak more directly about the entheogens themselves, in
order to give the reader a better understanding of the effects of the
chemicals. By the end of this installment, I hope to present a more optimistic
view of the use of psychoactive substances to discover the truths, or as Plato
has coined them, perfect forms, of life.
Any
history of psychoactive substances would be incomplete without at least
mentioning Albert Hofmann and his discovery of lysergic acid diethylamide
number 25 (LSD-25). Albert Hofmann was a researcher working in Switzerland for
a company named Sandoz. Sandoz was paying Hofmann to do routine research into
compounds synthesized from ergot that may aid in controlling bleeding during
childbirth. It was during this research that Hofmann originally synthesized
LSD-25 in 1938, but it was not until five years later, in 1943, when Hofmann
discovered the psychoactive qualities of LSD-25.
Every
LSD enthusiast knows the story of Hofmann’s self-experimentation with LSD. On
April 16th, 1943, Albert Hofmann accidentally ingested a small dose of LSD from
handling the chemical. Hofmann noted a certain restlessness, accompanied by a
pleasant intoxicated state. Hofmann found the light rather glaring and laid
down with his eyes closed to ease the experience. Behind his eyelids Hofmann
was greeted with “an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary
shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors,” after about two hours this
condition subsided and Hofmann went back to work as usual, noting no unwanted
side effects. Three days later, Hofmann self-dosed with 250 micrograms of
LSD-25. This time Hofmann was taken off guard by the effects of the substance.
He asked a laboratory assistant to accompany Hofmann to his home. Due to war
time restrictions, Hofmann was forced to ride his bicycle home, thus coining
April 19th as Bicycle Day, a holiday for LSD enthusiasts. After Hofmann reached
his home, his anxiousness and fear turned into joy and an unparalleled sense of
open-mindedness. This experiment proved LSD as a psychoactive substance that
could produce significant shifts in perception and consciousness at extremely
low doses.
In
1949, Sandoz labs brought LSD to the United States for further research into
the clinical application of the chemical. Throughout the 1950’s, LSD was used
in psychiatric tests performed on undergraduate students as a study of
consciousness. Meanwhile, the CIA investigated the abilities of LSD in
interrogation and torture, testing on both fully consenting military personnel
and unknowing civilians alike. As an effect, by 1960, many young, bright-eyed
men and women had acquired a taste for the molecule. LSD began to sweep across
the nation.
Men
like Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey, and Owsley “Bear” Stanley were instrumental in
the spread of LSD through American streets, culture, and history. Leary, a
Harvard psychology professor, gave LSD and psilocybin mushrooms to his
students, encouraging them to, “turn on, tune in, and drop out,” and use
psychoactive chemicals as a way to expand one’s perspective and views. Ken
Kesey and his merry pranksters are famous for The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Tests.
Kesey spent weeks on tour with the Grateful Dead. Kesey prepared a batch of
LSD-laced Kool-Aid before each concert and distributed the LSD to any who
wanted to partake.
Traveling
with Kesey was Owsley, a genius chemist. Owsley produced LSD of the highest
purity in mass quantity and gave it freely to any whom he believed used LSD as
a way to expand their mind. Kesey and Owsley are credited for turning on many
artists, being the LSD behind The Beatle’s Magical Mystery Tour, as well as the
LSD that fueled The Doors (named after The Doors of Perception). These were the
early pioneers of the Hippie counterculture movement that the late 1960’s are
heavily characterized by. The idea that bound them together was the pursuit of
enlightenment, not unlike Plato’s search for the form of good, through the use
of LSD.
The
magic of LSD lies in its effects on the synapses of the brain. LSD mainly
affects the serotonin receptors in the brain. In order to understand the
effects of LSD on the mind, think of the brain as a muscle. The more you use
your brain to think a certain way, or think of a certain thing, the stronger
that connection, or muscle, becomes. For example, someone who was raised
Christian will have strengthened the synapses relating to God, Jesus, and other
biblical ideas. It becomes natural for them to think of everything in Christian
terms, making them feel as if their beliefs are correct because they are simply
logical. LSD, when ingested, kicks the brain into overdrive, activating
normally segregated parts of the brain. While on LSD, the brain starts creating
new serotonin receptors. Due to the new serotonin receptors, which are
instrumental in the eye for producing vision, visual hallucinations are
produced. The brain, noticing the unnatural hallucinations, begins to stop
trusting old pathways and creates entirely new ones. This causes the
participant to feel an unprecedented open-mindedness. Many report that on LSD
they feel as if they were children again, experiencing the world for the first
time. Participants experience shifts of mood ranging from euphoria to manic
fear, with effects lasting 10-14 hours depending on the participant.
During
the psychiatric tests in the late 1960’s, LSD was often given to alcoholics to
see if the addiction could be fought and beaten using the effects on the brain
caused by LSD. The results were generally positive, showing 59% of the
participants reducing their alcohol consumption, as compared to 39% who did not
ingest LSD. Six months after the tests were concluded the group who ingested
LSD were shown to be 15% more likely to be sober.
LSD
was banned in the United States in 1967 due to negative propaganda, and fear of
the new consciousness seemingly created by LSD. The DEA cited LSD as a schedule
1 substance, meaning that it had no medical use and high potential for abuse.
Today, most negative views on LSD stem from the belief that LSD has strong
negative effects on the brain, and if allowed to be used by the masses, would
produce a generation of schizophrenics. This has been disputed by many over the
years, including leaders of industry including Steve Jobs, leaders of culture
like the members of the Beatles, and many others. Most pro-LSD advocates state
that LSD allows one to open his mind, allowing them out of the box thinking, as
well as eye-opening humanitarian experiences unprecedented by any other way.
LSD still flows through the streets illegally and is not all too uncommon in
places frequented by bright-eyed young people chasing enlightenment.
The
next and last major herald of entheogen use is a man named Terrence McKenna.
Terrence McKenna spent his younger years studying ethnobotany, or the
relationship between humans and plants, all across the world. McKenna spent
many years in Central and South America, living with tribes in order to gain
their trust so that he may experience their shamanic rituals which utilize
entheogens. While adventuring through the amazon McKenna found Psilocybe
Cubensis, the magic mushroom commonly referred to as golden teachers.
The
history of psilocybin mushrooms as an entheogen is extremely long, and
widespread, dating back to almost 6,000 years ago in Europe. McKenna and his
brother wrote many books on the subject including Psilocybin: The Magic
Mushroom Grower's Guide, which popularized the mushrooms across America, and
Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge, which told the
history of natural entheogens as well as made a case for magic mushrooms having
a heavy effect on the evolution of the human brain.
McKenna
also stumbled upon Ayahuasca, which was briefly discussed in my last
installment. McKenna was guided through many Ayahuasca experiences by the
shaman of the tribe in which he had taken up residence. These trips had an
immense effect on McKenna and caused him to believe heavily in mysticism and
the interconnectivity of the universe. McKenna brought his experiences back to
America, as well as a little of the substance for others to try.
Both
Ayahuasca and psilocybin mushrooms contain a psychoactive chemical in the same
class, tryptamine. Tryptamines are
naturally produced by plants and animals all over the world. Dimethyltryptamine
is considered to be the strongest hallucinogen on the planet but is also
coincidentally produced in the pineal gland in the human brain. Tryptamines,
because they are produced within the brain, naturally bind to the serotonin
receptors of the brain, creating a clean, yet eye opening experience. Their
effects are caused by many of the same ideas that cause LSD to affect the brain
in the way it does, new neural synapses are created, old information is
abandoned, and new information floods in.
Here I
would like to give a brief discussion of Dimethyl-Tryptamine (DMT), because of
the amazing effect produced in the human mind, as well as its use as an
entheogen. DMT is naturally produced in nearly all natural beings. Many believe
that when one has a “near-death” experience where they see angels or demons, or
see their life flash before their eyes, that is the effect of DMT being dropped
into the brain. DMT can be isolated from a host of plants, and when done
properly produces a light yellow powder that can be boiled and smoked.
Ayahuasca is a method of boiling the DMT containing substance down so it is
drinkable. However, the smoking of pure DMT leads to a ten-minute trip
unparalleled by any other experience in the world.
Immediately
after smoking DMT the participant will experience extreme light headedness and
a ringing of the ears. This state is considered the blasting off phase, as the
body and mind feel like a rocket igniting, being sent into the next world. The
participant typically closes their eyes and lays back, entering a trance state.
The participant will view shapes that are indescribable in both beauty and
intensity. Often times people report contact with other dimensional beings such
as aliens, gods, or simple shapes. The participant often times finds themselves
in an entirely new dimension, where the laws of earth and geometry do not seem
to apply. Whatever questions or problems a participant may have weighed heavily
on the experience, many report finding answers and meaning in these
experiences.
One
commonly cited experience that is most easily achieved with DMT, but also
achieved by other psychedelics (LSD and psilocybin are commonly used) is
ego-death. Ego-death is a state in which the participant feels complete unity
with the universe around him. During the experience the participant genuinely
feels as if they have died and their soul and being has left their body and
joined the universe, experiencing what they believe is every perspective of the
universe at once. After coming down from the drug the participant typically
feels unprecedented unity with the world around them. Those who experience this
have claimed to believe in a view more pantheist in nature, or the belief that
all matter in the universe is connected together and that the universe its self
is more closely related to God than the traditional idea of God.
McKenna
spoke often about this experience as well as many others brought about by the
use of entheogens, and ultimately was the man who propelled the use of plants
and chemical as entheogens more than anyone else. He was instrumental in the
domestic production of psilocybin within America, as well as the methods used
to extract DMT from plants for use. McKenna advocated for the widespread use of
entheogens by those who sought the experience out of their own volition in
order to promote humanitarian beliefs and ecological protection, as well as the
general betterment of personal satisfaction.
There
are many other men and women who were very important for entheogen use in the
United States. These men include, but are not limited to: Alexander Shulgin, a
researcher who found hundreds of psychoactive chemicals and published their
synthesis and effects; Alan Watts, a mystic known much more for his teachings
on eastern philosophy, but who also
advocated for moderate use of entheogens to produce mystical experience; and
Tim Scully, another chemist who produced LSD and distributed to men who worked
in electronics and computers as a way for them to think outside of the box
about their projects.
Hopefully,
I have provided enough information in a broad enough sense to open your eyes
about the effects of substances as entheogens. Please note that I am not
advocating for illegal activity as nearly all entheogens are illegal in the
United States now, but I do encourage the open-minded questioning of this
authority in light of the grand self-discoveries possible through the use of
these drugs.
Here are the links to my comments:
"The more you use your brain to think a certain way, or think of a certain thing, the stronger that connection, or muscle, becomes" - and the weaker becomes your capacity for empathy and discovery. Critical/philosophical thinking also counters this phenomenon and encourages more open thinking, though with perhaps less vivid imagery and color than LSD, but also fewer unintended consequences (like tumbling from your bike).
ReplyDeleteI too endorse "open-minded questioning of this [and every] authority" along with prudent caution. William James, again (he mentions alcohol but I think these remarks apply to entheogens as well):
"Sobriety diminishes, discriminates, and says no; drunkenness expands, unites, and says yes. It is in fact the great exciter of the Yes function in man. It brings its votary from the chill periphery of things to the radiant core. It makes him for the moment one with truth. Not through mere perversity do men run after it. To the poor and the unlettered it stands in the place of symphony concerts and of literature; and it is part of the deeper mystery and tragedy of life that whiffs and gleams of something that we immediately recognize as excellent should be vouchsafed to so many of us only in the fleeting earlier phases of what in its totality is so degrading a poisoning. The drunken consciousness is one bit of the mystic consciousness, and our total opinion of it must find its place in our opinion of that larger whole."
Very nice introduction into the world of psychadelics and it's key founders; I myself have always thought that there is a strong connection between psychadelics and philosophy. However, if one uses lsd to expands one's mind, is it really them opening their mind or the drug creating a different experience in the user? Does it really change a person and their mind, or does it allow them to think in other ways? Basically I'm asking if the drug is a kind of shortcut, or cheat code to other ways of thinking or not?
ReplyDeleteI forgot to link my first post, it can be found here:
ReplyDeletehttp://cophilosophy.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-history-of-entheogens-in-philosophy.html
@Ben Waldecker
I would say yes, given both biological and testimonial evidence psychedelics allow one to both expand and rewrite one's mind. In this installment, I discussed how psychedelics causes the brain to create new neural pathways, quite literally rewriting your brain. But this effect is a double-edged sword, abuse of LSD will turn your mind into what is essentially a blank state. Researchers believe there is a link between heavy LSD use and schizophrenia, but because LSD is a Schedule 1 substance any long-term testing of the effects of LSD is illegal.
And as to whether the drugs change the person using them: William James defends any experience as religious or important if the user views it in such a way that it changes them. Basically, I think we attach meaning and truth to what we want to. If you took some LSD and experienced things that made you question or change your beliefs you could take the experience one of two ways: the first choice is to dismiss the thoughts as nonsense that were created because you were “just tripping,”; the second choice would be to embrace the new thoughts, and strengthening the new neural synapses that were just created. I would imagine that genuinely believing that you are dead and believing that all matter is slipping from your body would have some sort of effect on your beliefs. Alan Watts once described LSD as putting mysticism in a bottle because of the transcendental type experiences that are made so easily obtainable through the chemical.
@Phil
I love that quote from William James. Alcohol has played a heavy hand in human history and dates back almost 9000 years. I believe it was Benjamin Franklin that said that beer was proof that God loved us and wanted us to be happy.