Non-Therapeutic Uses of LSD
Stanislav Grof, M.D.
Chapter 8, LSD Psychotherapy, ©1980, 1994 by Stanislav Grof
Hunter House Publishers, Alameda, California, ISBN 0-89793-158-0
TRAINING SESSIONS OF MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
The extraordinary value of LSD for the education of psychiatrists
and psychologists became evident at a very early stage of its
research. In his pioneering paper, published in 1947, Stoll emphasized
that an auto-experiment with this drug gives professionals a unique
opportunity to experience first-hand the alien worlds which they
encounter in their everyday work with psychiatric patients. During
the "model psychosis" phase of LSD research, when the
psychedelic state was considered a chemically-induced schizophrenia,
LSD sessions were recommended as reversible journeys into the
experiential world of psychotics which had a unique didactic significance.
The experience was recommended for psychiatrists, psychologists,
nurses, social workers, and medical students as a means of acquiring
insights into the nature of mental illness. Rinkel (85), Roubicek
(90) and other researchers who conducted didactic experiments
of this kind reported that a single LSD session can dramatically
change the understanding that mental health professionals have
of psychotic patients, and result in a more humane attitude toward
them.
The fact that the "model psychosis" concept of the LSD
state was eventually rejected by most researchers did not diminish
the educational value of the psychedelic experience. Although
mental changes induced by LSD are obviously not identical with
schizophrenia, the ingestion of the drug still represents a very
special opportunity for professionals and students to experience
many states of mind that occur naturally in the context of various
mental disorders. These involve perceptual distortions in the
optical, acoustic, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory areas; quantitative
and qualitative disturbances of the thought-processes; and abnormal
emotional qualities of extraordinary intensity. Under the influence
of LSD it is possible to experience sensory illusions and pseudohallucinations,
retardation or acceleration of thinking, delusional interpretation
of the world, and an entire gamut of intense pathological emotions
such as depression manic mood, aggression, self-destructive craving,
and agonizing feelings of inferiority and guilt, or conversely,
ecstatic rapture, transcendental peace and serenity, and a sense
of cosmic unity. The psychedelic experience can also become a
source of revelatory aesthetic, scientific, philosophical, or
spiritual insight.
Autoexperimentation with LSD does not exhaust its didactic potential.
Another learning experience of great value is participation in
the sessions of other subjects. This offers an opportunity for
young professionals to observe an entire range of abnormal phenomena
and be exposed to and become familiar with extreme emotional states
and unusual behavior patterns. This occurs under specially structured
circumstances, at a convenient time, and in the context of an
existing relationship with the experient. All these factors make
this a situation better suited for learning than the admission
ward or emergency unit of a psychiatric hospital. In a more specific
way, sitting in LSD sessions has been recommended as an unequaled
training for future psychotherapists. The intensification of the
relationship with the sitters that is characteristic of LSD sessions
presents a rare opportunity for a novice professional to observe
transference phenomena and learn to cope with them. The use of
LSD in the context of a training program for future psychotherapists
has been discussed in a special paper by Feld, Goodman, and Guido.
(26)
An extensive and systematic study of the didactic potential of
LSD sessions was conducted at the Maryland Psychiatric Research
Center. In this program, up to three high-dose LSD sessions were
offered to mental health professionals for training purposes.
Over one hundred persons participated in this program between
1970 when it began, and 1977 when it was ended. Most of these
individuals were interested in the psychedelic experience because
it was closely related to their own professional activities. Some
of them actually worked in crisis intervention units or with patients
who had problems related to psychedelic drug use. Others were
practitioners of various psychotherapeutic techniques and wanted
to compare LSD psychotherapy to their own particular discipline—psychoanalysis,
psychodrama, Gestalt therapy, psychosynthesis, or bioenergetics.
A few were researchers involved in the study of altered states
of consciousness, the dynamics of the unconscious, or the psychology
of religion. A small group consisted of professionals who were
specifically interested in becoming LSD therapists. They usually
spent several months with us, attending staff meetings, watching
videotapes of LSD therapy practice, or guiding psychedelic sessions
under supervision. They then had the opportunity to undergo their
own LSD sessions as part of the training schedule. All the participants
in the LSD program for professionals agreed to cooperate in pre-
and post-session psychological testing, and complete a follow-up
questionnaire six months, twelve months, and two years after the
session. The questions in this follow-up form focused on changes
which they observed after the LSD session in their professional
work, life philosophy, religious feelings, their emotional and
physical condition, and interpersonal adjustment. Although we
have much anecdotal evidence of the value of this training program,
the data from the pre-and post-session psychological testing
and from the follow-up questionnaires has not yet been systematically
processed and evaluated.
As I have emphasized earlier, LSD training sessions are an essential
qualification for every LSD therapist. Because of the unique nature
of the psychedelic state it is impossible to reach a real understanding
of its quality and dimensions unless one directly experiences
it. In addition, the experience of confronting the various areas
in one's own unconscious is absolutely necessary for developing
the ability to assist other people with competence and equanimity
in their process of deep self-exploration. LSD training sessions
are also highly recommended for nurses and all other members of
the staff in psychedelic treatment units who come in close contact
with clients in unusual states of consciousness
ADMINISTRATION OF LSD TO CREATIVE INDIVIDUALS
One of the most interesting aspects of LSD research is the relationship
between the psychedelic state and the creative process. Professional
literature on the subject reflects considerable controversy. Robert
Mogar (71), who reviewed the existing experimental data on the
performance of various functions related to creative work, found
the results inconclusive and contradictory. Thus some studies
focusing on instrumental learning demonstrated impairment during
the drug experience, while others indicated a definite enhancement
of the learning capacity. Conflicting results have also been reported
for color perception, recall and recognition, discrimination learning,
concentration, symbolic thinking, and perceptual accuracy. Studies
using various psychological tests specifically designed to measure
creativity usually fail to demonstrate significant improvement
as a result of LSD administration. However, how relevant these
tests are in relation to the creative process and how sensitive
and specific they are in detecting the changes induced by LSD
remains an open question. Another important factor to consider
is the general lack of motivation in LSD subjects to participate
and cooperate in formal psychological testing procedures while
they are deeply involved in their inner experiences. In view of
the importance of set and setting for the psychedelic experience,
it should also be mentioned that many of the above studies were
conducted in the context of the "model schizophrenia"
approach, and thus with the intention of demonstrating the psychotic
impairment of performance.
The generally negative outcome of creativity studies is in sharp
contrast to the everyday experience of LSD therapists. The work
of many artists—painters, musicians, writers, and poets—who
participated in LSD experimentation in various countries of the
world has been deeply influenced by their psychedelic experiences.[1]
Most of them found access to deep sources of inspiration in their
unconscious mind, experienced a striking enhancement and unleashing
of fantasy, and reached extraordinary vitality, originality and
freedom of artistic expression. In many instances, the quality
of their creations improved considerably, not only according to
their own judgment or the opinion of the LSD researchers, but
by the standards of their professional colleagues. At exhibitions
which chronologically show the artist's development, it is usually
easy to recognize when he or she had a psychedelic experience.
One can typically see a dramatic quantum jump in the content and
style of the paintings. This is particularly true of painters
who, prior to their LSD experience, were conventional and conservative
in their artistic expression.
However, most of the art in the collections of psychedelic therapists
comes from subjects who were not professional artists, but had
LSD sessions for therapeutic, didactic, or other purposes. Frequently,
individuals who did not show any artistic inclinations at all
prior to the LSD experience can create extraordinary pictures.
In most instances, the intensity of the effect is due to the unusual
nature and power of the material that emerges from the depths
of the unconscious, rather than the artistic abilities. It is
not uncommon, however, for even the technical aspects of such
drawings or paintings to be far superior to previous creations
by the same subjects. Some individuals actually pursue in their
everyday life the new skills they discover in their psychedelic
sessions. In exceptional cases, a genuine artistic talent of extraordinary
power and scope may emerge during the LSD procedure. One of my
patients in Prague, who had loathed drawing and painting all her
life and had to be forced to participate in art classes at school,
developed a remarkable artistic talent within a period of several
months. Her art eventually found enthusiastic acceptance among
professional painters and she had successful public exhibitions.
In instances like this, one has to assume that the talent already
existed in these individuals in a latent form, and that its expression
was blocked by strong pathological emotions. The affective liberation
through psychedelic therapy had allowed its free and full manifestation.
It is interesting that the LSD experience tends to enhance appreciation
and understanding of art in individuals who were previously unresponsive
and indifferent. A characteristic observation from psychedelic
research is the sudden development of interest in various movements
in modern art. Subjects who were indifferent or even hostile toward
non-conventional art forms can develop deep insight into suprematism,
pointillism, cubism, impressionism, dadaism, surrealism, or superrealism
after a single exposure to LSD. There are certain painters whose
art seems to be particularly closely related to the visionary
experiences induced by LSD. Thus many LSD subjects develop deep
empathic understanding of the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch, Vincent
van Gogh, Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, René
Magritte, Maurits Escher, or H. R. Giger. Another typical consequence
of the psychedelic experience is a dramatic change of attitude
toward music; many LSD subjects discover in their sessions new
dimensions in music and new ways of listening to it. A number
of our patients, who were alcoholics and heroin addicts with poor
educational background, developed such deep interest in classical
music as a result of their one LSD session that they decided to
use their meager financial resources for buying a stereo set and
starting a record collection of their own. The role of psychedelics
in the development of contemporary music and their impact on composers,
interpreters, and audiences is so obvious and well-known that
it does not require special emphasis here.
Although the influence of LSD on artistic expression is most evident
in the fields of painting and music, the psychedelic experience
can have a similar fertilizing effect on some other branches of
art. Visionary states induced by mescaline and LSD had a profound
significance in the life, art and philosophy of Aldous Huxley.
Many of his writings, including Brave New World, Island,
Heaven and Hell, and The Doors of Perception have been
directly influenced by his psychedelic experiences. Some of the
most powerful poems by Allen Ginsberg were inspired by his self-experimentation
with psychedelic substances. The role of hashish in the French
art of the fin de siècle could also be mentioned
in this context. The Canadian-Japanese architect Kiyo Izumi was
able to make unique use of his LSD experiences in designing modern
psychiatric facilities. (40)
Since LSD mediates the access to the contents and dynamics of
the deep unconscious—in psychoanalytic terms, to the primary
process—it is not particularly surprising that psychedelic experiences
can play an important role in the creative development of artists.
However, many observations from psychedelic research indicate
that LSD can also be of extraordinary value to various scientific
disciplines that are traditionally considered domains of reason
and logic. Two important aspects of the LSD effect seem to be
of particular relevance in this context. First, the drug can mediate
access to vast repositories of concrete and valid information
in the collective unconscious and make them available to the experient.
According to my observations, the revealed knowledge can be very
specific, accurate, and detailed; the data obtained in this way
can be related to many different fields. In our relatively limited
LSD training program for scientists, relevant insights occurred
in such diverse areas as cosmogenesis, the nature of space and
time, sub-atomic physics, ethology, animal psychology, history,
anthropology, sociology, politics, comparative religion, philosophy,
genetics, obstetrics, psychosomatic medicine, psychology, psychopathology,
and thanatology.[2]
The second aspect of the LSD effect that is of great relevance
for the creative process is the facilitation of new and unexpected
syntheses of data, resulting in unconventional problem-solving.
It is a well-known fact that many important ideas and solutions
to problems did not originate in the context of logical reasoning,
but in various unusual states of mind—in dreams, while falling
asleep or awakening, at times of extreme physical and mental fatigue,
or during an illness with high fever. There are many famous examples
of this. Thus, the chemist Friedrich August von Kekulé
arrived at the final solution of the chemical formula of benzene
in a dream in which he saw the benzene ring in the form of a snake
biting its tail. Nikola Tesla constructed the electric generator,
an invention that revolutionized industry, after the complete
design of it appeared to him in great detail in a vision. The
design for the experiment leading to the Nobel prize-winning discovery
of the chemical transmission of nerve impulses occurred to the
physiologist Otto Loewi while he was asleep. Albert Einstein discovered
the basic principles of his special theory of relativity in an
unusual state of mind; according to his description, most of the
insights came to him in the form of kinaesthetic sensations.
We could mention many instances of a similar kind where a creative
individual struggled unsuccessfully for a long time with a difficult
problem using logic and reason, with the actual solution emerging
unexpectedly from the unconscious in moments when his or her rationality
was suspended.[3] In
everyday life events of this kind happen very rarely, and in an
elemental and unpredictable fashion. Psychedelic drugs seem to
facilitate the incidence of such creative solutions to the point
that they can be deliberately programmed. In an LSD state, the
old conceptual frameworks break down, cultural cognitive barriers
dissolve, and the material can be seen and synthesized in a totally
new way that was not possible within the old systems of thinking.
This mechanism can produce not only striking new solutions to
various specific problems, but new paradigms that revolutionize
whole scientific disciplines.
Although psychedelic experimentation had been drastically curbed
before this avenue could be systematically explored, the study
of creative problem-solving conducted by Willis Harman and James
Fadiman (36) at the Stanford Research Institute brought enough
interesting evidence to encourage future research. The drug used
in this experiment was not LSD but mescaline, the active ingredient
of the Mexican cactus Anhalonium lewinii [Lophophora williamsii],
or peyote. Because of the general similarity of the effects of
these two drugs, comparable results should be expected with the
use of LSD; various accidental observations from our LSD training
program for scientists and from the therapeutic use of this drug
seem to confirm this. The subjects in the Harman-Fadiman study
were twenty-seven males engaged in a variety of professions. The
group consisted of sixteen engineers, one engineer-physicist,
two mathematicians, two architects, one psychologist, one furniture
designer, one commercial artist, one sales manager, and one personnel
manager. The objective of the study was to ascertain whether under
the influence of 200 milligrams of mescaline these individuals
would show increased creativity and produce concrete, valid, and
feasible solutions to problems, as judged by the criteria of modern
industry and positivistic science. The results of this research
were very encouraging; many solutions were accepted for construction
or production, others could be developed further or opened new
avenues for investigation. The mescaline subjects consistently
reported that the drug induced in them a variety of changes which
facilitated the creative process. It lowered inhibitions and anxieties,
enhanced the fluency and flexibility of ideation, heightened the
capacity for visual imagery and fantasy, and increased the ability
to concentrate on the project. The administration of mescaline
also facilitated empathy with people and objects, made subconscious
data more accessible, strengthened the motivation to obtain closure
and, in some instances, allowed immediate visualization of the
completed solution.
It is obvious that the potential of LSD for enhancing creativity
will be directly proportional to the intellectual capacity and
sophistication of the experient. For most of the creative insights,
it is necessary to know the present status of the discipline involved,
be able to formulate relevant new problems, and find the technical
means of describing the results. If this type of research is ever
repeated, the logical candidates would be prominent scientists
from various disciplines: nuclear physicists, astrophysicists,
geneticists, brain physiologists, anthropologists, psychologists
and psychiatrists.[4]
DRUG-INDUCED RELIGIOUS AND MYSTICAL EXPERIENCES
The use of psychedelic substances for ritual, religious, and magical
purposes can be traced back to ancient shamanic traditions and
is probably as old as mankind. The legendary divine potion soma,
prepared from a plant of the same name whose identity is now lost,
played a crucial role in the Vedic religion. Preparations from
hemp Cannabis indica and sativa have been used in
Asia and Africa for many centuries under different names—hashish,
charas, bhang, ganja, kif—in religious ceremonies and folk medicine.
They have played an important role in Brahmanism, have been used
in the context of Sufi practices, and represent the principal
sacrament of the Rastafarians. Religio-magical use of psychedelic
plants was widespread in the Pre-Columbian cultures, among the
Aztecs, Mayans, Olmecs, and other Indian groups. The famous Mexican
cactus Lophophora williamsii (peyote), the sacred mushroom
Psilocybe mexicana (teonanacatl), and several varieties
of morning glory seeds (ololiuqui) were among the plants
used. Ritual use of peyote and the sacred mushroom still survives
among various Mexican tribes; the peyote hunt and other sacred
ceremonies of the Huichol Indians and healing rituals of the Mazatecs
using the mushrooms can be mentioned here as important examples.
Peyote was also assimilated by many North American Indian groups
and about one hundred years ago became the sacrament of the syncretistic
Native American Church. South American healers (ayahuascheros),
and preliterate Amazonian tribes such as the Amahuaca and the
Jivaro use yagé, psychedelic extracts from the "visionary
vine," the jungle liana Banisteriopsis caapi. The
best known African hallucinogenic plant is Tabernanthe iboga
(eboga), which in smaller dosages serves as a stimulant and
is used in large quantities as an initiatory drug. In the Middle
Ages, potions and ointments containing psychoactive plants and
animal ingredients were widely used in the context of the Witches'
Sabbath and the black mass rituals. The most famous constituents
of the witches' brews were the deadly nightshade (Atropa
Belladonna), mandrake (Mandragora officinarum),
thornapple or "jimson weed" (Datura Stramonium),
henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), and toad skin. Modern chemical
analysis has detected in the skin of toads (Bufo buff),
a substance called bufotenine (or dimethylserotonin)
which has psychedelic properties. The psychedelic plants mentioned
above represent only a small selection of those that are most
famous. According to ethnobotanist Richard Schultes of the Botanical
Department of Harvard University, there exist more than one hundred
plants with distinct psychoactive properties.
The ability of psychedelic substances to induce visionary states
of a religious and mystical nature is documented in many historical
and anthropological sources. The discovery of LSD, and the well-publicized
occurrence of these experiences in many experimental subjects
within our own culture, has brought this issue to the attention
of scientists. The fact that religious experiences could be triggered
by the ingestion of chemical agents instigated an interesting
and highly controversial discussion about "chemical"
or "instant mysticism." Many behavioral scientists,
philosophers, and theologians became involved in fierce polemics
about the nature of these phenomena, their meaning, validity,
and authenticity. The opinions soon crystallized into three extreme
points of view. Some experimenters saw the possibility of inducing
religious experiences by chemical means as an opportunity to transfer
religious phenomena from the realm of the sacred to the laboratory,
and thus eventually to explain them in scientific terms. Ultimately,
there would be nothing mysterious and holy about religion, and
spiritual experiences could be reduced to brain physiology and
biochemistry. However, other researchers took a very different
stance. According to them, the mystical phenomena induced by LSD
and other psychedelic drugs were genuine and these substances
should be considered sacraments because they can mediate contact
with transcendental realities. This was essentially the position
taken by the shamans and priests of psychedelic cultures where
visionary plants such as soma, peyote and teonanacatl were seen
as divine materials or as deities themselves. Yet another approach
to the problem was to consider LSD experiences to be "quasi-religious"
phenomena which only simulate or superficially resemble the authentic
and genuine spirituality that comes as "God's grace"
or as a result of discipline, devotion, and austere practices.
In this framework, the seeming ease with which these experiences
could be triggered by a chemical entirely discredited their spiritual
value.
However, those who argue that LSD-induced spiritual experiences
cannot be valid because they are too easily available and their
occurrence and timing depend on the individual's decision, misunderstand
the nature of the psychedelic state. The psychedelic experience
is neither an easy nor a predictable way to God. Many subjects
do not have spiritual elements in their sessions despite many
exposures to the drug. Those who do have a mystical experience
frequently have to undergo psychological ordeals that are at least
as difficult and painful as those associated with various aboriginal
rites of passage or rigorous and austere religious disciplines.
Most researchers agree that it is not possible to differentiate
clearly between spontaneous mystical experiences and "chemical
mysticism" on the basis of phenomenological analysis or experimental
approaches.[5] This issue
is further complicated by the relative lack of specific pharmacological
effects of LSD and by the fact that some of the situations conducive
to spontaneous mysticism are associated with dramatic physiological
and biochemical changes in the body.
Prolonged fasting, sleep deprivation, a stay in the desert with
exposure to dehydration and extremes of temperature, forceful
respiratory maneuvers, excessive emotional stress, physical exertion
and tortures, long monotonous chanting and other popular practices
of the "technology of the sacred" cause such far-reaching
alterations in body chemistry that it is difficult to draw a clear
line between spontaneous and chemical mysticism.
The decision whether chemically induced experiences are genuine
and authentic or not thus lies in the domain of theologians and
spiritual masters. Unfortunately the representatives of different
religions have expressed a wide spectrum of conflicting opinions;
it remains an open question who should be considered an authority
in this area. Some of these religious experts made their judgments
without ever having had a psychedelic experience and can hardly
be considered authorities on LSD; others have made far-reaching
generalizations on the basis of one session. Serious differences
of opinion exist even among leading representatives of the same
religion—Catholic priests, Protestant ministers, Rabbis, and
Hindu saints—who have had psychedelic experiences. At present,
after thirty years of discussion, the question whether LSD and
other psychedelics can induce genuine spiritual experiences is
still open. Negative opinions of individuals like Meher Baba or
R. C. Zaehner stand against those of several Tibetan Buddhist
masters, a number of shamans of the psychedelic cultures, Walter
Clark, Huston Smith, and Alan Watts.
Whether the experiences produced by LSD are genuine mystical revelations
or just very convincing simulations thereof, they are certainly
phenomena of great interest for theologians, ministers, and students
of religion. Within a few hours, individuals gain profound insights
into the nature of religion, and in many instances their purely
theoretical understanding and formal belief is vitalized by a
deep personal experience of the transcendental realms. This opportunity
can be particularly important for those ministers who profess
a religion, but at the same time harbor serious doubts about the
truth and relevance of what they preach. Several priests and theologians
who volunteered for our LSD training program at the Maryland Psychiatric
Research Center were skeptics or atheists who were involved in
their profession for a variety of external reasons. For them,
the spiritual experiences they had in their LSD sessions were
important evidence that spirituality is a genuine and deeply relevant
force in human life. This realization liberated them from the
conflict they had had about their profession, and from the burden
of hypocrisy. In several instances, the relatives and friends
of these individuals reported that their sermons following the
LSD session showed unusual power and natural authority.
Spiritual experiences in psychedelic sessions frequently draw
on the symbolism of the collective unconscious and can thus occur
in the framework of cultural and religious traditions other than
the experient's own. LSD training sessions are therefore of special
interest for those who study comparative religion. Ministers affiliated
to a specific church are sometimes surprised when they have a
profound religious experience in the context of an entirely different
creed. Because of the basically unitive nature of the psychedelic
experience, this usually does not disqualify their own religion
but places it in a broader cosmic perspective.
ROLE OF LSD IN PERSONAL GROWTH AND SELF-ACTUALIZATION
During the years of intensive LSD research, the major focus was
on basic psychopathological investigation, psychiatric therapy,
or some quite specific uses, such as enhancement of artistic expression
or mediation of a religious experience. Relatively little attention
was paid to the value that psychedelic experiences could have
for the personal development of "normal" individuals.
In the mid-sixties, this issue emerged in an elemental and explosive
fashion in a wave of massive nonsupervised self-experimentation.
In the atmosphere of national hysteria that ensued, the pros and
cons were discussed in a passionate, over-emphatic, and ultimately
confusing way. The LSD proselytes presented the drug quite uncritically
as an easy and safe panacea for all the problems that beset human
existence. Psychedelic self-exploration and personality transformation
were presented as the only viable alternative to sudden annihilation
in a nuclear holocaust or slow death among industrial waste products.
It was recommended that as many people as possible should take
LSD under any circumstances and as frequently as they could in
order to accelerate the advent of the Aquarian Age. LSD sessions
were seen as a rite of passage that should be mandatory for everybody
who reached their teens.
Failure to warn the public about the dangers and pitfalls of psychedelic
experimentation and to give instructions for minimizing the risks
resulted in a large number of casualties. Apocalyptic newspaper
headlines describing the horrors of LSD "bummers" and
drug-related accidents ignited a witch-hunting response in legislators,
politicians, educators, and many professionals. Ignoring the data
from almost two decades of responsible scientific experimentation,
the anti-drug propaganda switched to the other extreme and presented
LSD as a totally unpredictable devil's drug that represented a
grave danger to the sanity of the present generation and the physical
health of generations to come.
At present, when the emotional charge of this controversy has
subsided, it seems possible to take a more sober and objective
view of the problems involved. Clinical evidence strongly suggests
that "normal" people can benefit most from the LSD process
and are taking the least risk when participating in a supervised
psychedelic program. A single high-dose LSD session can frequently
be of extraordinary value for those persons who do not have any
serious clinical problems. The quality of their lives can be considerably
enhanced and the experience can move them in the direction of
self-realization or self-actualization. This process seems to
be comparable in every way to the one that Abraham Maslow described
for individuals who had spontaneous "peak experiences."
The official anti-drug propaganda is based on a very superficial
understanding of the motivations for psychedelic drug use. It
is true that in many instances the drug is used for kicks or in
the context of juvenile rebellion against parental authority or
the establishment. However, even those who take LSD under the
worst circumstances frequently get a glimpse of the drug's real
potential, and this can become a powerful force in future use.
The fact that many people take LSD in an attempt to find a solution
to their emotional dilemmas or from a deep need for philosophical
and spiritual answers should not be underestimated. The craving
for contact with transcendental realities can be more powerful
than the sexual urge. Throughout human history countless individuals
have been willing to take enormous risks of various kinds and
to sacrifice years or decades of their lives to spiritual pursuits.
Any reasonable measures regulating the use of psychedelic drugs
should take these facts into consideration.
Very few serious researchers still believe that experimentation
with pure LSD represents a genetic hazard. Under proper circumstances
the psychological dangers that represent the only serious risk
can be reduced to a minimum. In my opinion, there is no scientific
evidence that precludes the creation of a network of facilities
in which those who are seriously interested in psychedelic self-exploration
could engage in it with pure substances and under the best circumstances.
Many of these would be subjects who are so deeply motivated that
they would otherwise be serious candidates for illegal self-experimentation
involving a much higher risk. The existence of government-sponsored
centers of this kind would have an inhibiting effect on the immature
motivations of people for whom the present strict prohibitions
represent a special challenge and temptation. An additional advantage
of this approach would be the opportunity to accumulate and process
in a systematic way all the valuable information about psychedelics
that is otherwise lost in elemental and chaotic unsupervised experimentation.
This would also remedy the existing absurd situation in which
almost no serious professional research is being conducted in
an area where millions of people have been experimenting on their
own.
USE OF LSD IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PARANORMAL
ABILITIES
Much historical and anthropological evidence and numerous anecdotal
observations from clinical research suggest that psychedelic substances
can occasionally facilitate extrasensory perception. In many cultures
visionary plants were administered in the context of spiritual
healing ceremonies as means to diagnose and cure diseases. Equally
frequent was their use for other magical purposes, such as locating
lost objects or persons, astral projection, perception of remote
events, precognition, and clairvoyance. Most of the drugs used
for these purposes have been mentioned earlier in connection with
religious rituals. They include the resin or leaves of hemp (Cannabis
indica or sativa) in Africa and Asia; fly-agaric
mushrooms among various Siberian tribes and North American Indians;
the plant Tabernanthe iboga among certain African ethnic
groups; the snuffs cohoba (Anadenanthera peregrine) and
epena (Virola theidora) of South America and the Caribbean;
and the three basic psychedelics of the Pre-Columbian cultures—the
peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii), the sacred mushrooms
teonanacatl (Psilocybe mexicana) and ololiuqui or
morning glory seeds (Ipomoea violacea). Of special interest
seems to be yagé, a brew prepared from the jungle
creeper Banisteriopsis caapi and other "vines of the
dead" used by South American Indians in the Amazon valley.
Harmine, also called yagéine or banisterine, one of the
active alkaloids isolated from the Banisteriopsis plant, has actually
been referred to as telepathine. The psychedelic states
induced by the extracts of these plants seem to be especially
powerful enhancers of paranormal phenomena. The most famous example
of the unusual properties of yagé can be found in
the reports of McGovern (69) one of the anthropologists who described
this plant. According to his description, a local medicine man
saw in remarkable detail the death of the chief of a faraway tribe
at the time when it was happening; the accuracy of his account
was verified many weeks later. A similar experience was reported
by Manuel Cordova-Rios (53) who accurately saw the death of his
mother in his yagé session and was later able to
verify all the details. All psychedelic cultures seem to share
the belief that not only is extrasensory perception enhanced during
the actual intoxication by sacred plants, but the systematic use
of these substances facilitates development of paranormal abilities
in everyday life.
Much anecdotal material collected over the years by psychedelic
researchers supports the above beliefs. Masters and Houston (65)
have described the case of a housewife who in her LSD session
saw her daughter in the kitchen of their home looking for the
cookie jar. She further reported seeing the child knock a sugar
bowl from a shelf and spill sugar on the floor. This episode was
later confirmed by her husband. The same authors also reported
an LSD subject who saw "a ship caught in ice floes, somewhere
in the northern seas." According to the subject, the ship
had on its bow the name "France." It was later confirmed
that the France had indeed been trapped in ice near Greenland
at the time of the subject's LSD session. The famous psychologist
and parapsychological researcher Stanley Krippner (49) visualized,
during a psilocybin session in 1962, the assassination of John
F. Kennedy which took place a year later. Similar observations
were reported by Humphrey Osmond, Duncan Blewett, Abram Hoffer,
and other researchers. The literature on the subject has been
critically reviewed in a synoptic paper by Krippner and Davidson.
(50)
In my own clinical experience, various phenomena suggesting extrasensory
perception are relatively frequent in LSD psychotherapy particularly
in advanced sessions. They range from a more-or-less vague anticipation
of future events or an awareness of remote happenings to complex
and detailed scenes in the form of vivid clairvoyant visions.
This may be associated with appropriate sounds, such as spoken
words and sentences, noises produced by motor vehicles, sounds
of fire engines and ambulances, or the blowing of horns. Some
of these experiences can later be shown to correspond in varying
degrees with actual events. Objective verification in this area
can be particularly difficult. Unless these instances are reported
and clearly documented during the actual psychedelic sessions
there is a great danger of contamination of the data. Loose interpretation
of events, distortions of memory, and the possibility of deja
vu phenomena during the perception of later occurrences are a
few of the major pitfalls involved.
The most interesting paranormal phenomena occurring in psychedelic
sessions are out-of-the-body experiences and the instances of
traveling clairvoyance and clairaudience. The sensation of leaving
one's body is quite common in drug-induced states and can have
various forms and degrees. Some persons experience themselves
as completely detached from their physical bodies, hovering above
them or observing them from another part of the room. Occasionally,
the subjects can lose the awareness of the actual physical setting
altogether and their consciousness moves into experiential realms
and subjective realities that appear to be entirely independent
of the material world. They may then identify entirely with the
body images of the protagonists of these scenes, be they persons,
animals, or archetypal entities. In exceptional cases the individual
may have a complex and vivid experience of moving to a specific
place in the physical world, and give a detailed description of
a remote locale or event. Attempts to verify such extrasensory
perceptions can sometimes result in amazing corroborations. In
rare instances, the subject can actively control such a process
and "travel" at will to any location or point in time
he or she chooses. A detailed description of an experience of
this kind illustrating the nature and complexity of the problems
involved has been published in my book Realms of the Human
Unconscious, p. 187. (32)
Objective testing by the standard laboratory techniques used in
parapsychological research has generally been quite disappointing
and has failed to demonstrate an increase of extrasensory perception
as a predictable and constant aspect of the LSD effect. Masters
and Houston (65) tested LSD subjects with the use of a special
card deck developed in the parapsychology laboratory at Duke University.
The deck contains twenty-five cards, each of which has a geometrical
symbol: a star, circle, cross, square, or wavy lines. The results
of the experiments in which LSD subjects attempted to guess the
identity of these cards were statistically nonsignificant. A similar
study conducted by Whittlesey (102) and a card-guessing experiment
with psilocybin subjects reported by van Asperen de Boer, Barkema
and Kappers (6) were equally disappointing, though an interesting
finding in the first of these studies was a striking decrease
of variance; the subjects actually guessed closer to mean chance
expectation than predicted mathematically. Unpublished findings
of Walter Pahnke's parapsychological research at the Maryland
Psychiatric Research Center suggest that the statistical approach
to this problem might be misleading. In this project, Walter Pahnke
used a modified version of the Duke University cards in the form
of electronic keyboard panels. The LSD subject had to guess the
key that had been lit on a panel in an adjacent room either manually
or by a computer. Although the results for the entire group of
LSD subjects were not statistically significant, certain individuals
achieved strikingly high scores in some of the measurements.
Some researchers voiced objections to the uninteresting and unimaginative
approach to the study of parapsychological phenomena represented
by repetitive card guessing. In general, such a procedure does
not have much chance in the competition for the subject's attention
as compared to some of the exciting subjective experiences that
characterize the psychedelic state. In an attempt to make the
task more appealing, Cavanna and Servadio (19) used emotionally-loaded
materials rather than cards; photographic color prints of incongruous
paintings were prepared for the experient. Although one subject
did remarkably well, the overall results were nonsignificant.
Karlis Osis (73) administered LSD to a number of "mediums"
who were given objects and asked to describe the owners. One medium
was unusually successful, but most of the others became so interested
in the aesthetic and philosophical aspects of the experience,
or so caught up in their personal problems, that they found it
difficult to maintain concentration on the task.
By far the most interesting data emerged from a pilot study designed
by Masters and Houston (65) who used emotionally charged images
with sixty-two LSD subjects. The experiments were conducted in
the termination periods of the sessions, when it is relatively
easy to focus on specific tasks. Forty-eight of the individuals
tested approximated the target image at least two times out of
ten, while five subjects made successful guesses at least seven
times out of ten. For example one subject visualized "tossed
seas' when the correct image was a Viking ship in a storm. The
same subject guessed "lush vegetation" when the image
was rain forests in the Amazon, "a camel" when the image
was an Arab on a camel, "the Alps" when the picture
was the Himalayas, and "a Negro picking cotton in a field"
when the target was a plantation in the South.
The study of paranormal phenomena in psychedelic sessions presents
many technical problems. In addition to the problems of getting
the subject interested and keeping his or her attention on the
task, Blewett (12) also emphasized the rapid flow of eidetic imagery
that interferes with the ability of the subject to stabilize and
choose the response that might have been triggered by the target.
The methodological difficulties in studying the effect of psychedelic
drugs on extrasensory perception or other paranormal abilities
and the lack of evidence in the existing studies cannot, however,
invalidate some quite extraordinary observations in this area.
Every LSD therapist with sufficient clinical experience has collected
enough challenging observations to take this problem seriously.
I myself have no doubt that psychedelics can occasionally induce
elements of genuine extrasensory perception at the time of their
pharmacological effect. On occasion, the occurrence of certain
paranormal abilities and phenomena can extend beyond the day of
the session. A fascinating observation that is closely related
and deserves attention in this context is the frequent accumulation
of extraordinary coincidences in the lives of persons who had
experienced transpersonal phenomena in their psychedelic sessions.
Such coincidences are objective facts, not just subjective interpretations
of perceptual data; they are similar to the observations that
Carl Gustav Jung described in his essay on synchronicity. (44)
The discrepancy between the occurrence of parapsychological phenomena
in LSD sessions and the negative results of specific laboratory
studies seems to reflect the fact that an increase in ESP is not
a standard and constant aspect of the LSD effect. Psychological
states conducive to various paranormal phenomena and characterized
by an unusually high incidence of ESP are among the many alternative
mental conditions that can be facilitated by this drug; in other
types of LSD experiences the ESP abilities seem to be on the same
level as they are in the everyday state of consciousness, or even
further reduced. Future research will have to assess if the otherwise
unpredictable and elemental incidence of paranormal abilities
in psychedelic states can be harnessed and systematically cultivated,
as it is indicated in shamanic literature.
NOTES
1. The interested reader will find comprehensive
discussion of this subject in Robert Masters' and Jean Houston's
excellent book Psychedelic Art (66). The influence of LSD
and psilocybin on the creativity of professional painters has
also been uniquely documented in the book Experimental Psychoses
(90) by the Czech psychiatrist, J. Roubicek. Oscar Janiger's unpublished
collection of professional paintings done under the influence
of LSD also deserves to be mentioned in this context. (back)
2. Some concrete examples of relevant insights
of this kind are described in my book Realms of the Human
Unconscious. (32) (back)
3. Many additional examples of this phenomenon
can be found in Arthur Koestler's book The Act of Creation.
(48) (back)
4. The interested reader will find more information
on the subject in Stanley Krippner's synoptic paper Research
in Creativity and Psychedelic Drugs. (51) (back)
5. The most interesting study of this kind
was Walter Pahnke's (75) Good Friday experiment conducted in 1964
in the Harvard Chapel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In this study,
ten Christian theological students were given 30 milligrams of
psilocybin, and ten others who functioned as a control group received
200 milligrams of nicotinic acid as placebo. The assignment to
the two groups was done on a double-blind basis. They all listened
to a two-and-a-half-hour religious service that consisted of organ
music, vocal solos, readings, prayers, and personal meditation.
The subjects who were given psilocybin rated very high on the
mystical experience questionnaire developed by Pahnke, whereas
the response of the control group was minimal. (back)