LSD My Problem Child - Reflections on Sacred Drugs, Mysticism and Science

Albert Hoffmann

multidisciplinary association for psychedelic studies (MAPS)

1980

224 páginas

7h 28m

ISBN-10: 0979862221

Português Brasileiro

The discovery of the psychedelic properties of LSD was a milestone in the history of consciousness. Albert Hofmann's personal story of that discovery and its consequences is one of my favorite books. --- Andrew Weil, M.D., author of From Chocolate to Morphine, The Natural Mind, and Eight Weeks to Optimum Health.

Aldous wrote about LSD that 'it is a gratuitous grace neither necessary nor sufficient for salvation.' However, it provides the opportunity to discover and make creative use of the infinite possibilities of the human mind. Probably The Doors of Perception might not have been written were it not for Albert's 'Problem Child.' Thank you, Albert. --Laura Huxley, widow of Aldous Huxley and author of This Timeless Moment.

The current revival of the psychedelic aesthetic in art, design, fashion, music and film is testament to the revolutionary power of LSD. Its complex nature and true impact, however, remains unrecognized and this book provides both a personal history as well as rigorous analysis of this enduring phenomenon --Christoph Grunenberg, Director of Tate Liverpool and curator and editor of Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era.

Resenhas (2)

4 (Muito bom)

“If the power of the mind were not in matter, how could matter disturb the mind.” -Goethe

Awareness expanding beyond the range of your ego, reality perception dramatically changed, boundaries, patterns, shapes and concepts dissolving in a colorful amalgam, failing to exert the power of will, sensory enhancement, transcendent cycles… Ever heard of those experiences? Recreational and scientific use of psychedelic drugs have been part of our society for quite some time and undeniably, are responsible for deep impacts intertwined with dogmas, movements, treatments and ancient societies.
The development of LSD, more precisely designated as D-lysergic acid diethylamide, is in Dr. Hofmann’s words: “Inextricably interrelated with my chemist career development”. Throughout his journey, he starts by telling us how the ergot alkaloids, a relatively uncharted field of research at that time, became his main field of study and how his engagement to isolate properties of ergot and producing new lysergic acid compounds led far beyond the reaches of interesting pharmacological investigations.
From the twenty-fifth substance which was at some point, discontinued by arousing no special interest, to one of the main drugs used for decades, Dr. Hofmann has witnessed all the sociological impacts caused by LSD-25 and is also responsible for multiple studies by proceeding even further into chemically close derivatives such as teonanácatl and ololiuhqui.
Scientific evidence-based approach is the key when it comes to the society demonization of compounds which do not fit the everyday rationality. In Dr. Hofmann’s words: “Psychic effects too meaningful and multiform to be explained only by intoxications observed in the psychopathological optic. Meaning, it is likely that alterations of nerve conductivity and influence on the activity of synapses exerted on the extremely complex system of cross-connections between billions of brain cells plays the most important role.”
Rest assure: We don’t live in this universe, we are the universe. I’d like to end this review in Hofmann’s words: Natural environment and the animal world sheltered therein, is infinitely more real, older, deeper than everything made by people, and that will yet endure, when the inanimate, mechanical, and concrete world again vanishes into ruin. The “unpredictability” of LSD psychic effects reflects the cleft in studies suppressed by the social contract to understand which biochemical mechanisms are exerted paving the way to more effectively psychoanalytic treatments and possibly a true medicament.

Link to my highlights: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18bnjHfC4MoYYupnKxCBpWtN-x9T3JTBN/view?usp=share_link