Christian Rätsch

Albert Hofmann

Richard Evans Schultes

World-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist Christian Ratsch provides the latest scientific updates to this classic work on psychoactive flora by two eminent researchers. • Numerous new and rare color photographs complement the completely revised and updated text. • Explores the uses of hallucinogenic plants in shamanic rituals throughout the world. • Cross-referenced by plant, illness, preparation, season of collection, and chemical constituents. Three scientific titans join forces to completely revise the classic text on the ritual uses of psychoactive plants. They provide a fascinating testimony of these "plants of the gods," tracing their uses throughout the world and their significance in shaping culture and history. In the traditions of every culture, plants have been highly valued for their nourishing, healing, and transformative properties. The most powerful of those plants, which are known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness, have always been regarded as sacred. The authors detail the uses of hallucinogens in sacred shamanic rites while providing lucid explanations of the biochemistry of these plants and the cultural prayers, songs, and dances associated with them. The text is lavishly illustrated with 400 rare photographs of plants, people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world's sacred psychoactive flora.

Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers

Plants of the Gods

R. Gordon Wasson

Carl A. P. Ruck

"...one of the two best kept secrets in history, and this book is the most successful attempt I know to unlock it. ... [A] historical tour de force." --Huston Smith, author of The World’s Religions The secretive Mysteries conducted at Eleusis in Greece for nearly two millennia have long puzzled scholars with strange accounts of initiates experiencing otherworldly journeys. In this groundbreaking work, three experts—a mycologist, a chemist, and a historian—argue persuasively that the sacred potion given to participants in the course of the ritual contained a psychoactive entheogen. The authors then expand the discussion to show that natural psychedelic agents have been used in spiritual rituals across history and cultures. Although controversial when first published in 1978, the book’s hypothesis has become more widely accepted in recent years, as knowledge of ethnobotany has deepened. The authors have played critical roles in the modern rediscovery of entheogens, and The Road to Eleusis presents an authoritative exposition of their views. The book’s themes of the universality of experiential religion, the suppression of that knowledge by exploitative forces, and the use of psychedelics to reconcile the human and natural worlds make it a fascinating and timely read. This 30th anniversary edition includes an appreciative preface by religious scholar Huston Smith and an updated exploration of the chemical evidence by Peter Webster.

Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries

The Road to Eleusis

This is the story of LSD told by a concerned yet hopeful father, organic chemist Albert Hofmann. He traces LSDs path from a promising psychiatric research medicine to a recreational drug sparking hysteria and prohibition.We follow Dr. Hofmanns trek across Mexico to discover sacred plants related to LSD, and listen in as he corresponds with other notable figures about his remarkable discovery.Underlying it all is Dr. Hofmanns powerful conclusion that mystical experience may be our planets best hope for survival. Whether induced by LSD, meditation, or arising spontaneously, such experiences help us to comprehend the wonder, the mystery of the divine in the microcosm of the atom, in the macrocosm of the spiral nebula, in the seeds of plants, in the body and soul of people.Now, more than sixty years after the birth of Albert Hofmanns problem child, his vision of its true potential is more relevant, and more needed, than ever.

Reflections on Sacred Drugs, Mysticism, and Science

LSD, My Problem Child

Road to Eleusis

Alex Grey

The Final Thoughts and Reflections of Albert Hofmann

LSD and the Divine Scientist

LSD. Il mio bambino difficile. Riflessioni su droghe sacre, misticismoe scienza

LSD - mein Sorgenkind

Jonathan Ott

Taking LSD was a profound experience, one of the most important things in my life" Steve Jobs Albert Hofmann, who died in 2008 aged 102, synthesised lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in 1938. Although his work produced other important drugs, including methergine, used to treat postpartum haemorrhaging, it was LSD that shaped his career. After his discovery of LSD's properties, Hofmann spent years researching sacred plants. With colleagues he participated in psychedelic rituals withshamans in southern Mexico. He succeeded in synthesizing the active compounds in the Psilocybe mexicana mushroom, which he named psilocybin and psilocin. During the 60s, Hofmann struck up friendships with personalities as Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsburg, and Aldous Huxley. He continued to work at Sandoz until 1971 when he retired as Director of Research for the Department of Natural Products. In retirement Hofmann served as a member of the Nobel Prize Committee. As well as being nominated as one of the most influential figures of the 20th century (by Time magazine), he was also a Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences. Shortly before his death, Hoffman approved a new and updated translation of his autobiography (first published by McGraw Hill in 1979). It appears here for the first time in print."

My Problem Child

Dr. Albert Hofmann, one of this century's greatest minds, offers a lifetime of insights, observations, and discussions. He leads us on an exploration of reality perception, where our newly discovered insights are drawn into intellectual meditation. Reality is approached as a combination of subjective and objective truths, which must be unified for ultimate awareness. This amazing book will expand your mind and lift you to a level where the material and spiritual aspects of your life exist in harmony.

Insight Outlook

The acclaimed discoverer of LSD’s personal experiences and thoughts on chemistry, the natural sciences, mind-altering drugs, the soul, and the search for happiness • Shares a different side of the father of LSD, one known only to his friends and close colleagues • Explains Hofmann’s different methods of pharmaceutical research based on traditional plant medicine • Includes the poetry of this mystical prophet of psychedelic science Best known as the first person to synthesize, ingest, and discover the psychedelic effects of LSD, Albert Hofmann was more than just a chemist. A pioneer in the field of visionary plant research, he was one of the first people to suggest the use of entheogens for psychological healing and spiritual growth. His insights into the consciousness-expanding effects of psychedelics as well as human nature, the psyche, and the nature of reality earned him a reputation as a mystical scientist and visionary philosopher. This book--Hofmann’s last work before his death in 2008 at the age of 102--offers the acclaimed scientist’s personal experiences and thoughts on chemistry, the natural sciences, mind-altering drugs, the soul, and the search for happiness and meaning in life. Hofmann explains different methods of pharmaceutical research based on traditional plant medicine and discusses psilocybin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms that he discovered. He examines the psychological role of psychoactives, their therapeutic potential, and their use in easing the life-to-death transition. Sharing a different side of the father of LSD, one known only to his friends and close colleagues, this book also includes the poetry of this mystical prophet of psychedelic science.

Lob des Schauens

K. E. O Fritsch

Unveränderter Nachdruck der Originalausgabe von 1893.

Siebenundzwanzigster Jahrgang

Deutsche Bauzeitung: Verkündungsblatt des Verbandes deutscher Architektur und Ingenieurvereine

historia odkrycia "cudownego narkotyku"

LSD ... moje trudne dziecko

“Caleidoscopiche immagini si agitavano dentro di me, si alternavano, si aprivano e si richiudevano in cerchi e spirali” Sebbene l’Lsd abbia già compiuto più di settant’anni, è tuttora dominante presso l’opinione pubblica una visione distorta di questo principio attivo psicotropo. Questo libro del suo scopritore contribuisce a fare chiarezza. “Ci sono esperienze di cui la maggior parte delle persone evita di parlare perché non si conformano alla realtà quotidiana e sfidano ogni spiegazione razionale. Non sono eventi esterni particolari, bensì accadimenti delle nostre vite interiori, che vengono generalmente respinti come creazioni della nostra fantasia ed esclusi dalla memoria. L’immagine familiare del nostro mondo subisce d’improvviso una trasformazione insolita, stupefacente o allarmante; la realtà ci appare in una nuova luce, assume un significato particolare. Esperienze del genere possono essere leggere e fugaci come un soffio d’aria, oppure fissarsi profondamente nelle nostre coscienze. In questo libro desidero offrire un quadro completo dell’Lsd, della sua origine, dei suoi effetti e delle sue possibilità d’impiego; nonché avvertire dei pericoli che sono associati a un consumo che non tenga conto della natura straordinaria dell’azione di questa sostanza.”

Riflessioni su droghe sacre, misticismo e scienza

LSD. Il mio bambino difficile

Nel 1943 Albert Hofmann sintetizzò la dietilamide dell'acido lisergico (LSD) L'autore in questo libro racconta la storia della scoperta dell'LSD e cerca di fare chiarezza sugli eventi che ne sono seguiti: i primi 15 anni in cui l'LSD è stato impiegato quasi esclusivamente in psichiatria e nella ricerca biologica; poi, negli anni Sessanta, la sua comparsa nel panorama delle droghe, fino a diventare la droga di più largo consumo negli Usa, il suo diventare una droga di culto fra gli hippy e altri movimenti di contestazione; l'interruzione dell'uso terapeutico, la messa al bando. E l'altra faccia della medaglia: le caratteristiche e le proprietà della sostanza, le motivazioni avanzate da parte della psichiatria sulle istituzioni sanitarie affinché l'LSD possa essere di nuovo disponibile per il trattamento terapeutico

riflessioni su droghe sacre, misticismo e scienza

LSD, il mio bambino difficile

Robert Gordon Wasson

Alla scoperta dei misteri eleusini

historia odkrycia "cudownego narkotyku

LSD... moje trudne dziecko

Sacred hallucinogens, PLANTS OF THE GODS, are beautifully illustrated and characterized in this lexicon. The authors elaborate in vivid detail 91 plants, focusing on 14 that have had profound significance on human beings. Included are rare photos of the plants and the people who have used them as well as ceremonies, sculpture, paintings, pottery, and weavings relating to the ritual use of these sacred hallucinogens.

Christian Rtsch

Three scientific titans join forces to completely revise the classic text on the ritual uses of psychoactive plants. They provide a fascinating testimony of these "plants of the gods," tracing their uses throughout the world and their significance in shaping culture and history. In the traditions of every culture, plants have been highly valued for their nourishing, healing, and transformative properties. The most powerful of those plants, which are known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness, have always been regarded as sacred. The authors detail the uses of hallucinogens in sacred shamanic rites while providing lucid explanations of the biochemistry of these plants and the cultural prayers, songs, and dances associated with them.

Albert Hofmann

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