LSD: Doorway to the Numinous: The Groundbreaking Psychedelic Research into Realms of the Human Unconscious

A pioneering book that explores the unknown landscape of human consciousness induced by LSD and other psychedelics • Shows the relationship between shamanism, near death experiences, and other mystical and altered states with those induced by psychedelics • Lays the conceptual foundation for the creation of important new therapies in psychiatry and psychology Stanislav Grof’s first 17 years of research into nonordinary states of consciousness induced by LSD and other psychedelics led to a revolutionary understanding of the human psyche. His research was the impetus behind a vastly expanded cartography of the unconscious, including two new realms still unacknowledged by official academic circles--the perinatal domain, which holds memories of the various stages of birth, and the transpersonal domain, which mediates experiential identification with other species and mythic figures, visits to archetypal realms, access to past life memories, and union with the cosmic creative principle. The research presented in this book provides a map of the psyche that is essential for understanding such phenomena as shamanism and near death experiences as well as other nonordinary states of consciousness. This map has led to the development of important new therapies in psychiatry and psychology for treating mental conditions often seen as disease and therefore suppressed by medication. It also provides a new threshold to understanding and entering the numinous realm of spirit.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Preface 1 General Introduction The LSD Controversy LSD and Its Effects in Human Beings Empirical Basis for a New Theoretical Framework Heuristic Value of LSD Research 2 Abstract and Aesthetic Experiences in LSD Sessions 3 Psychodynamic Experiences in LSD Sessions COEX Systems (Systems of Condensed Experience) Origin and Dynamics of COEX Systems Manifestation of COEX Systems in LSD Sessions Dynamic Interaction between the COEX Systems and Environmental Stimuli 4 Perinatal Experiences in LSD Sessions Perinatal Matrix I. Primal Union with the Mother (Intrauterine Experience before the Onset of Delivery) Perinatal Matrix II. Antagonism with the Mother (Contractions in a Closed Uterine System) Perinatal Matrix III. Synergism with the Mother (Propulsion through the Birth Canal) Perinatal Matrix IV. Separation from the Mother (Termination of the Symbiotic Union and Formation of a New Type of Relationship) Significance of Basic Perinatal Matrices in LSD Psychotherapy 5 Transpersonal Experiences in LSD Sessions Experiential Extension within the Framework of “Objective Reality” Temporal Expansion of Consciousness • Embryonal and Fetal Experiences • Ancestral Experiences • Collective and Racial Experiences • Phylogenetic (Evolutionary) Experiences • Past-Incarnation Experiences • Precognition, Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, and “Time Travels” Spatial Expansion of Consciousness • Ego Transcendence in Interpersonal Relationships and the Experience of Dual Unity • Identification with Other Persons • Group Identification and Group Consciousness • Animal Identification • Plant Identification • Oneness with Life and with All Creation • Consciousness of Inorganic Matter • Planetary Consciousness • Extraplanetary Consciousness • Out-of-Body Experiences, Traveling Clairvoyance and Clairaudience, “Space Travels,” and Telepathy Spatial Constriction of Consciousness • Organ, Tissue, and Cellular Consciousness Experiential Extension beyond the Framework of “Objective Reality” • Spiritistic and Mediumistic Experiences • Experiences of Encounters with Suprahuman Spiritual Entities • Experiences of Other Universes and Encounters with Their Inhabitants • Archetypal Experiences and Complex Mythological Sequences • Experiences of Encounters with Various Deities • Intuitive Understanding of Universal Symbols • Activation of the Chakras and Arousal of the Serpent Power (Kundalini) • Consciousness of the Universal Mind • The Supracosmic and Metacosmic Void Significance of Transpersonal Experiences in LSD Psychotherapy Transpersonal Experiences and Contemporary Psychiatry 6 Multidimensional and Multilevel Nature of the LSD Experience Environmental Stimuli and Elements of the Setting Personality of the Therapist and the Therapeutic Situation Present Life Situation Past Life History Early Childhood and Infancy Biological Birth and the Perinatal Period Embryonal and Fetal Existence Transindividual (Transpersonal and Transhuman) Sources Epilogue The Psychedelic Research Renaissance--A Review of Recent Psychedelic Psychotherapy Research by L. Jerome, Ph.D., Valerie Mojeiko, and Rick Doblin, Ph.D. Notes Index About the Author

About the Author :
Stanislav Grof, M.D., is a psychiatrist who has been principal investigator at the Psychiatric Research Institute in Prague, Chief of Psychedelic Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, and assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University. He is now professor of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. His 20 books include Beyond the Brain, Psychology of the Future, The Cosmic Genius, and Spiritual Emergency. He lives in California.

Review :
“Grof has had far and away more experience in psychedelic research than anyone else and has come up with the most comprehensive and helpful framework for interpreting the data in this bewildering area.” "Dr. Grof's efforts should be lauded and highly commended in the scientific and medical community. His clinical research is courageous and luminous to anyone who is conscious of the body's metaphysiology and higher energy dynamics. This field of research is as important to the human animal as molecular scientific inquiry into the etiology of neoplasias." "Dr. Grof has helped to give us new ways of seeing the world . . . He has opened a link between the psyche and the spirit." “Stanislav Grof is the undisputed world authority on LSD and the human psyche, and this book provides the best cartography of consciousness for understanding the profound impact of entheogens on the mind.” “Dr. Grof's studies of the mystical experience in LSD therapy represent an extremely valuable scientific approach to consciousness research from which many people can benefit.” “Grof marshals an impressive array of data and speculation in support of the timely demand that Western science acknowledge consciousness and its many nonordinary states.” “A fascinating journey through previously uncharted realms of the psyche guided by one of the world’s foremost consciousness researchers. A remarkable account of the extraordinary depths of the human psyche.” "For any serious student of psychedelics or psychology, this is an important read that should not be ignored. In terms of building a foundation for the future of the psychedelic movement and finding a place for psychedelics in society, LSD:Doorway to the Numinous is without question the text. Authoritative, insightful, and self-aware." “Stanislav Grof ’s research is the most important contribution to personality theory in several decades.” " . . . Grof's engrossing state-of-the-science overview argues convincingly that continued LSD reserach will help patients, parents, policymakers, and even spiritual seekers." “The most significant development in the recent history of depth psychology, and the most important advance in the field since Freud and Jung themselves, has been the work of Stanislav Grof.” “Dr. Stanislav Grof's LSD: Doorway to the Numinous is an extraordinary alchemical text that overturns many commonly held beliefs about the nature of individual identity and consciousness. Based on his 2,500 clinical sessions using LSD as a therapeutic tool before the substance was interdicted, Grof's book explores the vast dimensions of inner experience that have been ignored and marginalized by the mainstream. He also provides a theoretical framework for understanding these amazing experiences that synthesizes Freudian and Jungian insights into the dark matter of the unconscious and the primal drives that secretly impel us to act. A must-read for all serious students of consciousness.” “I know of no work that so well incorporates the findings of Freud, Jung, and Rank, adding fresh insights that the methods of these psychotherapists could never have achieved. It certainly goes beyond Freud. It brings new clarification to Jung. It throws new light on the topic of death and resurrection symbolism, as well as on religious imagery. I do not doubt that others working in this field will find Dr. Grof's discoveries a basis for a whole new strategy of research.” “An exceptionally clear and readable introduction to the evolving psychology of the spirit--transpersonal psychology--that is one of the most exciting developments of our times. Grof is far and away one of the leading scientists exploring this field.” “A breakthrough work.”