The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys

Psychedelics for spiritual, therapeutic, and problem-solving use • Presents practices for safe and successful psychedelic voyages, including the benefits of having a guide and how to be a guide • Reviews the value of psychedelics for healing and self-discovery as well as how LSD has facilitated scientific and technical problem-solving • Reveals how microdosing (ultra-low doses) improve cognitive functioning, emotional balance, and physical stamina • This year 600,000 people in the U.S. alone will try LSD for the the first time, joining the 23 million who have already experimented with this substance Called “America’s wisest and most respected authority on psychedelics and their use,” James Fadiman has been involved with psychedelic research since the 1960s. In this guide to the immediate and long-term effects of psychedelic use for spiritual (high dose), therapeutic (moderate dose), and problem-solving (low dose and microdose) purposes, Fadiman outlines best practices for safe, sacred entheogenic voyages learned through his more than 40 years of experience--from the benefits of having a sensitive guide during a session (and how to be one) to the importance of the setting and pre-session intention. Fadiman reviews the newest as well as the neglected research into the psychotherapeutic value of visionary drug use for increased personal awareness and a host of serious medical conditions, including his recent study of the reasons for and results of psychedelic use among hundreds of students and professionals. He reveals new uses for LSD and other psychedelics, including microdosing, extremely low doses for improved cognitive functioning and emotional balance. Cautioning that psychedelics are not for everyone, he dispels the myths and misperceptions about psychedelics circulating in textbooks and clinics as well as on the internet. Exploring the life-changing experiences of Ram Dass, Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley, and Huston Smith as well as Francis Crick and Steve Jobs, Fadiman shows how psychedelics, used wisely, can lead not only to healing but also to scientific breakthroughs and spiritual epiphanies.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Overview--Why This Book? And Frequently Asked Questions A Vision of a Whole Earth Stewart Brand Part One Transcendent Experience: Entheogenic Sessions Introduction to Part One 1 Meeting the Divine Within Part One: Guidelines for Voyagers and Guides The Guild of Guides 2 The Entheogenic Voyage Part Two: Guidelines for Voyagers and Guides The Guild of Guides 3 Qualities of Transcendent Experience Four Dominant Characteristics Alan Watts 4 Experiences of Psychedelic Pioneers In Their Own Words Albert Hofmann, Ph.D., Aldous Huxley, Stanislav Grof, M.D., Timothy Leary, Ph.D., Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), Ph.D., Alexander Shulgin, Ph.D., Ralph Metzner, Ph.D., Huston Smith, Ph.D., Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Ph.D., Charles Tart, Ph.D., Frances Vaughan, Ph.D., Bill Wilson, and Peter Coyote Part Two Personal Growth and Self-Exploration in Psychedelic Sessions Introduction to Part Two 5 Therapeutic Uses of Psychedelics Psychotherapy and Healing 6 Things Can Go Wrong What You Need to Know Neal Goldsmith, Ph.D. 7 Myths and Misperceptions David Presti, Ph.D., and Jerome Beck, Ph.D. 8 Therapeutic Effectiveness of Single Guided Sessions Part Three Enhanced Problem Solving in Focused Sessions Introduction to Part Three 9 Breakthrough Research Selective Enhancement of Creative Capacities Willis Harman, Ph.D., and James Fadiman, Ph.D. 10 Facilitation for Enhanced Problem Solving 11 Case Studies Two Architects and Six Professionals 12 Group Problem-Solving Sessions Willis Harman, Ph.D. 13 The Look Magazine Experiment Designing the California Issue George Leonard 14 Closing the Doors of Perception The Day the Research Ended Part Four New Horizons Introduction to Part Four 15 Can Sub-Perceptual Doses of Psychedelics Improve Normal Functioning? 16 Surveys of Current Users This Is Your Brain on Drugs 17 The Inadvertent Pioneer My Personal Account 18 Positive Possibilities for Psychedelics A Time of Tentative Celebration Part Five The Necessary, the Extraordinary, and Some Hard-Core Data Introduction to Part Five 19 Entheogenic Journeys A Checklist for Voyagers and Guides 20 Beyond LSD--Way Beyond Ayahuasca Sessions and a Darkness Retreat Michael Wiese, “Anatole,” and Lindsey Vona 21 Behavioral Changes After Psychedelic Therapy Lasting Results of High-Dose Single Sessions 22 A Questionnaire Study of Psychedelic Experiences Willis Harman, Ph.D., and James Fadiman, Ph.D. Last Words Notes Index