Editor’s Note--Out of Society’s Secret Corners
Thomas B. Roberts
Acknowledgments
Foreword to the 2012 Edition: The Varieties of Mind-Enhancing
Practices
Roger Walsh
Introduction: Psychoactive Sacramentals
Brother David Steindl-Rast
1 If I Could Change Your Mind
Rev. Mike Young
2 Do Drugs Have Religious Import? A Thirty-Five-Year
Retrospect
Huston Smith
3 From State to Trait: The Challenge of Transforming Transient
Insights into Enduring Change
Roger Walsh
4 The Potential of Entheogens as Catalysts of Spiritual
Development
Stanislav Grof
5 Psychoactive Sacramentals: What Must Be Said
Charles T. Tart
6 Unitive Consciousness and Pahnke’s Good Friday
Experiment
Paula Jo Hruby
7 Pahnke’s Good Friday Experiment: A Long-term Follow-up and
Methodological Critique
Rick Doblin
8 A Pilgrim’s Visit to Marsh Chapel
Thomas Jenden Riedlinger
9 Las noches de los ayahuasqueros
Will Penna
10 Mysterious Tea
Annelise Schinzinger
11 A Scientist’s View of Miracles and Magic
Alexander T. Shulgin
12 LSD as a Spiritual Aid
Albert Hofmann
13 Strychnine and Other Enduring Myths: Expert and User Folklore
Surrounding LSD
David E. Presti and Jerome Beck
14 Manna, the Showbread, and the Eucharist: Psychoactive
Sacraments in the Bible
Dan Merkur
15 What Is Entheology?
Rev. Aline M. Lucas
16 A Protocol for a Sacramental Service
Myron J. Stolaroff
17 A Theology of Human Liberation and Entheogens: Reflections of
a Contemplative Activist
Rev. George F. Cairns
18 Consciousness and Asian Traditions: An Evolutionary
Perspective
Roger Walsh
19 The Strengthening Aspects of Zen and Contemporary Meditation
Practices
Kathleen O’Shaughnessy
20 Transpersonal Counseling: Some Observations Regarding
Entheogens
Frances Vaughan
21 The New Psychotherapy: MDMA and the Shadow
Ann Shulgin
22 The Birthing of Transcendental Medicine
Rev. Karla Hansen, M.Div.
23 The Judicial Architectonics of Psychoactive
Sacramentals
Richard Glen Boire
24 On Nomenclature for the Class of Mescaline-Like Substances:
And Why It Matters
Robert Jesse
25 An Entheogen Idea-Map--Future Explorations
Thomas B. Roberts
Epilogue
About the Council on Spiritual Practices
Index
Thomas B. Roberts is professor emeritus at Northern Illinois University and a former visiting scientist at Johns Hopkins. The coeditor of Psychedelic Medicine and the author of Psychedelic Horizons, he has spoken at international conferences on entheogens, consciousness and psychedelic science. He lives in DeKalb, Illinois.
“If we can encounter God through a sunrise seen from a mountaintop,
why not through a mushroom prayerfully ingested.”
*Brother David Steindl-Rast, from the foreword*
“A powerful testimony from pioneers of consciousness research,
spiritual teachers, and scholars about the potential of psychedelic
plants and their compounds to bring spirituality to modern society
and help alleviate the dangerous alienation that has brought
humanity to the brink of destruction.”
*Stanislav Grof, M.D., author of LSD Psychotherapy, Psychology of
the Future, and When the Impossible*
“Explains all aspects of the psychedelic experience as a tool for
spiritual evolution, from personal accounts to detailed information
and practical instructions. A key book.”
*Dieter Hagenbach, President, Gaia Media Foundation*
“A tour de force of the history of the Western reencounter with
these perennial sacred plants written by leading figures from many
disciplines. The broad coverage exemplifies the importance of
psychedelic plants for many disciplines and their diverse
potentials for personal and social transformation.”
*Michael Winkelman, Ph.D., author of Shamanism: A Biopsychosocial
Paradigm of Consciousness and Heali*
“Some of the most serious, sustained, thoughtful, and mature voices
on the subject of entheogens and religion. The contributors reflect
on the historical trajectories of this conversation, address the
common stereotypes and misconceptions, and offer new directions of
thought and vision, reminding us again of what this conversation
has always been about: the extraordinary cosmic being we so
casually and carelessly call the human being.”
*Jeffrey J. Kripal, professor of religious studies, Rice
University, and author of Mutants and Mystic*
“Tom Roberts is the keeper of the flame for the study of
psychedelics, the chief librarian of the entheogenic archive. In
this soul-nourishing book he’s compiled the wisdom, humanity, and
technical expertise the world just might be ready for now in order
to provide us legally accessed soul-manifesting sacramental
experience via psychedelics.”
*Charles Hayes, editor of Tripping: An Anthology of True-Life
Psychedelic Adventures*
“For those who value profound religious experiences and who wish to
become increasingly well informed about how entheogens could become
responsibly integrated into meditative practices and the offerings
of spiritual retreat centers, there is much to be learned from the
well-chosen essays in this book.”
*William A. Richards, S.T.M., Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry,
Johns Hopkins Bayview School of Medici*
“This is an invaluable collection of presentations that dispels the
fog about the multi-faceted relationships between psychedelic
experiences and spiritual experiences, between faith and
experience, and the intricate dance still going on between
them.”
*James Fadiman, Ph.D., author of The Psychedelic Explorer's
Guide*
“It is one thing to understand that people can move into altered
states of consciousness; it is quite another to understand that
this fact is not just a psychological side-show, but deeply, even
centrally important for understanding the human mind. Roberts’ book
argues this point on every page, through riveting accounts retold
by pioneers and leaders in the field of transpersonal psychology.
This book is mind-altering in the best sense of the word.”
*Glenn Hartelius, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Institute of
Transpersonal Psychology and editor*
“A useful reference work that presents the current state of
understanding from the relevant scientific, practical, and judicial
perspectives.”
*Dennis McKenna, Ph.D., founding board member of the Heffter
Research Institute and coauthor of The I*
“Spiritual Growth with Entheogens is essential reading for people
interested in humanity’s efforts to experience the divine. This is
an outstanding collection of essays and studies on mystical
experience.”
*Michael Nielsen, professor and chair of psychology, Georgia
Southern University, and coeditor of Arc*
“This essential collection forces a reexamination of the legal
status of controlled substances in view of the benefit that
mind-altering sacramental entheogens offer for psychotherapy and
spiritual growth.”
*Carl A. P. Ruck, professor of classical studies, Boston
University, and author of Mushrooms, Myths,*
“...a rich and broad mix of science, anecdotes, therapeutic
indications, and spiritual philosophies exploring the legitimate
and responsible use of entheogens—if not to produce genuine
religious experiences, to “seed a spiritual life,” as Br. David
Steindl-Rast says in an introduction. The authors expect that
the...rewards of an open mind may reshape a new era of spiritual
intelligence.”
*Publisher's Weekly*
“...this book reveals the potential of entheogens as catalysts for
spiritual development and the beginning of a new religious era
based on personal spiritual experience.”
*Branches of Light, October 2012*
“This book really enlightened me as to the history, practices and
general sentiments of the diverse professionals who value
entheogens as a valid and very worthwhile complement to spiritual
practices. It’s been added to my Top 10 list of important books to
read.”
*Alice R Berntson, New Connexion, May 2013*
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