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LSD, Spirituality, and the Creative Process
An exploration of how LSD influences imagination and the creative process.
� Based on the results of one of the longest clinical studies of LSD that took place between 1954 and 1962, before LSD was illegal.
� Includes personal reports, artwork, and poetry from the original sessions as testimony of the impact of LSD on the creative process.
In 1954 a Los Angeles psychiatrist began experimenting with a then new chemical discovery known as LSD-25. Over an eight-year period Dr. Oscar Janiger gave LSD-25 to more than 950 men and women, ranging in age from 18 to 81 and coming from all walks of life. The data collected by the author during those trials and from follow-up studies done 40 years later is now available here for the first time, along with the authors' examination of LSD's ramifications on creativity, imagination, and spirituality.
In this book Marlene Dobkin de Rios, a medical anthropologist who has studied the use of hallucinogens in tribal and third world societies, considers the spiritual implications of these findings in comparison with indigenous groups that employ psychoactive substances in their religious ceremonies. The book also examines the nature of the creative process as influenced by psychedelics and provides artwork and poetry from the original experiment sessions, allowing the reader to personally witness LSD's impact on creativity. The studies recounted in LSD, Spirituality, and the Creative Process depict an important moment in the history of consciousness and reveal the psychic unity of humanity.
� Based on the results of one of the longest clinical studies of LSD that took place between 1954 and 1962, before LSD was illegal.
� Includes personal reports, artwork, and poetry from the original sessions as testimony of the impact of LSD on the creative process.
In 1954 a Los Angeles psychiatrist began experimenting with a then new chemical discovery known as LSD-25. Over an eight-year period Dr. Oscar Janiger gave LSD-25 to more than 950 men and women, ranging in age from 18 to 81 and coming from all walks of life. The data collected by the author during those trials and from follow-up studies done 40 years later is now available here for the first time, along with the authors' examination of LSD's ramifications on creativity, imagination, and spirituality.
In this book Marlene Dobkin de Rios, a medical anthropologist who has studied the use of hallucinogens in tribal and third world societies, considers the spiritual implications of these findings in comparison with indigenous groups that employ psychoactive substances in their religious ceremonies. The book also examines the nature of the creative process as influenced by psychedelics and provides artwork and poetry from the original experiment sessions, allowing the reader to personally witness LSD's impact on creativity. The studies recounted in LSD, Spirituality, and the Creative Process depict an important moment in the history of consciousness and reveal the psychic unity of humanity.
248 pages, Paperback
First published April 28, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 5, 2008
I learned a lot about the historical use of LSD to treat psychological disorders, and a lot about the history of LSD in general.
January 6, 2009
Really an excellent book. Thought provoking and informative.
March 12, 2007
IF u get into it, u gotta love it
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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