Psychedelic Healing : The Promise of Entheogens for Psychotherapy and Spiritual Development

Psychedelics as therapeutic catalysts for emotional and spiritual transformation• Explores the latest medical research on the healing powers of entheogens• Reveals the crucial role of tribal and shamanic wisdom in psychedelic medicine• Provides guidelines for working with psychedelics, including the author’s personal healing and recommendations for creating change on the spiritual and societal levelsBanned after promising research in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s, the use of psyche-delics as therapeutic catalysts is now being rediscovered at prestigious medical schools, such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins, NYU, and UCLA. Through clinical trials to assess their use, entheogens have been found to ease anxiety in the dying, inter-rupt the hold of addictive drugs, cure post-traumatic stress disorder, and treat other deep-seated emotional distur-bances. To date, results have been positive, and the idea of psychedelics as powerful psychiatric--and spiritual--medicines is now beginning to be accepted by the medical community.Exploring the latest cutting-edge research on psychedelics, along with their use in indigenous cultures throughout history for rites of passage and shamanic rituals, Neal Goldsmith reveals that the curative effect of entheogens comes not from a chemical effect on the body but rather by triggering a peak or spiritual experience. He provides guidelines for working with entheogens, groundbreaking analyses of the concept--and the process--of change in psycho-therapy, and, ultimately, his own story of psychedelic healing. Examining the tribal roots of this knowledge, Goldsmith shows that by combining ancient wisdom and modern research, we can unlock the emotional, mental, and spiritual healing powers of these unique and powerful tools, providing an integral medicine for post-modern society. Psychedelics as therapeutic catalysts for emotional and spiritual transformation • Explores the latest medical research on the healing powers of entheogens • Reveals the crucial role of tribal and shamanic wisdom in psychedelic medicine • Provides guidelines for working with psychedelics, including the author’s personal healing and recommendations for creating change on the spiritual and societal levels Banned after promising research in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s, the use of psychedelics as therapeutic catalysts is now being rediscovered at prestigious medical schools, such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins, NYU, and UCLA. Through clinical trials to assess their use, entheogens have been found to ease anxiety in the dying, interrupt the hold of addictive drugs, cure post-traumatic stress disorder, and treat other deep-seated emotional disturbances. To date, results have been positive, and the idea of psychedelics as powerful psychiatric--and spiritual--medicines is now beginning to be accepted by the medical community. Exploring the latest cutting-edge research on psychedelics, along with their use in indigenous cultures throughout history for rites of passage and shamanic rituals, Neal Goldsmith reveals that the curative effect of entheogens comes not from a chemical effect on the body but rather by triggering a peak or spiritual experience. He provides guidelines for working with entheogens, groundbreaking analyses of the concept--and the process--of change in psychotherapy, and, ultimately, his own story of psychedelic healing. Examining the tribal roots of this knowledge, Goldsmith shows that by combining ancient wisdom and modern research, we can unlock the emotional, mental, and spiritual healing powers of these unique and powerful tools, providing an integral medicine for postmodern society.

Is Santa Claus really a magic mushroom in disguise? Was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland a thinly veiled psychedelic mushroom odyssey? Did mushroom tea kick-start ancient Greek philosophy?

Much stranger than the fictions it has inspired, the world of the magic mushroom is a place where shamans and hippies rub shoulders with psychiatrists, poets and international bankers. The magic mushroom was rediscovered only fifty years ago but has accumulated all sorts of folktales and urban legends along the way. In this timely and definitive study, Andy Letcher strips away the myths to get at the true story of how hallucinogenic mushrooms, once shunned in the West as the most pernicious of poisons, came to be the illicit drug of choice.

Chronicling the history of the magic mushroom, from its use by the Aztecs of Central America and the tribes of Siberia through to the present day, Letcher takes a critical and humorous look at the drug's more recent manifestations. Since the 1970s scientists and others in major Western nations, the United States and the United Kingdom in particular, have identified hundreds of hallucinogenic species, isolated their active ingredients, learned how to cultivate them on an industrial scale, and spread them around the world. More than any other civilization that has come before us, and despite all the myths we have built, we, by all rights, are the true magic mushroom enthusiasts.

Informative, lively and impeccably researched, Shroom presents a unique and engaging study of this most extraordinary of psychedelic drugs.

"Even if read while sober, Andy Lechter's A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom , is a near-transcendent experience." -New York Times Book Review Since its rediscovery only fifty years ago, the magic a hallucinogenic fungus once shunned in the West as the most pernicious of poisons, has inspired a plethora of folktales and urban legends. In this timely and definitive study, Andy Letcher chronicles the history of the magic mushroomfrom its use by the Aztecs of Central America and the tribes of Siberia through to the present daystripping away the myths and taking a critical and humorous look at the drug's more recent manifestations. Informative, lively, and impeccably researched, Shroom is a unique and engaging exploration of this most extraordinary of psychedelics. The use of psychedelics as therapeutic catalysts is now being rediscovered at prestigious medical schools. Through clinical trials, entheogens have been found to ease anxiety in the dying, interrupt the hold of addictive drugs, cure post-traumatic stress disorder, and treat other deep-seated emotional disturbances. Neal Goldsmith shows that the curative power of entheogens comes not from a chemical effect on the body but rather by triggering a peak or spiritual experience. Examining the tribal roots of this knowledge, Goldsmith shows that by combining ancient wisdom and modern research, we can unlock the healing powers of these unique substances. I: Agaricus The mushroom people Science and magic The archaeology of ecstasy Mush disordered Feasts and revelations Wasson II: Amanita The fly-agaric Soma Chemistry and conspiracy III: Psilocybe Academic exercise High priests Ripples and waves Underground, overground The elf-clowns of hyperspace Muck and brass An investigation into the cultural and historical significance of psychedelic mushrooms traces their earliest recorded uses by the Aztecs of Central America and the tribes of Siberia to their reemergence on America's popular cultural landscape. Through clinical trials, entheogens have been found to cure deep-seated emotional disturbances. Neal Goldsmith shows that this curative power comes not from a chemical effect on the body but by triggering a peak or spiritual experience