Alien Information Theory

This post originally appeared on Blossom Analysis.

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Alien Information Theory by Andrew Gallimore aims to explain how DMT will allow us to see a higher dimension of reality than we currently can do. The book starts by explaining the neuroscience of psychedelics in a very informative, imaginary, and grounded way. Then from chapter 9 onward the reader is launched into hyperspace and Gallimore tries to convey how we are part of a larger HyperGrid (of information) that DMT is able to connect us to.

A book that is very suitable (from my perspective) in explaining how psychedelics work (just as his excellent course on YouTube↗). But also a book that presents a theory that doesn’t seem fully formed yet (the latter chapters). With future experiments (extended DMT trips), more clarity could possibly be provided about the DMT-state and the ‘information’ that one is able to bring back from it.

If you want to learn more about the start of the recent DMT research, you can check out DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman.

Publisher Summary

“Since prehistory, humans have used a range of psychedelic drugs for communion with the gods, connection with nature, or for the pure pleasure and wonder they generate as they transform the mind and the world. But one natural psychedelic in particular towers above the rest in its astonishing power to replace the normal waking world with a bizarre alternate reality replete with a diverse panoply of intelligent alien beings. As well as being the most powerful, N, N-dimethyltryptamine, more commonly known as DMT, is also the most common naturally-occurring psychedelic and can be found in countless plant species scattered across the Earth. DMT carries a profound message embedded in our reality, a message that we are now beginning to decode. In Alien Information Theory, neurobiologist, chemist, and pharmacologist, Dr. Andrew R. Gallimore, explains how DMT provides the secret to the very structure of our reality, and how our Universe can be likened to a cosmic game that we now find ourselves playing. Gallimore explains how our reality was constructed using a fundamental code which generated our Universe — and countless others — as a digital device built from pure information with the purpose of enabling conscious intelligences, such as ourselves, to emerge. You will learn how fundamental digital information self-organises and complexifies to generate the myriad complex forms and organisms that fill our world; how your brain constructs your subjective world and how psychedelic drugs alter the structure of this world; how DMT switches the reality channel by allowing the brain to access information from normally hidden orthogonal dimensions of reality. And, finally, you will learn how DMT provides the secret to exiting our Universe permanently — to complete the cosmic game and to become interdimensional citizens of hyperspace. Alien Information Theory is a unique account of this hidden structure of reality and our place within it, drawing on a diverse range of disciplines — including neuroscience, computer science, physics, and pharmacology — to carefully explain these complex ideas, which are illustrated with full-colour diagrams throughout.”

Summary Review

Chapter 1 – The Code

“Our reality emerges from a code programmed by an alien hyperintelligence beyond the confines of our 3-dimensional Universe. For want of a better term, we will refer to this intelligence – the author of the Code – as the Other.“

This first chapter sets up the hypothesis that we (normally) only have access to a very small slice of what is really out there. That we are stick-figures living on a 2d piece of paper, and that a 3d world is actually out there. It is through DMT that we may be able to view this world and achieve “interdimensional citizenship and the resolution of the Game.”

From my personal reading and understanding of (among others) Daniel Dennett (e.g. Darwins Dangerous Idea↗) and David Deutsch (The Beginning of Infinity↗ & The Fabric of Reality↗), I can concur on the idea that there is a certain ‘hyperspace’. There are infinite amounts of (always splitting) universes and with quantum computing we are starting to get the first grasp of how this works. But I also think that all our information and meaning-making is a bottom-up process. One in which more and more complexity is added and meaning emerges as things are combined.

This is further discussed in the book when Gallimore talks more about Conway’s Game of Life↗. I think I have the same understanding as him on that point. But not on the point that there are the ‘Others’, the ones who have developed the ‘Game’ that we’re involved in. In my understanding, there really is nothing more to it than quarks, atoms, molecules, humans, etc. No top-down plan, no ‘Game’, no ‘Resolution’, only bottom-up (cranes) processes.

So with that information/my perspective, the rest of the summary review.

Chapter 2 – The Universe as Digital Information

Gallimore defines information as “… the opposite of uncertainty: when you gain information about something, your knowledge of that thing increases and your uncertainty about it decreases.” He also explains it as selecting between different states, when you know it’s one – you have gained X pieces of information, X being the number of states you choose between. The number of yes/no (1/0) choices that you decide between can be seen as the number of bits of information you generate. For instance, electing one square on a chessboard equals six bits of information.

The rest of the chapter dives deeper into how even the smallest things in our universe are in essence just bits of information (it’s turtles information all the way down). “At its deepest level, deeper than the atom and more fundamental than the quark, the Universe is running a low-level computation.”

Chapter 3 – The Hierarchy of Complexity / The Complexification of Information

The universe can be seen as a computer (something that computes) that updates with every ‘tick’. This chapter illustrates this with Conway’s Game of Life and explains further how information has a certain hierarchy, that from very simple rules, you can get complex behavior.

This Numberphile video playlist is a good starting point if you want to learn more about Conway’s Game of Life (from John Conway himself).

The hierarchy put forth in this chapter is as follows:

1. The Code: the fundamental code that generates the Grid
2. The Grid: the fundamental structure of space consisting of Cells in specific states
3. Fundamental particles: electrons, quarks, neutrinos, etc. Low order information complexes self-organised from the Cells of the Grid
4. Subatomic particles: neutrons, protons. Higher order information complexes self-organised from fundamental particles
5. Atoms: carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc. Higher order information complexes self-organised from subatomic and fundamental particles
6. Molecules: proteins, water, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, etc. Very high order information complexes self-organised from atoms
7. Cells: smallest components of life. Higher order information complexes self-organised from molecules
8. Multicellular organisms: higher order information complexes self-organised from cells

One could, of course, imagine even more levels that go beyond the 8th one here (e.g. social structures/network, countries, companies).

Chapter 4 – Living Information in a Digital World

This chapter touches upon how simple components together can have complex systems emerge from their interactions. This always happens at the ‘edge of chaos’, a place where it’s fluid enough that not everything is stagnant (not changing) or that all the activity is just random noise (no information). The four basic characteristics are:

1. Many simple components (agents)
2. Local, rule-based, interactions between agents
3. No central control. Agents interact locally.
4. Self-organisation and emergent behaviours

A definition of ‘life’ is quoted from Humberto Maturana and Francisco Valera, which states that “living organisms are distinct from non-living machines in that they are autopoietic, meaning ‘self-creating’.”

Chapter 5 – Waking Up in a World

As humans, with our awesome brains, continuously perceive the world around us. But we don’t do this as passive receptors, we also actively build (generate) a world in our own head. And we test our incoming information against this model. If you’re awake, dreaming, or under the influence of psychedelics, “your personal reality is always built from information generated by your brain.”

For a further discussion on how we perceive, or predict, the reality around us (and how psychedelics help us study this), I would recommend Carhart-Harris & Friston (2019) – which proposes the REBUS model, or Swanson (2018) which discusses the various psychedelic theories and their connections.

Chapter 6 – How to Build a World – Part 1

This chapter explains, in more detail, how information is generated in the brain (cortical columns, thalamocortical loop) and that sensory (external) information only slightly modifies this process.

Chapter 7 – How to Build a World – Part 2

The building of our world (model) is shaped both during your life and over the course of evolution. Some birds see more colors than we do as they co-evolved with flowers that provide nectar (and the birds provide pollination). And you can learn to better distinguish different flavors of food if you train this skill over time.

So what happens if you change the ‘weight’ of how you are building your world model. That is what the latter chapter are all about. They propose that under the influence of DMT you ‘tune in’ to a different (but still very much real) reality than during normal waking life.

Chapter 8 – Psychedelic Molecules and the Brain

In contrast to serotonin (a neuromodulator), psychedelics bind specifically/preferentially to (mostly) the 5HT2a receptor and make it more likely for cortical pyramidal neurons to fire. The frequency that becomes more active (especially under the influence of DMT) is called Gamma oscillations.

Two recent studied quantified this with EEG (Timmermann et al., 2019 and Alamia et al., 2020).

“Normally, the intrinsic activity of the thalamocortical system provides the context of incoming sensory information, which is matched to this ongoing activity, selecting and amplifying states from the T-state repertoire. However, in the presence of a psychedelic drug, the inflated state repertoire means that sensory information may select completely novel T-states.”

If applied to someone’s memories (PTSD), thought patterns (depression), or capacity to generate ideas (creativity), this (to my best understanding) also explains how psychedelics can lead to positive outcomes, by making more (and more novel) ways of thinking possible.

Chapter 9 – An Introduction to Hyperspace

This chapter gives a very brief description of the DMT-world (a different (higher-level) reality). My personal gripe with some of the explanations here is that the entities (elfs, machines, etc) are described as ‘intelligent’ but without further clarifying in what way that is true. Other descriptive words used are: highly artificial, constructed, inorganic, technological. All words that could convey a certain meaning, but without further clarification don’t seem to provide much context or ‘proof’ (if possible) of why that should be the case.

The entities also seem very human-like. Be it elves, insects, or other entities. As described here (but also in other places) they seem closer to us than for instance the aliens in the movie Arrival (2016)↗. A question that I always have in the back of my mind is: In how far is it not just our brain connecting disparaging parts and ‘making a story’ just like it was doing before but now with more chaos and/or at another ‘frequency’ that is different than ‘normal waking consciousness’ in relatively predictable ways.

Chapter 10 – Information Flow Through the Grid

Under the influence of DMT, Gallimore proposes, we are able to tune into the alternate DMT reality. The latter part of the chapter explains how information flows up and downwards, and that with DMT this downward (from orthogonal dimension) information flow is attuned to.

How psychedelics work is explained in this very good and concise paragraph:

“Psychedelics change your world by changing the activity of the cortical system and so change the information that constitutes your world. Your model of the external world is altered. Modern neuropharmacological techniques have revealed the binding of classical psychedelics, including DMT, to the 5HT2a receptor as being primarily responsible for these effects. Activation of this receptor causes pyramidal cells to depolarise, promotes gamma oscillations, and changes the patterns of information generated by cortical activity. These changes in information manifest as a change in the world you experience, which is the psychedelic state.”

Chapter 11 – Information Flow Through the HyperGrid

The reason why one could be able to pick up hyperdimensional information is (proposed to be) the patterns of activation in the Grid (our universe) that allow it to receive normally inaccessible information.

An analogy with Conway’s Game of Life and a visualisation of the 3d world as 2d (so the 4d becomes 3d) is used to further explain how this process takes place.

Chapter 12 – DMT and the Hyperdimensional Brain Complex

This chapter further explains how the brain changes to receive this information. The best analogy made here is “the differences between observing the patterns of ripples on the surface of water and actually being the water.”

Chapter 13 – The Mechanism of Interdimensional Communication

“DMT causes your brain to cease building the consensus world and start building the DMT world.”

The three phases are distinguished as:

1. Bottom-up modulation – activation phase (5HT2a depolarising)
2. Top-down modulation – gating phase (switching patterns, Alpha to Gamma)
3. Transdimensional informational feedback loop – lock phase (positive feedback loops)

Chapter 14 – Structure of the Code

The Grid (level 2, chapter 3) is made from pure digital information, the Code (level 1). This chapter explains further how this is so and how higher dimensions follow from lower-order levels.

Chapter 15 – How to Build a Universe

“Building a universe within which complex life will emerge is as easy as finding the right rule set. And as hard.”

Gallimore explains that we were not designed per se, but that we emerge on the edge of chaos. He does argue that there is an alien hyperintelligence (outside the Grid), but that it hasn’t purposefully made us humans.

We are playing a/the Game (see next chapter) and in a way DMT is the intelligence test to see if we know what is going on (if we can use DMT as a ‘technology’ then we’re smart enough to get out of the Game? (to be honest, I really don’t get where this is all coming from)).

Chapter 16 – The Game

The Game is explained along six different levels:

1. Information
2. Emergence (finding DMT)
3. Transmission* (using DMT)
4. Immersion
5. Realisation (entering hyperspace, but only for a limited amount of time, minutes)
6. Resolution (transcription) (staying in hyperspace and thus completing the Game)

* “Newborn children are ferried from a prenatal hyperspace to the lower-dimensional life they will gradually become immersed within …”

As noted in the introduction, it would be interesting to hear back when experiments with longer duration DMT trips (via IV administration) have been done and what comes out of it.

LSD: My Problem Child

This post originally appeared on Blossom Analysis.

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LSD: My Problem Child by Albert Hofmann recounts the discovery, first trip, and dissemination of LSD from the perspective of its discoverer. The book describes the chemical history, the subsequent trouble with it leaving the lab, and Hofmann’s perspective on the effects LSD elicits.

Summary Review

Foreword

In the forward, Hofmann describes his childhood mystical experience and how it may be a solution to the spiritual crisis befalling the (Western) world.

“It is my desire in this book to give a comprehensive picture of LSD, its origin, its effects, and its dangers, in order to guard against increasing abuse of this extraordinary drug. I hope thereby to emphasize possible uses of LSD that are compatible with its characteristic action. I believe that if people would learn to use LSD’s vision-inducing capability more wisely, under suitable conditions, in medical practice and in conjunction with meditation, then in the future this problem child could become a wonder child.”

Chapter 1 – How LSD Originated

LSD was not discovered by accident, or at least not as is told in popular lore. Hofmann made the substance (LSD-25) on purpose as part of the research his lab (Sandoz) was doing. It was only by accident that he first discovered the psychedelic effects (by not carefully handling the substances).

The first chapter recounts his early work on ergots (fungi that grows on rye and similar plants). Hofmann also corrects another urban myth:

“Until recent times, epidemic-like outbreaks of ergot poisoning have been recorded in most European countries including certain areas of Russia. With progress in agriculture, and since the realization, in the seventeenth century, that ergot-containing bread was the cause, the frequency and extent of ergotism epidemics diminished considerably. The last great epidemic occurred in certain areas of southern Russia in the years 1926-27. [The mass poisoning in the southern French city of Pont-St. Esprit in the year 1951, which many writers have attributed to ergot-containing bread, actually had nothing to do with ergotism. It rather involved poisoning by an organic mercury compound that was utilized for disinfecting seed.]”

Ergots have been used as medicines since mid 1582 (first documented) but chemical analysis of the active substances took until 1907.

Hofmann’s research found it’s way to lysergic acid (“precursor for a wide range of ergoline alkaloids that are produced by the ergot fungus“). He first made LSD-25 in 1938, but based on a hunch, he resynthesized it in 1943. During this process he possibly had a bit of the substance touch his skin during crystallization. The amount of LSD needed for a subjective effect should be very small, Hofmann deduced. To investigate further her planned a self-experiment with 0.25 mg or 250 mcg/μg.

That day, 19 April 1943, he cycled home (Bicycle Day) in crisis and the report can be described as the first bad trip.

The chapter is concluded with the following observation.

“I was aware that LSD, a new active compound with such properties, would have to be of use in pharmacology, in neurology, and especially in psychiatry, and that it would attract the interest of concerned specialists. But at that time I had no inkling that the new substance would also come to be used beyond medical science, as an inebriant in the drug scene. Since my self-experiment had revealed LSD in its terrifying, demonic aspect, the last thing I could have expected was that this substance could ever find application as anything approaching a pleasure drug. I failed, moreover, to recognize the meaningful connection between LSD inebriation and spontaneous visionary experience until much later, after further experiments, which were carried out with far lower doses and under different conditions.”

Chapter 2 – LSD in Animal Experiments and Biological Research

Many experiments on animals were done to test the effects and toxicity of LSD. Hofmann notes that the effects are most pronounced in the ‘higher’ parts of the brain and significant dosages were needed to elicit effects in ‘lower’ animals. One interesting observation is that at a certain dosage the webs of spiders were better proportioned than normal, but distorted at higher dosages.

The dosage that kills half of the subjects (LD₅₀) of LSD is 50-60 mg/kg for a mouse and 0.3mg/kg (300μg/kg) for rabbits. One elephant was given 0.3g of LSD and died a few minutes later, estimating (n=1) the lethal dosage at 60μg/kg.

Extrapolating that data to humans means that the range from effective (0.0003-0.001 mg/kg) to deadly dosage is about 300-600 fold. This low toxicity is also confirmed in a study by Haden & Woods (2020) that looked at three reports in which one person took up to 55mg (55.000μg, or 785μg/kg at 70kg) and lived to tell the tale (and even could stop a pain medication she was taking before).

LSD is absorbed completely through the gastrointestinal tract and thus injection won’t make the effects stronger. Hofmann also states that the molecules themselves are gone within a much quicker timeframe than 10-12 hours, the time the psychological/psychedelic effects persist. He states that the effects are of other mechanisms that LSD sets of. The dopamine and serotonin neurological functions are influenced by LSD.

See the research papers database on LSD for more on this topic.

Chapter 3 – Chemical Modifications of LSD

Chemical modification (looking for more valuable active properties or improved activity) was conducted on LSD. No other form was more active, most not being active at even 20 times the dosage. This was a feature that, together with the anti-inflammatory effect, led to the discovery and use of bromo-LSD (BOL-148) and Deseril/Sansert.

Chapter 4 – Use of LSD in Psychiatry

This chapter recounts the early use of LSD in psychiatry and a trip report by a self-experiment of a psychiatrist. The effects are compared to that of mescaline.

Sandoz then made LSD available under the trade name Delysid (D-Lysergsäure-diäthylamid), with the following disclaimer/description of properties:

“The administration of very small doses of Delysid (1/2-2 µg/kg body weight) results in transitory disturbances of affect, hallucinations, depersonalization, reliving of repressed memories, and mild neurovegetative symptoms. The effect sets in after 30 to 90 minutes and generally lasts 5 to 12 hours. However, intermittent disturbances of affect may occasionally persist for several days.” … “Pathological mental conditions may be intensified by Delysid. Particular caution is necessary in subjects with a suicidal tendency and in those cases where a psychotic development appears imminent. The psycho-affective liability and the tendency to commit impulsive acts may occasionally last for some days. Delysid should only be administered under strict medical supervision. The supervision should not be discontinued until the effects of the drug have completely worn off.”

The (partial) loss of ego (“egocentric problem cycle“) and heightened susceptibility to the influence of the psychotherapists were two features that made LSD a potential ally during psychotherapy. This was utilized in two different ways, 1) psychotytic therapy (Europe, moderate dosage, repeated), and 2) psychedelic therapy (US, high dose, one-time).

Another way that LSD could be used was to study psychoses. Hofmann notes that LSD doesn’t elicit a true psychosis (the effects are different), but that it may still shed light on the biochemical origin of it.

Chapter 5 – From Remedy to Inebriant

“During the first years after its discovery, LSD brought me the same happiness and gratification that any pharmaceutical chemist would feel on learning that a substance he or she produced might possibly develop into a valuable medicament. For the creation of new remedies is the goal of a pharmaceutical chemist’s research activity; therein lies the meaning of his or her work.”

Alas, after that LSD became a beacon of the counter culture and it became a ‘problem child’ for Hofmann. The widespread usage (in the millions of dosages in the US alone) was not what he expected of such a strange drug. Subsequently, he (and other labs) had to work with health authorities on work that didn’t contribute to scientific discoveries. Sandoz eventually stops its distribution of LSD in 1965.

Hofmann stresses the dangers of LSD when not used in a medical context. As noted before, the drug is not toxic by itself, but psychologically it can be very harmful when taken outside the right set and setting. And LSD made and sold outside the (official) lab isn’t always LSD (accidental or on purpose).

Hofmann profiles Timothy Leary and a meeting between the two men on September 3rd, 1971. It was amicable but the two men didn’t see eye to eye on the need for widespread use (abuse?) of LSD.

“My impression of Dr. Leary in this personal meeting was that of a charming personage, convinced of his mission, who defended his opinions with humor yet uncompromisingly; a man who truly soared high in the clouds pervaded by beliefs in the wondrous effects of psychedelic drugs and the optimism resulting therefrom, and thus a man who tended to underrate or completely overlook practical difficulties, unpleasant facts, and dangers. Leary also showed carelessness regarding charges and dangers that concerned his own person, as his further path in life emphatically showed.”

The last part of the chapter is devoted to a sample of trip reports on LSD that captures but a small part of the possible experiences one can have with the substance.

Chapter 6 – The Mexican Relatives of LSD

Psychedelic (magic, teonanácatl) mushrooms have been part of South American culture for centuries. Hofmann recounts a short history and makes the link to how Psilocybe mexicana eventually found its way to his lab.

After failing to see effects in mice or dogs, Hofmann did a self-experiment with 2.4g of dried mushrooms (a moderate/high dosage). The following trip report took on a distinctly Mexican character.

“This self-experiment showed once again that human beings react much more sensitively than animals to psychoactive substances. We had already reached the same conclusion in experimenting with LSD on animals, as described in an earlier chapter of this book. It was not inactivity of the mushroom material, but rather the deficient reaction capability of the research animals vis-à-vis such a type of active principle, that explained why our extracts had appeared inactive in the mouse and dog.”

Eventually, his lab extracted two active principles, named psilocybin and psilocin (to which the former metabolizes). There are now many more active compounds identified, of which you can find more information on Psychedelic Science Review (compounds).

Another psychedelic was investigated, seeds named ololiuhqui (morning glory seeds). After describing the origin and history, Hofmann describes their final findings:

“Lysergic acid amide, lysergic acid hydroxyethylamide, and alkaloids closely related to them chemically were established as the main active principles of ololiuhqui. Also present was the alkaloid ergobasine, whose synthesis had constituted the starting point of my investigations on ergot alkaloids. Lysergic acid amide and lysergic acid hydroxyethylamide, active principles of ololiuhqui, are chemically very closely related to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), which even for the non-chemist follows from the names.”

The coincidence that similar molecules were found in such different plants and fungi was something that was difficult to believe by his peers. But, me speaking here, if looked through an evolutionary lens, it may not be that unusual. Even something as complex as the eye has evolved tens of times and over the history of evolution it may be less surprising for these ‘coincidences’ to happen. For a deeper understanding on this topic I would recommend Dawkins and Dennett (amongst others) to read.

R. Gordon Wasson, whom Hofmann had been in contact since the investigations with magic mushrooms, invites him and his wife on an expedition to Mexico in the fall of 1962. On the expedition, they hope to find the plants (and molecules) behind the leaves of ‘Mary the shepherdess’ (hojas de la Pastora). It is eventually identified and named Salvia divinorum.

They eventually do and also find a curandera that is able to host a ceremony for them (as at that time it was taboo to give it to non-locals). The trip (not enjoyed by Hofmann because of an earlier upset stomach) was shorter but still similar to other psychedelics.

On the way back the party visits María Sabina, who earlier became famous after Gordon Wasson’s publication about her. There they consume the psilocybin pills they brought along and Hofmann enjoys a delayed trip with the hojas de la Pastora.

“María Sabina had said that the pills lacked the spirit of the mushrooms. I discussed the situation with Gordon, who lay beside me. For us, it was clear that absorption of the active principle from the pills, which must first dissolve in the stomach, occurs more slowly than from the mushrooms, in which some of the active principle already becomes absorbed through the mucous membranes during chewing. But how could we give a scientific explanation under such conditions? Rather than try to explain, we decided to act. We distributed more pills. Both curanderas and the curandero each received another pair. They had now each taken a total dosage of 30 mg psilocybin. After about another quarter of an hour, the spirit of the pills did begin to yield its effects, which lasted until the crack of dawn. The daughters, and Don Aurelio with his deep bass voice, fervently answered the prayers and singing of the curandera. Blissful, yearning moans of Apolonia and Aurora, between singing and prayer, gave the impression that the religious experience of the young women in the drug inebriation was combined with sensual-sexual feelings. In the middle of the ceremony, María Sabina asked for our request. Gordon inquired again after the health of his daughter and grandchild. He received the same good information as from the curandera Consuela. Mother and child were in fact well when he returned home to New York. Obviously, however, this still represents no proof of the prophetic abilities of both curanderas.”

“As we took leave of María Sabina and her clan at the crack of dawn, the curandera said that the pills had the same power as the mushrooms, that there was no difference. This was a confirmation from the most competent authority, that the synthetic psilocybin is identical with the natural product. As a parting gift I let María Sabina have a vial of psilocybin pills. She radiantly explained to our interpreter Herlinda that she could now give consultations even in the season when no mushrooms grow.”

Hofmann ends the chapter with a reflection on both the good and bad that has followed from the opening up about psychedelic compounds. On the one hand, it may/has/will help with scientific discoveries and mental health disorders. On the other hand, the tourism resulting from it hasn’t always been favorable and a part of the ancient customs may therefore get lost.

Chapter 7 – Radiance from Ernst Jünger

The last chapters of the book take a more personal tone. They describe how the substances and meetings with others on this topic have helped solve questions that Hofmann personally had.

This chapter recounts his inspiration from, and interaction with, the writer Ernst Jünger. The starting point was his book ‘Das Abenteuerliche Herz’. Subsequently, they correspond over letters and even have an LSD trip together in February 1951 and a comparison with psilocybin in 1962. On the latter, Hofmann notes: “The mushroom substance had carried all four of us off, not into luminous heights, rather into deeper regions. It seems that the psilocybin inebriation is more darkly colored in the majority of cases than the inebriation produced by LSD. The influence of these two active substances is sure to differ from one individual to another.”

Chapter 8 – Meeting With Aldous Huxley

Hofmann describes his meetings with Aldous Huxley, the author of (amongst other great books) The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell. They conversed about psychedelics, their usefulness, and need to differentiate them from other ‘drugs’. The book ‘Island’ was inspired (in part) by Huxley’s meeting with Hofmann.

Mirroring the death of other psychedelic pioneers, Huxley went out tripping: “In the morning, when he was already so weak that he could no longer speak, he had written on a sheet of paper: “LSD—try it—intramuscular—100 mmg.” Mrs. Huxley understood what was meant by this, and ignoring the misgivings of the attending physician, she gave him, with her own hand, the desired injection-she let him have the moksha medicine.”

Chapter 9 – Correspondence with the Poet-Physician Walter Vogt

This chapter recounts the written correspondence with the physician, psychiatrist, and writer Walter Vogt.

Chapter 10 – Various Visitors

This second to last chapter describes various interesting meetings with people Hofmann graciously received at his house. As the discoverer of LSD, he saw it as his duty to meet with those coming to find answers, relate a story, or meet the man behind the molecule. Most of those interactions were positive, as were the visitors’ experiences with LSD.

Chapter 11 – LSD Experience and Reality

“Of greatest significance to me has been the insight that I attained as a fundamental understanding from all of my LSD experiments: what one commonly takes as “the reality,” including the reality of one’s own individual person, by no means signifies something fixed, but rather something that is ambiguous—that there is not only one, but that there are many realities, each comprising also a different consciousness of the ego.”

Hofmann states that LSD allow you to see reality from a new perspective. It allows you to change the receiver (you) as you tune into reality. And this allowed him (and millions more) to see the world not as the self (ego) being separated from the world, but as a part of the whole. Taking this other perspective, Hofmann sees how some (much?) of our industrialized wonders have also led to the destruction of nature.

This reconnection with nature is then also discussed in the light of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Rituals, probably involving psychedelics, that were held for almost two centuries.

“The cultural-historical meaning of the Eleusinian Mysteries, their influence on European intellectual history, can scarcely be overestimated. Here suffering humankind found a cure for its rational, objective, cleft intellect, in a mystical totality experience, that let it believe in immortality, in an everlasting existence.”

In the final pages, Hofmann also reflects on Christianity and meditation. Ending the book with the following: “I see the true importance of LSD in the possibility of providing material aid to meditation aimed at the mystical experience of a deeper, comprehensive reality. Such a use accords entirely with the essence and working character of LSD as a sacred drug.”

The Book

You can find a .pdf of the book on the website of MAPS.
(which clocks in at 102 pages if you get the reference)