Submitted by I Was Here on
CONTEXT: This forward was written by Albert Hofmann and appears in The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants by Christian Ratsch.
Albert Hofmann (January 11, 1906 – April 29, 2008) was a Swiss scientist known best for being the first person to synthesize, ingest, and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Hofmann also was the first to isolate, synthesize, and name the principal psychedelic mushroom compounds, psilocybin and psilocin. He authored more than 100 scientific articles and a number of books, including LSD: My Problem Child. In 2007 he was ranked a shared first place, alongside Tim Berners-Lee, in The Telegraph's list of 100 greatest living geniuses.
- Wikipedia
- "St. Albert and the LSD Revelation Revolution" by Alex Grey
In this world, the point at which something happens is determined by the circumstances that call for it to happen. This Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants had to appear at just this time, for our contemporary society has need of such a work.
This need is connected with the spiritual and material dilemma of our times. It is not necessary to list all of the things that are no longer right in our world. But we can mention some: in the spiritual domain, materialism, egoism, isolation, and the absence of any religious foundation; on the material level, environmental destruction as a result of technological development and over-industrialization, the ongoing depletion of natural resources, and the accumulation of immense fortunes by a few people while the majority become increasingly destitute.
These ominous developments have their spiritual roots in a dualistic worldview, a consciousness that splits our experience of the world into subject and object.
This dualistic experience of the world first emerged in Europe. But it had already been at work in the Judeo-Christian worldview, with its god that sits enthroned above creation and humankind, and his admonition to “subdue … and have dominion … over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
This is now occurring at a terrifying rate.
A change for the better will come about only when a general shift in consciousness takes place. Our fractured consciousness, which Gottfried Benn characterized as a “fateful European neurosis,” must be replaced by a consciousness in which creator, creation, and created are experienced as a unity.
All means and all ways that will help to lead a new and universal spirituality are worthy of support. Chief among these is meditation, which can be enhanced and intensified through a variety of methods, including yogic practices, breathing exercises, and fasting, and through the appropriate use of certain drugs as pharmacological aids.
The drugs I am referring to belong to a special group of psychoactive substances that have been characterized as psychedelics and, more recently, as entheogens (psychedelic sacraments). These effect an enormous stimulation of sensory perception, a decrease or even neutralization of the I-Thou boundary, and alterations in consciousness in the form of both sensitization and expansion.
The use of such psychedelic drugs within a religio-ceremonial framework was discovered among Indian tribes in Mexico at the beginning and in the middle of the twentieth century.
This sensational discovery led to enthno-botanical investigations to remote areas around the world to search for psychoactive plants, the results of which were documented in numerous publications and pictures. The encyclopedic compilation of ancient knowledge and new discoveries about psychoactive plants that is in your hands was produced by a well-qualified author who has contributed important new insights in the basis of his own fieldworld. It is an undertaking of great value.
Disseminating knowledge about psychoactive plants, together with the proper ways to use them, represents a valuable contribution within the context of the many and growing attempts to bring about a new, holistic consciousness. Transpersonal psychology, which is becoming ever more important in psychiatry, pursues the same goal within a therapeutic framework.
The holistic perspective is more easily practices on living nature than on the inanimate objects created by humans. Let us look into a living mandala instead, such as that found in the calyx of a blue morning glory, which is a thousand times more perfect and beautiful than anything produced by human hand, for it is filled with life, that universal life in which both the observer and the observed find their own individual places as manifestations of the same creative spirit.
Albert Hoffman
Summer 1997