Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Overview--Why This Book?
And Frequently Asked Questions

A Vision of a Whole Earth
Stewart Brand

Part One
Transcendent Experience: Entheogenic Sessions

Introduction to Part One

1 Meeting the Divine Within
Part One: Guidelines for Voyagers and Guides
The Guild of Guides

2 The Entheogenic Voyage
Part Two: Guidelines for Voyagers and Guides
The Guild of Guides

3 Qualities of Transcendent Experience
Four Dominant Characteristics
Alan Watts

4 Experiences of Psychedelic Pioneers
In Their Own Words
Albert Hofmann, Ph.D., Aldous Huxley, Stanislav Grof, M.D., Timothy Leary, Ph.D., Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), Ph.D., Alexander Shulgin, Ph.D., Ralph Metzner, Ph.D., Huston Smith, Ph.D., Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Ph.D., Charles Tart, Ph.D., Frances Vaughan, Ph.D., Bill Wilson, and Peter Coyote

Part Two
Personal Growth and Self-Exploration in Psychedelic Sessions

Introduction to Part Two

5 Therapeutic Uses of Psychedelics
Psychotherapy and Healing

6 Things Can Go Wrong
What You Need to Know
Neal Goldsmith, Ph.D.

7 Myths and Misperceptions
David Presti, Ph.D., and Jerome Beck, Ph.D.

8 Therapeutic Effectiveness of Single Guided Sessions


Part Three
Enhanced Problem Solving in Focused Sessions

Introduction to Part Three

9 Breakthrough Research
Selective Enhancement of Creative Capacities
Willis Harman, Ph.D., and James Fadiman, Ph.D.

10 Facilitation for Enhanced Problem Solving

11 Case Studies
Two Architects and Six Professionals

12 Group Problem-Solving Sessions
Willis Harman, Ph.D.

13 The Look Magazine Experiment
Designing the California Issue
George Leonard

14 Closing the Doors of Perception
The Day the Research Ended

Part Four
New Horizons

Introduction to Part Four

15 Can Sub-Perceptual Doses of Psychedelics Improve Normal Functioning?

16 Surveys of Current Users
This Is Your Brain on Drugs

17 The Inadvertent Pioneer
My Personal Account

18 Positive Possibilities for Psychedelics
A Time of Tentative Celebration

Part Five
The Necessary, the Extraordinary, and Some Hard-Core Data

Introduction to Part Five

19 Entheogenic Journeys
A Checklist for Voyagers and Guides

20 Beyond LSD--Way Beyond
Ayahuasca Sessions and a Darkness Retreat
Michael Wiese, “Anatole,” and Lindsey Vona

21 Behavioral Changes After Psychedelic Therapy
Lasting Results of High-Dose Single Sessions

22 A Questionnaire Study of Psychedelic Experiences
Willis Harman, Ph.D., and James Fadiman, Ph.D.

Last Words

Notes

Index

About the Author

James Fadiman, Ph.D., did his undergraduate work at Harvard and his graduate work at Stanford, doing research with the Harvard Group, the West Coast Research Group in Menlo Park, and Ken Kesey. A former president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences and a professor of psychology, he teaches at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, which he helped found in 1975. An international conference presenter, workshop leader, management consultant, and author of several books and textbooks, he lives in Menlo Park, California, with his filmmaker wife, Dorothy.

Reviews

“James Fadiman, one of the foremost pioneers of scientific research of the potential of psychedelic substances for therapy, self-discovery, spiritual quests, and creative problem-solving, has written an invaluable guide for safe and productive sessions. Based on more than forty years of the author’s experience in the field and presented in a clear, easily understandable style, this book is a breath of fresh air, dispelling the mis-information that has been disseminated over many decades by sensation-hunting journalists and fear-based antidrug propaganda. The publication of The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide could not be more timely; it coincides with a major renaissance of interest in psychedelic research worldwide. The information that it provides will thus be useful not only for the hundreds of thousands of people involved in self-experimentation but also for the new generation of psychedelic researchers.”
*Stanislav Grof, M.D., author of LSD: Doorway to the Numinous*

“James Fadiman was the Forrest Gump of the psychedelic sixties. He witnessed the first flowerings of that amazing era of mindexpansion, then kept popping up for cameo appearances whenever the action got particularly interesting and enlightening. Now, riding a new wave of scientific research into the beneficial use of these misunderstood substances, Fadiman is back with a practical and at the same time inspiring guidebook for the next generation of entheogenic explorers.”
*Don Lattin, author of the bestselling The Harvard Psychedelic Club*

“Approaching his subject from intimately historical, psychological-cultural, and accessibly authoritative perspectives, Fadiman’s psychedelic magnum opus establishes the benchmark reference for anyone interested in understanding, experiencing, or supervising the effects of this unique family of psychoactive substances.”
*Rick Strassman, M.D., author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule*

“At last, there’s a practical, commonsense manual for mindful therapeutic sessions using psychedelics, one that’s informed by the latest science and unfettered by arcane platitudes. It will be a boon to personal transformation and a road map for avoiding trouble along the way for all who use it. Bon voyage!”
*Charles Hayes, author of Tripping: An Anthology of True-Life Psychedelic Adventures*

“Finally! A comprehensive guide not only to psychedelic use in a therapeutic setting but also, even more bravely, to psychospiritual exploration and cognitive enhancement. We are fortunate to reap the benefits of Professor Fadiman’s years of cumulative knowledge and experience as well as to hear from a cadre of ‘who’s who’ in the psychedelic cognoscenti.”
*Julie Holland, M.D., editor of The Pot Book and Ecstasy*

“Psychedelics have been part of native cultures for centuries and remain so in many areas of the world. Properly used, they offer a one-step guide to enlightenment and connection with intuition as well as the soul and the Divine. Dr. Fadiman’s book offers the best information and guidance available today. Everyone interested in exploring the world of inner consciousness will find this work indispensable.”
*Norm Shealy, M.D., Ph.D., founder of the American Holistic Health Association*

“The prohibition of psychedelic drugs in the twentieth century unfortunately restricted a most promising and profound inquiry into the religious mysteries of consciousness. This brave and encouraging book goes a long way toward restoring our constitutional right to explore these mysteries. By encouraging individual responsibility and intelligence in this era of purported health care reform, James Fadiman takes a bold and refreshing step toward reclaiming our freedom of religion, which is the very essence of democracy and the American dream.”
*Robert Forte, editor of Entheogens and the Future of Religion*

“The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide is a brave and uniquely valuable book. Written by one of the most highly respected and innovative researchers from the 1960s, this extraordinary book covers topics not found in any other book on the subject. Fadiman offers us a beautifully written, insightful summation of important early research on creativity, problem solving, and psychospiritual development, tragically cut off by government edict, as well as new research on the use of sub-threshold doses of LSD to enhance normal functioning, in the process creating a road map for the future of psychedelic research. The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide wisely focuses not on pathology but on human potential for health and, as such, shows us how these transformative substances can improve the future of psychology--and the future of society. Throughout this radical yet evidence-based volume, Fadiman uses a combination of the research and his own broad personal experiences working with Leary, Alpert (Ram Dass), Kesey, and other seminal figures in psychedelic research and practice to make the convincing case that psychedelics offer the power to transform society and reintegrate unitary spirituality into Western civilization. The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide is written with a wry humor that brings Fadiman’s sincere, soulful intentionality immediately to the reader, integrating and transforming from the moment one opens this important, mature, and absolutely essential book. If you are interested in the safe, effective, and transformative use of psychedelics to improve our lives and our society, you will devour this book. Fadiman’s The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide is the finest book ever written on the topic--a must read.”
*Neal Goldsmith, Ph.D., author of Psychedelic Healing*

“. . . this book is a breath of fresh air, dispelling the mis-information that has been disseminated over many decades by sensation-hunting journalists and fear-based antidrug propaganda.”
*GaiaMedia.org, May 2011*

“James Fadiman’s manual offers helpful and well-informed guidance for those who seek ‘the divine within’ through sacred plants and psychedelic substances.”
*Daniel Pinchbeck, author of 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl*

“Any interested in using psychedelics receives cautionary exploration of pros, cons, and discussions of myths and realities about them.”
*Midwest Book Review, August 2011*

“A checklist for voyagers and their guides as well as an extensive resource section make this a truly invaluable and definitive guide for everyone interested in psychedelics and their potential to make us wiser, smarter, healthier, and more compassionate.”
*Seattle Post Intelligencer, September 2011*

“Truly destined to be a classic. Don’t leave everyday reality without it.”
*Erowid, October 2011*

“. . . The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys, in which he [James Fadiman] clears up current myths and misperceptions about psychedelics, and presents findings from both long-neglected and recent clinical studies, research experiments, and surveys showing a surprising range of benefits from safe, supervised psychedelic use.”
*Blogcritics.org, October 2011*

“This comprehensive resource offers a wealth of practical information for therapists and health-care professionals, researchers and scientists, psychedelic voyagers and their guides, and even policy makers.”
*Gail Bradney, Carolyn Howard Johnson’s New Book Review, November 2011*

“I highly recommend that everyone read this book so they can hold informed opinions about this very strange and much maligned substance.”
*Linda McDonell, November 2011*

“Psychedelic practice...might have the ability to transform the very mechanisms of control and give birth to a society where the lessons of a transpersonal experience are known without the therapeutic aid of psychedelics. With any luck, time will tell and this book is certainly a step in the right direction.”
*Psychedelic Press, December 2011*

“This is some of the most thoughtful, wise, heartfelt, and essential instruction for the use of sacred medicine.”
*Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart*

“Fadiman knows what he is talking about. This is the book we have needed.”
*Huston Smith, author of The World’s Religion*