Archives: books

The Psychedelic Journey of Marlene Dobkin de Rios: 45 Years with Shamans, Ayahuasqueros, and Ethnobotanists by Marlene Dobkin de Rios presents the accumulated experience of de Rios’s 45 years of pioneering field studies in the area of hallucinogens, which she undertook in collaboration with more than a dozen traditional Mestizo folk curanderos, shamans, and fellow ethnobotanists in Peru and the Amazon. It reveals how ayahuasca successfully treats psychological and emotional disorders, examines adolescent drug use from a cross-cultural perspective, and discusses the deleterious effects of drug tourism in the Amazon.

Therapy with Substance: Psycholytic Psychotherapy in the Twenty-First Century by Friederike Meckel Fischer provides insights into therapeutic processes that aim to draw out deeply-rooted mental problems onto the surface, by administering patients low dose psychedelics across multiple sessions, while facilitating therapeutic interactions that are conducive to this process. Friederike Fischer explains her understanding of the healing processes and provides tools for conducting psycholythic therapy, drawing on her experiences as an underground therapist. These entail suggestions on how to use different substances, how to teach patients to access their unconscious more intentionally, and how to initiate or deepen these processes during psycholythic therapy.

Ayahuasca, Ritual and Religion in Brazil by Beatriz Caiuby Labate and Edward John Baptista das Neves Macrae examine the religious rituals and practices surrounding the use of ayahuasca for healing and divination among indigenous communities, and discusses Brazilian public policies regarding ayahuasca and the handling of substance dependence.

Opening the Portals of Heaven: Brazilian Ayahuasca Music by Beatriz Caiuby Labate and Gustavo Pacheco examines the use of music in the religious contexts of the UDV church and the Santo Daime, which highlights the designation of ayahuasca as an immaterial cultural heritage of the Brazilian nation. The book explores the key role that music plays in the everyday life of these religions, in the production of religious meanings, and in the construction of the bodies and the subjectivity of adepts.

Kosmos – A Theory of Psychedelic Experience by Peter Webster puts forth a theory that the the amplification of salience (that things stand out/be noticed) is the most important neurocognitive effect of psychedelics.

The Therapeutic Use of Ayahuasca edited by Bia Labate and Clancy Cavnar comprises a volume of scientific explorations into the potential range of therapeutic effects of ayahuasca, across a range of putative mechanisms, neurobiological as well as psychological, that facilitate states of psychological and physical healing. They examine the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca in the context of both clinical and ritual use, in light of treatment models for psychiatric conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, refractory mood, and anxiety disorders.

Psilocybin Magic Mushroom Grower’s Guide by Terence and Dennis McKenna, writing under pseudonyms at that time (O. T. Oss & O. N. Oeric) provides an overview of the knowledge at that time on how to grow psychedelic mushrooms. Next to this practical knowledge, the book also offers insights into their psychedelic theories.

Island by Aldous Huxley is the final novel by this great author and psychedelic connoisseur. The book provides a counterpoint to Brave New World and describes a sort of paradise on earth. Without giving too much away, there is a certain psychedelic undertone to this book that makes it very much worth reading to better understand the psychedelic culture.