Albert Hofmann, the Father of LSD, takes his Final Trip
It’s a sad, sad day in the studio.
PARIS — Albert Hofmann, the mystical Swiss chemist who gave the world LSD, the most powerful psychotropic substance known, died Tuesday at his hilltop home near Basel, Switzerland. He was 102.
“Alienation from nature and the loss of the experience of being part of the living creation is the greatest tragedy of our materialistic era. It is the causative reason for ecological devastation and climate change.
Therefore I attribute absolute highest importance to consciousness change. I regard psychedelics as catalyzers for this. They are tools which are guiding our perception toward other deeper areas of our human existence, so that we again become aware of our spiritual essence. Psychedelic experiences in a safe setting can help our consciousness open up to this sensation of connection and of being one with nature.
LSD and related substances are not drugs in the usual sense, but are part of the sacred substances, which have been used for thousand of years in ritual settings. The classic psychedelics like LSD, Psilocybin and Mescaline are characterized by the fact that they are neither toxic nor addictive. It is my great concern to separate psychedelics from the ongoing debates about drugs, and to highlight the tremendous potential inherent to these substances for self-awareness, as an adjunct in therapy, and for fundamental research into the human mind.
It is my wish that a modern Eleusis will emerge, in which seeking humans can learn to have transcendent experiences with sacred substances in a safe setting. I am convinced that these soul-opening, mind-revealing substances will find their appropriate place in our society and our culture.“
Dr. Albert Hofmann
Thursday, 19th April 2007
I hope someday that psychedelics/entheogens find their place in the medical world. Those who have experienced the dimensions of the mind that these compounds unlocked and revealed know that there is something very special, and very different about them. Their clinical uses for exploring the human mind has barely scratched the surface. New studies have recently begun with very positive results offering new hope in the treatment of various addictions, mental disorders and post traumatic stress conditions.
Seeing them scheduled the same as heroin and cocaine, drugs that devastate lives and are highly addictive, is such an injustice.
Experiences on psychedelics tend to make one realize how powerful the human consciousness really is. For many of us, those experiences changed our lives for the better.
I guess you just had to have been there and back to understand.
God speed, Dr. Albert.
St. Albert by Alex Grey–www.alexgrey.com–presented to Dr.Hofmann on his 100th Birthday
Dave - the Infidel Sage
gurusteve
E the Wise
DFV the Scribe
Andre the Defiant
Wes
pg - your humble messenger
hairybeast
Drowning Creek
Hoffman, Huxley and a few others had long contended that no one properly experimented in the clinical use of psychodelics as therapeutic drugs for the treatment of mental disorders and they were for the most part right. Doctors have only recently started suggesting the use of Psilocybin and MDMA to help terminal patients cope with their impending death. Any substance that could potentially better the mental and physical health of mankind should not be summarily dismissed. Hell you’re prohibited from even getting medical marijuana. It’s one of those few areas in which our fine country is sadly lacking.
On the other hand drugs like this are the reason why I still can’t hear “Me and Bobby McGhee” without cringing.
The Beast did a few experiments of his own in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Looked a lot like that poster.
Strange substances for sure, but if experienced in the right scene and setting can have profound results.
I wish there was more formal research on the subject. Here is an interesting snippet concerning seminary students from a Wall Street Journal article:
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB115258280486902994-okIo62E597AxzQTYEo9_1lquu8E_20070710.html
“It was widespread abuse in the 1960s that led to hallucinogens becoming illegal, effectively shutting down then-burgeoning corporate and academic research programs that had suggested the agents might be valuable research and therapeutic tools. One of the last influential studies was the Good Friday Experiment in 1962 in which 20 seminary students were given either psilocybin or nicotinic acid during a religious service. The 10 who got psilocybin reported intense spiritual experiences with positive benefits; one follow-up study suggested those effects lasted 25 years.
“It’s remarkable that we have a class of compounds that has sat in the deep freeze for 40 years,” Dr. Griffiths said. “It seemed to me scientifically it was high time to look again” at psychedelic agents.”
Interesting, indeed.
Of course I know several people who’s lives have been greatly affected in a profound and negative way by the use of such substances. Albert Hoffman was no hero and shouldn’t be idolized in any way.
“Albert Hoffman was no hero and shouldn’t be idolized in any way.”
We agree to disagree. For an interesting read and better understanding about Hofmann, I might suggest you check out the book “My Problem Child” penned by Dr. Hofmann.
The book discusses the mixed emotions Hofmann had about his discovery. As a scientist, he knew he has stumbled upon something remarkable, a substance that could possibly have beneficial properties, but was torn about the circumstances upon which it’s use had become widespread as a recreational “drug”.