toward a psychedelic medicine ethnomedicine

8/12/2019 Toward a Psychedelic Medicine Ethnomedicine

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disclosing fully the experiences of all participants in a psychedelicsession. 4) I will then propose future directions for ourcollaboration and suggestions for How to train the practitioners ofpsychedelic medicine.

Definition and Historical Context

Psychedelic medicine does not seek to replace contemporaryallopathic medicine. Psychedelic medicine is deeplycomplimentary to most of contemporary medical practice. Since itdeals with the deepest levels of human experience and motivationthrough human relationship, psychedelic medicine reaches the

patient in important ways that allopathic medicine does not.Psychedelic medicine helps individuals to find meaning in theirexistence which produces an emotional healing that iscomplimentary to the physical healing offered by allopathicmedicine. Since psychedelic medicine addresses the whole lifehistory of the patient as a meaningful context for healing to begin,it is basically holistic in theory and practice. Psychedelic medicineseeks to produce the deepest harmony possible between mind,

body and spirit. Psychedelic medicine is often most helpful attimes when the remedies of allopathic medicine have beenexhausted or the prognosis is terminal.

Psychedelic medicine is not actually new but is the resurrectionof an ancient discipline. A contemporary Native American healerusing psychedelic plants speaks of their effects on the mind andwhat he knows of their history:

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Since the dawn of time psychedelic substances in the hands ofpriests, physicians and metaphysicians have been used in culturallysignificant rites of passage, death and rebirth, mystical quest formeaning, membership and healing. The study of how the

appropriate use of psychedelic substances can be of continuingbenefit to humanity is the focus of psychedelic medicine. Althoughvariations of psychedelic medicine have been practiced throughouthistory and are still practiced in certain groups, knowledge ofpsychedelic medicine has been lost in other cultures and at thistime is being intentionally buried in our society.

Why call this area of research and study Psychedelic medicine?

First let us examine the origin and meaning of the wordpsychedelic. In 1957 HUMPHREY OSMOND, an early researcherin this area, introduces the name psychedelic to provide a label forexperiences of great and lasting benefit. Investigators ofcompounds, which had been given a variety of non-descriptive,pejorative or cumbersome labels, wanted a name that impliedpositive potential. OSMOND had observed profoundly positivepersonality changes in some of his subjects. These great spurts in

personal growth seemed to follow transcendental, mystical or, asOSMOND proposed, psychedelic experiences with the compoundshe renamed. He proposed psychedelic as a new name for thesesubstances and their effects in the hope of liberating scientificinvestigation from the enduring influence of more narrow andnegative labels that suggested limited fields of application andignored the enduring positive value of these substances. OSMONDfound that LSD, mescaline and psilocybin can be useful not only instudying psychopathology, but also that they shed new light on thegreatest philosophical enigma of human existence, the purpose andmeaning of life:

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Osmonds neologism was brought forth from the Greek rootspsyche and delos meaning mind and manifesting. In the years thathave followed Osmonds proposal the name psychedelic has cometo be associated with a counter-cultural lifestyle, wild innovationsin music and art, but most if all with the dangerous, unsupervisedand hedonistic use of these compounds. Certainly theseconnotations were not part of lamentable failure of our society tointegrate, use, and understand psychedelics and their motivepotential. Nonetheless the name psychedelic is appropriate for awide variety of substances that can facilitate a broad range ofhuman experiences many of which can be of enduring value to theindividual and the culture. I call this a field of medicine toacknowledge medicine in a sense mostly lost to this culture, theaspects of medicine concerned with spiritual growth for itspractitioners and healing of mind, body and spirit for its patients.This is a form of medicine more akin to that practiced by the

American Indians and Ancient Greeks than our moderntechnological allopathic medicine. It is a medicine more concernedwith healing the soul than the body.

How is it that psychedelic medicine could be an ancientdiscipline? There is evidence that as long ago as 100,000 yearshumans were using medicinal herbs. The use of plants to inducealtered states of consciousness has been documented circa 8,000

B.C. (FURST, 1976). So if we take into account the plant kingdomit becomes clear that the use of psychedelic substances by humansis not a recent development. Psychedelics are not associated withcounter-cultural forces in the rituals of cultures that use them. Infact, many traditional societies use these substances as powerfultools for renewing and passing on their basic belief system.


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plants: semen of the sun, vines of the serpent, the tracks of the deer,plant of the tomb, vine of the soul, mainstay of the heavens, herbof divination and flesh of the gods (SCHULTES & HOFMANN,1979).

Analysis of Current Research Methods

Psychedelics are a unique new frontier in our exploration of theuniverse. People from all walks of life, who have sufficientexperience with the psychedelics in a supportive setting, discoverthat there is a profound and basic unity to the universe that is morereal and true than the superficially apparent diversity and

separateness of our ordinary experience. Instead of realizing therevolutionary implications of this insight our society attempted tostudy these substances of if they fit neatly into our pre-existingways of understanding of the world. The scientific methods appliedto studying these substances in our culture ignored this crucialinsight about the nature of the universe.

In our culture the use and study of these compounds fell to the

disciplines of psychiatry and psychology. Both of these disciplineshad adopted methods for conducting research based on theassumption that subject and object are separate and that theexperimenter is separate from the experiment. Although insightsexist from 20th century physics that under certain circumstancessubject-object experimenter-experiment dichotomies break down,these insights were not incorporated into the design of scientificresearch in either psychiatry or psychology. Psychologists andpsychiatrists tried to understand the actions of these substances byintegrating them into pre-existing conceptual frameworks forunderstanding the actions of drugs.2The range and depth of

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understanding achieved through these methods is very limited. Ifour healers couldn't understand the use of psychedelics, how couldthey be used by the culture in a safe and meaningful way?

Psychedelic medicine accepts the basic unity implied bypsychedelics and psychedelic experience. This insight forces areturn to naturalistic reporting of our experiences along this newfrontier. We must begin the work of gathering information from allparticipants in psychedelic sessions as a way of acknowledging thebasic unity of the phenomenon under study. This information willassist us in making new maps of our consciousness and itsinseparable union with the universe. I believe that this important

unitive insight can be a fulcrum to lever our thinking aboutpsychedelics out of the l9th century and into contemporary thoughtabout the nature of the universe.

Our complex technological society has abandoned ways ofthinking about the world that would allow us to accept thesesubstance as sacred or divine. Yet we must take into account thatall cultures throughout history that used these substances

successfully, accorded them a sacred role. This perception ofpsychedelics is actually quite reasonable. A substance that canfacilitate personal insight into the most meaningful dimension ofexistence where the unity of all creation is perceived surely meetsthe requirements for sacred status.

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for studying the states of consciousness that are facilitated throughthe growing family of compounds that are best described as mind-manifesting.


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A Case History in Psychedelic Medicine

As a model for studying psychedelic medicine, I would like toshare with you the poignancy of an actual clinical experience with

psychedelic substances. I do this to foster the reader's appreciationand understanding of the value of inherent in this way of producingpsychological healing, T would like to do this by giving a casepresentation of the psychedelic treatment of a terminal cancerpatient. I will describe this experience with the most candid andcomplete disclosure of my experiences and those of othersinvolved in the process as possible. This is my attempt to fullydisclose of all the relevant variables in the situation in the manner I

suggest is appropriate for psychedelic medicine. I introduce thismaterial also because the moral, philosophical and religiouselements that are characterized by reverence for life andappreciation of the infinite value of the individual human being areillustrated in this account and they must be the central tenets ofpsychedelic medical ethics. We cannot study the transcendentrealities of psychedelic consciousness without accepting the unitythat these experiences convey and fully reporting our own

experiences as participant-observers. For these reasons I choose tolook back 13 years to openly share my own first experience withadministering a psychedelic to a terminal cancer patient. I hope theevents that follow will highlight the complex interweaving ofmeaning for me as a researcher, psychotherapist and human beingand do justice to the importance this treatment had for my patient.Such an account has not to my knowledge found its way into theliterature before now. Most important, the study that provided thecontext for this experience was not reported in a manner that didjustice to the remarkable nature of this and many other beautifulhuman experiences that are the essence of psychedelic medicine.3I

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came to know this man in the process of therapy as a remarkableand unique person experiencing the exquisite crafting of the finalfacets to the jewel of his lifetime. This experience had specialmeaning for both of us because for each of us in our own way it

was both a first as well as a last experience. For Joe it was his firstand last experience with the drug DPT and our research therapyteam. For me it was my first experience with a terminal cancerpatient, a joyous loss of significant aspects of my virginity as apsychedelic therapist. The whole team involved, myself, the co-therapist and Joe emerged from this event with significant personalgrowth. Although every psychedelic session is a first and has thevalue of newness this experience has stayed with me over the years

as a special one that demands further analysis and understanding toappreciate fully.

He was 70 years old and his cancer began in the eye then itspread to his prostate and ultimately insinuated its way into theother abdominal organs. His surgeon noted that the patient hadsigns of depression and a markedly increased need for painmedication, this led the doctor to recommend our experimental

treatment with psychedelic drugs. He had seen the treatment helpother patients dramatically so Joe would improve too. For me thiswas a very special event, Joe was the first cancer patient I had theopportunity to treat as a research psychotherapist. The staff personat the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center who was in charge ofthe project laughed as he told me that I should have fun treatingthis man because he had lived with his mother for his whole life.This was still the case even though Joe was 70 years old!

As I walked up to the Cancer Unit I prepared myself for what Ianticipated would be a significant experience in my career as atherapist. I remembered that for me it seemed a very important part

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of my role as a healer to assist people in experiencing the fears andjoys that are hallmarks of confrontation with the boundaries ofhuman existence. I was quite proud of my accomplishmentsbecause against all odds I had been able to join the clinical stall of

the only psychedelic research project in the country working withhuman subjects and psychotherapy. For me this was a dreamrealized. I had disdain for the fact that medicine seemed toemotionally abandon people near death and was resolved to learneverything I could from this experience.

Joe was in a room with several other patients and when I askedthe nurse who showed me in where we might go for some privacy

she acted surprised. After walking us out to the hall she quicklydarted in and out several doors and then apologetically offered usthe janitor's room. There were brooms and pails strewn around thesmall office and she moved a couple of chairs into the closet sizedroom. She then said she hoped we wouldn't be disturbed byjanitors looking in for their tools. My pride was a bit tarnished bythe idea of meeting in a broom closet, but there seemed no otheralternative.

He was quite jovial when I asked him about his stay in thehospital. He chatted off-handedly about the excellent treatment hewas receiving and told me loudly of his implicit trust in the doctors.Then he informed me that the doctors might have to remove hiseye because of the cancer. He told me this with such a matter-of-fact and emotionless tone that he could have been describing thecosmetic removal of a wart rather than a vital organ of sight. WhenI asked him how he felt about possibly losing his eye, Joe repliedwithout a moment's hesitation that whatever the doctors decided hewould accept. Then he quickly went on to say that there weremany more important things for us to discuss. I prepared myselffor him to say something about his impending demise, but to myastonishment he said that he needed to understand labor unions. Idecided that although that wasn't my agenda for our meetings I


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would have to allow Joe to express whatever was on his mind.What sometimes sounded like a lecture on how to organize a laborunion slowly changed into a recollection of the important events inJoe's life. I began to feel the power and beauty of the life Joe had

led and to appreciate the privilege of hearing his story.

I learned that Joe was an electrician and had worked with hishands all of his life. Five years earlier he had been retired from aposition in local industry. Joe spoke at length about his life as aworking man and activities in organizing a labor union. When Joewas six his father had been blackballed from working as a riveterin the United States because he was involved in early attempts at

organizing a union. Because of his union efforts Joe's father had to,with a group of friends, gather together enough money to get overthe border to Canada. They could only gather enough funds for oneof their group to cross the border at a time. In order restrict theimmigration of vagrants into Canada, you needed to post a $ 50.00bond before crossing the border. Once a man was able to secure ajob in Canada the he would send his first paycheck back to fundthe transfer of another friend into Canada. Joe was outraged that

this had been the plight of early union organizers who were tryingto improve working conditions.

Joe, his brother and one sister, were raised in a northern statewhere they struggled to survive on the meager income from hisfather's Canadian job. When Joe was 11 his father was able tosecure permission for him to work as a water boy on the rivetinggang. This took Joe out of school, but he was glad for theopportunity to help support the family. Joe described his father as ahard working, hard drinking man who was very kind to hischildren. He remembered playing ball with his father on weekendsand listening to his fascinating stories about working andorganizing.


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Joe described for me the working conditions riveters faced inthat area. The men worked in cruelly confining spaces on hot daysmade hotter by the blazing coal fires used to heat the rivets. Whenthe supervisors were away, Joe's father had allowed him to work as

a "holder on". This job involved using all of his youthful strengthto hold a red hot rivet in place while another worker peened theend of it. Joe was especially proud of the way he had cleaned upthe crew's water bucket which had been rusty and dirty when hearrived. He had first asked that the company purchase a new waterbucket, but when they refused he was able to clean up the old oneso the men could drink clean water.

Joe's mother was the backbone of the family. She was still livingthough his father passed away many years before. Joe said herfaculties were undiminished even though she was 90 years old. Joelived with her and his only sister, Jean. He said his mother was awarm, comforting and emotionally available person throughout hischildhood. However the family had very little material means. Joetold me that he never married; he had a girlfriend when he was inhis twenties and though he proposed marriage to her, she didn't

accept because of her family's counsel against marrying a man whodrank as much as Joe did. I asked if he really drank that much andJoe said, "I must admit I could really put it away." Quickly addingthat his fellow workers did the same. As a way of explanation thisJoe told me that throughout his childhood the men all worked ingangs and the foreman of each gang received the weekly pay ingold. So on payday the entire gang of men would adjourn to atavern immediately after work. At the bar, in the process ofdividing up the money, they inevitably drank a fair measure oftheir income. Joe spoke of alcohol fondly almost as though he weretalking about a person, a working man's friend and entertainer,who gave a few moment's respite from the grueling daily labor thatmade up the lives of the men. He said he had to give up drinking in1955 because he suffered heart damage from an accidentalelectrical shock at work. Though he was sad to lose the


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companionship he apparently had no great difficulties in giving itup.

Joe said he moved to an Eastern Seaboard city and where he

began his efforts to create a union. He said it all started with a fewmen meeting in bars after work dreaming of how things could be.He told me of the fantastic battle with the management, of the dirtytactics the company used in trying to scare the men out of strike,and of his persistence and dedication to the men in the yard. As ourmeetings became more intimate he recalled some of hisdisappointments, at one point he discovered other men stealingfrom the union funds and he was especially hurt when one of them

turned out to be a trusted friend. Joe said he always tried to handlethese incidents with care and secrecy, encouraging the man to payback his debt and resign the elected office he held.

Joe's attitude during the early interviews was heavily pedantic.Our meetings had the tone of a class on labor relations. He stronglydenied any fears of losing his sight and spoke optimistically aboutthe future. Joe's surgeon assured me that he had discussed the

diagnosis and prognosis with him though Joe was discharged fromthe hospital at this point. He was complaining of constantabdominal pain and was receiving substantial doses of narcoticmedication without great effect.

Our meetings were continues at the Maryland PsychiatricResearch Center where we were able to meet in one of thecomfortable drug meeting suites which was furnished like a livingroom. Our meetings began to have a more relaxed, less cramped,janitorial and medical atmosphere. During our second interview atthe center I suggested to Joe that he try listening to some musicover stereo headphones while wearing eyeshades so that he couldsee perhaps a small glimpse of what the psychedelic drug treatmentsession would be like. I talked to him about how important thisexperience might be if he could use the drug effects to go within


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himself and see where the feelings about his illness and pain werecoming from. Joe, exuding confidence and bravado, allowed me toplace the earphones and eyeshades on him. As soon as the musicwas played, his tone became complaining and angry. At first the

music was too loud and then he found it reminiscent of riveting.When I asked Joe what riveting reminded him of he became panicstricken and removed the eyeshades and earphones. He paledvisibly and in a frightened voice told me that he was unable tocontinue and would I please turn off the music. I complied and Joethen told me that he was suddenly experienced fear of losing hissight. He said that up to this point he had not realized howfrightening this might be. Joe's attitude toward me changed

drastically, when he became frightened the authoritarian mannerdissolved revealing a man genuinely scared of what the futuremight bring. Over the next few interviews Joe and I discussed hisclaimed ignorance of the possible outcome of his illness. When Iwould suggest to him that he discuss the prognosis with thephysicians, Joe took refuge in the belief that they would tell him assoon as the test results were in.

One day Joe complained of pain during the beginning of aninterview, I asked him if he wished to know what the medicalfindings were in his case. He said yes, and I informed him of howthe cancer had spread throughout his body and that the doctorsfound in cases where this happened that the most likely thing,though no one could predict the future with certainty, was death.Joe didn't act surprised or shaken instead he said he'd secretlysuspected for some time that he was dying. He had taken specialprecautions to shield his mother from any knowledge that he wasill. He said that it was clear to him now this attitude of protectionwas also his attempt at shielding himself. "If I pretend my cancerdoesn't exist for my mother's benefit then I don't have to look at itmyself".


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As part of preparation for Joe's session I interviewed his sisterJean, who lived in Joe's mother's house with him. Jean was quiteupset about Joe's illness and ultimate demise which she consideredfait accompli. During a short interview I attempted to communicate

to her that it was possible for Joe's last days to be a beautiful timeof enhanced closeness and interpersonal warmth for the wholefamily. Jean seemed somewhat reassured by our talk, but she stillseemed more focused on her own grief and feelings ofabandonment than on relating to her brother as the alive humanbeing that I was coming to appreciate more and more in myinterviews. I offered Jean the opportunity for additional therapysessions; however, it became clear that she did not wish to consider

herself as needing help. I made it clear to her that often in times ofsevere stress such as this, talking with someone about thedifficulties could help and that I would be available to herthroughout Joe's illness. In watching Joe and Jean together, itseemed that the attitude of fear and denial on both of their partswas responsible for diminished human contact at a time whenwarmth and love were the best treatment available. I asked myselfwhat I could possibly do to change this state of affairs. There was

no ready answer to my question.

Joe and I discussed his upcoming drug session as a specialopportunity for him to review and express the feelings he hadinside himself. Joe was confused as to what I meant by his"insides". He had never imagined that there was a possibility ofinner experience until our meetings and hadn't felt that he couldchange anything about the way he felt about himself or his lifesituation.

With some trepidation, I scheduled Joe's drug session. It was myfeeling that we had established good rapport; however, it was stillextremely difficult for Joe to introspect and share his emotions. Joecontinued to use denial as a way of fending off his fear of death.Although we had been able to break through his barrier sometimes,


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Joe in his daily life still constantly spoke of the future as thoughhis complete recovery were certain. I experienced great hesitationin telling him that death was almost inevitable. It was my fear thatthis news might be taken as a verdict or a death certificate

indicating that there was no hope. I tried to convey clearly the factthat medical understanding of cancer is incomplete and thatrecovery could take place though it wasn't likely. We talked aboutdeath as something facing all men and I told Joe that coming toterms with our fear of death can lead to enhanced enjoyment ofwhat life remains.

I introduced Joe to my co-therapist for the drug session, Mrs.

Nancy Jewell. Nancy was in her early 60's, a psychiatric aide whohad been working with the director of the Research Center foryears. I liked Nancy very much and sometimes would thing of herprivately as my "West Virginia Mamma" when I heard the wordsof a then popular song by John Denver. When I brought themtogether there was such an immediate rapport that I was amazedand a bit jealous that Joe and Nancy took to each other so suddenlyand completely. I had been building my relationship of trust with

Joe gradually and tentatively for several weeks now.

On the day of the drug session Joe arrived in considerable pain.According to my instructions, he had discontinued his painmedication on the day prior to the session. Nancy and I made himas comfortable as we could on the couch in the treatment suite. At9 A.M. Nancy administered 90 mg of dipropyltryptamineintramuscularly, a dosage capable of producing profoundexperiences in a willing individual. I placed the eyeshades andearphones on Joe and suggested that he allow the music to carryhim through the experience. I also advised Joe to confrontwhatever experience should present itself. Joe began to complainof pain and I advised him to enter the pain as fully as possible. Joebegan to scream "God damn it!" "This is terrible, I can't stand thisany longer!" he asked me repeatedly if he could remove the


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eyeshades and earphones. I asked him to trust Nancy, myself, andhimself by facing the feelings no matter how terrible they mightseem. I encouraged him to yell, scream, and express the powerfulemotions in any way he could. Nancy reassured him when he

expressed concern that his cussing might offend her.

Over the next 45 minutes Joe trashed, struggled and experienceddifficulties in breathing. We monitored his respiration rate asslightly elevated. The struggle culminated when Joe said, "I guessin the end you just have to give in." This statement was followedby a deep sigh and a profound relaxation of his musculature. Helistened to the music peacefully with a contented smile on his face

for about thirty minutes.

Joe then called Nancy and me over to the couch. He held ourhands. He spoke of being a child, of the difficulties he experiencedbeing poor, of the joys of his profound identification with hisfather and the struggle that was his father's. Joe said he wasexperiencing that his father's struggle was also his own and at thesame time it was the struggle of all men. The struggle to overcome

life's difficulties; the pain, the disillusionment, and the horror ofbeing alive. Joe said, "I feel like I am becoming the blood thatflows through my veins, It's Irish blood. There is strength here, Ifeel the strength of the Irish people. The noble strength of workingmen. I can feel the meaning of the struggle, of my Irish ancestors.They are stubborn and strong." Joe said he experienced the idealsand dreams that brought people and others to this country asimmigrants. "They wanted to overcome pain, injustice andsuffering with their strength, not just for themselves but for all ofus. I share this struggle. It has been my struggle to carry forwardthese ideals through my work with the union."

Joe's face softened and looked young. He spoke about his earlyjobs. He had dropped out of school and worked as a child so thathis brothers and sister could have shoes and could attend school.


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tears his compassion for fellow worker's suffering. He fumed andspit his hatred for those managers and foremen more interested inproduction quotas than in human welfare. The drama and grandsweep of this man's life and his efforts seemed all the more

poignant as he shared the depth of his humanity so openly.

There was a broad satisfied smile on Joe's face as he shared hisexultation over the inauguration of a new four million dollar unionhall. He had helped inaugurate the new building a few years beforehis retirement. As he beheld the costly new building he contrastedthis victory with the experience he had close to 40 years beforewhen a local merchant was not willing to accept a check written on

the union's first checking account. Joe's expression changedsuddenly and he was able to admit for the first time the pain thathis mandatory retirement had caused him. He told us how much itmeant to be called "Mr. Union" by his friends and even by hisenemies at work. Joe described the sinking of feeling he felt whenhe was told that because he was now retired he could no longerprepare union cases for arbitration, the emptiness he felt at beingexcluded from participation purely on the basis of age. He said that

if he knew he were going to live long enough he would take on thestruggle for the rights of older people.

At this point Joe's sister and niece arrived to pick him up. Joewas able to sit up comfortably in a chair. I asked him if he was stillin pain. In a cheerful manner and with a smile he admitted that he,"hurt something of fierce." Joe was relaxed and joyous reminiscingwith his family about happy events in their childhood. His positivemood was infectious and soon all present were enjoying thepronounced psychedelic afterglow. I allowed Joe to leave thecenter at about 3.30 P.M. after making an appointment for thefollowing day.

The next morning Joe arrived for his appointment promptly anannounced that he was uncertain as to exactly what had take place


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the day before. He claimed that his mind was completely blank. Iasked whether he felt any relief from his pain. He said that hehadn't. At this point when Joe failed to remember his session evenafter I mentioned some highlights to him. I became openly

disappointed with him. I told him that I could not believe that hehad no recall for the moving and profound experience that he hadnarrated so eloquently the day before. Nancy was also presentduring this interview and I experienced her presence as veryimportant in that it allowed me to confront Joe more powerful thanI would have dared to were I alone with him. I openly challengedhis denial repeating for him his own description of the content ofhis experience. I bluntly told him that if this was an example of

how he expected to deal with death that I was sure he would findhis death hard, but that if he could recall his experience of the daybefore where he looked death right in the eyes and continues to dothat, death should be kind and gentle.

Joe looked somewhat sheepish and asked that I got a little easyon him. He acknowledged that he could remember what hadtranspired the day before and said that it was so new and different

an experience to him that he found it difficult to understand andaccept. Nancy and I reassured him that the experience was genuineand worked with him by discussing the different aspects of thesession. When Joe returned for his next interview he described tome that he dad been having a great time going through his tools.He said that for him one of the deepest pleasures of being alivewas the ability to give pleasures to the others. He had gatheredtogether all of his tools and made up three tool boxes. One of thesewent to his brother, one to his nephew and the third to theworkshop of the blind. Joe said that it was plain to him through hisphysical deterioration that death was near he told me that this wasno longer frightening and said he planned to spend as much time ashe could with his family.


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This was the last meeting I had with Joe. I tried unsuccessfullyto reach him by telephone several times, but was informed that thetelephone would not reach his bed. Joe's niece relayed messagesfrom him sending his regards and she told me that Joe spoke so

warmly of me she wished she could arrange another meeting for us.I told her that I would be glad to come out to the house and visitJoe. She said that Joe's sister was still trying to keep Joe's motherfrom knowing how sick he was. the mother had recently broke ahip and was bedridden in another part of the house. They thereforepreferred that I not visit the household.

Joe died peacefully about two months after his drug session.

One of the secretary's at the Research Center saved the obituary forme and I felt my body tingle and could feel tears welling up in myeyes as I read the headline: "MR. UNION DIES". I knew that Joewould have really been pleased by his obituary!

The experience with Joe was an especially meaningful one inmy training. I gained insight into my own feelings and how theyaffected my conduct as a therapist. I marvel still at the amazing

confluence of coincidences that allowed this event to happen. Inlooking at the session and the events that surround it I am struck bythe blending of the meaning in each of our lives into a harmoniouswhole. I had my own, at times proud and arrogant, at times humble,goals for helping Joe to confront his fears and emotions throughfacing death, an experience that is one of the mysteries of humanexistence. How could a 22 year old young man such as I was feelthat he could have anything to offer his elder facing such anenigma? My own training experiences with psychedelics hadprovided me the utterly convincing feeling of confronting death onmany occasions. This gave me the conviction that although I hadn'tphysically died I knew something of the human emotions thatsurround such an event, how they might manifest themselves in aperson, respond to the effects of a psychedelic and how I mightmanage them helpfully.


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I needed for my own growth and development as a healer toconfront death in many aspects, both in my own psychedelicexperiences and in work with patients like Joe. A differentexperience at this juncture could easily have changed my area of

interest. In order for this experience to be valuable it needed to bepreceded by the series of sessions in which I confronted manyaspects of my own fears and feelings about death. These sessionsalso involved confronting the fact that I grew up with the notableabsence of a fathering figure. These factors added to the emotionalimport of this first experience with a dying person. I felt that inaccompanying Joe through his treatment process I experienced himas offering me something a great value, a deep sharing of his

wisdom as an older man reflecting on the meaning of his life.Certainly this is one of the more meaningful levels of the nurturingbetween father and son. It fascinated me that the process wasmutually rewarding and beneficial, that somehow my need to listen,understand, and help joined with his need to tell the story of his lifeto produce an experience of deep meaning and healing for us both.

Most striking of all is the basic unity of the shared experiences

around the psychedelic session. The way in which the inter-relatedfactors of my own personal history and training combined with myprior relationship with Nancy Jewll, my developing relationship toeach of us added together to create a complex set and setting forJoe's experience. It is not really Joe's experience or my experienceor Nancy's experience but rather the amazing confluence ofmeaning in this session that proved moving and significant foreach of us.

I think that such accounts such as this one must be a definite partof the reporting process in psychedelic medicine. The history andpersonality of all parties involved in a psychedelic session arerelevant background to the experience that ostensibly unfolds onlyin the person taking the drug. In fact Joe's experience was not onlypsychedelic for Joe, but also for me and for Nancy even though we


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were not under the pharmacological influence of any drug at thetime. We cannot reduce an experience such as Joe's to a set ofbefore and after measurements and hope to justly report usefulinformation. We do not yet know or fully understand all the

elements that influence the process and outcome of experienceswith psychedelics so we must try to bare our psyches and those ofour subjects for there is no clear subject in these experiments andwe must not prematurely dissect into components such exquisiteexperiences. We must first gather together enough of thisnaturalistic data that we allow a new and more comprehensiveview of this process to emerge.

The need for sweeping revision of the paradigms that organizeour approach to the clinical investigation of psychedelic drugs assignificant elements in a complex process of human healing andtransformation can be clarified by turning to mathematics. KURTGODEL brought a famous paradox from philosophy intomathematics and it seems to have relevance for research withpsychedelics as well. GODEL'S theorem holds that the logicalconsistency and completeness of a system may not be assessed

from within that system, in fact in order to assess such propertiesone must build another system from which to observe and assessthe first. With this situation we may then make an assessment ofthe logical consistency and completeness of the first system butmay not be sure of the consistency or completeness of the systemthat we are observing from. If one applies this to psychedelicresearch it becomes apparent that when researchers sought to applypreviously existing conceptual frameworks to the startling newphenomenon of psychedelic drugs they influenced the resultsthrough mechanisms outside of their awareness at the time. Thelogical systems they sought to apply to psychedelics wereincomplete, but they nonetheless served the limiting andorganizing function described for scientific paradigms (KUHN,1970).


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Since these investigators had no vantage point outside thelogical systems they sought to apply they were blind to the mannerin which their own theoretical and scientific orientations wereinfluencing the psychedelic experiences of their patients and

subjects. When one looks from the vantage point offered by historyit becomes apparent that this is how at least three differing and attimes mutually exclusive views of nature, effects and possibleusefulness of psychedelics came into being. Each system had waysfor dealing with its competitors and each system had its own blindspots and inadequacies. What has been missing from our Westernscientific approach to psychedelics has been the original awe andhumbleness necessary when approaching an entirely new

dimension, a new frontier in the study of the human mind andconsciousness. Awe, wonder and open minded, open hearteddescription of the human experiences of all parties involved inpsychedelic journeys with the quality of a beginners mind is whatmust be used to begin a new science of consciousness. Surely aswe grasp the new view of consciousness and the universe that willemerge from these early naturalistic studies and their carefulanalysis our mind will distinguish new pictures, new paradigms,

new views of human nature. These insights will lead us in turn tothe development of appropriate analytic instrumentation and newresearch methods to reflect and enhance the detail of the emergingpicture of humanity and its relation to the cosmos. In order to makethe necessary conceptual leaps we will have to abandon ourprecious status as unbiased and knowledgeable scientists. We willlose little in doing this for psychology and psychiatry, thedisciplines most involved in psychedelic research to date, currentlytend to make poor use of research methods and techniques derivedfrom l9th century physics. This subject object dichotomized viewis simply not applicable to substance since it denies the basic unityat the core of any psychedelic experience and relies for validity onthe presence of boundaries that are clearly transcended by thestates of awareness possible when humans take psychedelicsubstances.


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basis of their training and background in other scientific disciplines.Creativity enhancement has been documented to occur in properlyplanned and conducted psychedelic sessions. It is thereforereasonable to expect that trainees will gain creative insight into

their own disciplines and psychedelic medicine in addition toexperiencing personal and transpersonal insights into humancondition. This training is conducted by a core training-group ofpsychedelic therapists and the trainee is qualified for practice by aconsensus of the training group.

The field of psychedelic medicine will eventually develop itsown methodology out of the initial purely descriptive naturalistic

phase that we must begin now. The basic paradigm of psychedelicmedicine is that the psychedelic phenomenon can only be studiedby methods that accept the basic unity of the process under study.Furthermore the study of human experience with psychedelicsubstances must always take into account the infinite value of theindividual and must always seek to do justice to the humanqualities of the psychedelic experience. This means that ourtechniques of study must not lump together different varieties of

human beings and their experiences in such a manner as to effacethe meaning and significance of individual experience. Much useof statistics in research studies with human subjects involves suchlumping together of these scores across individuals without regardto differences. Though this may be necessary at a certain point it isnot apparently useful at the beginning stages of investigation andin fact often obscures the meaningfulness of individual experiencesand their relationship to psychological change and growth.

The profound challenge of conducting significant research withpsychedelic and empathogenic compounds can only be met bycreating a new discipline:psychedelic medicine. This new outlookallows us to overcome the existing paradigms that limit andconfound scientific research with these substances. We are calledto incorporate a quantum leap in honesty and completeness of


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scientific reopening in this research. Work in this area also requiresthat respect and empathy play a central role in the design andconduct of studies with human beings. And foremost, ways mustbe found to overcome the fear and misunderstanding so prevalent

in our society's reaction to this new frontier.

References

Allegro, John M. 1970 The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross;Fodder and Stoughton, London.

Ferguson, Marilyn 1980 The Aquarian Conspiracy;Tarcher, LosAngeles.

Furst, Peter T. 1976Hallucinogens and Culture;Chandler & Sharp,San Francisco.

Hofstadter, D.R. 1979 Godel, Escher, Bach: An eternal braid;Basic Books, New York.

Kuhn, Thomas S. 1970 The structure of scientific revolutions;University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Osmond, Humphrey 1957 A review of the clinical effects ofpsychotomimetic agents;Annals of the New York Academy ofSciences,p. 66; pp. 418-434.

Schultes, Richard E. & Albert Hofmann 1979 Plants of the Gods;

McGraw-Hill, Maidenhead.

Sharon, Douglas 1978 Wizard of the Four Winds: A Shaman'sStory;The Free Press (Macmillan), New York.

Wasson, R. Gordon 1968 SomaThe divine Mushroom ofImmortality;H.B. Jovanovich, New York.


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Wasson, R. Gordon, Albert Hofmann & Carl Ruck 1978The Roadto Eleusis;H.B. Jovanovich, New York.

Weil, Andrew 1972 The Natural Mind;Houghton Mifflin, Boston.

Yensen, Richard 1989 From Mysteries to paradigms: Humanity'sjourney from sacred plants to psychedelic drugs; in: Chr. Rtsch,Gateway to Inner Space:pp. 11-53; Prism Press, Bridgeport,Dorset.

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