This handbook reviews promising applications of psychedelics in treatment of such challenging psychiatric problems as posttraumatic stress disorder, major depression, substance use disorders, and end-of-life anxiety. Experts from multiple disciplines synthesize current knowledge on psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, and other medical hallucinogens. The volume comprehensively examines these substances' neurobiological mechanisms, clinical effects, therapeutic potential, risks, and anthropological and historical contexts. Coverage ranges from basic science to practical clinical considerations, including patient screening and selection, dosages and routes of administration, how psychedelic-assisted sessions are structured and conducted, and management of adverse reactions.
'Louis Wain invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world'. Broadcast in 1925 by H.G. Wells, these words characteristically foretold the future of the Wain cat which has, once more, become the century's most recognisable image in cat art. During their heyday, in the time before the First World War, Louis Wain's cats, dressed as humans, portrayed that stylish Edwardian world having fun: at restaurants and tea parties, going to the Race and the Seaside, celebrating at Christmas and Birthdays, and disporting themselves with exuberant games of tennis, bowls, cricket and football. This is a titillating world of cats at play, uninhibited and slightly dangerous, with most group activities likely to turn into mishap, mayhem and catastrophe. This is Wain's world, funny, edgy and animated: a whole cat world. The first comprehensive exhibition of Wain's work was held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 1972 and, since then, Louis Wain has steadily become more fashionable, and collected worldwide. This biography contains 300 plates of richness and variety, all of which are reproduced faithfully from the original artwork. This book is jointly published by Chris Beetles Ltd and Canongate Books.
CULTIVATING A PSYCHEDELIC RENAISSANCE THAT INCLUDES EVERYONE Radical, cultural transformation is the guiding force behind this socially visionary anthology. Its unifying value is social justice. It guides us in cultivating a psychedelic renaissance that represents everyone, honors voices that have been suppressed for too long, and envisions a more beautiful tomorrow through a psychedelic lens. Psychedelic culture is at an inflection point. Within the last decade, psychedelics have assimilated into the mainstream, even becoming a multimillion-dollar industry. As they integrate into the dominant culture, a lot of longtime participants in psychedelic communities are wondering: will psychedelics help us revolutionize society, or will they merely reinforce old narratives? As psychedelic medicine integrates into mainstream, capitalist culture, the question of what forces will gain control and shape the direction of the psychedelic renaissance is front and center. In this pivotal time, with so many new players emerging, those of us who believe that psychedelics can help us transform society are being challenged to define, and embody, the values that will shape this growing movement. To do this, we must first acknowledge the shadow side of the psychedelic movement and challenge its longstanding injustices. If the psychedelic renaissance is going to expand and revolutionize society, it must include and serve everybody. The anthology highlights Chacruna's ongoing work promoting diversity and inclusion by prominently featuring voices that have been long marginalized in Western psychedelic culture: women, queer people, people of color, and indigenous people. The essays examine both historical and current issues within psychedelics that many may not know about, and orient around policy, reciprocity, diversity and inclusion, sex and power, colonialism, and indigenous concerns.
More than 40 neurodivergent contributors -- navigating ADHD, alexithymia, anxiety, autism, Asperger's, depression, OCD, PTSD & other conditions -- discuss the benefits & challenges of their personal experiences with ayahuasca, DMT, ketamine, LSD, MDMA, psilocybin & other psychedelics. For more information about this book as well as The APC Discovery Project, please visit AutisticPsychedelic.com. Introduced & edited by Autistic Psychedelic Community Co-Organizer & Author of "Autism On Acid: How LSD Helped Me Understand, Navigate, Alter & Appreciate My Autistic Perceptions", Aaron Paul Orsini.
An intimate memoir on the work and wonder of ranch life, critiquing the inhumane and environmentally destructive factory farm system and offering sustainable alternatives for ethical omnivores. Although there are nearly 100 million cattle in the United States, these animals are often ignored or dismissed. In Meditations with Cows, Shreve Stockton inspires a more reverential attitude toward these affectionate and intelligent creatures as she shares captivating stories and photos of ranch life. At the center of the narrative is Daisy, the matriarch of the herd. Through the daily ritual of milking, Stockton forges a relationship with Daisy that deepens with each passing season: "When you have a milk cow, you are together every day, no matter the weather, no matter either of your moods. The hind leg of this twelve-hundred-pound animal towers over you as you crouch beside her... both of you aware of the fact that one well-aimed kick could kill you if she wished. Yet you are allowed to rest your cheek and forehead against her warm belly as you milk... her trust in you entwined with your trust in her, you become family." For anyone who loves animals or cares about the environmental impact of their food, Stockton explores conservation and the important role of cattle in local ecosystems, models the humane treatment of animals, and shows how pastured cattle can be our allies in averting climate crisis. Blending together narrative, science, and thoughtful reflection, Meditations with Cows offers a moving portrait of the rhythms of work, life, and hardship on the ranch.
A definitive history of mescaline that explores its mind-altering effects across cultures, from ancient America to Western modernity Mescaline became a popular sensation in the mid-twentieth century through Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception, after which the word “psychedelic” was coined to describe it. Its story, however, extends deep into prehistory: the earliest Andean cultures depicted mescaline-containing cacti in their temples. Mescaline was isolated in 1897 from the peyote cactus, first encountered by Europeans during the Spanish conquest of Mexico. During the twentieth century it was used by psychologists investigating the secrets of consciousness, spiritual seekers from Aleister Crowley to the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, artists exploring the creative process, and psychiatrists looking to cure schizophrenia. Meanwhile peyote played a vital role in preserving and shaping Native American identity. Drawing on botany, pharmacology, ethnography, and the mind sciences and examining the mescaline experiences of figures from William James to Walter Benjamin to Hunter S. Thompson, this is an enthralling narrative of mescaline’s many lives.
The world's most comprehensive, well documented, and well illustrated book on this subject. With extensive subject and geographic index. 28 photographs and illustrations - mostly color. Free of charge in digital PDF format.
No cat lover will be able to resist this enchanting collection of Syndney Hauser's artwork of classy cats and hand-lettered proverbs and sayings. It's a feast for the eyes and minds of readers everywhere
Neuropsychedelia examines the revival of psychedelic science since the "Decade of the Brain." After the breakdown of this previously prospering area of psychopharmacology, and in the wake of clashes between counterculture and establishment in the late 1960s, a new generation of hallucinogen researchers used the hype around the neurosciences in the 1990s to bring psychedelics back into the mainstream of science and society. This book is based on anthropological fieldwork and philosophical reflections on life and work in two laboratories that have played key roles in this development: a human lab in Switzerland and an animal lab in California. It sheds light on the central transnational axis of the resurgence connecting American psychedelic culture with the home country of LSD. In the borderland of science and religion, Neuropsychedelia explores the tensions between the use of hallucinogens to model psychoses and to evoke spiritual experiences in laboratory settings. Its protagonists, including the anthropologist himself, struggle to find a place for the mystical under conditions of late-modern materialism.