This is my “Library of Psychedelic Studies,” my alchemical pharmacopoeia of magical potions and spells — arcane manuals on how to brew one’s concoctions, what ingredients should be used and how they should be prepared; how postulants should be anointed and brought into the fold; and the correct manner of conducting one’s rituals in order to successfully invoke the Spirits, to bring about healing, enlightenment, and new mystical powers for the adherent.

All flightiness aside, as I have described elsewhere, the collection of books presented in this section is essentially a part of my life-long hobby of studies in “the psychedelic experience.” I simply like reading about it, and in particular enjoy anything published in the period from the early-1950s through to the mid-’60s or so — although I think I’ve actually just about run out of any new discoveries to be made in that area.

Also, while the focus of my collection has been (or become) on those which came out in the ’50s and ’60s, it should be noted that Stanislav Grof — whose writings have greatly influenced my own understanding and perspective on these things — didn’t publish his first book-length work until the next decade, and that there have been many, many other authors who have also come along and released their own often monumental and definitive works in the ensuing decades. As significant as those later authors have been in my own personal development, nevertheless my affinity for “reading material” (not to mention “book collecting”) has for the longest time now leaned rather exclusively toward those early years, when LSD first exploded onto the scene and was taking the psychotherapeutic community (and eventually the public at large) by storm.

And so this library of books — along with a drawer or two in my filing cabinet full of photocopied articles from half a century of medical journals, in addition to numerous documentaries and other films on the subject (on DVD, VHS and in digital format), plus an email folder full of archived messages from the old discussion forum for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychelic Studies, which I dutifully followed the proceedings of virtually from its inception back in the mid-1990s until its very unfortunate demise many years ago now — basically represents my background with psychedelia, what I know about, what my “qualifications” are.

Qualifications for what, however, I honestly have no idea. I do have to emphasize that I’m definitely not qualified to run a psychedelic therapeutic session (no matter how much I’ve read about it), if only because I’m not qualified to do clinical psychological work of any sort, after all — and no, I most certainly don’t know where to score you some good acid.

— Ron Koster, Psymon

2021–03–01

Questions? Comments? Bug report?
☞ Contact Psymon ☜

All text, graphics and web design of this entire site
are copyright © Ron Koster / Psymon
and may not be reproduced or distributed in any manner
without explicit permission of Ron Koster / Psymon.
All Rights Reserved.


	Pſymon ☙ Psychedelia ❧ Bibliothēca Studiorum Psychedelicorum ✾ Introduction (below) ✾ Books from 1900–1949 ✾ Books from 1950–1959 ✾ The Macy Conferences (1954–1959) ✾ Books from 1960–1969 ✾ Books from 1970–1979 ✾ Books by Stanislav Grof (1975–1993) ✾ Books from 1980–1989 ✾ Books from 1990–1999 ✾ Books from 2000–Beyond ✾ This is my “Library of Psychedelic Studies,” my alchemical pharmacopoeia of magical potions and spells — arcane manuals on how to brew one’s concoctions, what ingredients should be used and how they should be prepared; how postulants should be anointed and brought into the fold; and the correct manner of conducting one’s rituals in order to successfully invoke the Spirits, to bring about healing, enlightenment, and new mystical powers for the adherent. All flightiness aside, as I have described elsewhere, the collection of books presented in this section is essentially a part of my life-long hobby of studies in “the psychedelic experience.” I simply like reading about it, and in particular enjoy anything published in the period from the early-1950s through to the mid-’60s or so — although I think I’ve actually just about run out of any new discoveries to be made in that area. Also, while the focus of my collection has been (or become) on those which came out in the ’50s and ’60s, it should be noted that Stanislav Grof — whose writings have greatly influenced my own understanding and perspective on these things — didn’t publish his first book-length work until the next decade, and that there have been many, many other authors who have also come along and released their own often monumental and definitive works in the ensuing decades. As significant as those later authors have been in my own personal development, nevertheless my affinity for “reading material” (not to mention “book collecting”) has for the longest time now leaned rather exclusively toward those early years, when LSD first exploded onto the scene and was taking the psychotherapeutic community (and eventually the public at large) by storm. And so this library of books — along with a drawer or two in my filing cabinet full of photocopied articles from half a century of medical journals, in addition to numerous documentaries and other films on the subject (on DVD, VHS and in digital format), plus an email folder full of archived messages from the old discussion forum for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychelic Studies, which I dutifully followed the proceedings of virtually from its inception back in the mid-1990s until its very unfortunate demise many years ago now — basically represents my background with psychedelia, what I know about, what my “qualifications” are. Qualifications for what, however, I honestly have no idea. I do have to emphasize that I’m definitely not qualified to run a psychedelic therapeutic session (no matter how much I’ve read about it), if only because I’m not qualified to do clinical psychological work of any sort, after all — and no, I most certainly don’t know where to score you some good acid. — Ron Koster, Psymon 2021–03–01
	Questions? Comments? Bug report? ☞ Contact Psymon ☜ All text, graphics and web design of this entire site are copyright © Ron Koster / Psymon and may not be reproduced or distributed in any manner without explicit permission of Ron Koster / Psymon. All Rights Reserved.