UserWiki:Zykure/Literature

Here I collect books and articles related to the psychedelic experience (and psychonautics in a broader sense) that I have read or plan to read at some point. Within each section, the entries are listed in descending order with the ones I have most recently read on top. For all entries, I try to give a short summary or review, and highlight ideas or results that I found useful or interesting.

This page also serves as a bookmark list for myself, and others are welcome to make suggestions or discuss topics.

Books

Done reading

• The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, T. Leary & R. Alpert (1964) gr:123698
  • Based on ancient passing rites that relate closely to the psychedelic experience, this book draws many connections between Buddhist mythology and modern psychology. It describes core concepts of psychonautics such as ego-loss and tries to prepare readers for their own experiences.

• The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell, A. Huxley (1956) gr:5128
  • Huxley gives an excellent description of the psychedelic experience regarding Mescaline and describes how in ancient times, humans may have been more perceptible to such experiences since they would find easier visual and auditory stimulation. He investigates numerous cultures and religious frameworks to underline this view.

Currently reading

• True Hallucinations, T. McKenna (1993) gr:114867

• The Book On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are, A.W. Watts (1969) gr:60551

• The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide: Safe, Therapeutic and Sacred Journeys, J. Fadiman (2011) gr:9721527
  • I found this book to be less of a guide, but more of a collection of scientific investigations. Hence the title is a bit misleading in my opinion, but the book is quite extensive on its own and gives a good overview of scientific research in the psychedelic sector.

• Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming, S. LaBerge & H. Rheingold (1990) gr:316781

Noted for later

• The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes and Its Implications, D. Deutsch (1998) gr:177068
• The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos, B. Greene (2011) gr:8167094
• LSD: My Problem Childe, A. Hofmann (1979) gr:8791
• Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, D. Hofstadter (1999) gr:24113
• Decomposing The Shadow: Lessons from the Psilocybin Mushroom, J.W. Jesso (2013), gr:18145374
• The True Light of Darkness, J.W. Jesso (2015) gr:25831302
• The Invisible Landscape, D. & T. McKenna (1994) gr:191375
• Articulations: On the Utilisation and Meanings of Psychedelics, J. Palmer (2014) gr:23857204
• Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story, A. & A. Shulgin (1990) gr:886113
• Tihkal: The Continuation, A. & A. Shulgin (1997) gr:271921
• DMT: The Spirit Molecule, R. Strassmann (2000) gr:51654
• Become What You Are, A.W. & M. Watts (1955) gr:60553
• Out of Your Mind, A.W. Watts (1998) gr:60545

Scientific papers

Done reading

• Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse, D. Nutt et al., The Lancet (369), 2007 doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60464-4
  • The paper aims at deriving a new assessment scale for the harm of typically misused drugs, including legal ones such as alcohol or tobacco. The study employs a ranking system based on three groups of harm with three subcategories each, and ranks a total of 20 substances in two assessments. The findings highlight that the current classification (class A/B/C in the UK) is essentially arbitrary and not supported by a scientific perspective, especially this is the case for psychedelic compounds. This result likely applies also to similar classification systems, such as schedule I/II/III in the US or BtMG I/II/III in Germany.
  • Highlights:
    • Abstract: [The] methodology and processes underlying classification systems are generally neither specified or transparent. [...] The ranking of drugs produced by our assessment of harm differed from those used by current regulatory systems.
    • Ranking system: [There are] three main factors that [...] determine the harm associated with any drug of potential abuse: [...] the prospensity of a drug to cause physical harm [...] the pleasurable effects of the drug and its prospensity to produce dependent beahviour [...] harm [to] society in several ways. [... The] route of administration is also relevant to the assessment of harm. [...] Three separate facets of harm can be identified. [...] acute physical harm [...] chronic physical harm [...] specific problems associated with intravenuous drug use.
    • Drug dependence: An essential feature of drugs of abuse is that they encourage repeated use. [...] in the case of hallucinogens [...] it might be the only factor that drives regular use, and such drugs are mostly used infrequently. [...] Physical dependence or addiction involves increasing tolerance [...] intense craving, and withdrawal reactions. [...] Psychological dependence is also characterised by repeated use of a drug, but without tolerance or physical symptoms [...] cannabis can lead to measurable withdrawal symptoms, but only several days after stopping long-standing use.
    • Methodology: [This assessment uses] nine parameters of risk, created by dividing each of the three major categories of harm into three subgroups [... and applies] a four-point scale, with 0 being no risk, 1 some, 2 moderate, and 3 extreme risk. [...] Two independent groups of experts were asked to do the rantings.'
    • Substances: Replies [from the first group] were received [...] from 29 of the 77 registered [psychiatric] doctors [assessing] 14 compounds -- heroin, cocaine, alcohol, barbiturates, amphetamine, methadone, benzodiazepines, solvents, buprenorphine, tobacco, ecstasy, cannabis, LSD, and steroids. [... The second group] covered the 14 substances [...] plus, for completeness, six other compounds (khat, 4-methylthioamphetamine [4-MTA], gamma 4-hydroxybutric acis [GHB], ketamine, methylphenidate, and alkyl nitrites)
    • Results: 'Alcohol, ketamine, tobacco, and solvents [...] were ranked more harmful than LSD, ecstasy and its variant 4-MTA [...] Of the unclassified drugs, alcohol and ketamine were given especially high ratings. Heroin, cocaine, barbiturates, and street methadone were in the top five places for all categories of harm, whereas khat, alkyl nitrites, and ecstasy were in the bottom five places for all. [...] cannabis was ranked low for physical harm but somewhat higher for physical dependence and harm to family and community. [...] Drugs that can be administered by the intravenous system were generally ranked high [...]
    • Conclusion: 'The results of this study do not provide justification for the sharp A, B, or C divisions of the current classifications in the UK Misuse of Drugs Act. [...] neither the rank ordering of drugs nor their segregation [...] is supported by the [...] assessment of harm described here. [...] Our findings rais questions about the validity of the current Misuse of Drugs Act classification [...] The discrepancies [...] are especially striking in relation to psychedelic-type drugs.

• Homological scaffolds of brain functional networks, G. Petri et al., Journal of The Royal Society Interface (11), 2014 doi:10.1098/rsif.2014.0873 (OpenAccess)
  • TODO: Highlights to follow soon...

Currently reading

• The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs, R.L. Carhart-Harris et al., Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (8), 2014 doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00020 (OpenAccess)
  • TODO: Highlights to follow soon...

Noted for later

• Complex brain networks: graph theoretical analysis of structural and functional systems, E. Bullmore, Nature Reviews Neuroscience (10), 2009 doi:10.1038/nrn2575

• Psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression: fMRI-measured brain mechanisms, R.L. Carhart-Harris et al., Scientific Reports (7), 2017 doi:10.1038/s41598-017-13282-7 (OpenAccess)