This passed Spring saw the publication of Michael Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. While all of this stuff might be of interest to sentient beings, the last item here certainly could be useful to Theurgists of any stripe including Thelemites. The posted book description says:
“When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. Thus began a singular adventure into various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. Pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s, when a handful of psychedelic evangelists inadvertently catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research.
“A unique and elegant blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, How to Change Your Mind is a triumph of participatory journalism. By turns dazzling and edifying, it is the gripping account of a journey to an exciting and unexpected new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self, and our place in the world. The true subject of Pollan’s “mental travelogue” is not just psychedelic drugs but also the eternal puzzle of human consciousness and how, in a world that offers us both suffering and joy, we can do our best to be fully present and find meaning in our lives.”
One place you could buy it would be here: https://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Mind-Consciousness-Transcendence/dp/1594204225. And hopefully you’ve registered with Amazon Smile and have proceeds going to your Local Chartered Body of OTO or US Grand Lodge. But you knew that already, right?
and here’s a couple videos of the author holding forth on the topic at hand:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whmnx_Cb5ts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuhmZSFvhL0.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?445699-2/michael-pollan-discusses-how-change-mind.
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