I KNOW IT'S ONLY LSD BUT I LIKE IT

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Psychedelics have been widely used for thousands of years

nearly everywhere on the planet. Psychoactive plants have

been central to most ancient sacred rituals and primitive

medical treatments. They have been worshipped in all cultures

as “Plants of the Gods“ and considered as mediators

between human beings and the universe, linking the physical

to the spiritual dimensions of existence.

In January 2006 the International Symposium “LSD – Problem

Child and Wonder Drug“ took place at the occasion

of the 100th birthday of Dr. Albert Hofmann, the discoverer

of LSD. Several thousand visitors and more than 200 media

people from 37 countries gathered in Basel to hear speeches

from scientists and historians, to exchange ideas and

disseminate information. It was the biggest conference

of its kind worldwide. For the first time since the turbulent

1960s, a wide range of psychedelic issues and topics has

been brought back to public discussion and re-evaluation.

The World Psychedelic Forum will expand upon this renewed

interest, presenting a unique opportunity for experts,

researchers, and interested persons from all around the

globe, to exchange views and hear presentations of the

latest research on the value of these remarkable psychedelic

substances in medicine, psychology, science, religion,

culture and the arts.

The term “psychedelic“ is derived from the Greek “psyche“

(soul) and “delos“ (manifest), and means a state in which

the soul manifests itself. It was coined in 1956 by psychiatrist

Humphry Osmond, in a now-famous exchange with

writer Aldous Huxley; both recognized the potential of these

compounds for self-awareness, and their correspondence

to psychoactive plants held sacred for millennia.

Albert Hofmann experienced the extraordinary mental

effects of LSD in the context of his work as a chemist in

1943. He so was placing a cornerstone for new insights

and knowledge about by the time unexplored consciousness

expanding substances. The following decade saw

the publication of thousands of research papers about the

nature and the effects of LSD, mescaline and psilocybin. But

when LSD got out of the laboratories and “out of control“,

to be used for self-exploration by 1960s youth, Western governments

generally declared psychoactive substances a

menace, claimed it had no psychological, educational or

therapeutic value, and linked it to dangerous and addictive

narcotics. With a compliant mainstream media that

sensationalized and parroted the official drug policy, the

“authorities“ not only prohibited research on these sacred

compounds but criminalized the users, a situation that has

prevailed ever since, except for example in the Netherlands

and in Switzerland.

The classic psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin from magic

mushrooms, mescaline from peyote and ayahuasca – the

Amazonian “Vine of the Soul“ – are not drugs in the traditional

sense but belong, according to Albert Hofmann “concerning

their chemical structure and their pharmacological

effects, to the sacred substances, rediscovered through

LSD, and used in ritual settings for thousands of years.“

They are characterized by the fact that they are neither toxic

nor addictive, and have the power to bestow benefits of

both practical and transcendental value.

The global youth movement, that peaked some forty years

ago with the “Summer of Love“, was fueled by psychedelics.

A historical view shows, that the “consciousness-expanded“

hippie counterculture exerted an enduring influence

on society. Without the soul-opening and sensory stimulus

of psychedelics, many of the social, cultural and ecological

advances taken for granted today would be absent from

our lives.

 

Taken from Broadcast and The Focus Group’s collaborative mini album ‘Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age’

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