LSD Psychotherapy Artwork
November 6, 2007 5:00 PM Subscribe
Visions From LSD Psychotherapy. Artwork created by patients undergoing LSD psychotherapy, from the book by Stanislav Grof. There are more resources on psychedelics at the Bibliographia Studiorum Psychedelicorum. [Via Mind Hacks.]
Page four for five solid hours on my first and only try. Never again.
posted by Reggie Digest at 5:31 PM on November 6, 2007
posted by Reggie Digest at 5:31 PM on November 6, 2007
It's a hell of a drug.
itchylick: I think the coolest thing that the art presents is the transformation of the patient's experience - from bad perspectives to good perspectives.
posted by gnutron at 5:33 PM on November 6, 2007
itchylick: I think the coolest thing that the art presents is the transformation of the patient's experience - from bad perspectives to good perspectives.
posted by gnutron at 5:33 PM on November 6, 2007
itchylick writes "(for some reason, the first time was quite fun, but oh not the second time)"
The difficult times can be when it's most beneficial. You've only scratched the surface. (That doesn't necessarily mean you should take it again.)
It's quite a powerful tool. It is possible to have life-changing experiences, but people should be aware of these things before they take it, and be clear about intent, and aware of set and setting. Of course, that's not at all how I discovered it, but it's still a good idea.
I've seen these artworks before, but it's nice to see them show up here.
posted by krinklyfig at 5:41 PM on November 6, 2007
The difficult times can be when it's most beneficial. You've only scratched the surface. (That doesn't necessarily mean you should take it again.)
It's quite a powerful tool. It is possible to have life-changing experiences, but people should be aware of these things before they take it, and be clear about intent, and aware of set and setting. Of course, that's not at all how I discovered it, but it's still a good idea.
I've seen these artworks before, but it's nice to see them show up here.
posted by krinklyfig at 5:41 PM on November 6, 2007
To clarify: Never again, but it was totally worth the five bucks.
posted by Reggie Digest at 5:47 PM on November 6, 2007
posted by Reggie Digest at 5:47 PM on November 6, 2007
The first five or ten times were a blast, the next twenty to forty were kind of a drag but still sometimes okay and the seventy five after those left me in an acute state of paranoid schizophrenia and suicidal depression.
posted by The Straightener at 5:55 PM on November 6, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by The Straightener at 5:55 PM on November 6, 2007 [1 favorite]
I quit when my trips went into re-runs.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 6:03 PM on November 6, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by The Light Fantastic at 6:03 PM on November 6, 2007 [1 favorite]
When I want a life-changing experience based on fiction I read a book.
posted by DU at 6:05 PM on November 6, 2007
posted by DU at 6:05 PM on November 6, 2007
When I want a life-changing experience based on fiction I read a book.
That's nice.
posted by doctor_negative at 6:14 PM on November 6, 2007
That's nice.
posted by doctor_negative at 6:14 PM on November 6, 2007
Experienced wonderful kaleidoscopic patterns of expansive, fluid complexity. Surface textures enhanced so they breathed geometry and gently formed 3-dimensional stories. All punctuated with glimpses of the nearly articulated ineffable.
Flashback. Very trippy video, ayahuasca/DMT style, get's trippier and trippier by the minute...
posted by nickyskye at 8:37 PM on November 6, 2007 [1 favorite]
Flashback. Very trippy video, ayahuasca/DMT style, get's trippier and trippier by the minute...
posted by nickyskye at 8:37 PM on November 6, 2007 [1 favorite]
I had read Leary and Hoffman and everything else on the college library shelf in the psychotropic drug experiments section before I took the plunge. First dozen times, enjoyable if weird. Second dozen times, sorta bland. Afterwards (and still 20 years later...), no particular desire to do it again. I managed to explore as much as needed. Still I would recommend psychotropic experiences to anybody who isn't a loose nut to start with. You haven't experienced your conscious self until you've sat in a dark closet watching cartoons in your head, or mistaken a stick on the ground for a snake, or realized that you've spent the past six hours walking around only taking left turns. Not much can open the doors of perception like a good hit of LSD.
posted by zengargoyle at 8:39 PM on November 6, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by zengargoyle at 8:39 PM on November 6, 2007 [1 favorite]
Nthing the "never again but totally worth it"
The last time I did it, I was hung over, and got talked into it. We were like, okay, what should we do -- I know, let's go see an Imax, that'll be awesome.
"Yeah!," everyone agreed.
Sitting in darkened theater, as the trip comes on.
The screen lights up, to pictures of lush fields of grass and blue skies. Pretty flowers and butterflies everywhere... The sun hovers in the air, like a benevolent angel.
voiceover: The sun, the source of all light and life on earth, nothing would exist if it weren't for it's life giving energy, blah, blah blah...
me, thinking to myself (or possibly outloud): "Oh, this is a lovely way to spend a trip"
*Cut to*
A screen of pitch black with a gigantic whorling red fireball of flame, giant gets of fiery death shooting out in all directions, while we're blasted by bass-rumbles of doom.
voiceover: THE SUN -- A GIGANTIC FIREBALL OF DOOM THAT'S ELEVENTY BILLION DEGREES, HOTTER THAN HELL COULD POSSIBLY BE IN YOUR DARKEST IMAGINATION AND SOME DAY ITS GOING TO EXPLODE AND ANNIHILATE YOU AND EVERYONE YOU LOVE. THERE IS NO GOD AND YOU ARE GOING TO DIE ALONE IN AN UNCARING VOID.
me: "Mommy, i want to go home."
(I think I may be misremembering the exact words, but that was what I got out of the remaining 90% of the movie).
That was when I decided 'never again'. Seven hours of pondering the end of all life on earth is not exactly my idea of a good time.
posted by empath at 9:15 PM on November 6, 2007 [2 favorites]
The last time I did it, I was hung over, and got talked into it. We were like, okay, what should we do -- I know, let's go see an Imax, that'll be awesome.
"Yeah!," everyone agreed.
Sitting in darkened theater, as the trip comes on.
The screen lights up, to pictures of lush fields of grass and blue skies. Pretty flowers and butterflies everywhere... The sun hovers in the air, like a benevolent angel.
voiceover: The sun, the source of all light and life on earth, nothing would exist if it weren't for it's life giving energy, blah, blah blah...
me, thinking to myself (or possibly outloud): "Oh, this is a lovely way to spend a trip"
*Cut to*
A screen of pitch black with a gigantic whorling red fireball of flame, giant gets of fiery death shooting out in all directions, while we're blasted by bass-rumbles of doom.
voiceover: THE SUN -- A GIGANTIC FIREBALL OF DOOM THAT'S ELEVENTY BILLION DEGREES, HOTTER THAN HELL COULD POSSIBLY BE IN YOUR DARKEST IMAGINATION AND SOME DAY ITS GOING TO EXPLODE AND ANNIHILATE YOU AND EVERYONE YOU LOVE. THERE IS NO GOD AND YOU ARE GOING TO DIE ALONE IN AN UNCARING VOID.
me: "Mommy, i want to go home."
(I think I may be misremembering the exact words, but that was what I got out of the remaining 90% of the movie).
That was when I decided 'never again'. Seven hours of pondering the end of all life on earth is not exactly my idea of a good time.
posted by empath at 9:15 PM on November 6, 2007 [2 favorites]
Very trippy video, ayahuasca/DMT style, get's trippier and trippier by the minute...
Here's another, a short clip from the movie Renegade, a trippy Western with Vincent Cassel, Juliet Lewis, Temuera Morrison and Eddie Izzard, based on a comic book by Moebius (but if you don't want to see a spoiler, don't click that link).
posted by homunculus at 10:08 PM on November 6, 2007 [1 favorite]
Here's another, a short clip from the movie Renegade, a trippy Western with Vincent Cassel, Juliet Lewis, Temuera Morrison and Eddie Izzard, based on a comic book by Moebius (but if you don't want to see a spoiler, don't click that link).
posted by homunculus at 10:08 PM on November 6, 2007 [1 favorite]
DU: You mean, your mind is fictional? How difficult that must be for you.
posted by Goofyy at 12:44 AM on November 7, 2007
posted by Goofyy at 12:44 AM on November 7, 2007
How many people would consider taking LSD for a psychological problem - indefinitely?
Don't worry about the physical, developmental, or psychosocial side effects... really, nothing to see here...
I remember reading something about how Canadian (!) scientists were starting to conduct LSD experiments again and the stress this put on Canadian-American relations... what ever happened there?
posted by ewkpates at 3:26 AM on November 7, 2007
Don't worry about the physical, developmental, or psychosocial side effects... really, nothing to see here...
I remember reading something about how Canadian (!) scientists were starting to conduct LSD experiments again and the stress this put on Canadian-American relations... what ever happened there?
posted by ewkpates at 3:26 AM on November 7, 2007
Two cups of coffee over breakfast can be bracing and tasty, and a tea in the afternoon is nice. Just a hint of sweetener tastes wonderful. Tobacco used as a sacrament, may be beneficial and not cause cancer or emphysema. A little bit of alcohol used to celebrate special ocassions can enhance the experience.
This is not the way so many of us use these substances, though. Could it be that a dose or 3 of LSD really might be mind-expanding, or at least a good thing, but that tripping out alla time may have negatve consequences?
posted by Hobgoblin at 6:47 AM on November 7, 2007
This is not the way so many of us use these substances, though. Could it be that a dose or 3 of LSD really might be mind-expanding, or at least a good thing, but that tripping out alla time may have negatve consequences?
posted by Hobgoblin at 6:47 AM on November 7, 2007
Yes, Hobgoblin, moderation best with intoxicating or mood altering substances, including the mind-expanding ones.
posted by nickyskye at 8:58 AM on November 7, 2007
posted by nickyskye at 8:58 AM on November 7, 2007
ewkpates: I remember reading something about how Canadian (!) scientists were starting to conduct LSD experiments again and the stress this put on Canadian-American relations... what ever happened there?
Eh? Are you talking about Dr. Ewen Cameron? He was funded by the CIA so I imagine the USians were cool with that.
Just recently the Canadian government paid out (piddly) settlements to some of the survivors.
posted by stinkycheese at 9:22 AM on November 7, 2007
Eh? Are you talking about Dr. Ewen Cameron? He was funded by the CIA so I imagine the USians were cool with that.
Just recently the Canadian government paid out (piddly) settlements to some of the survivors.
posted by stinkycheese at 9:22 AM on November 7, 2007
oooh, loved that trippy clip homunculus. Watching it I thought about how much I wish there were a blog with a whole list of trippy clips and trippy art and how much I enjoy those visual transformations reminiscent of LSD experiences.
Of the many enjoyable things I came away from my half a dozen acid trips ages ago were the enhanced enjoyment of geometric metaphors, like mandalas, stained glass windows, fractal images, spirals. Wish there were more beautiful examples of this on the web. This is a nice series of videos, moving mandala kaleidoscopes, the marvelousness of space.
Wish I could remember the movie, which ends with a child putting our galaxy in his bag of marbles, a delightful macrocosm in the microcosm trippy image.
Alex Grey's art comes to mind, a neat little vid.
posted by nickyskye at 9:57 AM on November 7, 2007
Of the many enjoyable things I came away from my half a dozen acid trips ages ago were the enhanced enjoyment of geometric metaphors, like mandalas, stained glass windows, fractal images, spirals. Wish there were more beautiful examples of this on the web. This is a nice series of videos, moving mandala kaleidoscopes, the marvelousness of space.
Wish I could remember the movie, which ends with a child putting our galaxy in his bag of marbles, a delightful macrocosm in the microcosm trippy image.
Alex Grey's art comes to mind, a neat little vid.
posted by nickyskye at 9:57 AM on November 7, 2007
I remember reading something about how Canadian (!) scientists were starting to conduct LSD experiments again and the stress this put on Canadian-American relations... what ever happened there?
Well, for one thing, they're not allowed to enter the U.S.
posted by homunculus at 10:11 AM on November 7, 2007
Well, for one thing, they're not allowed to enter the U.S.
posted by homunculus at 10:11 AM on November 7, 2007
Glad you liked it, Nicky. Thanks for the Alex Grey link.
posted by homunculus at 10:24 AM on November 7, 2007
posted by homunculus at 10:24 AM on November 7, 2007
Not sure about any new LSD studies in Canada, but there was something on The Nature of Things (or maybe just the CBC news) regarding a study -- or a program, or something -- where they gave shrooms to terminally ill people. Interesting!
Sidenote: The word "psychedelic" was made in Canada.
posted by Reggie Digest at 10:33 AM on November 7, 2007
Sidenote: The word "psychedelic" was made in Canada.
posted by Reggie Digest at 10:33 AM on November 7, 2007
Research! Seems they're doing quite a bit of it in the States, even.
posted by Reggie Digest at 10:37 AM on November 7, 2007
posted by Reggie Digest at 10:37 AM on November 7, 2007
Nice to see the Acid God in a more controlled setting.
(Sol Niger? Wasn’t that Sammy Davis Jr.’s stage name before he changed it back?)
Thing about LSD is, unlike most drugs, it has a sort of governor - you know when you’ve done too much of it. Certainly it can be used recreationally, but it really shouldn’t be. I remember lying on my back on a ship, looking at the sky, tripping balls, just getting in touch with myself and the universe. After a few of those perspective type moments, I didn’t feel like I needed to do LSD again. I got it. So the drug is no longer useful, as a drug anyway, in the medicinal sense of the word.
Funny, I had that sort of “Oh, shit, the universe is huge and I’m pretty much nothing” sort of thing too. And I heard some people talking who knew I was tripping. Not my mates. I guess they wanted to screw with my head while I was dosed and they checked themselves a bit. “What if he flips out and kills himself?” I heard. That got some chuckles. Then someone said “What if he flips out and kills us?” Silence.
And they backed off and left me again, alone with the universe.
And I was enlightened.
LSD is a cheap temporary enlightenment fix at best. But y’know, some of the insight it can bestow is invaluable.
posted by Smedleyman at 1:26 PM on November 7, 2007 [2 favorites]
(Sol Niger? Wasn’t that Sammy Davis Jr.’s stage name before he changed it back?)
Thing about LSD is, unlike most drugs, it has a sort of governor - you know when you’ve done too much of it. Certainly it can be used recreationally, but it really shouldn’t be. I remember lying on my back on a ship, looking at the sky, tripping balls, just getting in touch with myself and the universe. After a few of those perspective type moments, I didn’t feel like I needed to do LSD again. I got it. So the drug is no longer useful, as a drug anyway, in the medicinal sense of the word.
Funny, I had that sort of “Oh, shit, the universe is huge and I’m pretty much nothing” sort of thing too. And I heard some people talking who knew I was tripping. Not my mates. I guess they wanted to screw with my head while I was dosed and they checked themselves a bit. “What if he flips out and kills himself?” I heard. That got some chuckles. Then someone said “What if he flips out and kills us?” Silence.
And they backed off and left me again, alone with the universe.
And I was enlightened.
LSD is a cheap temporary enlightenment fix at best. But y’know, some of the insight it can bestow is invaluable.
posted by Smedleyman at 1:26 PM on November 7, 2007 [2 favorites]
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(for some reason, the first time was quite fun, but oh not the second time)
posted by itchylick at 5:27 PM on November 6, 2007