Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments:
An Entheogen Chrestomathy
Thomas B. Roberts, Ph.D. and Paula Jo Hruby, Ed.D.
Author Index | Title Index
The Beyond Within: The LSD Story.
Cohen, Sidney. (1964).
New York: Atheneum.
ISBN: None
Description: First edition,
xvi + 268 pages. A second edition published in 1967 (xx + 312
pages) has two additional chapters: Chapter 13, "The Latter
Saint's Day," and Chapter 14, "The Worst
that Can Happen."
Contents: Foreword by
Murphy, introduction,
12 chapters, 2 appendices: A. The Chemistry of the Hallucinogens,
B. Tables, chapter references, index, Dr. Sidney Cohen.
Note: Cohen was "Dr.
C" referred to by Laura Huxley
in This
Timeless Moment who supplied her with the LSD for Aldous'
final trip on his deathbed.
In 1965 the Scientific
Book Club in London published an edition of this book titled Drugs
of Hallucination: The Uses and Misuses of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide.
Its foreword is by John Rowan Wilson,
no ISBN.
From Lewis Yablonsky, The
Hippie Trip, page 249. The
most widely known and respected medical doctor in the field of
LSD research is Dr. Cohen. Based on his extensive research, he
delineates various categories of LSD users. The following six
of his categories parallel use patterns I observed on my trip:
(1) LSD Explorers-These
are people in theology, philosophy, and students who, in spite
of the risk, want to explore their sensory possibilities.
(2) Social LSD Users- These, according to
Cohen, are people who live in a subculture where LSD is being
used. They are encouraged to use the drug because of group pressure.
(3) Hedonistic Users-These are young people,
very often teenagers or teenyboppers, who are seeking a "kick"
or a thrill.
(4) Magic Pill Users-These are people with
emotional problems who are looking for a magic quick and easy
solution.
(5) Research Use-In this context LSD is used
in a laboratory to study its effects on personality.
(6) Religious Use-Dr. Cohen admits that there
are people like Timothy Leary and his League
for Spiritual Discovery (LSD), who sincerely take LSD for
a spiritual or religious experience.
Excerpt(s): Dr. Sidney
Cohen tells with precision and restraint the story of the most
interesting among them [hallucinogens] LSD, in this book. He has
long worked with the drug under hospital conditions and is aware
both of its possibilities and its drawbacks. He gives many detailed
accounts of LSD feelings in different subjects, and they are fascinating
and colorful. He indicates the uses and possible uses of LSD in
tapping the unconscious or the abnormal mind, and the usefulness
of this for therapists. He discusses LSD in terms of "model
psychosis" or "instant zen." He treats mystical
experiences and visions in terms of what we have learned from
these drugs. In a fascinating chapter he discusses hallucinogens
for possible war use ... (jacket)
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