The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience: The Classic Guide to the Effects of LSD on the Human Psyche [Paperback]

Robert Masters Ph.D. (Author), Jean Houston Ph.D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2000

One of the most important books written on the effects of LSD on the human psyche.

• Its authoritative research has great relevance to the current debate on drug legalization.

• Prolific authors Robert Masters and Jean Houston are pioneer figures in the field of transpersonal psychology and founders of the Human Potentials Movement.

The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience was published in 1966, just as the first legal restrictions on the use of psychedelic substances were being enacted. Unfortunately, the authors' pioneering work on the effects of LSD on the human psyche, which was viewed by its participants as possibly heralding a revolution in the study of the mind, was among the casualties of this interdiction. As a result, the promising results to which their studies attested were never fully explored. Nevertheless, their 15 years of research represents a  sober and authoritative appraisal of what remains one of the most controversial developments in the study of the human psyche. Avoiding the wild excesses taken by both sides on this issue, this book is unique for the light it sheds on the possibilities and the limitations of psychedelic drugs, as well as on the techniques for working with them. With drug legalization an increasingly important issue, The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience provides a welcome and much needed contrast to the current hysteria that surrounds this topic.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A wonderful book . . . the best book ever written in this complicated field."
(

Dr. Timothy Leary

)

"Beautifully written . . . Masters and Houston are offering what amounts to a whole new system of psychopathology."
(New York Times Book Review )

"Fascinating . . . provocative . . . The first description of the multiplicity of experiences available through these drugs presented in a manner oriented to western culture and experimental research."
(Library Journal )

"The most brilliant volume available dealing with the psychedelic experience."
(Dr. Stanley Krippner )

"I consider the book very important and worthwhile. It is all in the right direction; it gives very sound directives for controlling the use of psychedelics instead of merely repressing them."
(Alan Watts )

About the Author

Robert Masters and Jean Houston are well-known pioneers of modern consciousness research and were both among the founders of the Human Potentials Movement. They also coauthored Mind Games: The Guide to Inner Space. Among the books Robert Masters has written are Eros and Evil and The Goddess Sekhmet. Jean Houston is also the author of A Passion for the Possible, Godseed, and A Mythic Life.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Park Street Press (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892818972
• ISBN-13: 978-0892818976
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #628,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Ever Work About The Psychedelic Experience, May 10, 2000

By 

Julio S. Reyes "Zanti Misfit" (Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience: The Classic Guide to the Effects of LSD on the Human Psyche (Paperback)

Brand new re-issue of the classic 1966 work.

If "The Doors Of Perception" was the most important work on psychedelics because of its influence, this then is by far the greatest because of its impeccable research, its far-ranging implications and its clear, lucid and compelling putting together of the evidence for the remarkable therapeutic and consciousness-illuminating value of LSD and other psychedelics (principally peyote). They don't, however, proselitize, and this is much to their credit. In fact, they go to some lengths to inform the reader that an active pro-drugs "for the sake of drugs" mindset is fraught with peril, and do so in a way that is both impartial and learned.

They're at their best, however, in their extraordinary recounting of the psychedelic experiences they conducted themselves as guides. There are so many instances where the subject, usually a person with a very intense psychological or emotional problem, arrived at a life-changing breakthrough, that it lingers long in the mind.

But the book is most of all a primer for their very lucid theory of the psychedelic experience and its various stages or levels. It is, in fact, so well thought out and explained, that this reviewer wonders why it had so little impact on the great body of psychedelic research, even after all these years. To me, it is the only theory that makes any sense and it's also the only one that could be used in a therapeutic setting so that the chances of errors or mistakes in guidance be effectively minimized.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative, eye-opening view of the psychedelic experience, October 22, 2001

By 

LackOfDiscipline (FLAGSTAFF, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience: The Classic Guide to the Effects of LSD on the Human Psyche (Paperback)

Huston and Masters give a well detailed and extremely fair minded account of the psychedelic experience, primarily via LSD sessions that were recorded by observers who were trained in psychology. The book covers the myriad aspects of "the trip" from perceptions of the human body to the deep religious experience.

The book is somewhat more scholarly than the works of someone like Timothy Leary but this is what is needed if this movement is to ever regain its legitimacy in the eyes of the general public. While it does not condone the illegal use of the drugs, it decries their suppression and the utter halt of legitimate research into these fascinating and important substances. Read it with an open mind, but remember that the drugs are illegal and therefore also potentially dangerous. That aside, the book will almost certainly spark your curiousity.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars well written approach to psychedelic therapy, September 8, 2005

By 

Daniel Poynter (Purdue University) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience: The Classic Guide to the Effects of LSD on the Human Psyche (Paperback)

Very well written. Masters and Houston provide a description of what I would call their skeptically optimistic approach to psychedelic therapy.

They advance a theory on possible levels of the psychedelic expererience. Also, there is *a lot* of helpful advice to 'trip sitters'. If you are going to trip sit I reccommend reading this and looking at erowid.org.