The Secret Chief: Conversations With a Pioneer ofthe Underground Psychedelic Therapy Movement (Paperback)

by Myron J. Stolaroff (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966001915
• ISBN-13: 978-0966001914
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #807,216 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A magical mystery tour of the mind, December 5, 2000

By	Rob (Venice, California USA) - See all my reviews

This book points to the possibility of remembering the parts of ourselves we forgot long ago. It's a poem to the forgotten realms of being human and declares the potential to reclaim ones totality. For someone thinking of using psychedelics, there are instructions here for their proper use. For someone who has already used them, there are footnotes from infinitude. This book, and this subject will change you. No longer will you be stained by the propaganda of the drug war. The sacrements of freedom exist. Whether they be psychedelics, meditation, yoga or dreaming. A friendly, helpful voice speaks out to you from the pages of this book. You will be better for listening. Be careful, this is not recreation. This is you, that you are exploring. Have some respect.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Series of Conversations With "Jacob", June 10, 1998

By A Customer

This little treasure of a book contains a series of conversations that LSD researcher Myron Syolaroff, author of Thanatos to Eros, had with an anonymous psychotherapist, "Jacob" who successfully utilized a variety of psychedelic substances during his many years of practice.

Early in his career, after being trained as a Jungian analyst, Jacob discovered the enormous potential that psychedelics had for psychotherapy. Because of the abundant psychological benefits and the incredible spiritual transformations that he witnessed in his clients, Jacob chose to utilize substances like LSD and MDMA in his practice despite their illegality. Risking imprisonment, he turned on thousands of people during the course of his career and was loved by many. Jacob died in 1988 at the age of 76.

The Secret Chief covers the process that Jacob developed for selecting and preparing candidates, information about the psychoactive substances and their proper dosages, along with guiding principles for running both individual and group sessions. This extremely valuable book also includes several fascinating case histories, an extensive list of resources, and touching commentaries by such notables as Stanislav Grof, Alexander and Ann Shulgin, and Albert Hofmann.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Life Work of a Maverick Psychedelic Psychotherapist.., May 6, 1998

By A Customer

The Secret Chief is the story of Jacob, a remarkable, affable, dearly loved, man who made an impact on the lives of several thousand people. A Jungian trained therapist, Jacob discovered the remarkable attributes of psychedelic drugs and their ability to accelerate growth and understanding in his clients. When our nation, considered to be the greatest bastion of freedom and liberty in the world, decided to make all psychedelic substances illegal, Jacob was faced with a great dilemma. How could he possibly give up the most effective tools he had ever encountered for helping to free clients from thier difficulties, bring resolution to their problems, and introduce them to new levels of satisfaction in life never before contemplated? Morally, he felt he could not, and chose to risk incarceration rather than derprive his clients of these outstanding aids. This decision brought new life and transformative realizations to many. This book is a review of Jacob's work, how he got started, his methods for administering substances within the context of therapy, the screening of candidates, the dynamics of group experiences, the process of dertermining effective dose levels of various substances, and the optimum sequence for utilizing them. Outcomes of the work are described. Appendices include a survey of the literature of psychedelic therapy, a bibliography, and accompanying texts by Stan Grof, Ann Shulgin, Albert Hofmann, and Sasha Shulgin. One hundred percent of the profits from the sale of this book are pledged to psychedelic research.