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

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.

It's very difficult for me to find words to review this book. It is so good and has such power to change one's thinking about life, death and the nature of reality that you have to read it yourself and then you might find that you are knocking upon the doors of a great mystery. We live in the age of the demonisation of drugs and thereby forgo their potential for healing the mind and for deeply moving spiritual insights.

but, I'd read similar excerpts before.

I read this book in 1973. It gave direction and meaning to experiences I had later on. Recommended.

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.

this book is an excellent primer to understanding the many incarnations of psychedelic experience.the information is put forward in a very professional way.benefits of LSD and other drugs in therapy are thoroughly weighed against potential detriment. This is a serious book, that confronts the question of where the real value lies in the psychedelic experience, and whether it exceeds the risks.the concept of levels of psychedelic experience, is a good introduction to the works of Stanislav Grof and Transpersonal Psychiatry!

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.

This is a classic work from the time LSD was first brought into the world spotlight.A treasure trove of contemporary stories, research and speculations with a useful forward and epilogue.If you are interested in entheogens and their history, then this book is a must.I found the particular edition I bought (Park Street Press) was rather hard to read due to the way the book was bound (narrow inner margin, 326 pages), its small size (slightly smaller than A5) and the small font used.I recommend a bigger one for maximum reading enjoyment.

Terrific book, very well written and sober.