Yesterday Joe Bageant wrote:It always comes down to the one thing we never study in school, the one thing we cannot learn about in this country without a great deal of personal extracurricular effort -- consciousness. As we have known at least since the Sixties, the core issue of our existence is consciousness, which our corporate state is compelled to control at all times. That's why drugs are illegal; that's why we have hundreds of television channels; and that's why you will never find anything much resembling the truth in U.S. newspapers and magazines. But there area friend responded:
still those of us who remember our consciousness experiments in the Sixties. Remember what is like to peer into other realities, not to mention observe the inherent folly and frequent horror of our own war-profit-driven, animal murdering, death-and-sex-without-love obsessed culture. There are those of us who know that when a thrushcries out from the branch it echoes throughout the galaxy. All things are connected and ownership of things is meaningless. The purpose of life is to know this. Lao-tsu knew it, just like Einstein knew it. But you and I are not allowed to. It would shatter our revered hologram, the one that threatens to shatter the world.
stunning is an understatement - so I'm not the only one who thinks of
sleeping under bridge.....but that would be a cop-out - I'm sticking
around to fight the war for consciousness !
"The average person today is far below the level of ultimate consciousness. With Albert Hofmann's creation of LSD, and with competent support and guidance, vast new areas of discovery and understanding can be explored."
Detailed Program
Friday, 13 January 2006
From the Plants of God to LSD
07.30 Opening of the Registration Desk
08.15 – 08.45 Tune-in
Akasha Project
From the Sound of the Earthly Year to the Vibration of the LSD-25 Molecule
The Akasha Project presents a meditative electronic sound trip. Starting from the primeval sound of the earthly year, a C sharp with 136.10 hertz, we glide into the LSD-25 molecule's octave analoguous field of frequency.
09.00 – 11.00 Panorama
From the Plants of the Gods to LSD (1)
Simultaneous translation Ger/Eng and Eng/Ger
Moderation: Lucius Werthmüller
Dieter A. Hagenbach and Lucius Werthmüller: Welcome and Opening of the Symposium
Lucius Werthmüller interviews Albert Hofmann: The Discovery of LSD-25
Felix Hasler, Ph.D.: What is Lysergic Acid Diethylamide?
Rolf Verres, M.D.: Appraisal of Albert Hofmann’s Lifework
Rudolf Bauer, M.D.: Welcome speech of the Society for Medicinal Plant Research
Reynold Nicole: LSD, Albert Hofmann and the Quality of Time
Thomas Klett, Ph.D.: Albert Hofmann - Ernst Jünger: Notes on a Long Friendship
Jochen Gartz, Ph.D.: Teonanacatl: The Discovery of Psilocybin by Albert Hofmann
Carl P. Ruck, Ph.D.: Eleusis: Retracing the Sacred Road
11.00 – 11.30 Break
11.30 – 13.00 Seminars/Workshops/Panels
Seminar
Ralph Metzner
Albert Hofmann, LSD and the Quest for the Alchemical Philosopher’s Stone
(German, simultaneous translation Ger/Eng)
Originally, alchemy was a holistic system of methods for the physical, psychological and mental transformation, which is related to Indian yoga, among other things. Under pressure of the church esoteric methods of self-transformation were hidden in an obscure secret language. In modern age disapproved-of as superstition by natural science, alchemy’s symbolism was being revived in Carl Jung’s analytical psychology. The discovery of highly effective substances by Albert Hofmann and others, suitable for triggering physical, psychological and mental transformations, carries on smoothly where this western tradition of wisdom broke off.
Joint Seminar
Meaning and Implications of LSD for Science, Society, and Culture
With Günter Amendt, Rick Doblin, Felix Hasler, Martin A. Lee, Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Jeremy Narby, Juraj Styk
(German, English, simultaneous translation Ger/Eng, Eng/Ger)
About sixty years after its discovery, the significance of LSD in all spheres of life and knowledge becomes more and more evident. A high-calibre international team of experts discusses the manifold, and often unrecognized influences of LSD on their respective fields.
Seminar
Carl P. Ruck, Peter Webster
The Mythology and Chemistry of the Eleusinian Mysteries
(English, without translation)
A case pending before the United States Supreme Court presented by an appeal by the New Mexico chapter of the Uniao do Vegetal (UDV) Christian church cites the Eleusinian Mystery as precedent for a psychoactive Eucharist within a well-ordered religious ceremony. For approximately two millennia, beginning about 1500 BCE and ending with the conversion of the Greco-Roman world to Christianity, people gathered at the village of Eleusis outside ancient Athens to experience something that would change them and their expectations about the meaning of life and death forever.
Seminar
Wolf-Dieter Storl
Albert Hofmann and the Inspiration through Plant Devas
(German, without translation)
Mid-Twentieth Century: «Wasteland», Nuclear Fear and Desert of Materialism, and how the wise Alberich found the Nano-Flower which granted the Devas the access again and liberated the Flower Power Children from their exile.
Seminar
Society for Medicinal Plant Research (GA)
With Rudolf Brenneisen, Matthias Hamburger, Wolfgang Kubelka
Drug Discovery from Nature
Wolfgang Kubelka
"Pharmakon": From Poison to Medicine - the Chemical Improvement of Nature?
The Greek term "Pharmakon" was used for poison, at the same time for antidote and medicine. During centuries, poisonous and healing plants have been detected by trial and error; it was not before 1800, however, that natural science became successful in isolating and identifying active substances from plants. With the development of chemistry the number of known structures increased enormously, and in many cases their mode of action became explainable. Albert Hofmann in his work, sometimes led by serendipity, gives us excellent examples for classical natural products chemistry. To which extent is it possible to find and improve natural compounds for their use in medicine?
Rudolf Brenneisen
Cannabis - From Phytocannabinoids to Endocannabinoids
The Cannabis plant has been an essential element of traditional medicine for thousands of years. Today, its medicinal use is becoming again popular mainly within self-medication. However, the discrepancy between empirical and evidence-based data is obvious and therefore implies intensive pharmacological and clinical research. On the other hand, the recently discovered Cannabis receptors and their endogenous ligands are potential targets for new therapeutic tools.
Matthias Hamburger
Contemporary Natural Product Drug Discovery
Natural products have been the historically most prolific source for drugs and inspiration for designing synthetic drug substances. Recently, their role in drug discovery has been challenged by the advent of combinatorial synthesis and high-throughput screening. Contemporary opportunities for natural products will be discussed in the larger context of methodological advances and new paradigms in the life sciences. Selected examples will highlight the continued importance of natural products in target discovery and as source for new drug templates with unique properties.
13.00 – 14.00 Break
14.00 – 16.00 Panorama
From the Plants of the Gods to LSD (2)
Simultaneous translation Ger/Eng and Eng/Ger
Moderation: Martin Frischknecht
Christian Rätsch Ph.D.: Plants of the Gods: From the Jungle to the Laboratories of Pharmacologists
Ulrich Holbein: Writers and Drugs: From Charles Baudelaire to Aldous Huxley
Jonathan Ott: The Relatives of LSD: Ololiuqui und Ayahuasca
Ralph Metzner Ph.D.: The Beginning of LSD-Research: Canada, Harvard and Good Friday
David E. Nichols Ph.D.: The Heffter Research Institute USA and the Heffter Research Center Zurich: Centers for Hallucinogenic Research
Franz X. Vollenweider M.D.: The Effects of LSD: The State of Research Today
Felix Hasler Ph.D.: Special Case Switzerland: LSD-Research and Therapy
Rick Doblin Ph.D.: The Worldwide Use of LSD in Therapy and Medicine
16.00 – 16.30 Break
16.30 – 18.00 Seminars/Workshops/Panels
Seminar
Christian Rätsch
From the Plants of the Gods to LSD
(German, simultaneous translation Ger/Eng)
Chemically, and as to its mental effects, LSD belongs to the group of ancient Mexican sacred drugs, and probably also to the Eleusinian drink of initiation. Albert Hofmann’s phytochemical research enabled a special ethnopharmacological study of Mexican magic plants and mushrooms. In his seminar, the famous German ethnopharmacologist and author of the Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants goes into the complex significance of Albert Hofmann’s research for ethno(pharmaco)logy.
Seminar
Alexander T. and Ann Shulgin
«Ask the Shulgins»
(English, consecutive summary in German)
Sasha and Ann will answer everything you wanted to know about psychoactive substances. Alexander "Sasha" T. Shulgin, is a pharmacologist and chemist known for his creation of new psychoactive chemicals. In 1967, he was introduced to the possibilities of MDMA by an undergrad at San Francisco State University at a time when very few people had tried MDMA. Though Shulgin did not invent the chemical, he did create a new synthesis process in 1976. Since that time, Shulgin has synthesized and bioassayed (self-tested) hundreds of psychoactive chemicals, recording his work in four books and in more than two hundred papers. He is a figure in the psychedelic community, speaking at conferences, granting frequent interviews, and instilling a sense of rational scientific thought into the world of self-experimentation and psychoactive ingestion Sasha's partner, Ann Shulgin also conducted psychedelic therapy sessions with MDMA before it was scheduled in 1985.
Seminar
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
With Rick Doblin, Charles S. Grob, John H. Halpern, Valerie Mojeiko, Andrew Sewell,
In the Midst of Darkness - Light:
US Government approved Psychedelic Therapy Research
(English, without translation)
Presentation by the principle investigators of all three FDA-approved psychedelic psychotherapy research projects in the US: Psilocybin in cancer patients with anxiety, MDMA in cancer patients with anxiety, and MDMA in subjects with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Further, MAPS presents information about the case report study of LSD/Psilocybin in cluster headache and plans for the study of Ibogaine in treating substance abusers, as well as information on building a non-profit psychedelic and medical marijuana pharmaceutical company.
2 Seminars
16.30 – 17.10
Wolf-Dieter Storl
"The Spirit of Basel"
(German, without translation)
Basel has a long humanist tradition, be it the spirit of Desiderius Erasmus, the activities of Paracelsus, or the discoveries of Albert Hofmann. Wolf-Dieter Storl takes a look at mysterious facts and backgrounds: Basel’s sacred geography since megalithic times; the Rhine as a sacred river, which embodies the triple-shaped pre-Indo-European goddess as a snake or a dragon; Basel as a centre of the cult of Celtic sun god Belenos; city of basilisks and sphinxes, city of alchemy and, today, city of chemistry.
17.10 – 17.20 Break
17.20 – 18.00
John Beresford
Psychedelic Agents and the Structure of Consciousness: Stages in a Session Using LSD and DMT
(English, without translation)
Experimental work with psychedelic agents permits a theoretical conception of consciousness unlike any posed by academic philosophy, analytic or existential. The sequence of stages revealed in a session adapts to the view that consciousness, at any rate human consciousness, possesses an inherent structure. What are the metaphysical consequences of this fact? In particular, how does the sequence of stages relate to activity in the brain? There is tension between the reality of the "LSD experience" – for example, karmic reaching-back to a significant past life event – and the reality of brain cells and their synapses. Speculation here may goad philosophy to explore the new paradigm we hear about.
18.00 – 18.30 Break
18.30 – 20.00 Seminars/Workshops/Panels
Film
Jon Hanna
Psychopticon Animatris: A Visual Tour of Hallucinatory Imagery in Animation
(English, without translation)
This collection of diverse clips showcases hallucinatory content and inspiration in pop-culture animation from the 1920s until today. Whether induced by alcohol, psychedelics or other drugs, dreams, music or meditation, the depiction of crossing liminal boundaries is frequently beautiful, often humorous, and always entertaining.
Panel
LSD and the Counterculture of the Sixties in Europe
With Brummbaer, Sergius Golowin, Urban Gwerder, Werner Pieper, Ronald Steckel, Simon Vinkenoog, Moderation: Günter Amendt
(German, without translation)
Contemporary witnesses share memories of the Sixties. They inform us about the specific movements of their country of origin and analyze the impact of LSD on the varied streams of the political and social counterculture.
2 Seminars
18.30 – 19.10
The Beckley Foundation / Amanda Feilding
LSD, Precious Key of Neuroscience
(English, without translation)
The Beckley Foundation Scientific Program conducts cutting edge research with LSD in human subjects, explores neurophysiological similarities between LSD and the mystical experience through observing modulations in the blood supply, brainwaves and a broad spectrum of cognitive changes. The Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Program advises governments and international agencies such as the UN. It produces reports and organises seminars at the House of Lords, which evaluate global drug policy and its impact on scientific and medical research.
19.10 – 19.20 Break
19.20 – 20.00
Stephen Abrams
Moving Sideways in Time: Miracles that Leave no Traces
(English, without translation)
This talk looks at synchronicity and the problem of coincidence in psychedelic experience. It brings together the views of Carl Jung and Alfred North Whitehead and considers the possibility that human fate can be understood in terms of a sideways motion in time between parallel worlds. The discussion may help to resolve the contradiction between the ubiquity of meaningful coincidence and the paucity of experimental evidence for so-called "psychic" phenomena. The speaker describes top-secret US government funded research at Oxford University.
2 Seminars
18.30 – 19.10
Jochen Gartz
From the Demystification of Teonanacatl to the Global Research on Psychoactive Mushroom Species
(German, simultaneous translation Ger/Eng)
Early in 1958, Albert Hofmann and collaborators succeeded in isolating psilocybin and psilocin from Mexican magic mushrooms for the first time. A new type of cultivation methods and a subsequent synthesis made it possible to analyze the structure of these agents and to produce them rationally. Since then many mushroom species, developing these alkaloids, have been found all over the world and have been chemically analyzed. Apart from these results of the research also the structure of a so far unknown derivative of psilocybin is being presented for the first time, which – as far as is known – only occurs in a single psychoactive kind of the inocybe species (a psilocybin mushroom).
19.10 – 19.20 Break
19.20 – 20.00
Ulrich Holbein
The Indescribable Doesn’t Mind who Describes it!
Three Thousand Years of LSD between Literary Artistry and Drivel
(German, without translation)
Ancient, medieval, romantic and other minds and reporters never took LSD, maybe only beer or nothing at all; but in their reports based on personal experiences they describe unmistakable typical LSD visions. Then, when LSD became available, the ability to describe of those concerned seems to diminish. German writer Ulrich Holbein documents his astounding thesis with many mostly unknown citational finds from all times and territories.
2 Seminars
18.30 – 19.10
Michael Horowitz
"Kissing the Sky": Writers on LSD
(English, without translation)
Psychedelic drugs and literature both tap into the realm of Creative Intelligence. Writers have used different literary genres and stylistic approaches to describe the LSD experience to readers and listeners. This lecture presents a survey of texts from Hofmann and Huxley to Leary and Lennon.
19.10 – 19.20 Break
19.20 – 20.00
Jonathan Ott
Albert Hofmann's Contributions to Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research
(English, with consecutive translation Eng/Ger)
A survey of the major contributions of Albert Hofmann to the research of complex chemical and pharmacological properties of several natural substances and their derivatives, with special reference to the derivatives of ergot.
•
Saturday, 14 January 2006
The Ecstatic Adventure
07.30 Opening of the Registration Desk
08.15 – 08.45 Tune-in
Star Sounds Orchestra
Mercury – Meditation
Resonance frequency is the "patron saint" of each successful communication so to speak; traditionally known as "Mercury", "Hermes" and "Toth". On this basis the Star Sounds Orchestra will get you into the right mood for the day’s events with a musical "Tune-in", and turn your nervous system into a state of expectancy and bless you with a pleasant day.
09.00 – 11.00 Panorama
The Ecstatic Adventure (1)
Simultaneous Translation Ger/Eng and Eng/Ger
Moderation: Martin Frischknecht
Carlo Zumstein M.D.: Transcendence and Back – In Favor of a Culture of Netherworld Journey
Juraj Styk M.D.: Psycholytic and Psychedelic Therapies
Mathias Bröckers: The Right to get High
Martin A. Lee: LSD and CIA and KGB
Ralph Metzner Ph.D.: The Meaning of Set and Setting
Micky Remann: Baptism, Wellness and Back: Water as an initiate Psychedelic of Nature
Alex Grey: Psychedelic Art in the 20th and 21st Century
11.00 – 11.30 Break
11.30 – 13.00 Seminars/Workshops/Panels
Seminar
Alex Grey
Impact and Influence of LSD on Art and Culture
(English, consecutive translation Eng/Ger)
Artist Alex Grey will trace the emergence of psychedelic imagery in 20th and 21st century graphics and fine art, including film and music. Grey will focus primarily on the art of painting and the current relevance of consciousness expansion on the ecstatic aesthetic in contemporary art. A Psychedelic or Entheo-Art that was born in the crucible of the Sixties has matured to the deeper and more spiritually compelling expressions of today.
Panel
Psychedelic Therapy: Chances and Risks
With: Rick Doblin, Charles S. Grob, Michael Schlichting, Manuel Schoch, Juraj Styk; Moderation: Martin Frischknecht
(German, simultaneous translation Eng/Ger)
It probably was Italian psychoanalyst Baroni who, in his "Confessions High on Mescaline" in 1931, first published on the use of psychedelics in psychotherapy. But it wasn’t before clinical experiments with LSD (discovered in 1943) that the therapeutic potential of altered states of consciousness was brought to light. During the sixties, psycholysis was being practiced in 18 European treatment centers on a regular basis. Through continuous further development and optimization, today we can refer to a fully developed, therapeutically valid and secure method. A high-calibre team of experts informs about the present-day level of knowledge as well as about chances and risks, using hallucinogenic substances in psychotherapy.
Seminar
Alexander T. and Ann Shulgin
Pihkal and Tihkal: A Chemical Love Story
(English, consecutive translation Eng/Ger)
"We met, married and formed a research team about twenty five years ago. This called upon a background of psychedelic drug invention and exploration of the previous twenty years, but it added a new dimension to this area of exploration. Besides the definition of a new material in synthetic and analytical terms, there is now a social and psychological aspect that can be explored. The increasing reluctance of the scientific research community to accept these new discoveries led to the writing and publication of the books Pihkal and Tihkal."
Seminar
Martin A. Lee
LSD and CIA – Demonizing of LSD & the Suppression of Research
(English, simultaneous translation Eng/Ger)
The CIA and the US military were both actively involved in anti-LSD propaganda (chromosome damage scare, etc.). The CIA and the army funded scientists favoring the psychosis-producing view of LSD as opposed to researchers exploring therapeutic applications. Martin A. Lee analyses how the CIA ties with the US Food & Drug Administration and how the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Public Health Service influenced U.S. policy decisions regarding LSD research and prohibition in the Sixties.
2 Seminars
Felix Hasler, Franz X. Vollenweider
Requirements for the Work with Hallucinogens (60’)
(German, without translation)
With practical examples the clinical, scientific, therapeutic as well as legal and ethical general conditions allowing the work with hallucinogens in Switzerland will be explained and discussed.
Rael Cahn
Psychedelic States and Meditation (30’)
(English, without translation)
Rael Cahn presents results of EEG studies with Tibetan monks in order to measure brain activities during meditation compared with studies with students under the influence of psilocybin. Among other things, with these studies research was made on how visual and auditory stimuli occuring during these altered states of consciousness were being assimilated. Similarities between these two kinds of experience suggest to take a closer look at connections and differences between meditative and psychedelic states. The increased switching-rate during binocular rivalry stimulation, as has been observed during both meditation and under the influence of psilocybin, is being treated exemplarily.
13.00 – 14.00 Break
14.00 – 16.00 Panorama
The Ecstatic Adventure (2)
Simultaneous translation Ger/Eng and Eng/Ger
Moderation: Lucius Werthmüller
Michael Horowitz: LSD: The Antidote to Everything
Sue Hall: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – The Sixties
Martin A. Lee: Summer of Love and Woodstock – LSD and Counterculture
Simon Vinkenoog: From Amsterdam to Zurich – The Sixties in Europe
Günter Amendt Ph.D.: The Empire Strikes Back: The Demonization of LSD
Barry Miles: LSD and its Impact on Art, Design and Music
Hans Cousto: The Psychedelic Revival of the Nineties: The Global Techno, Rave and Trance Rituals
16.00 – 16.30 Break
16.30 – 18.00 Seminars/Workshops/Panels
Seminar
Hans Cousto
The Psychedelic Revival of the Nineties: The Global Techno, Rave and Trance Rituals
(German, simultaneous translation Ger/Eng)
Well-known drug expert and musicologist Hans Cousto demonstrates how different preferences in the use of psychoactive substances within the techno and party culture evolved, and the way these have influenced the cultural development as a whole. He especially explains the differences between entheogenically acting psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin, emphatically acting entactogenes like MDMA and stimuli like amphetamine and cocaine as well as different kinds and dangers of mixed consumption.
Panel
Natural and Pharmacological Paths to Expanded States of Consciousness
With Ralph Metzner, Bea Rubli, Manuel Schoch, Franz X. Vollenweider, Carlo Zumstein, Moderation: Lucius Werthmüller
(German, without translation)
Many spiritual traditions disapprove of the use of drugs in order to produce altered or expanded states of consciousness as inadmissible short cuts of a natural spiritual development. They refer to pharmacologically induced states as "artificial paradises" and claim that these states differ basically from states, which appear spontaneously or are being induced through persistent spiritual practicing. A group of consciousness researchers experienced in travelling inner worlds discusses the legitimacy of using psychoactive substances as well as common grounds and differences of these states and their long-term implications as to personality development.
2 Seminars
16.30 – 17.10
John Dunbar, John "Hoppy" Hopkins, Barry Miles
LSD and its Visual Impact
(English, without translation)
Three contemporary witnesses uncover the historic roots of 1960’s psychedelic art explosion, giving us impressions on the climate of experimentation across all art forms, cross-fertilization of ideas, life styles and drugs. They will take some significant examples from this very wide field: Influences on the Beatles, with anecdotes and sketches by Lennon under LSD; recordings of Mark Boyle’s early lightshows for UFO, the legendary nightclub; poster art of the London psychedelic school 1966-68 compared with its U.S. counterpart and present-day trance/dance wall hangings.
17.10 – 17.20 Break
17.20 – 18.00
Robert Forte
Lets Save Democracy: Timothy Leary and the Popularization of LSD
(English, without translation)
More than any other single individual, Timothy Leary is to thank, or blame, for the popularization of LSD. Here we honor the merits and madness of Timothy’s exuberant ministry within the social, political, and environmental context of the 1960s.
Earth Erowid and Fire Erowid
Current Views of Acid: What do LSD Users Say?
(English, simultaneous translation Eng/Ger)
In the 40 years since it first became widely available, LSD has solidified its position as the quintessential hallucinogen, front and center of an enduring psychedelic movement. But what role does LSD play today? How available is it? How many people ingest it? Why do they try it and what do they think of it? We will take a look at the way people think about and use this classic psychedelic.
2 Seminars
16.30 – 17.10
Torsten Passie
Thinking, Remembering, Guessing: LSD in Cognition Research, from 1950 to this Day
(German, without translation)
With changes of model conceptions to cognitive functions – from simple psychological and biological models to more complex neuropsychological and brainphysiological models – LSD has temporarily played an important role. Thus one wanted to find out through which neurotransmitters cognitive functions are being passed on. A number of experiments were carried out with which the implications of LSD on cognitive functions like thinking, remembering, associating, the guessing of time and so forth were analyzed. This widely scattered and little known research will be systematically presented and looked at within its historical and actual framework.
17.10 – 17.20 Break
17.20 – 18.00
Torsten Passie
Lasting Change of Personality as After-effect of Controlled Taking LSD: What Do We Know?
(German, without translation)
Already early on, the systematic use of LSD in research and therapy speaks against the assumption that LSD would trigger a "model psychosis." After taking LSD many test persons showed positive, sometimes personality-changing after-effects. The results of these experiments were the beginning of psychedelic (as distinct from psycholytic) therapy with single and very intense sessions with large doses. Systematic research was also done on this kind of (after) effects in a number of especially designed experiments. Both the experiments and the personality changing effects after psychedelic treatments will be presented and closely analyzed in this lecture.
18.00 – 18.30 Break
18.30 – 20.00 Seminars/Workshops/Panels
2 Seminars
18.30 – 19.10
Ralph Metzner
Expanding Consciousness - Seven Phases of Socio-Cultural Transformation
(English, simultaneous translation Eng/Ger)
The Discovery of the consciousness-expanding substance LSD at the height of WWII synchronistically coincided with the invention of nuclear weaponry. As the world geopolitical order attempted to come to terms with the existence of these horrendous weapons of mass destruction, the next few decades saw the birth and growth of a multifaceted movement of consciousness expansion in all areas of society and culture. We can identify a series of profound social-cultural transformations proceeding in seven stages, like the octave pattern described by Gurdjieff. These transformative movements represent a creative response of the collective human psyche to the evolutionary survival challenge posed by nuclear weaponry, world-wide environmental devastation and runaway population growth.
19.10 – 19.20 Break
19.20 – 20.00
Rolf Verres
LSD, Meditation and Music
(German, without translation)
Psychedelic music of the 1970s does not conform to present-day Zeitgeist any more. Albert Hofmann’s preferences are with certain kinds of classical music. Why? This seminar will present examples of music which Albert Hofmann loves.
Panel
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds: LSD and the Counterculture of the Sixties
With John Dunbar, John "Hoppy" Hopkins, Michael Horowitz, Martin A. Lee, Barry Miles , Moderation: Stephen Abrams
(English, simultaneous translation Eng/Ger)
Without a doubt the legendary sixties were the peak of the "ecstatic adventure". LSD's rapid dissemination and the upcoming counterculture of hippies and students were fervently discussed topics of this period of new departures and general renewal. Several decades later, witnesses of the times remember the wild years in England and the USA. The turned-on Beatles and their trippy songs, Flower Power, Be-ins and Sit-ins in San Francisco, Woodstock in the acid fever and much more will be exchanged and remembered in this English-American panel.
Seminar
Heffter Research Center / University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich
With Mark Geyer, Charles S. Grob, David E. Nichols, Franz X. Vollenweider
From Molecule to Mind: Recent Advances of Psychedelic Research
(English, without translation)
Widely known researchers of the HRC will present following topics:
David E. Nichols: Neurochemistry and Molecular Action of LSD
Mark Geyer: Behavioral Pharmacology of Hallucinogens: A System Approach
Franz X. Vollenweider: Psilocybin and it’s Brain: A Neuroscience Perspective
Charles S. Grob: Hallucinogens in Clinical Practise: Basic Principles and Results
2 Seminars
18.30 – 19.10
Mathias Bröckers
From "Open Mind" to "Open Source": how the Counterculture of the Sixties led to the Personal Computer and to Unlimited Information
(German, simultaneous translation Ger/Eng)
Albert Hofmann’s discovery has not only significantly marked 20th century culture it also influenced technology. Personal computer, Internet and "Open Source" software would not have been developed the way the were without LSD-induced inspirations. "Acid heads" laid the foundation for what we nowadays call computer revolution and information age.
19.10 – 19.20 Break
19.20 – 20.00
Mark McCloud
Bring the Fire! A Pictorial History of LSD Blotter Art
(English, without translation)
A colorful presentation of forty years of art history on LSD impregnated blotting paper. Over one hundred images of "The Greatest Hits" of the past four decades from the world’s biggest collection will be shown.
2 Seminars
18.30 – 19.10
Wolfgang Sterneck
LSD and Sexuality
(German, without translation)
Filled with the psychedelic movement’s euphoria, Timothy Leary described LSD as "the most potent aphrodisiac ever found by man". Meanwhile this view has given way to a more realistic approach, which describes both potentials and dangers in an appropriate way. LSD can, also in the erotic context, open up new and so far unknown spaces, but it also can totally close them. The “cosmic orgasm” is as much part of the spectrum of perception as is a total distance between partners who are captivated in their own worlds.
19.10 – 19.20 Break
19.20 – 20.00
Fred Weidmann
Albert Hofmann’s, Fred Weidmann’s and Gaia’s "Romantic Principle"
(German, without translation)
Since the inside equals the outside, small things may equal big things. Pictures turn into means of knowledge, if small-scale creation gives an idea of the allover creation. The "Romantic principle" reads: while creating beauty in miniature, you help to improve the whole. Through interaction of doing and looking the painter becomes Gaia’s lover. This lecture is based on a correspondence with Albert Hofmann.
20.00 – 20.15 Break
20.15 – approx. 22.15
Concert
Introduction by Hans Cousto
Akasha Project
Barnim Schulze
The substance's frequencies, measured in the infrared spectrum, are being transposed to octave analogous sounds. By logically using data thus obtained to all musical parameters like sound modulations, tempi and frequencies, a sometimes strangely meditative sound originates: quantum music which Barnim Schulze calls "Klangwirkstoff", active sound substance. While you tune in to these molecular fields of sound and rhythm, you may state for yourself in which way the experiencing of substance analogous effects via perceiving octave ananologous sounds is possible.
Star Sounds Orchestra
Steve Schroyder, Jens Zygar
The Star Sounds Orchestra will musically interpret harmonical occurences at the moment of the discovery of LSD. This psychedelic symphony in five movements describes significant astronomical positions of our solar system's planets at the time of this moment of birth of a new door of awareness, so important for psychedelic history. Musical citations from the history of psychedelics in connection with the sounds of planets are the starting point for a spherical trip of the cosmic kind.
•
Sunday, 15 January 2006
New Dimensions of Consciousness
07.30 Opening of the Registration Desk
08.15 – 08.45 Tune-in
Banco de Gaia
Toby Marks
With his sensitive electronic style mix of Techno, House, Ambient-Trance, and musical influences from Arabian, Indian and Far East areas, English composer and musician Toby Marks helps us tune into the last day of the Symposium, opening our mind and our senses to a variety of new dimensions of consciousness.
09.00 – 11.00 Panorama
New Dimensions of Consciousness (1)
Simultaneous translation Ger/Eng and Eng/Ger
Moderation: Lucius Werthmüller
Ralph Metzner Ph.D.: The Meaning of Psychedelic Experience
Rick Doblin: The Revival of Psychedelic Medicine
Günter Amendt Ph.D.: No Drugs – No Future: Sketches of an Adequate Drug Policy
Christian Rätsch Ph.D.: The New Rituals: LSD as a Sacred Substance
Ronald Steckel: Freedom and Hedonism: The Way of the West
Claudia Müller-Ebeling Ph.D.: LSD and Creativity
Rolf Verres M.D.: LSD, Meditation and Music
11.00 – 11.30 Break
11.30 – 13.00 Seminars/Workshops/Panels
Seminar
Stanley Krippner
LSD and Psychic Phenomena: Attempting to Grasp the Unpredictable and the Intangible
(English, simultaneous translation Eng/Ger)
LSD-type drugs have often been used to facilitate so-called "psychic phenomena", in other words, those experiences that seem to defy mainstream science's concepts of time, space, and energy. An Italian investigation met with meager results, and few formal studies have been attempted since. Such hypothetical phenomena as telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, and psychokinesis appear to be intangible, and people’s laboratory reactions to LSD often are unpredictable. However, there are several anecdotal reports that could serve as the basis for continued exploration, especially those coming from shamans' usage of such substances as ayahuasca and their contemporary use as religious sacraments.
Panel
Towards an Adequate Drug Policy
With Günter Amendt, Mathias Bröckers, Roger Liggenstorfer, Luc Saner, Moderation: Thomas Kessler
(German, simultaneous translation, Ger/Eng)
The American "War on Drugs" is but the visible peak of an international drug policy which measures everything with a different yardstick and is strongly defined by economic interests and irrational motives. A drug policy in keeping with the times should be oriented towards the risks of drugs, not towards their being legal or illegal.
Switzerland – and above all the city of Basel – has taken on a role as trailblazer as far as a pragmatically oriented drug policy is concerned; even though the National Council wasted the chance, last year, to discuss new, already completed forward-looking bills. A group of drug experts, politicians, journalists and activists outlines ways out of a hopeless situation towards an adequate drug policy in keeping with the times.
11.30 - 12.10
Seminar
Sue Hall
LSD - A Tool for Life
(English, without translation)
LSD may be more versatile than generally believed. This seminar will explore the use of different dosages.
12.10 – 12.20 Break
12.20 – 13.00
Jeremy Narby
The Future of Biology
(English, without translation)
The idea of a kind of intelligence active throughout nature is gaining support within the scientific community, affirming a view long held by indigenous people and shamans. Shamanic use of such plants as ayahuasca and tobacco deals centrally with contact with other beings including plants and animals. Ayahuasca and LSD enhance people’s concern with the natural world. Hallucinogens are tools for exploring little-known facets of the human mind, for thinking ourselves as animals, and as predators, and for rethinking our place in nature and our relationship with other species. Biology has a date with shamanism and with altered states of consciousness.
2 Seminars
11.30 - 12.10
Micky Remann
Water as a Medium and the Muse of Consciousness
(German, without translation)
It's in the nature of nature that it opens its artistic realities preferably to the consciousness, which dives under the surface. An entry into this world is offered by a stay in water where nobody can avoid experiencing an altered functioning of senses first-hand. The way eye, ear, consciousness and feeling are being touched in water, depends on which sensory stimuli are being transported there. What happens when water becomes the medium for multisensory, multimedia stagings, is to be demonstrated with pictures, sounds and tales.
12.10 – 12.20 Break
12.20 – 13.00
Peter Webster
Psychoactive Plants and Human Evolution
(English, without translation)
Psychoactive plants have been omnipresent during all the stages of hominid evolution - but is there any evidence that they may have had an important influence or been the evolutionary catalyst for the emergence of modern humans? Mythological tales of a "forbidden fruit" acting to awaken humankind from their “natural” or protohuman state are not uncommon, but some recent findings of science now seem to give new meaning to such stories.
13.00 – 14.00 Break
14.00 – 16.00 Panorama
New Dimensions of Consciousness (2)
Simultaneous translation Ger/Eng and Eng/Ger
Moderation: Lucius Werthmüller
Stanley Krippner Ph.D.: The Future of Religion: Dogma or Transcendental Experience?
Jeremy Narby Ph.D.: The Future of Human Consciousness
Ulrich Holbein: Future Society: "Brave New World" or "Island"
Ralph Metzner Ph.D.: Psychedelics and a new Paradigm: Personal Responsibility and Self-Reliance
Alexander T. Shulgin Ph.D.: New Psychedelics and their Specific Effects
Mathias Bröckers: Handling Hallucinogens: Visions and Initiatives
Carlo Zumstein M.D.: Neo-Schamanism for a Neo-Consciousness
Albert Hofmann Ph.D., h.c.: The Meaning of LSD from the Discoverers Point of View
16.00 – 16.30 Break
16.30 – 18.00 Seminars/Workshops/Panels
Seminar
Claudia Müller-Ebeling
LSD and Creativity
(German, simultaneous translation Ger/Eng)
The well-known art historian and ethnologist gives a comprehensive summary of creativity research in the sixties and seventies. Furthermore, she allows an insight into the work of artists who implemented, in their work, personal LSD experiences, or who have met Albert Hofmann personally.
Panel
Consciousness and Future Society
With Mathias Bröckers, Stanley Krippner, Ralph Metzner, Jeremy Narby, Micky Remann, Moderation: Martin Frischknecht
(English, consecutive summarization in German)
"The evolution of mankind is in the alteration of consciousness," states Albert Hofmann. Having a close look at different developments on our planet, we soon realize how urgently a new consciousness is needed, in order to do justice to the requirements of a future existence worth living. Representatives and experts from different spheres of life and fields of knowledge discuss the major challenges, which we only can meet with an altered or expanded consciousness.
2 Seminars
16.30 – 17.10
Manuel Schoch
Meditation and Mind-expanding Drugs: complementary or irritating?
(German, without translation)
The focal points of this lecture are: the power of silence in a state of mind-expansion; the understanding of the emotional chain and its effects in meditation; drugs as mystic experience of timelessness; consciousness-expanding drugs as therapeutic means without the "detour" via the past.
17.10 – 17.20 Break
17.20 – 18.00
Seminar
Ronald Steckel
The Way of the West, or the Rise of the Occident
(German, without translation)
This lecture deals with aspects of the present-day consciousness-mutation: with the new (cosmic) view of man as a new paradigm; with the significance of the "individual" with the "all"; with "initiations" and "paths"; with the "Occident" as a spiritual Fort Knox.
Workshop
Carlo Zumstein
Everybody his own Shaman
(German, without translation)
Everybody needs his own myth of life. In ancient cultures shamans were not solely healers. Above all they were visionaries: creators and organizers of their community’s self-image and view of the world. For centuries we have left this to the church, to the government and to schools. In this workshop Carlo Zumstein demonstrates how a present-day shamanism opens one’s own doors towards dreams and visionary powers - for a fulfilled self-creation within new communities.
2 Seminars
16.30 – 17.10
Bruce Eisner
LSD, Its Past and Potential
(English, without translation)
Bruce Eisner explores LSD's past, including its ancient lineage, uses in research, significance to the counterculture of the Sixties and the consequences of its suppression. Within this context, he will bring his own experiences and the development of the Island Project, named after the work of Aldous Huxley. Bruce Eisner covers the host of potential future roles for LSD including psychotherapy, spiritual/religious awareness, creativity and problem solving, in the experimental production of new cultural memes and the evolution of a neo-Eleusinian mystery.
17.10 – 17.20 Break
17.20 – 18.00
Myron Stolaroff
The Future of Consciousness
(English, without translation)
The average person today is far below the level of ultimate consciousness. With Albert Hofmann's creation of LSD, and with competent support and guidance, vast new areas of discovery and understanding can be explored. Maintaining these findings require intention and discipline, as new learned values may slip away. Attention will be given on how to best retain these fresh discoveries, and keep them active in our life. Also covered will be examining sources of difficulties and how they can be avoided.
18.00 – 18.30 Break
18.30 – 19.30
Closing Ceremony
For three days we have obtained a variety of suggestions and information on all aspects of LSD or discussed, in the words of its discoverer: Insights and Outlooks in connection with this highly potent substance. In this closing ceremony with musical framework famous speakers will draw balance, pay tribute to Albert Hofmann and take a hopeful look at the future of the human consciousness.
