Writers on Drugs is series of full-day and evening events that address psychedelics in all their multifarious guises – from the latest cutting-edge science, to religious and magical thinking, ecology, and the role they’ve played in the history and culture of the world.
Peter will be sharing discoveries from his pioneering voyages into the outer reaches of the metaphysical mindscapes. Expect new insights into the hidden psychedelic history of philosophy; from Plato, to Proclus, to Cornwall’s own ‘chemical philosopher’ Humphry Davy, to James, Nietzsche, Sartre, and innumerable others.
Dennis Howard Marks, cannabis smuggler extraordinaire, died from cancer in 2016 at the age of 70. Born in 1945, he belonged to that generation who came of age as the alternative society and psychedelic drug culture really began to flower in the second half of the 1960s.
Greg Humphries and Julian Vayne’s Walking Backwards, or, The Magical Art of Psychedelic Psychogeography explores mythology and meaning in the countryside of Albion.
The Traveling Nobody unerringly maintains a voice that resounds with possibility and wonder. The free-flow of this novel’s psychonautic passion through its steadfast “hero’s journey” structure translates, ultimately, into a thought-provoking and pleasurable read.
The UK’s premier harm reduction and welfare group, which provides invaluable services for people having difficult drug experiences at festivals has a new name: Psycare UK
Dismantling counter arguments as effortlessly as he would a rifle, Seymour’s greatest achievement in Psychedelic Marine is the watertight case he builds for recognizing the medicinal value of psychedelic experiences – potentially powerful agents of psychological healing.
In The Tawny One, Matthew Clark argues that the evidence for the identity of the Vedic plant ‘soma’ most likely points towards an ayahuasca-like vine or grass concoction that includes multiple ingredients. Not only does the array of potential candidates appear to point toward this thesis, but the practicalities of running such a ritual appear to find their best modern correlates in certain ayahuasca traditions.
Heads, as a biography of psychedelic America, is in some respects a history of American culture’s entwining with LSD, and in another a kind of frank love note to the bearers of this culture.
Listening to Ayahuasca is a testament to the life-affirmation that can come from working with the medicine. But Rachel Harris does not shy away from delving into the thornier issues incumbent in its aggressively enthusiastic uptake by the West.
