Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Harvard Psychedelic Club

[Bob Price]

Thanks Curtis, I look forward to that. 


I'm thinking the theory that the pineal gland may produce endogenous DMT, 
during critical life events (birth and death being two big ones), might be 
worth exploring. 




From: curtisdeltablues 
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2011 3:31:36 PM
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Harvard Psychedelic Club




Hey Bob,

Thanks for checking out my music. I really enjoyed what you wrote about the 
history of psychedelics.  Really fascinating stuff.  I am not done chasing down 
all the directions you pointed me in.  I will probably have more questions when 
I am done.  But thanks for such a resource in information. 

Curtis 

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bob Price  wrote:
>
> Curtis,
> 
> 
> 
> Last night, I had the distinct pleasure of listening to you
> on your website---as I'm sure you've heard before---many times, your
> performances were uplifting: My only regret is that I have not done this
> sooner. My heart felt thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry for taking so long to answer an earlier question of
> yours---I've been auditioning at The Cirque, for a place on the high wire; As 
> a
> child, I ran away with the circus, but never got past cleaning up after the 
> elephants.
> Like many of the terminally unique---the only thing I fear is being called a
> flibbertigibbet.
> 
> 
> 
> In answer to your question:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've seen parts of the Leary/Liddy road show online, a
> couple of showmen, or showoffs--- depending on your POV. "Storming
> Heaven..." covers Liddy busting Leary at Millbrook. Some speculate; the
> Leary bust got Liddy his job in the Nixon White House.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In addition to integrating my experience of over four decades
> ago, my interest in psychedelics is commercial. I'm developing a film about 
> the
> 60's---the genre is black comedy. I decided I needed to use one of the many 
> personalities
> of that era, as my protagonist, or villain---to develop the story around. My
> first choice was Abby Hoffman, but Spielberg has a Hoffman story in
> development; I then thought of Leary, but George DiCaprio, Leonardo's pop, has
> had a Leary story in development for sometime---with Leonardo as Tim; it may 
> be
> awhile, before they get it done, as I believe their "Brave New World"
> has been green lit (George was a good friend of both Leary and Laura 
> Huxley)---with Ridley Scott helming. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Anyway, I then decided: 'To hell with it---I'll just use
> acid, as the hero, or villain'---depending your POV.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> For back-story, I started my research with the synthesis of
> mescaline, in the early part of the twentieth century; the legacy, and degrees
> of separation, that brought psychedelics to the 60's Boomers is fascinating.
> IMO, many who take the shape of Eastern thought---in the West---for granted, 
> may
> never have heard anything about it without the Boomers being exposed to 
> psychedelics
> (I include the ubiquitous availability of yoga studios in this premise); also
> true, IMO, of who---Philip Goldberg says, Maharishi became, in the DNA of 170 
> years of American Veda. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> One example, of this legacy and degrees of separation, is Robert
> Gordon Wasson, the Wall Street banker, who introduced the American public to
> the "divine (psilocybin) mushrooms, used in some South American rituals---
> through an article in LIFE magazine in the 50's. IMO: A direct line can be
> drawn from Wasson, his Russian wife, and the folks who turned on Leary, in
> Mexico, with mushrooms---for the first time: And from there, a direct line to
> the Harvard Psychedelic Club. 
> 
> 
> http://www.imaginaria.org/wasson/life.htm
> 
> 
> 
> Another example was Al Hubbard (a.k.a Johnny Appleseed)---who
> turned on Humphrey Oswald (the man who coined the word psychedelic)---who
> turned on Aldous Huxley, and managed the Saskatchewan mental hospital where
> early (non-CIA) psychedelic work was done, and Myron Stolaroff---who founded
> IFAS in Menlo Park and turned on Doug Englehart and got the ball rolling in
> Silicon Valley---you can draw a line from IFAS to the Homebrew Computer Club,
> Jobs, and a lot of the early personal computer industry. He also supplied
> Sidney Cohen in LA, as well as a number of other prominent psychiatrists, who
> turned on Alan Watts and a host of celebrities like Cary Grant. Hubbard did
> more than anyone to "seed" North America with LSD. Any "Sandoz"
> acid that was taken (before Owsley Stanley and The Brotherhood of Eternal Love
> got rolling)

[FairfieldLife] Re: The Harvard Psychedelic Club

[curtisdeltablues]

ot;Storming Heaven..." are the feelings many of these pioneers had
> toward Leary, Albert (Ram Dass), and, "The Harvard Psychedelic
> Club"---in general; Huxley (who introduced Huston Smith to Leary and
> "The Club") and Stolaroff---both first thought Leary was too square:) to be
> an effective advocate for psychedelics--- were later horrified to see what
> Leary was doing; to something they thought would be of great benefit to 
> humanity.
> 
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_LSD
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euiq1AcZDUU&feature=related
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (If you have not already; I recommend watching all six parts of this program 
> on youtube, the above clip has a bit about Hubbard)            
> 
> 
> Another fascinating character is Alexander Shulgin who
> probably invented more psychedelics then everyone else combined; He was a
> consultant for DEA till he got on their bad side, when he published his 
> life's work---the
> encyclopedias of psychedelics; Pihkal and Tihkal (if you like chemistry, 
> they're
> an excellent read). He discovered STP by accident, which got out onto the
> street in 68---after he presented a technical paper to his scientific peers. 
> He’s
> probably best known as the re-inventor of ecstasy (based early work at 
> Merck). He
> literally discovered hundreds of psychedelics. 
> 
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Shulgin
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/158496.Alexander_Shulgin
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's interesting to consider the 32-year timeline starting
> with Hoffmann's discovery in 1938, in Basel, and ending with LSD being made
> Schedule 1 in 1970. I had an office in Basel, 30 years ago; I walked the
> streets imagining Hoffmann riding his bike home, through that medieval city, 
> experiencing
> the first acid trip---just down the street from BIS (Bank For International 
> Settlements).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Leary and the Harvard Psychedelic Club are two thirds into
> this time line, and, IMO, what happened in the fifties, before The Club, is as
> interesting as what happened during the 60's--- when Leary and Kesey scared 
> the
> hell out of the powers that be, which lead to all psychedelics becoming 
> Schedule
> 1; I believe, completely nuts---since psychedelics are not addictive, while
> alcohol and cigarettes so obviously are. 
> 
> 
> Personally, I think Leary's Millbrook period (Metzner and Albert,
> as well as Peggy, Bill and Tommy Hitchcock---heirs to the Mellon fortune---are
> a few of the standouts in this period) is just as interesting as the Harvard
> Psychedelic Club phase. "Storming Heaven..." covers Millbrook and the
> Harvard period as well as pretty much the whole 32 year time line. One of
> hundreds of good stories in the book is about Robert Thurman at Millbrook; I
> think Thurman is representative of my cross-pollination premise.
> 
> 
> http://books.google.ca/books/about/Storming_heaven.html?id=gfqNsrwLH6IC
> 
> 
> My premise: The psychedelic experience, of close to two
> million Western Boomers, ---by the time these substances were made Schedule 
> I, lead
> them directly to Eastern thought; more specifically, in Maharishi's
> case---close to ten thousand of them becoming TM initiators, from 1968 to 
> 1978.
> I arrived at this opinion through understanding my own experience, as a full
> time initiator from '72 to '77 and the study of other manifestations of 
> Eastern
> thought, and Eastern teachers---in the West, from the early 60's to late 70's;
> as well as the fact that prior to 1960, Eastern Mysticism and more 
> specifically
> "American Veda" was mostly the interest of the Western Upper classes
> rather than all classesas it became with the Boomers in the 60's. As a few
> examples; SRM in the 50's, Yogananda, Vivekananda, Krishnamurti and, of 
> course,
> the Theosophists. I believe the "New Age" or American Veda---as we
> know it, cannot be separated from psychedelics. I remember Jerry Jarvis 
> joking about the crowds being initiated at the Berkeley center (many became 
> initiators) after fleeing "The Haight" (as he called it); I wonder, being 
> from the late part of the earlier, elite, group if he really understood what 
> the boomers (and their psychedelics) would do to TM and Eastern thought, as a 
> whole, in the West. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The following three clips summarize some of the milestones three milestones 
> the Boomers passed through to get to what
> became the American Veda, of our generation, that many take for granted; in 
> some 

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Harvard Psychedelic Club

[Bob Price]

published his life's 
work---the
encyclopedias of psychedelics; Pihkal and Tihkal (if you like chemistry, they're
an excellent read). He discovered STP by accident, which got out onto the
street in 68---after he presented a technical paper to his scientific peers. 
He’s
probably best known as the re-inventor of ecstasy (based early work at Merck). 
He
literally discovered hundreds of psychedelics. 


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Shulgin




http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/158496.Alexander_Shulgin




It's interesting to consider the 32-year timeline starting
with Hoffmann's discovery in 1938, in Basel, and ending with LSD being made
Schedule 1 in 1970. I had an office in Basel, 30 years ago; I walked the
streets imagining Hoffmann riding his bike home, through that medieval city, 
experiencing
the first acid trip---just down the street from BIS (Bank For International 
Settlements).




Leary and the Harvard Psychedelic Club are two thirds into
this time line, and, IMO, what happened in the fifties, before The Club, is as
interesting as what happened during the 60's--- when Leary and Kesey scared the
hell out of the powers that be, which lead to all psychedelics becoming Schedule
1; I believe, completely nuts---since psychedelics are not addictive, while
alcohol and cigarettes so obviously are. 


Personally, I think Leary's Millbrook period (Metzner and Albert,
as well as Peggy, Bill and Tommy Hitchcock---heirs to the Mellon fortune---are
a few of the standouts in this period) is just as interesting as the Harvard
Psychedelic Club phase. "Storming Heaven..." covers Millbrook and the
Harvard period as well as pretty much the whole 32 year time line. One of
hundreds of good stories in the book is about Robert Thurman at Millbrook; I
think Thurman is representative of my cross-pollination premise.


http://books.google.ca/books/about/Storming_heaven.html?id=gfqNsrwLH6IC


My premise: The psychedelic experience, of close to two
million Western Boomers, ---by the time these substances were made Schedule I, 
lead
them directly to Eastern thought; more specifically, in Maharishi's
case---close to ten thousand of them becoming TM initiators, from 1968 to 1978.
I arrived at this opinion through understanding my own experience, as a full
time initiator from '72 to '77 and the study of other manifestations of Eastern
thought, and Eastern teachers---in the West, from the early 60's to late 70's;
as well as the fact that prior to 1960, Eastern Mysticism and more specifically
"American Veda" was mostly the interest of the Western Upper classes
rather than all classesas it became with the Boomers in the 60's. As a few
examples; SRM in the 50's, Yogananda, Vivekananda, Krishnamurti and, of course,
the Theosophists. I believe the "New Age" or American Veda---as we
know it, cannot be separated from psychedelics. I remember Jerry Jarvis joking 
about the crowds being initiated at the Berkeley center (many became 
initiators) after fleeing "The Haight" (as he called it); I wonder, being from 
the late part of the earlier, elite, group if he really understood what the 
boomers (and their psychedelics) would do to TM and Eastern thought, as a 
whole, in the West. 





The following three clips summarize some of the milestones three milestones the 
Boomers passed through to get to what
became the American Veda, of our generation, that many take for granted; in 
some cases---forgetting, where we came
from.  What did Santayana say about "Those who cannot remember the past..."?




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEhjZSxO_I8




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leP16fM3wsg&feature=related




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxrCqMuVods





From: curtisdeltablues 
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 11:15:47 AM
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Harvard Psychedelic Club



--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bob Price  wrote:

> Curtis have you read, "DMT: The Spirit Molecule"? With your interest in 
> neuroscience I think you might find it interesting, I did.

I have read another book on its use as an entheogen. 
I agree, very interesting. I'll check out your recommended book, thanks.

Did you see the video of Tim Leary and Gordon Liddy debates?  They had a very 
entertaining road show for a while. 

> 
>
> It's good, but I liked "Storming Heaven, LSD & The American Dream" a lot 
> more. 
> 
> 
> I also enjoyed WHAT THE DORMOUSE SAID (How the 60's Counterculture Shaped the 
> Personal Computer Industry). 
> 
> 
> Although I'm a fan of Tim Leary; I really enjoyed the audio book of "Timothy 
> Leary" by Robert Greenfield which angered Ram Dass and Metzner. 
> 
> 
> If anyone's interested, Ram Dass still does a monthly

[FairfieldLife] Re: The Harvard Psychedelic Club

[curtisdeltablues]

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bob Price  wrote:

> Curtis have you read, "DMT: The Spirit Molecule"? With your interest in 
> neuroscience I think you might find it interesting, I did.

I have read another book on its use as an entheogen.   
I agree, very interesting. I'll check out your recommended book, thanks.

Did you see the video of Tim Leary and Gordon Liddy debates?  They had a very 
entertaining road show for a while. 




> 
>
> It's good, but I liked "Storming Heaven, LSD & The American Dream" a lot 
> more. 
> 
> 
> I also enjoyed WHAT THE DORMOUSE SAID (How the 60's Counterculture Shaped the 
> Personal Computer Industry). 
> 
> 
> Although I'm a fan of Tim Leary; I really enjoyed the audio book of "Timothy 
> Leary" by Robert Greenfield which angered Ram Dass and Metzner. 
> 
> 
> If anyone's interested, Ram Dass still does a monthly webcast from his place 
> in Maui? 
> 
> 
> Ram Dass has yet to forgive Andrew Weil for the behavior that is covered in 
> "The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and 
> Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America". 
> 
> 
> I found Houston Smith fascinating in both "The Harvard Psychedelic Club..." 
> and "Storming Heaven" 
> 
> 
> I believe Dana Sawyer (my favorite---after Ravi---BatGap interview) is 
> working on a biography of Houston Smith, which I am looking forward to. 
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz1M7zpdv0Q
> 
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Sawyer
> 
> 
> The best audio archive I've found on the web for all subjects psychedelic is:
> 
> http://www.matrixmasters.net/salon/
> 
> 
> There is a menu of podcasts on the right of the page. 
> 
> 
> Curtis have you read, "DMT: The Spirit Molecule"? With your interest in 
> neuroscience I think you might find it interesting, I did.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> From: curtisdeltablues 
> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 9:59:49 AM
> Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Harvard Psychedelic Club
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for posting this, it looks great and I found it at my library!
> 
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Rick Archer"  wrote:
> >
> > There's a book out called "The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary,
> > Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a
> > New Age for America". 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > http://www.amazon.com/Harvard-Psychedelic-Club-Timothy-Fifties/dp/0061655937
> > 
> > 
> > (I believe the title is a reference to the Harvard Metaphysical Club, which
> > included Oliver Wendell Holmes, William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, and
> > John Dewey.)
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > http://www.amazon.com/Metaphysical-Club-Story-Ideas-America/dp/0374528497
> >
> 
> 
>   
>

Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Harvard Psychedelic Club

[Bob Price]

It's good, but I liked "Storming Heaven, LSD & The American Dream" a lot more. 


I also enjoyed WHAT THE DORMOUSE SAID (How the 60's Counterculture Shaped the 
Personal Computer Industry). 


Although I'm a fan of Tim Leary; I really enjoyed the audio book of "Timothy 
Leary" by Robert Greenfield which angered Ram Dass and Metzner. 


If anyone's interested, Ram Dass still does a monthly webcast from his place in 
Maui? 


Ram Dass has yet to forgive Andrew Weil for the behavior that is covered in 
"The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and 
Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America". 


I found Houston Smith fascinating in both "The Harvard Psychedelic Club..." and 
"Storming Heaven" 


I believe Dana Sawyer (my favorite---after Ravi---BatGap interview) is working 
on a biography of Houston Smith, which I am looking forward to. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz1M7zpdv0Q


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Sawyer


The best audio archive I've found on the web for all subjects psychedelic is:

http://www.matrixmasters.net/salon/


There is a menu of podcasts on the right of the page. 


Curtis have you read, "DMT: The Spirit Molecule"? With your interest in 
neuroscience I think you might find it interesting, I did.






From: curtisdeltablues 
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 9:59:49 AM
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: The Harvard Psychedelic Club



Thanks for posting this, it looks great and I found it at my library!

--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Rick Archer"  wrote:
>
> There's a book out called "The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary,
> Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a
> New Age for America". 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Harvard-Psychedelic-Club-Timothy-Fifties/dp/0061655937
> 
> 
> (I believe the title is a reference to the Harvard Metaphysical Club, which
> included Oliver Wendell Holmes, William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, and
> John Dewey.)
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Metaphysical-Club-Story-Ideas-America/dp/0374528497
>


   

[FairfieldLife] Re: The Harvard Psychedelic Club

[curtisdeltablues]

Thanks for posting this, it looks great and I found it at my library!


--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Rick Archer"  wrote:
>
> There's a book out called "The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary,
> Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a
> New Age for America". 
> 
>  
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Harvard-Psychedelic-Club-Timothy-Fifties/dp/0061655937
> 
> 
> (I believe the title is a reference to the Harvard Metaphysical Club, which
> included Oliver Wendell Holmes, William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, and
> John Dewey.)
> 
>  
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Metaphysical-Club-Story-Ideas-America/dp/0374528497
>