[The Psilocybin Solution: The Role of Sacred Mushrooms in the Quest for Meaning] [By: Powell, Simon G.] [June, 2011]

by Simon G. Powell

How psilocybin mushrooms facilitate a direct link to the wisdom of Nature and the meaning of life Examines the neurochemistry underlying the visionary psilocybin experience Explains how sacred mushrooms help restore our connection to the natural intelligence of Nature Reviews the research on psilocybin’s ability to dispel anxiety in the terminally ill and its helpful effects on obsessive-compulsive disorder It has been more than 50 years since sacred mushrooms were plucked from the shamanic backwaters of Mexico and presented to the modern world by R. Gordon Wasson. After sparking the psychedelic era of the 1960s, however, the divine mushroom returned underground from whence it mysteriously originated. Yet today, the mushroom’s extraordinary influence is once again being felt by large numbers of people, due to the discovery of hundreds of wild psilocybin species growing across the globe. In The Psilocybin Solution, Simon G. Powell traces the history of the sacred psilocybin mushroom and discusses the shamanic visionary effects it can induce. Detailing how psilocybin acts as a profound enhancer of consciousness and reviewing the research performed by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), Johns Hopkins University, and the Heffter Research Institute on psilocybin’s ability to dispel anxiety in the terminally ill and its helpful effects on obsessive-compulsive disorder, he examines the neurochemistry, psychology, and spirituality underlying the visionary psilocybin experience, revealing the interface where physical brain and conscious mind meet. Showing that the existence of life and the functioning of mind are the result of a naturally intelligent, self-organizing Universe, he explains how sacred mushrooms provide a direct link to the wisdom of Nature and the meaning of life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Spirituality, Science, Psychology, Philosophy, Drugs

Paperback

First published June 23, 2011

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

More than any other book that I've read thus far on psilocybin, this one took great pains to discuss the chemical and neurological structure behind its effects in a way that was detailed and yet explicable in layman's terms. I also appreciated some of the philosophical underpinnings Powell goes into in the latter half of the book, particularly his exegesis on nature/evolution as "smart" and conscious. However, I had to jump ship when he got into the McKenna Timewave, the eschaton, the Singularity, and basically all the usual crap I'm used to hearing from psilo fans. While I agree with the long view that we must be mindful and accepting of the present, his instruction to "wait and see" what the Mega Machine of Conscious Nature has in store for us struck me as the usual passivity/ lack of direct action that dogs the heels of so much psychedelic rhetoric. (It's a difficult position for me. Yes, ultimately all of our human foibles are just drops in the bucket of eternity, but I still plan to call my representatives.)

[Cfmochel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars ONLY because there were several chapters of information that felt like “filler” chapters (like, come on; I don’t need 4 chapters on computers/hard drives/the internet and how they’re similar to mushrooms). I think the author could have addressed the readers questions in about 100 less pages. However, information provided and what I personally wanted more information on was great. This is a good book for someone new to learning about psylocibin.

[DropOfOcean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the book very entertaining to read though at times I felt that not all the material fit/was necessary with the main theme & conclusion that the nature is conscious. Books like this are very needed though as general awareness of the nature of Psilocybin and other psychedelics in general is on very low level.

[Hanadi Nasser]

I have just seen the documentary the author Simon G. Powell himself has created & I fell in love with his ideas and person & since he's a rising writer I just hope that by buying and reading his book would help him succeed.

[Alex Frame · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a nutshell the author suggests if you want to see God then you should ingest magic mushrooms as many ancient cultures like the Mayans, Siberians and Nordics did to delve into the depths of the human mind and experience the other.
Of course it's not that simple and after learning about these ancient cultures and the way they used mushrooms to expand their minds and experience God which years later led to its rediscovery in modern times and the synthesised version of the mushrooms active ingredient being made as LSD in the 1950s and then being used to attempt a similar and more easy to obtain yet lesser and more dangerous mind expansion led by the famous Dr Timothy Leary.
The book then ventures into the nature of the universe as a self organising organism and its connection to our DNA and how we came to be by either intelligent design or a series of unlikely random events that somehow stumbled on what we are today.
We are far more than what we think we are and the mushroom experience may give us a glimpse of what's possible, hopefully making us wiser and helping us to change our ways on how we treat our planet before it's too late.
Not a hippy book at all , a good read and thoroughly thought provoking.

[Vasile Corjan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe a 4 or 5 after I will try shrooms :))

[Ricardo Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Follow the rabbit