The Knowledge of the Womb:Autopsychognosia with Psychedelic Drugs

by Athanassios Kafkalides

In this book the author provides a summary of his work from 1960 to 1972 and gives an account of the re-enactment of very early experiences before and during birth in 16 patients, the majority of whom had severe neurotic and psychosomatic symptoms. LSD is able to bring our earliest experiences and our emotional states during such experiences into our consciousness; On reading the case descriptions, it is astounding to see again and again how, in the course of an LSD session, the patient’s problem turned out to stem from the dramatic early experience of a relationship - in the case of feelings of inferiority, for example, the experience of massive rejection and debasement in the prenatal stage of life. Kafkalides’ findings thus enable us to achieve a new and direct understanding of the psychodynamics of neurotic and psychosomatic symptoms.

429 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2005