What do you think?
Rate this book
The Way of the Psychonaut #1
The Way of the Psychonaut Volume One: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys
Stanislav Grofs grosses Handbuch der psychonautischen Praxis, eine Enzyklopädie über die Vielfalt psychedelischer Erfahrungen, verdichtet das Wissen des Autors, eines erfahrenen Psychiaters, Psychotherapeuten, Psychonauten und Erfolgsautors, der seit vielen Jahrzehnten professionell erweiterte, veränderte, sprich holotrope Bewusstseinszustände erforscht.
Der Weg des Psychonauten ist ein wertvolles Nachschlagewerk für alle Psychonauten, ob Privatforscher oder akademische Wissenschaftler, das vollständig auf den Erkenntnissen der gelebten psychedelischen Praxis basiert.
Stanislav Grof schlüsselt die Geschichte der Psychonautik, die Genese der psychedelischen Revolution und der medizinischen Erforschung bewusstseinsverändernder Substanzen sowie deren Potenzial und Verwendung in Psychologie und Psychiatrie auf und vermittelt eine neue Kartografie der Psyche.
Das Grundlagenbuch für die Praxis der Psychonautik in zwei Bänden.
Der Weg des Psychonauten ist ein wertvolles Nachschlagewerk für alle Psychonauten, ob Privatforscher oder akademische Wissenschaftler, das vollständig auf den Erkenntnissen der gelebten psychedelischen Praxis basiert.
Stanislav Grof schlüsselt die Geschichte der Psychonautik, die Genese der psychedelischen Revolution und der medizinischen Erforschung bewusstseinsverändernder Substanzen sowie deren Potenzial und Verwendung in Psychologie und Psychiatrie auf und vermittelt eine neue Kartografie der Psyche.
Das Grundlagenbuch für die Praxis der Psychonautik in zwei Bänden.
849 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 1, 2019
236 people are currently reading
1014 people want to read
About the author
Stanislav Grof
119 books690 followersStanislav Grof is known for his early studies of LSD and its effects on the psyche—the field of psychedelic psychotherapy. Building on his observations while conducting LSD research and on Otto Rank's theory of birth trauma, Grof constructed a theoretical framework for pre- and perinatal psychology and transpersonal psychology in which LSD trips and other powerfully emotional experiences were mapped onto one's early fetal and neonatal experiences. Over time, this theory developed into an in-depth "cartography" of the deep human psyche.
Following the legal suppression of LSD use in the late 1960s, Grof went on to discover that many of these states of mind could be explored without drugs by using certain breathing techniques in a supportive environment. He continues this work today under the title "Holotropic Breathwork".
Grof received his M.D. from Charles University in Prague in 1957, and then completed his Ph.D. in Medicine at the Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences in 1965, training as a Freudian psychoanalyst at this time. In 1967, he was invited as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, United States, and went on to become Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center where he worked with Walter Pahnke and Bill Richards among others. In 1973, Dr. Grof was invited to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, and lived there until 1987 as a scholar-in-residence, developing his ideas.
Being the founding president of the International Transpersonal Association (founded in 1977), he went on to become distinguished adjunct faculty member of the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness at the California Institute of Integral Studies, a position he remains in today.
Grof was featured in the film Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within, a 2006 documentary about rediscovering an enchanted cosmos in the modern world.
Following the legal suppression of LSD use in the late 1960s, Grof went on to discover that many of these states of mind could be explored without drugs by using certain breathing techniques in a supportive environment. He continues this work today under the title "Holotropic Breathwork".
Grof received his M.D. from Charles University in Prague in 1957, and then completed his Ph.D. in Medicine at the Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences in 1965, training as a Freudian psychoanalyst at this time. In 1967, he was invited as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, United States, and went on to become Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center where he worked with Walter Pahnke and Bill Richards among others. In 1973, Dr. Grof was invited to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, and lived there until 1987 as a scholar-in-residence, developing his ideas.
Being the founding president of the International Transpersonal Association (founded in 1977), he went on to become distinguished adjunct faculty member of the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness at the California Institute of Integral Studies, a position he remains in today.
Grof was featured in the film Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within, a 2006 documentary about rediscovering an enchanted cosmos in the modern world.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 6, 2020
The Way of the Psychonaut might be the magnum opus of Dr Grof near the end of his life. This review is based on Volume One.
I must admit I find the subtitle ‘Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys’ somewhat confusing as this volume fortunately does not read like an alphabetically ordered encyclopedia. It also is less broad than an encyclopedia since it very much focuses on methods devised by Grof himself. It clearly is not unbiased and neutral in its approach, and much of the information is contested, and at times rather incredible. One of the strong points of this book is its author: Dr Grof who has much experience and knowledge and actively has been bridging gaps between Western science, specifically psychiatry, and spiritual practices. Generally I would recommend anyone reading this book to remain critical on what they are reading (one should always be) and take out whatever resonates or works for you. Also, most of this volume contains information which Dr Grof has been writing about since the 80s. While most of his theories are therefore well-founded in the annals of time, they are not uniformly supported by mainstream scientists or many psychedelic researchers.
Great start
Volume One kicks off with an intriguing description of psychedelic traditions throughout history, or what Grof refers to as psychonautics. He defines psychonautics as: “the systematic pursuit and use of holotropic states of consciousness for healing, self-exploration, ritual activity, artistic inspiration, and as a spiritual, philosophical, and scientific quest.” (People expecting hardcore science will rightfully be disappointed!)
In relatively few pages everything from consciousness-expanding substances in Tibetan Buddhism, the sacred potions kykeon, soma and haoma (in different traditions), the usage of Amanita muscaria by Finno-Ugrian shamans, ancient references to psychedelics in Aztec and Mayan works of art, to MK-ULTRA or rites of passage, is described and many prominent researchers and their work are mentioned, such as the Wasson’s, Mechoulam, the Shulgin’s, Heffter, Dybowski and of course Hofmann. Of course, since Grof’s extensive experience in working with LSD Dr Hofmann deserves special attention. He goes out of his way to describe ‘Albert’s dream of a New Eleusis’ and the illegalization backlash of the 70s. I particularly liked this sentence: “It is becoming increasingly clear that LSD was a wonder child, but it was born into a dysfunctional family.” The overall collection of historical facts is a fascinating read for anyone interested in psychedelics.
A New Psychology
Grof describes his experiences in the field and his reasons for developing his methods. Despite, or because(!), his background in psychiatry and academics he rebels against traditional psychiatry and the dominant academic paradigm. In his words: “traditional psychiatry, with its mechanistic materialistic philosophy, is a giant on clay legs that stands in the way of genuine understanding of the human psyche and has a damaging effect on many people diagnosed as mentally ill. So I decided to dedicate my life and work to a concerted effort aimed at changing the dominant paradigm.”
In his work he elaborately criticizes current practices and paradigms in the field of psychiatry and psychology. He describes the need for ‘a new psychology’ in line with his book ‘Psychology Of The Future’. His strong focus on traditional psychiatry seems a bit outdated and an easy target to criticize. On the other hand, traditional psychiatry remains the basis on which mental health care and research today rests upon. His rather lengthy description of approximately four key psychiatrists (Freud, Jung and Reich the most important) and their work tends to drag a bit.
His general critique on current psychoanalytic therapy is that it reasons from the Cartesian dichotomy by exclusively focusing on mental processes and neglecting the body. Mainly because of this focus the “understanding of psychogenic emotional and psychosomatic disorders will remain superficial, unsatisfactory, and incomplete, and their therapy ineffective and disappointing.” Fortunately, the world has changed much the past decades and ‘fusions’ between psychological practice and spiritual traditions are becoming common. For instance, psychologists are often using mindfulness and the importance of bodywork has resulted in Western alternatives such as psychosomatic psychotherapy.
A strong and quite relevant critique by Grof on mental health care is how many people are misdiagnosed. This is a huge contemporary problem and results in people receiving several –sometimes contradicting- diagnoses with undifferentiated consequences. Grof limits his critique in this respect to psychosis and its standardized treatment by suppressive medication. Many of these psychotic episodes, Grof argues, are actually invaluable spontaneous ‘holotropic experiences ‘ (“a large and important subgroup of non-ordinary states of consciousness that have therapeutic, transformative, heuristic, and evolutionary potential”) , a concept invented by Grof. These spontaneous experiences should be seen as, what Grof and his late wife call, ‘spiritual emergencies’ instead of psychotic episodes, and “are actually difficult stages of a radical personality transformation and of spiritual opening” which can be transformative and healing. In Western practice these people are not helped to deal with these experiences. Instead their potential remains unused and they end up battling with serious mental problems over time. Grof mentions several other concepts that describe similar experiences and provides types of spiritual emergencies. Examples are the awakening of Kundalini , past life experiences, and communication with spirit guides. He even describes drug addiction as ‘spiritual longing’. In order to exactly know when something is a ‘spiritual emergency’ Grof provides little information besides that they are certainly not “conditions that are clearly biological in nature and require medical treatment” . Since for instance long-term addiction influences a person’s biology -such as biochemical changes- it can be argued if and when drug addiction is a spiritual emergency.
A thing which rightfully makes one wary is Grof’s strong critique on psychiatry and ‘the dominant paradigm’, but his complete lack of critique on everything that is the result of traditional practice in shamanism and spiritualism. Everything, from !Kung drumming, nada yoga and other sound healing to different methods of breathing therapy, qi gong, or mandala drawing… The logical reasoning seems to be that age-old traditions have proven themselves over a vaster span of time than post-war psychiatry and provide different antidotes to common spiritual decline in contemporary society.
Consciousness research
Grof has been doing ‘consciousness research’ for decades. He has been working on a cartography of the human psyche and has researched relations between consciousness and matter. Pretty cool stuff.
So what is consciousness and how is it connected to us? While Grof does not give any definite answer to what consciousness is, he does provide many insights and examples. Consciousness “or its immediate precursor proto-consciousness, has been in the universe all along, perhaps from the Big Bang” and that which “we experience as a stream of sensations, feelings, intuitions and volitions is an integral part of the consciousness that pervades the cosmos.” He continues to give many examples of traditions with similar or overlapping descriptions/concepts, such as that of Atman and Brahman, Kundalini, the Tao, or even the Cosmic Christ. Through holotropic states some can ultimately transcend individual consciousness and connect to that what he calls amongst others the ‘Metacosmic Void’, referring to ‘the ultimate cradle of all existence’.
Clearly, consciousness has to do with cosmic energy that drives us. Does this mean that other animals are conscious as well? And what about fish? Plants? Rocks? Grof does not go into this unfortunately. He does, however, go into relations between matter and consciousness by discussing the location of consciousness in people. He happily bashes the ‘mainstream materialistic worldview’ that consciousness is generated in, and confined to, the brain. Also, he provides this wonderful allegory that counters the mainstream perspective: “The close correlation between the functioning of the TV set and the quality of the program does not necessarily mean that the entire secret of the program is in the set itself.” In the end Grof uses this allegory of the brain as a sort of receiver/mediator through which we can experience this cosmic flow of energy (which is all around us). This allegory is opted by many other psychedelic researchers, amongst which T McKenna and Strassman.
The more radical claim Grof makes thereafter is that individual consciousness is not confined to our body at all and that ‘units of consciousness’ can persist beyond the brain. He mentions this to be proven by ‘evidence from holotropic states’ in his sessions and gives many seemingly unconnected examples varying in credibility: out-of-body experiences (OBEs), near-death experiences (NDE), mediumship and channeling (‘psychosynthesis’). He reverts to ancient scripts for evidence, such as the Tibetan Book of Death. Personally, I found his habit of presenting widely contested or unscientific evidence as proven facts disturbing, especially in case of the aforementioned claims. In the case of NDE’s he refers to the widely criticized work of Dutch cardiologist van Lommel and he mentions the work of famous (trance) painters and mediums as evidence of consciousness existing after death.
Finally, most of his research to consciousness (and his work in general) is in line with the field of ‘Transpersonal Psychology’. The ‘transpersonal levels of the psyche’ are the “source of experiences which transcend the limitations of space, time, and the range of our physical senses” and help explain the existence of collective events such as revolutions, wars and genocide. In my opinion this is an outrageous statement, which he also makes when referring to the importance of perinatal matrices.
Inter faeces et urinam nascimur
Yes, I saved the cherry for last! The Latin translates as: “We are born between shit and piss” . This quote is illustrative of Grof’s theory on how birth affects our (adult) lives. He argues that : “The way delivery and the postnatal period are handled has a profound influence on the emotional and social life of the individual and has important implications for the future of our society.” He provides many examples of how (traditional) medicine understates the importance of birth and their mistaken belief that consciousness develops much later in life. He credits Freud for recognizing that the roots of emotional disorders have their origins in early childhood and infancy but argues that he and all of traditional psychotherapy missed the decisive importance of perinatal (and transpersonal roots). The theory Grof describes involves COEX systems and perinatal matrices. A considerable chunk (!) of this book addresses this theory and provides examples, and it is here that some statements become rather incredible.
I deliberately cut off this review at this point because I clearly don’t get Grof’s views and theories on the collective unconsciousness, personality and birth trauma, with concepts such as ‘COAX systems’, Basic Perinatal Matrices (BPMs) and individual ones, and their irrevocable consequences. In his 1980 book ‘LSD psychotherapy’ I also read much about these concepts, already in similar format. If you get stuff like that, then yummy.. there’s quite something in store for you. Personally, this provided a breaking point for me, as I was somewhat offended by his sexual conservatism in describing deviant behaviour and linking them to events at birth, as well as his factual stance on the point.
Ever since new research and renewed interests in psychedelics took off, many papers, articles and books (and documentaries, series) are available on psychedelics. Not so much on being a psychonaut. Unfortunately ‘The Way of the Psychonaut: Volume One’ does not provide much information on how to begin or continue your journey as a psychonaut. I get that, because we still live in times in which many countries prohibit the use of psychedelics, and using it is criminalized. I wouldn’t call this volume ‘The Way of the Psychonaut’ however, more ‘The Way of Grof’. I suspect that he is rightfully respected by his peers, but that at the same time many do not agree with him. I tried swallowing the importance of birth trauma for instance, but couldn’t. I even called my mom, wonderful woman but also annoying, to ask about a possible birth trauma (there was none). I found the causal relation between birth traumas and BPMs not validated and unscientific and simply far-fetched. I do appreciate Grof as an academic and researcher with his untypical stance on traditions and the metaphysical, and I enjoy watching interviews with him, but I just don’t get his ‘theoretical frame’. Finally, I also expected more about the existence of psychonauts, its contemporary meaning, differences in use, the dark side, the importance of integration, cross-overs between psychedelics and spiritualism, and there was nothing about this. Rather, this book provided rehashed, outdated and contested views of Dr Grof, with much interesting information but more less-interesting information. I’d say: If you’re a fan then “GO!”, otherwise choose something more general and neutral, such as ‘How to Change your Mind’ from Pollan. And for those well-travelled psyhonauts: Erowid, and what not.
I must admit I find the subtitle ‘Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys’ somewhat confusing as this volume fortunately does not read like an alphabetically ordered encyclopedia. It also is less broad than an encyclopedia since it very much focuses on methods devised by Grof himself. It clearly is not unbiased and neutral in its approach, and much of the information is contested, and at times rather incredible. One of the strong points of this book is its author: Dr Grof who has much experience and knowledge and actively has been bridging gaps between Western science, specifically psychiatry, and spiritual practices. Generally I would recommend anyone reading this book to remain critical on what they are reading (one should always be) and take out whatever resonates or works for you. Also, most of this volume contains information which Dr Grof has been writing about since the 80s. While most of his theories are therefore well-founded in the annals of time, they are not uniformly supported by mainstream scientists or many psychedelic researchers.
Great start
Volume One kicks off with an intriguing description of psychedelic traditions throughout history, or what Grof refers to as psychonautics. He defines psychonautics as: “the systematic pursuit and use of holotropic states of consciousness for healing, self-exploration, ritual activity, artistic inspiration, and as a spiritual, philosophical, and scientific quest.” (People expecting hardcore science will rightfully be disappointed!)
In relatively few pages everything from consciousness-expanding substances in Tibetan Buddhism, the sacred potions kykeon, soma and haoma (in different traditions), the usage of Amanita muscaria by Finno-Ugrian shamans, ancient references to psychedelics in Aztec and Mayan works of art, to MK-ULTRA or rites of passage, is described and many prominent researchers and their work are mentioned, such as the Wasson’s, Mechoulam, the Shulgin’s, Heffter, Dybowski and of course Hofmann. Of course, since Grof’s extensive experience in working with LSD Dr Hofmann deserves special attention. He goes out of his way to describe ‘Albert’s dream of a New Eleusis’ and the illegalization backlash of the 70s. I particularly liked this sentence: “It is becoming increasingly clear that LSD was a wonder child, but it was born into a dysfunctional family.” The overall collection of historical facts is a fascinating read for anyone interested in psychedelics.
A New Psychology
Grof describes his experiences in the field and his reasons for developing his methods. Despite, or because(!), his background in psychiatry and academics he rebels against traditional psychiatry and the dominant academic paradigm. In his words: “traditional psychiatry, with its mechanistic materialistic philosophy, is a giant on clay legs that stands in the way of genuine understanding of the human psyche and has a damaging effect on many people diagnosed as mentally ill. So I decided to dedicate my life and work to a concerted effort aimed at changing the dominant paradigm.”
In his work he elaborately criticizes current practices and paradigms in the field of psychiatry and psychology. He describes the need for ‘a new psychology’ in line with his book ‘Psychology Of The Future’. His strong focus on traditional psychiatry seems a bit outdated and an easy target to criticize. On the other hand, traditional psychiatry remains the basis on which mental health care and research today rests upon. His rather lengthy description of approximately four key psychiatrists (Freud, Jung and Reich the most important) and their work tends to drag a bit.
His general critique on current psychoanalytic therapy is that it reasons from the Cartesian dichotomy by exclusively focusing on mental processes and neglecting the body. Mainly because of this focus the “understanding of psychogenic emotional and psychosomatic disorders will remain superficial, unsatisfactory, and incomplete, and their therapy ineffective and disappointing.” Fortunately, the world has changed much the past decades and ‘fusions’ between psychological practice and spiritual traditions are becoming common. For instance, psychologists are often using mindfulness and the importance of bodywork has resulted in Western alternatives such as psychosomatic psychotherapy.
A strong and quite relevant critique by Grof on mental health care is how many people are misdiagnosed. This is a huge contemporary problem and results in people receiving several –sometimes contradicting- diagnoses with undifferentiated consequences. Grof limits his critique in this respect to psychosis and its standardized treatment by suppressive medication. Many of these psychotic episodes, Grof argues, are actually invaluable spontaneous ‘holotropic experiences ‘ (“a large and important subgroup of non-ordinary states of consciousness that have therapeutic, transformative, heuristic, and evolutionary potential”) , a concept invented by Grof. These spontaneous experiences should be seen as, what Grof and his late wife call, ‘spiritual emergencies’ instead of psychotic episodes, and “are actually difficult stages of a radical personality transformation and of spiritual opening” which can be transformative and healing. In Western practice these people are not helped to deal with these experiences. Instead their potential remains unused and they end up battling with serious mental problems over time. Grof mentions several other concepts that describe similar experiences and provides types of spiritual emergencies. Examples are the awakening of Kundalini , past life experiences, and communication with spirit guides. He even describes drug addiction as ‘spiritual longing’. In order to exactly know when something is a ‘spiritual emergency’ Grof provides little information besides that they are certainly not “conditions that are clearly biological in nature and require medical treatment” . Since for instance long-term addiction influences a person’s biology -such as biochemical changes- it can be argued if and when drug addiction is a spiritual emergency.
A thing which rightfully makes one wary is Grof’s strong critique on psychiatry and ‘the dominant paradigm’, but his complete lack of critique on everything that is the result of traditional practice in shamanism and spiritualism. Everything, from !Kung drumming, nada yoga and other sound healing to different methods of breathing therapy, qi gong, or mandala drawing… The logical reasoning seems to be that age-old traditions have proven themselves over a vaster span of time than post-war psychiatry and provide different antidotes to common spiritual decline in contemporary society.
Consciousness research
Grof has been doing ‘consciousness research’ for decades. He has been working on a cartography of the human psyche and has researched relations between consciousness and matter. Pretty cool stuff.
So what is consciousness and how is it connected to us? While Grof does not give any definite answer to what consciousness is, he does provide many insights and examples. Consciousness “or its immediate precursor proto-consciousness, has been in the universe all along, perhaps from the Big Bang” and that which “we experience as a stream of sensations, feelings, intuitions and volitions is an integral part of the consciousness that pervades the cosmos.” He continues to give many examples of traditions with similar or overlapping descriptions/concepts, such as that of Atman and Brahman, Kundalini, the Tao, or even the Cosmic Christ. Through holotropic states some can ultimately transcend individual consciousness and connect to that what he calls amongst others the ‘Metacosmic Void’, referring to ‘the ultimate cradle of all existence’.
Clearly, consciousness has to do with cosmic energy that drives us. Does this mean that other animals are conscious as well? And what about fish? Plants? Rocks? Grof does not go into this unfortunately. He does, however, go into relations between matter and consciousness by discussing the location of consciousness in people. He happily bashes the ‘mainstream materialistic worldview’ that consciousness is generated in, and confined to, the brain. Also, he provides this wonderful allegory that counters the mainstream perspective: “The close correlation between the functioning of the TV set and the quality of the program does not necessarily mean that the entire secret of the program is in the set itself.” In the end Grof uses this allegory of the brain as a sort of receiver/mediator through which we can experience this cosmic flow of energy (which is all around us). This allegory is opted by many other psychedelic researchers, amongst which T McKenna and Strassman.
The more radical claim Grof makes thereafter is that individual consciousness is not confined to our body at all and that ‘units of consciousness’ can persist beyond the brain. He mentions this to be proven by ‘evidence from holotropic states’ in his sessions and gives many seemingly unconnected examples varying in credibility: out-of-body experiences (OBEs), near-death experiences (NDE), mediumship and channeling (‘psychosynthesis’). He reverts to ancient scripts for evidence, such as the Tibetan Book of Death. Personally, I found his habit of presenting widely contested or unscientific evidence as proven facts disturbing, especially in case of the aforementioned claims. In the case of NDE’s he refers to the widely criticized work of Dutch cardiologist van Lommel and he mentions the work of famous (trance) painters and mediums as evidence of consciousness existing after death.
Finally, most of his research to consciousness (and his work in general) is in line with the field of ‘Transpersonal Psychology’. The ‘transpersonal levels of the psyche’ are the “source of experiences which transcend the limitations of space, time, and the range of our physical senses” and help explain the existence of collective events such as revolutions, wars and genocide. In my opinion this is an outrageous statement, which he also makes when referring to the importance of perinatal matrices.
Inter faeces et urinam nascimur
Yes, I saved the cherry for last! The Latin translates as: “We are born between shit and piss” . This quote is illustrative of Grof’s theory on how birth affects our (adult) lives. He argues that : “The way delivery and the postnatal period are handled has a profound influence on the emotional and social life of the individual and has important implications for the future of our society.” He provides many examples of how (traditional) medicine understates the importance of birth and their mistaken belief that consciousness develops much later in life. He credits Freud for recognizing that the roots of emotional disorders have their origins in early childhood and infancy but argues that he and all of traditional psychotherapy missed the decisive importance of perinatal (and transpersonal roots). The theory Grof describes involves COEX systems and perinatal matrices. A considerable chunk (!) of this book addresses this theory and provides examples, and it is here that some statements become rather incredible.
I deliberately cut off this review at this point because I clearly don’t get Grof’s views and theories on the collective unconsciousness, personality and birth trauma, with concepts such as ‘COAX systems’, Basic Perinatal Matrices (BPMs) and individual ones, and their irrevocable consequences. In his 1980 book ‘LSD psychotherapy’ I also read much about these concepts, already in similar format. If you get stuff like that, then yummy.. there’s quite something in store for you. Personally, this provided a breaking point for me, as I was somewhat offended by his sexual conservatism in describing deviant behaviour and linking them to events at birth, as well as his factual stance on the point.
Ever since new research and renewed interests in psychedelics took off, many papers, articles and books (and documentaries, series) are available on psychedelics. Not so much on being a psychonaut. Unfortunately ‘The Way of the Psychonaut: Volume One’ does not provide much information on how to begin or continue your journey as a psychonaut. I get that, because we still live in times in which many countries prohibit the use of psychedelics, and using it is criminalized. I wouldn’t call this volume ‘The Way of the Psychonaut’ however, more ‘The Way of Grof’. I suspect that he is rightfully respected by his peers, but that at the same time many do not agree with him. I tried swallowing the importance of birth trauma for instance, but couldn’t. I even called my mom, wonderful woman but also annoying, to ask about a possible birth trauma (there was none). I found the causal relation between birth traumas and BPMs not validated and unscientific and simply far-fetched. I do appreciate Grof as an academic and researcher with his untypical stance on traditions and the metaphysical, and I enjoy watching interviews with him, but I just don’t get his ‘theoretical frame’. Finally, I also expected more about the existence of psychonauts, its contemporary meaning, differences in use, the dark side, the importance of integration, cross-overs between psychedelics and spiritualism, and there was nothing about this. Rather, this book provided rehashed, outdated and contested views of Dr Grof, with much interesting information but more less-interesting information. I’d say: If you’re a fan then “GO!”, otherwise choose something more general and neutral, such as ‘How to Change your Mind’ from Pollan. And for those well-travelled psyhonauts: Erowid, and what not.
December 7, 2022
Stan Grof has been doing psychedelic therapy and holotropic breath work for many decades now and this is his summary of his findings. Through his work, he is certain that human psyche have subconscious in prenatal transpersonal, meaning memory of when in the womb and also memory of past lives. He also is certain that materialistic view on consciousness is false and consciousness is not the product of brain alone. He emphasized the therapeutic value of holotropic state of consciousness, whether through psychedelics, breath work, or any other spiritual emergencies. If what he says is correct, there are so much room for this sort of therapies.
January 18, 2022
Incredible work from Dr. Grof!! Fascinating subject matter for anyone interested in learning more about consciousness and human experiencing.
July 22, 2021
Grof is a giant in the world of psychedelic assisted psychotherapy. This "encyclopedia" is a broad review of his work written by Grof himself and published by MAPS to support the training of those interested on catching up with the psychedelic renaissance. Don't let the word "encyclopedia" scare you off. "The Way of the Psychonaut, Volume One" is very readable and flows easily unlike most works that are referred to by the term. In broad strokes Grof summarizes the development of the field and delivers fascinating anecdotes regarding the pioneers who discovered these remarkable compounds. He then goes on to describe his own fascinating work as a young student and onward throughout his many decades of his career as a pioneer employing LSD as a powerful adjunct to therapy and later when he developed the potent practice of "holotropic breath work" based on traditional eastern practices. Grof's maps of the deep psychological territory that LSD allows a practitioner to access, and his synthesis of the many theories of depth psychology is potent and convincing. His primary theory involves the working through of the stages of fetal development and the birth process that are stored in procedural memory and the corresponding transpersonal states of consciousness that are accessed in the process of doing so. Grof is a pioneer of the field of transpersonal psychology and this is field remains in its early stages to this day. It is likely that we will see much greater interest in this field as the psychedelic movement continues. Grof is a well grounded thinker and his work will no doubt continue to be a cornerstone of the discipline. A caveat is that Grof writes in a psychological tradition that is based on the early psychodynamic schools. Some of his terms may seem somewhat dated, but don't let this deceive you as to the value of his work. He remains innovative and ahead of his time even at his advanced age.
August 15, 2021
Deeply insightful!
July 17, 2025
This is an essential guide for any aspiring Psychonaut or mental health professional seeking to implement spirituality in a grounded and rational way to the therapy room. Grof is the pioneer behind LSD psychotherapy, Holotropic Breathwork, theory behind "Spiritual Emergencies," bringing the soul back to therapy, and so much more. This first encyclopedia provides excellent resources for anyone desiring to seek deeper the ravines of the unconscious mind and how to bring its lessons and passions forcefully and energetically into reality. The psychedelic and mental health community is forever indebted to this wise, compassionate man and his late wife.
February 19, 2024
The book is extremely well written. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Stanislav Grof is a great psychonautic writer. But (!) the title is kinda misleading. "The Way of the Psychonaut" is neither an encyclopedia, nor is its primary topic psychonautics. Instead, it's a condensed summary of Grofs theories.
I'm not into esotericism in the conventional sense, this book challenged my "scientific" mind a lot. Also Grofs "facts" are often highly questionable.
For any psychonaut, this book is still a valuable resource, because Grof's theories might be the best tool we have at the moment.
Imo: Theories don't have to be true to be helpful. Especially when it comes to psychology.
I'm not into esotericism in the conventional sense, this book challenged my "scientific" mind a lot. Also Grofs "facts" are often highly questionable.
For any psychonaut, this book is still a valuable resource, because Grof's theories might be the best tool we have at the moment.
Imo: Theories don't have to be true to be helpful. Especially when it comes to psychology.
July 21, 2022
Paradigm shattering
July 5, 2020
The review 'robleestvanalles' wrote covers a lot of the thoughts I had reading this book, so I won't go into too much detail here.
The title is definitely misleading if you ask me. The thing with psychedelic journeys is that they are heavily influenced by the set and setting. So Grof's work is thereby influenced by his view of what is happening. That view is very much focussed on birth as an important event in psychological development and in psychedelic journeys. 'Am I too close-minded to get it?', I thought when I skipped these parts (huge chunks of the book). Maybe... Then recently I heard Matthew Johnson from Johns Hopkins talk about the influence Grof had on the outcome of his sessions and saying he "only had one or two questionable ones", referring to rebirth experiences in the psilocybin sessions at Hopkins. Time will tell whether Grof is onto something. For now I feel like this book was more 'renaissance' than 'psychedelic'. It certainly isn't a relatively unbiased encyclopedia. Just opened Volume Two and checked out the images, lot's of birth in there too. I may still read it, Grof remains a fascinating man in my world.
The title is definitely misleading if you ask me. The thing with psychedelic journeys is that they are heavily influenced by the set and setting. So Grof's work is thereby influenced by his view of what is happening. That view is very much focussed on birth as an important event in psychological development and in psychedelic journeys. 'Am I too close-minded to get it?', I thought when I skipped these parts (huge chunks of the book). Maybe... Then recently I heard Matthew Johnson from Johns Hopkins talk about the influence Grof had on the outcome of his sessions and saying he "only had one or two questionable ones", referring to rebirth experiences in the psilocybin sessions at Hopkins. Time will tell whether Grof is onto something. For now I feel like this book was more 'renaissance' than 'psychedelic'. It certainly isn't a relatively unbiased encyclopedia. Just opened Volume Two and checked out the images, lot's of birth in there too. I may still read it, Grof remains a fascinating man in my world.
July 21, 2021
Couldn't finish it. Spends way too much time justifying Freud's outdated ideas.
January 24, 2023
O primeiro volume de O Caminho do Psiconauta tem o papel de conceituar os leitores acerca da nova cartografia da psique proposta por Stanislav Grof em decorrência de mais de 70 anos de profissão e experiência com estados alterados de consciência.
Demonstra que a corrente atual da psicologia e psiquiatria são incrivelmente limitadas e equivocadas e que não conseguem dar respostas adequadas para uma série de transtornos cada vez mais comuns e propõe uma nova abordagem que incorpora aspectos espirituais, energéticos e multidimensionais da realidade para um visão integral da existência, possibilitando assim cura e evolução que não se vê na medicina tradicional.
Ao expandir sua percepção para além do domínio físico, um novo universo de possibilidade se abrem para cura e desenvolvimento da consciência.
Para todos que buscam alternativas para um tratamento realmente efetivo e definitivo para depressão, ansiedade, estresse pós-traumático e outros, O Caminho do Psiconauta é o trás informações valiosíssimas e que ativamente salvam vidas. A Revolução Psicodélica está só começando.
Demonstra que a corrente atual da psicologia e psiquiatria são incrivelmente limitadas e equivocadas e que não conseguem dar respostas adequadas para uma série de transtornos cada vez mais comuns e propõe uma nova abordagem que incorpora aspectos espirituais, energéticos e multidimensionais da realidade para um visão integral da existência, possibilitando assim cura e evolução que não se vê na medicina tradicional.
Ao expandir sua percepção para além do domínio físico, um novo universo de possibilidade se abrem para cura e desenvolvimento da consciência.
Para todos que buscam alternativas para um tratamento realmente efetivo e definitivo para depressão, ansiedade, estresse pós-traumático e outros, O Caminho do Psiconauta é o trás informações valiosíssimas e que ativamente salvam vidas. A Revolução Psicodélica está só começando.
December 20, 2024
I really, really wanted to learn about the extraordinary experiences of the author, to better understand how the psychedelic experience works and how we can navigate it or use it for healing.
The opening historical chapters were neat. What came after was progressively weirder, building super complicated ideas of not only the experience, but trying to build the whole discipline of psychology on experience of birth and of _previous lives_. That was really hard to swallow and process for me, and when shared intra-consciousness came into picture, I had to grit my teeth.
What ended my path with the book was bizzare chapter on suicide. Trying to explain hot tub + razor type of suicide with trauma of birth is in such ludicrous territory that I had to check myself out.
The opening historical chapters were neat. What came after was progressively weirder, building super complicated ideas of not only the experience, but trying to build the whole discipline of psychology on experience of birth and of _previous lives_. That was really hard to swallow and process for me, and when shared intra-consciousness came into picture, I had to grit my teeth.
What ended my path with the book was bizzare chapter on suicide. Trying to explain hot tub + razor type of suicide with trauma of birth is in such ludicrous territory that I had to check myself out.
June 21, 2024
Pretty out there -- some might call it "woo woo" -- but these volumes (1&2) are an important historical document of efforts at the frontier of trying to define consciousness and the healing that comes from mind journeys, so the unevenness is to be expected. I learned a ton from it, and would expect trip sitters, researchers, and psychedelic healers to be versed in these topics.
March 17, 2025
Un estudio exahustivo de la psicología transpersonal, su comparación con las teorías psicológicas clásicas y la utilización en los procesos terapeuticos de los estados expandidos de conciencia mediante la utilización de LSD, plantas y respiración holotrópica
June 24, 2021
The material can be dry sometimes, but some contents are very eye-opening.
December 20, 2021
Just incredible to have so much rich content all in one place. And there's a second volume? I could read on for hours. Great stuff.
June 25, 2025
DNF around page 250
April 1, 2023
Stanislav Grof's The Way of the Psychonaut Volume One: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys is an essential guide for anyone interested in exploring the depths of their inner world. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the various techniques and methods used to explore altered states of consciousness, such as meditation, psychedelics, and holotropic breathwork. It also includes detailed descriptions of Grof's own research into non-ordinary states of consciousness and his theories about the nature of reality. With its clear explanations and vivid illustrations, this book is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to embark on their own inner journey.
November 14, 2024
Grof good.
November 24, 2025
Incredible breadth of information for those who may be interested...
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews