Gavin Slo’s Reviews > The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys > Status Update

Ch22 & the last words. There's a study that shows more long-term effects, and amongst the things I find most interesting are the super low frequency of bad trips (in proper set & setting) & how nearly all effects seem more noticeable a year after the trip than in the first few months. Then more blabber about how scheduling held back research & made these drugs less safe, & a final message to be open & help humanity

Ch21, long term changes form LSD & mescaline sessions. Decreased anxiety, increased satisfaction & positive emotionality in relationships, better work performance (primarily for productive than financial reasons), more memorable, vivid, & enjoyable dreams, more activity, less fear, more creative expression & religious tolerance, better sex, more self confidence, positive style, dietary, & drinking changes, etc.

Ch20, 2 ayahuasca reports & one from those hallucinating darkness retreats. The realizations from the first guy on the oneness of good & evil, perseverance, & the constant presence of love for everybody sounded really interesting, and his visions seemed to be so vivid & detailed. But the girl from the darkness retreat I think did a poor job wording her experience, it sounded not beneficial & maybe even harmful

Ch18&19, ending pt4 & starting pt5. Where psych research is today & can go from now, which it's kinda crazy seeing how there's been no continuation of the AA studies considering how promising those seemed, and then a recap of the guidelines for entheogenic trips from ch1-2. Prepare, be open, pick out good music, have a cozy environment, try to get outside, and integrate seem to be the most important. Have a sitter ig

Ch16&17, some statistics on those who use psychs. LSD & Psilocybin are the most commonly used, worst trips & best trips were often synonymous, most took for entheogenic or self-healing or exploration, slight gender differences. Some bits about scheduling LSD coming from church going prudes who have never had an actual religious experience, & more suggesting to take these in a proper, helpful manner / context

Start of pt4, ch15. He goes over microdose reports (~10mcg often taken every 3 days). A lot of people feel a subtle interconnectedness that improves creative output, mood in social interaction, focus, instrument-playing, memory recall, vividness of thoughts, & productivity all without interrupting their daily routine or even sticking out amongst most people.

Ch14 & end of pt3, he reflects on a whole his time experimenting with LSD, when Ram Dass first hooked him up with psilocybin, the experiences ppl had w music & eyemasks, & the government abruptly shutting everything down despite its safety profile & promise in therapeutic & creative/problem solving applications, in addition to some person thoughts on the matter

Ch12&13, some accounts on an early group session where participants tried coming up with ideas for children's toys & ways to read a record without damaging the needle & the record (basically predicting CD technology). Then Fadiman recalling taking LSD to come up w magazine ideas or sum, and he ended up taking striking pictures of his wife or something? The book is starting to lose me

Ch10, using LSD in a problem solving context. It involves having a facilitator (like a tripsitter but more for rationality & focus than emotionality), taking 50-100mcg in the morning, eyemasks, calm, simple music, usually a group, notepads (no devices) to take notes, finger food, & ample space to lie down/relax. ~3 hours w masks, some time for individual reflection, & eventually group discussion & takeout for dinner

Ch9, psychs improving creativity w respect to problem solving. Participants were able to think more rapidly, restructure the problem, lower inhibition of thoughts, visualize more easily, get distracted less, empathize more w people & the problem itself, recall the subconscious, associate seemingly dissimilar ideas, stay motivated, & visualize the solution. Improvements were immediate but held up often for months