“Psychedelics, used responsibly and with proper caution, would be for psychiatry what the microscope is for biology and medicine or the telescope is for astronomy.” – Stanislav Grof
For a long time I’ve been fascinated by the therapeutic and medical as well as the spiritual use of psychedelics which have a growing and enormous base of research.
Their research however is limited by endless red tape and slowed progress by the publics’ fear and misunderstanding around psychedelics. In many cases a single ‘trip’ can be life altering. Psychedelics are being used in the treatment of treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other serious and debilitating conditions as well as for healing of those who have survived trauma and abuse as children or adults. They are also used to ease the journey of end of life patients and the terminally ill – these benefits are obscured by the fear of abuse and other societal effects as they are lumped with the outcomes of general drug use.
These are the recommendations I’ve come across from Tim’s podcast as well as his book – Tools of Titans (TOT). I’m still busy reading Tools of Titans – it has long been overdue on my reading list, and was actually suggested to me by my wife.
I’ve put the recommendations together in one post to make it easier than paging through separate sections of a book or clicking on the dozens of podcast episode show notes and transcriptions on the episodes related to psychedelics (which Tim Ferriss provides on his site here).
Some of the links on Tim’s site are broken – where this is the case I have replaced them with working links. In some cases I’ve opted to include the guest’s wikipedia page instead of their personal page as the wiki entry provides an overview of their work and life – rather than just a landing page for a book that they are selling. Not everyone under the ‘people’ category are experts, some just have some ‘skin in the game’ and use and talk about it. Which can still be of value.
I recommend reading TOT as it is an incredibly valuable resource for habits, ideas and learning from a range of successful people of different disciplines and specialties.
In TOT, Tim often explains why he is making the recommendations for specific books etc as well as other information such as anecdotes, dosages guides, psychedelic routines – all very interesting.
I have separate headings for books, links, and one titled ‘people’ – these are people Tim Ferrriss has interviewed on his show about psychedelics. Those who have a personal website I’ve linked, otherwise I’ve added a wikipedia entry (bear in mind wikipedia is not always trustworthy and entries may contain false and deliberately misleading information due to cancel culture). I have also included their occupations for extra context.
In each show there is a treasure trove of insightful books and other recommended content, but in this post I am listing only the psychedelic specific resources. I do recommend you listen to the shows in full or visit the other links as they are complementary to psychedelic use and augment either your experience with them or are directly related to mental health and therapeutic modalities that are often used in conjunction with psychedelics.
Disclaimer: Abide by your local laws. This is only for educational purposes etc.
“Psychedelics are illegal not because a loving government is concerned that you may jump out of a third story window. Psychedelics are illegal because they dissolve opinion structures and culturally laid down models of behaviour and information processing. They open you up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong.”
― Terence McKenna
Recommended Books on Psychedelics
- Singing to the Plants: A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon by Stephan V. Beyer
- The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys by James Fadiman Ph.D
- The Cosmic Serpent by Jeremy Narby
- TIHKAL: The Continuation by Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin
- PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story is a book by Dr. Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin
- Ibogaine Explained by Peter Frank
- Tryptamine Palace: 5-MeO-DMT and the Sonoran Desert Toad by James Oroc
- The Toad and the Jaguar a Field Report of Underground Research on a Visionary Medicine: Bufo Alvarius and 5-Methoxy-Dimethyltryptamine by Ralph Metzner
Recommended Links on Psychedelics
- Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies – MAPS
- Heffter Research Institute
- The International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ICEERS)
- The Global Ibogaine Therapy Alliance (GITA)
- Mind Medicine Australia
- Usona Institute
- Ibogaine Addiction Treatment
- Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research (CPCR)
- Psychedelic and Entheogen Academic Council
Recommended Researchers & People – Their Studies On Or Experience With Psychedelics
- James Fadiman psychologist and researcher
- Ken Kesey novelist, essayist, and countercultural figure
- Jeremy Narby, anthropologist
- Sam Harris neuroscientist and philosopher
- Albert Hofmann chemist
- Richard Alpert AKA Ram psychologist and spiritual teacher
- Alexander Shulgin medicinal chemist, biochemist, organic chemist, pharmacologist, psychopharmacologist, and author
- Kennett Roshi – roshi (Japanese Buddhist Monk)
- Bill Wilson co-founder of alcoholics anonymous
- David Jay Brown writer, interviewer and researcher
- Michael Pollan author, journalist and professor
- Kary Mullis biochemist
- Roland Griffiths professor in the neuropsychopharmacology of consciousness professor of Psychiatry and behavioral sciences
- Dan Engle medical director specializes in Psychiatry and Neurology
- Martin Polanco psychiatrist and neurologist
- Peter Frank author
- Adam Gazzaley neuroscientist, author, photographer, entrepreneur and inventor
- Steven Kotler author, journalist, and entrepreneur
- Amy Emerson Chief Executive Officer (MAPS PBC)
- Darren Aronofsky filmmaker and screenwriter.
- Dr. Gabor Maté physician
- Aubrey Marcus founder and CEO of Onnit
- Joe Rogan podcaster
- Ian Faulkner journalist, inventor and health researcher
- Stanislav Grof psychiatrist
- Aldous Huxley writer and philosopher
- Jack Kornfield author and teacher
- James Oroc author, photographer and adventurer.
*notable mention: Scott Adams – although not added to the list on Tim’s psychedelic shows page, Scott speaks a lot about psychedelics in his own podcast and has appeared on the Tim Ferris show before, so. I included him here.
Psychedelics Recommended Articles
I’ll continue to update this page regularly so visit this page from time to time to see new additions.
“The answer is never the answer. What’s really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you’ll always be seeking. I’ve never seen anybody really find the answer, but they think they have. So they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer.” – Ken Kesey