{"id":1889,"date":"2020-12-01T14:40:15","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T14:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/?p=1889"},"modified":"2020-12-28T14:44:14","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T14:44:14","slug":"december-2020-good-to-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/2020\/12\/01\/december-2020-good-to-read\/","title":{"rendered":"december 2020 \u2013 good to read"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div><\/div>

American Trip: Set and Setting and the Psychedelic Experience in the Twentieth Century<\/h3>\t\t\t

Ido Hartogsohn<\/strong>
\nThe author examines how the psychedelic experience in America was shaped by historical, social, and cultural forces\u2014by set (the mindset of the user) and setting (the environments in which the experience takes place). He explores uses of psychedelics that range from CIA and military experimentation to psychedelic-inspired styles in music, fashion, design, architecture, and film, while introducing us to a cast of characters including Betty Eisner, a psychologist who drew on her own experience to argue for the therapeutic potential of LSD, and Timothy Leary, who founded the Harvard Psilocybin Project and went on to become psychedelics’ most famous advocate.Hartogsohn chronicles these developments in the context of the era’s cultural trends, including the cold war, the counterculture, the anti-psychiatric movement, and the rise of cybernetics.
\nMIT Press, July 2020<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"\"<\/div><\/div>

Bent Coppers: The Story of The Man Who Arrested John Lennon, George Harrison and Brian Jones<\/h3>\t\t\t

Norman Pilcher<\/strong>
\nIn London, in the late Sixties, the police to arrested as many \u201cbig names\u201d as possible in order to deter England\u2019s youth from taking drugs. This is the story of the man nicknamed \u201cGroupie Pilcher\u201d for being seen in pics with his high-profile arrests. He was later arrested himself for fabricating entries in his police records, a common practice then, it seems. Pilcher was convicted of perjury and spent four years in jail. His memoir paints a grim picture of a partially corrupt police force, hellbent on making the most of its power by leaking photos of busts to the press for pay, but rarely planting drugs on suspects, he claims. A sobered Pilcher advocates the legalization of all drugs. Lennon\u2019s \u201cI Am the Walrus\u201d is supposed to be about him. John later sent him a postcard from Japan: \u201cYou can\u2019t get me now!\u201d Coo-cook-a-choo. (sgs)
\nClink Street, September 2020<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"\"<\/div><\/div>

Hero’s Dose: The Case for Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy<\/h3>\t\t\t

Derek Beres<\/strong>
\nPsychedelic rituals have given societies meaning for thousands of years. The plants and fungi known as psychedelics were showing tremendous mental health benefits in the 1950s and 60s. Suddenly, they were outlawed. A half-century later, a renaissance has begun. In\u00a0Hero\u2019s Dose<\/em>, journalist Derek Beres explores his quarter-century journey with psychedelics and reviews the latest science on their role in mental health treatments. He investigates the reasons psychedelics were demonized, questioning why psychiatry turned its back on this promising field of research. Beres also considers the protocols psychedelics could replace by looking at antidepressants with a critical eye. He makes a convincing case that ritual and therapy are synonymous with optimal mental health, and that psychedelics are uniquely qualified to address some of the greatest social problems of our age.
\nOutside the Box, October 2020<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"\"<\/div><\/div>

Visionary Path Tarot. A 78-Card Deck<\/h3>\t\t\t

Lucy Delics<\/strong>
\nThis is a new, \u201cpsychedelic inspired, oracle-deck featuring magical esoteric symbols, shamanic plant medicines, Tarot archetypes and high-vibration patterns,\u201d yet there is more to Lucy\u2019s art than mushrooms and patterns. The symbolism of these beautiful cards takes its inspiration from traditional interpretations of the tarot and its archetypes, reflecting them in strong images. The accompanying booklet tells the story of the artist\u2019s shamanic initiation into various cultures, and describes each card, giving them their meaning. Lucy Delics, originally from the UK, lives in the Andes with her family these days and reflects the spiritual world around her in her delicate psychedelic work. I wish these cards were printed on a kind of cardboard one could easily color though. (sgs)
\nBear Company, November 2020<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"\"<\/div><\/div>

Listening to Ecstasy. The Transformative Power of MDMA<\/h3>\t\t\t

Charles Winniger, LP, LMHC<\/strong>
\nIn this memoir, the author, a licensed psychoanalyst and mental health counselor, details the ways that Ecstasy has helped him become a better therapist and husband. He writes about his coming of age in the 1960s counterculture, his fifty years of experimentation with mind-altering substances, and his immersion in the psychedelic renaissance. He explains how he and his wife found Ecstasy to be the key to renewing and enriching their lives as they entered their senior years. Countering the fearful propaganda that surrounds this drug, Wininger describes what the experience actually feels like and explores the value of Ecstasy and similar substances for helping psychologically healthy individuals live a more \u201coptimal\u201d life. He provides protocols for the responsible, recreational, and celebrational use of MDMA, including how to perfect the experience, maximize the benefits and minimize the risks, and how it may not be for everyone.
\nBear Company, November 2020\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ido Hartogsohn The author examines how the psychedelic experience in America was shaped by historical, social, and cultural forces\u2014by set (the mindset of the user) and setting (the environments in which the experience takes place). He explores uses of psychedelics that range from CIA and military experimentation to psychedelic-inspired styles in music, fashion, design, architecture,Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1889"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1889"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1891,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1889\/revisions\/1891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaiamedia.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}