Observations placeholder
Leary, Timothy - The Concord Prison Experiment
Identifier
017380
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
In the early 1960s, Harvard University became a testing ground for psilocybin, through the efforts of Timothy Leary and his associates Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert (who later changed his name to Ram Dass). Leary obtained synthesized psilocybin from Hofmann through Sandoz pharmaceutical.
Some studies, such as the Concord Prison Experiment, suggested promising results in clinical psychiatry, but the key was that Leary did not give he inmates psilocybin he have them mushrooms.
Dr Leary's experiments aimed to try to measure the effect of giving mushrooms to prison inmates, this is just one of several observations in the book quoted.
Here are two of the reports
A description of the experience
Dr Timothy Leary – High Priest
Report number one
There was a long silence.
Then we heard Willy moaning softly and moving restlessly on the couch. I turned and looked at him and said Willy, are you all right?
There was apprehension in my voice. Everyone in the room swung his head anxiously to look and listen for the answer.
Willy lifted his head, gave a big grin, and said Man, am I all right? I'm in heaven and I can't believe it! Here I am in heaven man, and I'm stoned out of my mind, and I'm swinging like I've never been before and it's all happening in prison and you ask me man, am I all right? What a laugh!
And then he laughed and we all laughed and suddenly we were all high and happy and chuckling at what we had done, bringing music and love and beauty and serenity and fun and the seed of life into that grim dreary prison
Report number two
I reached the top. There was the same rock, the softness of it is still here.
On this rock was a man. A man both young and old. He had about his slim body a liquid robe of the bluest blue. He had his hands folded in his lap.
His fingers seemed to glow. They were long and bony and his hands seemed slim and fine. He was looking into the sky and did not hear me. He had long woman like hair, smooth and shiny and black, coal black.