Journeys into the bright world

Psychological: To a large extent the spirit of the times determines what is or is not considered the proper pursuit of science. If a sick child who has been separated from his parents and subjected to a painful operation has a strange dream after being given a knockout ketamine cocktail of mixed anesthetics, then this happenstance may be mentioned in a medical journal along with cautionary advice on how to avoid such "emergence reactions." But if John Jones takes fifty-milligrams of ketamine and lifts off into the inner dimensions of consciousness his mental perigrinations are written off as muddled fantasies.

Glancing through the hundreds of titles contained in the bibliography of ketamine literature issued by Parke-Davis, Inc. my eye was caught by such articles as "Sedation and Anesthesia of the Virginia Opossum, Didelphis Virginiana," "Ketamine HCI as an Anesthetic for Birds" and "Studies on Fluorescence and Binding of 8-anilino-l-napthalene sulfonate by Submitochondrial Particles." To date, however, we have not seen one officially sanctioned investigation of the effects produced when intelligent human beings use ketamine in order to explore their own higher mental faculties. Throughout the world of academia there still seems to be an implicit assumption that the intuitive realizations of the supra-conscious self are somehow less "authentic" than the instinctual drives of sex and aggression generated in the murky depths of the unconscious.

Hundreds of clinical studies of LSD have reported almost uniformly positive results. They have shown that properly used the drug can stimulate accurate perceptions, produce valuable insights and facilitate adjustments to the exigencies of Earthside circumstances. Accounts of hypnogogic, psychedelic, clairvoyant and dream states show overlapping qualities, like feathers on the same wing. What they have in common are relaxed ego boundaries, a sense of transcendence, richness of imagery, suggestibility, suspension of logical thinking, profound emotion, the glorification of coincidence and of symbols and the feeling of entering an alternate-or greater-dimension of meaning in which everything relates to everything else. Typical of this state of mind is the response given by our friend Lynn Powell when Howard asked him, "Where are you now?"

"I'm right here," he replied. "And so is everything else in the universe."

Despite these interesting effects virtually all research involving psychedelic substances is now banned. At present anyone can obtain a supply of mind-expanding pills from his friendly local hippie. Reach for your wallet, and the supply is established. But in our topsy-turvy society the study of subconscious repressions is encouraged while studies of supra-conscious modes of expression are repressed. Encounter groups which teach us how to release pent-up anger are all the rage, but most people who tap the love-stream that flows from the heart of a beneficent universe are afraid or ashamed to admit it. Now, however, we are being given a second chance. Because of its proven harmlessness, short-term action and lack of negative after-effects, ketamine can once again open the door to officially sanctioned studies of alternate realities. With a little less "ology" and a little more "psyche" modern psychology may still rise to the challenge.

Therapeutic: The psycho-spiritual needs of the various people with whom we have worked are so diverse that it would require a lengthy treatise to explore this subject in any truly meaningful way. The main point to remember is that the ultimate therapist is the "high self" or soul in man. By making connections with this inner mentor, outer problems, whatever they may be, can be more effectively handled. Pipelines constructed to a boundless reservoir of universal peace and compassion can be used to irrigate the lowlands of the psyche. Quandries can be clarified, knots untangled and tensions relieved, simply because the requisite alinements have been made.

Because the emphasis is placed on "being" rather than on "doing" some subjects may feel as though nothing much has happened. It can be hard for certain rigidly controlled and controlling people to drop their defenses sufficiently to realize that the general process of learning to direct mental energy can be as important as specific methods of information-gathering. "Letting the soul shine through" seems to them a less worthy occupation than bringing home a paycheck or tidying a house. In such cases the realization that life is not so much a problem to be solved as a reality to be experienced may represent a significant psychological advance.