FROM  CASTALIA  TO  MAUI  WOWIE:  

On  the  Problematics  of  Instituting  a  California  Religion  of  Psychedelia,  1960-­‐19721  

Josef  Chytry  

University  of  California,  Berkeley    

&  
California  College  of  the  Arts  
 

Religion  in  California  Conference  

University  of  California,  Berkeley  
25  April  2014  
 

Professor  Josef  Chytry  

F402-­‐7  IBI  
Haas  School  of  Business  #1930  
University  of  California  
Berkeley,  CA    94720-­‐1930  
Tel  510-­‐643-­‐1631  
Fax  510-­‐642-­‐2826  
Email:  chytry@haas.berkeley.edu

                                                                                                                     
1
 Presented  as  an  invited  paper  at  the  Religion  in  California  Conference,  University  of  California,  Berkeley,  25  April  
2014.    My  thanks  to  the  conference  organizers  Ed  Blume,  Lynne  Gerber,  and  Jason  Sexton  for  their  kind  invitation.  I  
am  especially  grateful  for  the  helpful  responses  to  my  queries  by  Ralph  Metzner  and  Dion  Wright.    Finally,  I  am    
grateful  for  the  opportunity  of  conversations  with  Lama  Anagarika  Govinda  at  his  home  in  Mill  Valley,  California,  
during  1980-­‐1984.  

1  
 
  
“Once  he  had  so  seen  and  experienced  it:  the  Order  and  the    Castalian  
Spirit  as  the  divine  and  absolute,  the  Province  as  the  universe,    
the  Castalians  as  humanity,  and  the  non-­‐Castalian  part  as  a  kind  of    
children’s  world,  a  preliminary  stage  to  the  Province.”  
            Hermann  Hesse2  
 
“High!  High!  High!  We  will  get  it  on  and  keep  it  going  ….    
Light  is  the  language  of  the  sun  and  the  stars  where  we  will  meet  again.”  
      Timothy  Leary,  shortly  before  his  death  in  19963  
 
“California  didn’t  invent  LSD,  of  course,  but  it  certainly  played  a  major  role    
in  defining  its  use.”  
              Jay  Stevens4  
 
 

One   of   the   more   provocative   features   of   the   decade   of   the   1960s   (the   so-­‐called  

‘”Sixties”)   was   the   rise   of   the   phenomenon   of   a   “psychedelic   culture,”   often   interconnected  

with  the  concept  of  a  “counterculture”  yet  distinguishable  from  it.    An  important  aspect  of  such  

a  psychedelic  culture  was  its  claims  of  helping  to  initiate  a  new  religion  or  religiosity  inseparable  

from   the   luminous   experiences   presumably   granted   by   the   effects   of   a   host   of   psychedelic  

potions,  including  mescalin,  psilosybin  and  particularly  LSD.5  

Such   experiences   were   associated   with   a   body   of   literature   and   texts   that   presumably  

verified   or   highlighted   key   features   of   what   were   regarded   as   supremely   spiritual   or   religious  

visions   or   enlightenments   that   might   be   compared   with   those   of   more   mainstream   religions  

such   as   Buddhism,   Hinduism,   and   Christianity.     In   some   cases   efforts   were   made   to   integrate  

accounts   of   those   experiences   with   specific   events   delineated   in   such   texts.     In   time   the  

                                                                                                                     
2
 Hesse  [1971],  419.  
3
 Cited  in  Greenfield  [2006],  596,  598.  
4
 Stevens  [1987],  358.  
5
 Although  a  number  of  psychedelic  elixirs  were  used  throughout  the  period  under  consideration,  in  this  account  
emphasis  will  be  given  to  the  use  of  LSD-­‐25.  

2  
 
prospect  was  suggested  of  perhaps  a  new  ritual  or  rituals  coming  into  being  that  would  sculpt  

out  of  psychedelic  culture  a  psychedelic  religion  of  stature  and  competing  value.  

This  paper  takes  a  look  at  such  an  ambition  by  focusing  on  some  of  the  texts  that  played  

a  key  role  in  its  development  during  the  earlier  stages.    The  first  set  of  texts  covers  the  history  

of   the   idea   of   an   alternative   culture   that   originated   in   the   German   author   Johann   Wolfgang  

Goethe’s   account   of   a   “pedagogical   province”   in   Wilhelm   Meister’s   Journeyman   Years   [Wilhelm  

Meisters   Wanderjahre]   (1829)   and   that   formed   the   later   basis   for   his   twentieth-­‐century  

follower  Hermann  Hesse’s  vision  of  a  future  community  called  Castalia  in  The  Glass  Bead  Game  

[Das  Glasperlenspiel]  (1943).    The  second  set  of  texts  includes  contemporary  writings  by  such  

intellectuals   as   Aldous   Huxley  and  Alan   Watts   during   the   1950s   and   early   1960s   that  developed  

such   themes   and   sometimes   even   envisaged   possible   “psychedelic”   utopias   such   as   Huxley’s  

Island   (1962).     The   final   set   of   texts   covers   traditional   ”sacred”   writings   that   were   seen   as  

invaluable  guides  and  possible  duplicates  of  what  might  emerge  as  the  facets  of  a  psychedelic  

religion.    Such  texts  included  the  Chinese  I  Ching,  The  Tibetan  Book  of  the  Dead,  Lao  Tzu’s  Tao  

Te  King,  the  Hindu  Bhagavat  Gita,  and  the  Christian  New  Testament.  

California   served   as   the   cultural   and   ideological   site   for   some   of   these   more   radically  

directed   experiments   both   before   1960   and   after   1964.     Accordingly   the   paper   goes   on   to  

consider   the   different   phases   of   distinctly   Californian   attempts   to   found   a   religion   of  

psychedelia,   starting   with   early   currents   that   became   attached   to   Timothy   Leary   and  

psychedelic  chemists  in  the  San  Francisco  Bay  Area  and  culminating  in  the  phenomenon  of  the  

3  
 
Brotherhood  of  Eternal  Love  in  Laguna  Beach  with  its  final  attempt  at  establishing  a  psychedelic  

community  on  the  Hawaiian  island  of  Maui  in  1970.      

In   the   final   part   of   the   paper,   some   shortcomings   within   this   movement   will   merit   a  

concluding   set   of   reflections.     Such   reflections   will   revisit   later   relevant   critics   as   well   as  

comments  by  leading  exponents  of  the  more  serious  branches  of  this  movement.      

1.  

  In  the  Beginning  was  the  Morgenlandfahrt:  “the  Journey  to  the  East”.    

Annealed   by   the   travails   of   post-­‐World   War   I   anguish   combined   with   waxing  

eschatological   aspirations,   the   prospects   of   such   a   Journey   drove   its   acolytes   towards   if   not  

necessarily  the  geographical  East  or  Orient,  at  least  -­‐-­‐  as  author  Hermann  Hesse  so  memorably  

put  it  -­‐-­‐  “toward  the  Dawn,  toward  Home”:  

For   our   goal   was   not   only   the   East,   or   rather:   our   East   was   not   only   a   land   and  
something   geographical,   but   it   was   the   Home   and   Youth   of   the   Soul,   it   was   the  
everything  and  nothing,  it  was  the  becoming-­‐one  [Einswerden]  of  all  times.”6  
 
And   before   too   long   these   same   pilgrims   were   rewarded   with   a   unique   vision   of   (apparent)  

Arrival:     the   Pedagogical   Province   (die   pädagogische   Provinz),   along   with   its   most   precious  

jewel,   the   magical   land   of   Castalia,   a   vision   explicitly   dedicated   by   its   author   to   die  

Morgenlandfahrer,  those  intrepid  Journeyers  to  the  East.  

  By  the  1930s  and  1940s  Hermann  Hesse  had  become  an  established  German  author  and  

essayist,  even  the  winner  in  1946  of  the  Nobel  Prize  in  Literature.    His  vogue  faded  somewhat  in  
                                                                                                                     
6
 Hesse  [1959],  17,  32.  The  German  word  Morgenlandfahrt  carries  the  implication  both  of  “East”  and  of  “Dawn”  
(Morgen).  

4  
 
the  1950s,  then  picked  up  in  the  1960s  to  provide  the  set  of  indispensable  texts  for  the  Sixties  

versions   of   the   Journeyers   to   the   East.     Hesse   the   man   had   clearly   dabbled   in   possibilities   of  

visionary   elixirs,   as   confirmed   by   such   novels   as   Der   Steppenwolf   (1927),7   and   he   had   produced  

a  formidable  body  of  adult  fairy-­‐tale  stories,  yet  ultimately  as  the  son  of  missionaries  who  had  

experienced   the   non-­‐Christian   East,   he   showed   himself   a   serious   admirer   of   non-­‐Western  

religiosities  such  as  Hinduism,  Buddhism,  and  above  all  the  Taoism  of  the  I  Ching  (“the  I  Ching  

can  transform  a  life,”  he  once  averred).8      

Hesse  was  also  a  lifetime  admirer  of  the  German  author  Johann  Wolfgang  Goethe.    In  

1829  Goethe  completed  a  life-­‐long  association  with  his  created  character  Wilhelm  Meister  by  

bringing  him  to  a  “pedagogical  Utopia,”  where  in  the  midst  of  multiple  wanderings  Meister  is  

received  in  a  “pedagogical  province”  which  Goethe  describes  with  his  customary  acumen.  This  

province   is   founded   on   “Song”   and   “Music,”   its   pedagogy   gestural   and   symbol-­‐forming.   The  

Goethean  symbol,  or  archetype,  substitutes  for  Platonic  forms  in  order  to  extend  the  program  

of   Platonic   paideia   through   four   grades   of   reverence   representing   four   stages   of   religious  

education   by   which   Goethe   guides   his   characters   to   eventually   enter   the   world   properly   and  

produce  a  viable  community  life.9    

Hesse  was  clearly  inspired  by  this  work  for  the  schema  of  his  novel  The  Glass  Bead  Game  

(Das  Glasperlenspiel)  (1943)10  with  its  evocation  of  a  universal  game  conveying  major  traditions  

                                                                                                                     
7
 But  not  apparently  psychedelics,  at  least  not  mescaline.  See  Leary  [1998],  193.    
8
 As  Hesse  noted  much  later,  “the  religions  and  philosophies  of    India  and  China,  among  others,  play  a  role  in  The  
Glass  Bead  Game“  (letter  of  30/31  January  1957).    Michels  [1973-­‐1974],  i:  300.  
9
 Goethe  [1981],  151,  152,  252,  256-­‐258.  For  resemblances  with  Plato’s  Cretan  Utopia,  see  Laws  (Nomoi).  817;  also  
Chytry  [1989]  62-­‐64.  
10
 See  the  moderate  account  in  Hahn  [2009],  409ff.    Hahn  cites  Theodore  Ziolkowski’s  explicit  distinction  between  
Goethe’s  choice  of  “Meister”  (“master”)  for  his  hero  and  Hesse’s  choice  of  “Knecht”  (“servant”)  for  his.  

5  
 
of   thought,   religion,   spirituality,   art,   music,   and   literature   into   a   master   game   played   by   the  

members  of  an  elite  community  he  dubbed  “Castalia”  –  derived  from  the  mythical  spring  of  the  

Muses  at  Delphi  –  some  four  centuries  into  the  future.  Although  Hesse  himself  did  not  envisage  

a   specific   structure   for   the   game   (his   later   tip   was   that   his   original   model   had   been   a   childhood  

deck   of   cards   portraying   cultural-­‐artistic   heroes   on   their   surfaces),11   its   promise   of   an  

universitas   litterarum,   the   synthesis   of   all   the   spiritual-­‐aesthetic-­‐religious   strivings   of   previous  

humankind,   would   strongly   impact   the   imaginations   of   a   group   of   researchers   and  

experimenters  who  came  to  form  the  “Harvard  Psychedelic  Club”  during  1960-­‐1963.12  

This   group   was   no   less   influenced   by   the   entry   of   the   Californian   author   and   thinker  

Aldous   Huxley   into   their   ranks   in   1960.     Huxley   represented   some   of   the   early   effects   of   the  

onset   of   psychedelic   experimentation   in   the   1950s   to   which   he   gave   his   distinctive   reading   and  

direction.  A  transplanted  Briton,  Huxley  had  arrived  in  California  in  1938  along  with  his  friend  

and   colleague   Gerald   Heard   who   joined   other   Britons   such   as   Christopher   Isherwood   in  

concerns  for  the  future  evolution  of  the  human  species  and  the  relevance  of  Eastern  religious  

traditions   such   as   Vedanta   Hinduism   and   Zen   Buddhism   for   that   evolution.     These   concerns  

corresponded  to  the  availability  since  1949  of  the  psycho-­‐chemical  LSD-­‐25  first  synthesized  by  

Albert  Hofmann  in  Switzerland  in  1938  and  experienced  by  him  in  his  classic  bicycle  trip  on  19  

April  1943.  Throughout  the  1950s  LSD  was  used  for  psychotherapeutic  and  recreational  ends  in  

the   Los   Angeles   area,   eventually   even   claiming   Hollywood   superstar   Cary   Grant   as   one   of   its  
                                                                                                                     
11
 See  Michels  [1973-­‐1974],  i:291  ,  for  Hesse’s  1953  account  of  this  “Kinder-­‐Kartenspiel”  containing  such  names  as  
Shakespeare,  Raphael,  and  Dickens.  
12
 A  good  insight  into  how  Timothy  Leary  and  Ralph  Metzner  regarded  Hesse  and  his  work  is  the  1964  essay  “Poet  
of  the  Interior  Journey”  in  Leary  [1998],  176-­‐194.  The  authors  significantly  note  that  “groups  which  attempt  to  
apply  psychedelic  experience  to  social  living  will  find  in  the  story  of  Castalia  all  the  features  and  problems  which  
such  attempts  inevitably  encounter”  (190).  

6  
 
most   fervent   advocates.13     Besides,   natural   psychedelics   such   as   psilocybin   mushrooms,  

mescaline  peyote  and  ayahuasca  (“yagé”)  had  already  formed  part  of  the  Bohemian  and  Beat  

scene   in   San   Francisco.14     However,   it   was   Huxley   whose   friendship   with   British   psychiatrist  

Humphry  Osmond  led  to  Huxley’s  famous  mescaline  experience  in  1953  in  the  Hollywood  Hills  

and  downtown  Los  Angeles,  resulting  in  his  influential  1954  account  The  Doors  of  Perception,  

followed  soon  enough  –  again,  via  Osmond  –  by  Huxley’s  ingestion  of  LSD  in  1955.  

Until   Huxley’s   intervention,   psychedelics   had   generally   belonged   to   the   category   of  

medical   research   and   the   psychiatric   professions.     Huxley,   along   with   Heard,   changed   the  

language  to  one  of  “mystical  religious  experience”  and  converted  both  Osmond  and  Hofmann,  

as   well   as   (temporarily)   the   physician   Sidney   Cohen,   toward   regarding   LSD   as   providing   “a  

transcendental  experience.”15  Indeed,  thanks  to  Huxley’s  influence,  Osmond  would  change  the  

usual   term   for   such   experiences   from   hallucinogenic   (which   suggested   mental   illness)   to  

psychedelic   (which   carried   the   positive   connotation   of   a   visionary   state),   a   term   which   Osmond  

introduced  to  the  professional  guild  in  1956.16  Indeed,  by  1957  Cohen’s  professional  colleague  

Betty  Grover  Eisner  would  be  describing  the  LSD  experience  as  “one  in  which  a  subject  glimpses  

the   unity   of   the   cosmos.”17   Eventually,   however,   the   psychiatric   profession   reacted,   attacking  

“West  Coast  investigators”  as  biased  in  favor  of  LSD,  and  Cohen  himself  began  to  have  second  

                                                                                                                     
13
 Grant  brought  up  his  use  of  LSD  in  1959  to  a  Hollywood  gossip  columnist,  stirring  up  huge  media  coverage  of  
LSD.    See  Novak  [1997],  103,  for  details.  
14
 In  terms  of  communication  between  the  two  metropolitan  centers  of  California,  It  may  be  worth  noting  that  
Alan  Watts  who  was  based  in  San  Francisco  since  the  early  1950s  had  his  first  mescaline  experiences  through  Dr.  
Oscar  Janiger  who  was  associated  with  Los  Angeles  medical  experiments.    Like  Huxley  and  Heard,  the  British-­‐born  
Watts  had  immigrated  to  the  U.S.  in  1938.  
15
 Novak  [1997],  93,  94  (see  also  the  1957  photo  of  Heard,  philosophy  professor  Abraham  Kaplan,  and  Huxley  at  
Huxley’s  home  in  the  Hollywood  Hills).  
16
 Novak  [1997],  95.  
17
 Cited  in  Novak  [1997]  96.  

7  
 
thoughts   when   adherents   began   to   make   suggestions   such   as   that   the   LSD   experience  

confirmed   Eastern   notions   of   reincarnation.     Already   then   around   1961   the   FDA   and   Federal  

Bureau  of  Narcotics  had  begun  an  early  crackdown  –  well  before,  it  might  be  noted,  the  later  

more  publicized  crackdowns  related  to  Timothy  Leary’s  advocacy.    In  short,  it  is  more  accurate  

to  hold  that  the  psychedelic  movement  began  not  in  Harvard  or  later  in  San  Francisco  during  

the   1960s,   “but   in   Los   Angeles   in   the   late   1950s”   thanks   mainly   to   Huxley’s   (and   Heard’s)  

reframing  of  the  LSD  experience  as  mystical  or  religious.18  

This  was  the  formidable  personality19  who  happened  to  be  a  visiting  professor  at  next-­‐

door  MIT  on  the  invitation  of  philosopher  of  religion  Huston  Smith  when  Timothy  Leary,  Richard  

Alpert,   and   Ralph   Metzner,   among   others,   combined   to   launch   the   Harvard   Psychedelic   Project  

in  1960.  

2.  

A   committed   “Californian”   since   arriving   in   the   Golden   State   in   1947,   Timothy   Leary  

received   his   Ph.D.   at   the   University   of   California,   Berkeley,   in   clinical   psychology   in   1950   and  

worked  academically  on  the  campus,  as  well  as  professionally  for  the  Kaiser  Hospital  system  in  

Oakland,  until  1958.20    After  his  wife’s  suicide  in  1955,  he  slowly  made  his  way  into  Bohemian  

circles   in   San   Francisco   and   Morocco,   and   managed   to   receive   an   offer   from   Harvard   to  

                                                                                                                     
18
 Following  Novak  [1997],  109.  
19
 Although  Huxley  enjoys  a  mixed  reputation  in  intellectual  circles  for  such  pursuits,  no  less  an  intellectual  
authority  than  Oxford  philosopher  Isaiah  Berlin  has  seen  fit  to  declare:  “I  must  own  that  I  think  him  wholly  right  to  
have  directed  his  excellent  mind  towards  the  problems  of  psychophysical  relationships  and  the  control  of  mental  –  
or  what  he  would  have  preferred  to  call  spiritual  –  factors.”  Berlin  [1980],  140-­‐141.  
20
 Leary  claimed  that  as  soon  as  he  first  saw  the  Golden  Gate  Bridge,  he  became  a  “Californian.”    Leary  [1990],  146.  

8  
 
undertake   clinical   experiments   linked   to   the   use   of   psychedelics   during   1960-­‐1963   where   he  

met  Richard  Alpert  and  student  Ralph  Metzner.  

Although   Leary’s   experience   of   psilocybin   mushrooms   in   Mexico   in   the   summer   of   1960  

could   be   said   to   mark   his   first   entry   into   psychedelic   domains   (he   would   describe   it   as   “the  

deepest  religious  experience  of  my  life”),  it  was  Leary’s  later  ingestion  of  LSD  in  December  1961  

–   “the   most   shattering   experience   of   my   life”   -­‐-­‐   which   markedly   directed   him   away   from   the  

more   scientific-­‐psychological   concerns   that   had   already   earned   him   a   professional   reputation  

into   the   “religious”   implications   of   those   domains.21   By   then   Leary   had   been   introduced   to  

Huxley’s  work  The  Doors  of  Perception  through  a  graduate  student,  as  well  as  to  Huxley  himself,  

and   in   January   1962   he   and   Alpert   were   writing   the   introduction   to   Alan   Watts’   book   The  

Joyous   Cosmology   which   they,   as   well   as   its   author,   explicitly   presented   as   an   extension   and  

deepening   of   Huxley’s   book   on   the   psychedelic   experience.22     By   this   stage   Leary   and   Alpert  

were   found   sponsoring   “philosophers   of   the   religious   experience”   and   pointing   out   the  

necessity  for  proper  “set,  and  setting,  expectation  and  atmosphere”  as  well  as  drawing  on  the  

relevance  of  “the  nondualistic  conceptions  of  Eastern  philosophy”  in  order  to  induce  the  kind  of  

religiosity  that  psychedelics  might  promise.23  

 The   Harvard   Psilocybin   Project   was   eventually   shut   down   and   Leary   and   Alpert   found  

themselves   out   of   jobs,   but   one   of   its   most   momentous   experimental   achievements   took   place  

as  the  so-­‐called  Good  Friday  Experiment  of  1962  which  was  held  in  a  chapel  in  which  seminary  

students   were   tested   in   a   double-­‐bind   experiment,   the   aim   being   to   test   whether   psilocybin  
                                                                                                                     
21
 Greenfield  [  2006],  167;  Lattin  [2010],  57.  
22
 The  student  was  George  Litwin.  Greenfield  [2006],  116.  
23
 Leary  &  Alpert    “Foreword”  to  Watts  [1970],  x,  xii,  xiii.      

9  
 
could  produce  an  “authentic  religious  experience.”  Huston  Smith,  a  student  of  world  religions,  

regarded  his  own  experience  on  that  occasion  of  “God’s  personal  nature”  as  the  strongest  of  his  

life.24  

Inspired   by   these   and   similar   encouragements,   the   group   embarked   on   the   ambitious  

project  of  creating  a  community  for  the  continuation  of  their  psychedelic  explorations.    During  

the   summer   of   1963   they   unsuccessfully   tried     locations   in   Mexico,   Antigua,   and   Dominica   in  

their  efforts  to  realize  Huxley’s  more  recent  utopian  vision  in  his  1962  book  Island  to  create  a  

psychedelic   utopia.25     Eventually,   thanks   to   wealthy   sympathizers   they   were   provided   the  

estate   of   Millbrook   in   New   York   state   and   their   venture   adopted   the   name   “Castalia”   from  

Hesse’s  novel,  thanks  probably  mainly  to  the  influence  of  the  German  Ralph  Metzner:  “Those  

who  lived  in  the  big  house  at  Millbrook  consciously  modeled  their  lives  after  the  book.”26  For  

this   venture   key   Eastern   texts   such   as   the   I   Ching   and   the   Tao   Te   King   –   but   especially   the  

Tibetan   Book   of   the   Dead   which   Huxley   particularly   espoused   –   gave   these   “psychedelic  

explorers”  important  guidance  for  the  cultivation  of  a  psychedelic  religious  ritual.27  

3.  

  In   retrospect,   1963-­‐65   may   be   regarded   as   the   key   period   of   Leary’s   and   Castalia’s  

efforts  at  forming  a  religion  of  psychedelia  with  its  distinctive  rituals.    Two  relevant  major  works  

                                                                                                                     
24
 Lattin  [2010],  78-­‐84.    Leary  thought  at  the  time  that  such  experiences  of  multiple  realities  “leads  to  a  polytheistic  
view  of  the  universe”  (cited  on  82).  
25
 Lattin  [2010],  108-­‐109.  
26
 Greenfield  [2006],  208.  For  Leary  and  Metzner  “Hesse  is  the  master  guide  to  the  psychedelic  experience  and  its  
application.”    “Poet  of  the  Interior  Journey”  (1964),  in  Leary  [1998],  192.  
27
 Leary’s  frequent  use  of  the  term  “psychedelic  explorers”  resembles  his  (and  Metzner’s)  translation  of  Hesse’s  
Morgenlandfahrer  into  the  English  “League  of  Eastern  Wayfarers.”  Leary  [1997],  36;  Leary  [1998],  184.    Since  this  
period  it  has  become  increasingly  common  in  psychedelic  literature  to  employ  the  term  “psychonaut.”    The  term  is  
probably  derived  from  German  author  Ernst  Jünger’s  use  of  Psychonaut  in  his  writings  on  drug  experiences.    For  
accounts  of  Jünger’s  friendship  and  LSD  journeys  with  Albert  Hofmann,  see  Hofmann  [2013],  110-­‐126.  

10  
 
emerged   from   their   labors:   the   co-­‐authored   The   Psychedelic   Experience   (1964)   and   Leary’s  

Psychedelic  Prayers  (1966).    Along  with  other  relevant  writings  of  the  period  including  articles  

published   in   their   journal   The   Psychedelic   Review,   these   works   furnish   the   results   of   a  

formidable  collaboration  in  group  experimentation  and  mystical  experience.  

  Huxley’s  Island  ceremonies  utilizing  incense,  dance,  and  Sanskrit  chants,  as  well  as  the  

Harvard  Project’s  use  of  incense,  favorite  poems,  recitals  from  sacred  texts,  and  “spontaneous”  

input,28  already  suggested  some  intriguing  possibilities  for  a  ritual  appropriate  to  a  religion  of  

psychedelia.     The   Psychedelic   Experience,   however,   constituted   a   major   step   in   converging   a  

sacred   text,   W.   Y.   Evans-­‐Wentz’s   edition   of   The   Tibetan   Book   of   the   Dead,   with   the   different  

stages  of  psychedelic  experience.    Dedicated  to  Huxley  (who  had  died  the  previous  November),  

it  also  included  significant  tributes  to  Evans-­‐Wentz,  psychologist  C.G.  Jung,  and  Lama  Anagarika  

Govinda.    The  general  introduction  distinguished  “set”  –  the  individual’s  preparation,  including  

his   “personality   structure”   and   his   mood   –   and   “setting”   –   the   precise   conditions   of   the   time   of  

ingestion  to  justify  the  use  of  a  manual  of  this  order.    Just  as  the  Tibetan  manual  had  delineated  

three   stages   in   the   individual’s   process   of   undergoing   dying   and   rebirth,   so   the   psychedelic  

equivalent   marked   out   three   stages   of   (1)   complete   transcendence:   Chikhai   Bardo,   (2)   self   or  

external   game   reality:   Chőnyid   Bardo,   and   finally   (3)   return   to   “routine   game   reality”:   Sidpa  

Bardo.29  Such  helpful  tips  along  the  voyage  as  “whenever  in  doubt,  turn  off  your  mind,  relax,  

float  downstream”  came  to  be  staples  in  popular  song  such  as  the  Beatles’  “Tomorrow  Never  

                                                                                                                     
28
 Huxley  [1962],  163-­‐173,  drew  on  the  archetype  of  the  Hindu  god  Shiva  Nataraja  or  the  Cosmic  Dancer  for  his  
ceremonies.  See  also  Smith  [2000],  15-­‐32.  
29
 Although  the  text  utilizes  “games”  in  the  manner  of  behavioral  rules  and  strategies  (a  subject  dear  to  
psychologist  Leary),  it  does  distinguish  between  such  games  and  “spontaneous  play.”  Leary,  Metzner  &  Alpert  
[1964],  13  (note  *).  

11  
 
Knows”.     In   addition,   a   long   technical   section   concerned   with   matters   of   ingestion   control,  

guidance,   and   supporting   poetry   reflected   long   familiarity   in   the   multi-­‐hour   psychedelic  

experience.  

  From   this   master   manual   several   features   can   be   extracted   as   central   to   the  

expectations   that   Leary   and   Castalia   associated   with   the   religiosity   of   the   psychedelic  

experience.30     First,   psychedelic   entry   into   multicolored   geometrical   and   rhythmic   patterns  

promised  comparisons  and  affinities  with  previous  knowledges  contained  in  sacred  geometries  

as  well  as  with  some  of  the  more  advanced  visions  of  the  nature  of  reality  as  expressed  by  such  

renowned   scientists   as   Werner   Heisenberg.     Second,   the   psychedelic   experience   seemed   to  

provide   a   direct   access   to   succeeding   levels   of   sensuous,   molecular,   atomic,   and   subatomic  

layers  of  reality  that  constituted  the  scientific  account  of  the  universe  beyond  normal  human  

perception.31   Third,   the   psychedelic   experience   resembled   the   kind   of   “spirit-­‐journeys”   into  

“other”   worlds”   anthropologically   associated   with   shamans   and   other   ecstatics   of   non-­‐

industrial  religious  traditions.    Fourth,  the  psychedelic  experience  gave  the  individual  a  visceral  

experience  of  what  dying  was  like,  above  all,  the  experience  of  the  dispersion  and  dissolution  of  

the   individual   ego,   as   well   as   –   of   equal   importance   –   the   assurance   of   coming   through   such  

death  to  the  exhilarating    psychological  sensation  of  rebirth.32  And  fifth,  given  the  importance  

                                                                                                                     
30
 Leary  defined  the  “religious  experience”  as  “the  ecstatic,  incontrovertibly  certain,  subjective  discovery  of  
answers”  to  the  leading  questions  of  life  (Leary  himself  listed  seven  such  questions)  –  or,  as  “the  direct  awareness  
of  the  energy  processes  of  the  universe.”  Leary  [1998],  19,  20.  
31
 See  Leary’s  more  detailed  Table  for  his  seven  levels  of  energy  consciousness  given  in  his  1963  lecture  and  
published  in  1964  as  “The  Seven  Tongues  of  God.”    Leary  [1998],  50.  
32
 Of  all  the  arguments,  this  one  seems  to  be  most  pertinent  to  this  text,  Lama  Govinda’s  espousal  of  Tibetan  
Buddhism,  and  also  the  central  experience  of  “Awakening”  (“Erwachen”)  by  which  the  main  character  Josef  Knecht  
of  Hesse’s  novel  The  Glass  Bead  Game  both  justified  his  entry  into  Castalia  and  his  withdrawal  from  it.    Hesse  
[1971],  439.    For  Knecht  the  only  way  in  which  Castalia  and  the  “world”  could  be  reconciled  would  be  if  Castalia  
were  in  fact  “die  Welt”  rather  than  simply  a  “Weltchen  der  Welt”  (419).  

12  
 
of   group   setting   for   the   successful   achievement   of   any   or   all   of   these   goals,   the   psychedelic  

experience   encouraged   the   discovery   or   creation   of   concrete   alternative   spaces   or   utopia   –  

Huxley’s   tropic   “Island”   -­‐-­‐   initiating   and   sustaining   the   communal   possibilities   inherent   in   the  

sharing  of  such  experiences.  

  In   the   spirit   of   Hesse’s   Journey   to   the   East,   the   1964   publication   of   The   Psychedelic  

Experience  was  followed  by  Metzner’s  and  Leary’s  pilgrimage  to  India  that  fall.    In  the  Himalayas  

both  encountered  Lama  Govinda  in  whose  company  Leary  spent  a  relatively  meditative  period  

engaged  in  his  next  project  utilizing  nine  English  translations  of  Lao  Tze’s  Tao  te  King  to  produce  

what  became  the  Psychedelic  Prayers.    Lama  Govinda  had  already  asked  Metzner  to  initiate  him  

into  the  LSD  experience  and,  according  to  Metzner’s  account,  after  some  confusion  managed  to  

utilize  his  mudras  and  mantras  gleaned  from  life-­‐long  study  of  Tibetan  Buddhism  to  re-­‐center  

himself.33   According   to   Leary’s   foreword,   the   poems   were   meant   to   highlight   Taoism’s  

emphasis   on   energy   as   the   central   reality   of   all   being.     In   harmony   with   the   stages   of  

psychedelic  energy,  the  poems  supported  what  Leary  saw  as  the  six  stages  of  the  psychedelic  

experience,   starting   with   preparatory   prayers,   followed   by   invocations   of   pure   energy   flow  

before   moving   through   cellular   consciousness   and   sensory   experience,   until   the   adherent  

reached  re-­‐entry  and  post-­‐session  imprints.34    

According   to   Metzner,   these   were   “perhaps   Tim   Leary’s   most   inspired   writings”35   and  

indeed  there  is  a  sparse  dignity  to  Leary’s  minimalist  wordings  since,  as  Leary  himself  pointed  

                                                                                                                     
33
 See  the  account  in  Metzner,  Leary  [1997],  9-­‐21.    According  to  Metzner’s  more  recent  recollection,  Govinda  
ultimately  “had  a  profound  meditation”  (electronic  communication,  24  February  2014).  
34
 Leary  [1997],  39-­‐40.  
35
 Metzner,  “Introduction,”  in  Leary  [1997],  19.  

13  
 
out,   in   the   psychedelic   state   excessive   verbiage   and   elocution   are   easily   exposed   for   their  

degree  of  mere  game-­‐playing.      Each  poem  sought  instead  to  strike  the  reader  directly  with  the  

sharpness   of   primordial   clarity   within   the   different   succeeding   stages   of   the   psychedelic  

experience.  

  This  period  may  have  also  signaled  the  climax  of  converging  Castalian  priorities  with  the  

evolution  of  at  least  one  example  of  older  religious-­‐mystical  traditions.    Lama  Govinda’s  book  

Foundations   of   Tibetan   Mysticism   (1960),   by   which   he   was   then   mainly   known,   is   really   an  

elaboration   of   what   became   in   the   West   the   most   famous   Tibetan   mantra   Om   Mane   Padme  

Hum.36   While   Leary   was   composing   his   prayers   in   Lama   Govinda’s   vicinity   for   the   purposes   of   a  

psychedelic  religion,  Lama  Govinda  for  his  part  was  completing  his  semi-­‐autobiographical  work  

Way  of  the  White  Clouds  (1964)  in  explicit  service  to  the  cause  of  Tibetan  cultural  survival  so  

soon  after  the  flight  of  the  Dalai  Lama  from  Lhasa  in  1959.37    The  property  Kasar  Devi  that  Lama  

Govinda  and  his  wife  Li  Gotami  occupied  was  directly  owned  by  Evans-­‐Wentz  who  hoped  that  

the  Lama  would  eventually  turn  it  into  a  religious  center.38    Thus  the  extended  work  by  Western  

admirers   of   Tibet   to   help   preserve   and   extend   the   rich   Tibetan   mystical-­‐religious   traditions   and  

the  Castalia  project  enjoyed  a  distinctive  moment  of  common  alliance.39  

                                                                                                                     
36
 The  familiarity  of  this  work  for  students  of  consciousness  at  the  time    is  reflected  in  Norman  O.  Brown’s  
extensive  quotation  from  it  for  the  close  of  his  influential  work  Love’s  Body.    Brown  [1966],  266.    
37
 As  Govinda’s  biographer  writes,  the  “fall  of  Lhasa”  led  to  this  work.  Winkler  [1990],  172.    Meanwhile  the  Sino-­‐
Indian  border  war  of  1962  brought  these  political  issues  physically  close  to  Govinda’s  residency.    See  Govinda  
[1964],  xi-­‐xiv.    The  Psychedelic  Experience  brings  up  in  passing  that  through  “their  recent  diaspora”  the  Tibetan  
lamas  “wish  to  make  their  teachings  available  to  a  wider  public.”    Leary,  Metzner  &  Alpert  [1964],  13.  
38
 See  Winkler  [1990],  122,  124,  147-­‐150.  
39
 The  effectiveness  of  Tibetologist  Donald  S.  Lopez,  Jr.’s  subsequent  efforts  to  minimize  the  relevance  of  these  
early  admirers  of  Tibet  by  associating  them  more  with  conventional  Western  theosophical  aspirations    than  with  
genuine  understanding  of  Tibet  in  no  way  undercuts  this  importance  since  it  was  Evans-­‐Wentz  and  Govinda  among  
others  who  helped  ensure  “Tibet”  as  a  future  spiritual  symbol  and  focus  for  Westerners.    See  Lopez  [1998].  At  least  

14  
 
 Unfortunately,  after  this  “high”  came  the  Morbio  Inferiore.    Hesse’s  term  for  the  stage  at  

which  his    Journeyers  lost  their  sense  of  direction  and  mission,  it  was  applied  by  Ralph  Metzner  

to  the  state  of  disarray  that  he  and  Leary  found  upon  their  return  to  Castalia,  or  Millbrook,  in  

1965.40  From  that  period  on  the  Castalia  project  increasingly  unraveled  as  undesirable  elements  

infiltrated   and   corrupted   the   original   project   and   aims   of   Castalia,   and   it   was   finally   formally  

shut  down  in  early  1968.41  

4.  

  At   this   stage   the   project   then   shifted   back   from   the   East   Coast   to   California   proper.    

Already   alternative   proponents   for   a   psychedelic   culture   with   more   populist   visions   had  

cropped  up  on  the  California  landscape,  including  the  novelist  Ken  Kesey  with  his  crew  of  Merry  

Pranksters.42     Their   Acid   Trips   and   commitment   to   expanding   LSD   access   to   the   widest   possible  

audience   incentivized   individual   LSD   production   in   such   locales   as   Berkeley,   Point   Richmond,  

and  Windsor  in  Northern  California  before  shifting  soon  enough  to  include  Southern  California  

from  Los  Angeles  to  Laguna  Beach.  

  Abandoning  the  more  cautious  approaches  of  his  mentors  Huxley,  Osmond,  and  Smith,  

Leary  embraced  this  new  populism  with  alacrity.    At  a  June  1966  conference  held  in  Berkeley  

and   San   Francisco,   Leary   made   his   appearance   on   the   California   psychedelic   scene   with   his  

announcement  of  a  “politics  of  ecstacy”  that  meant  to  push  his  new  McLuhanesque  bite:    “turn  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
Lopez  recognizes  the  historical  importance  of  California  as  the  center  of  a  new  civilization  for  many  such  
theosophists  (55).  
40
 Metzner,  in  Leary  [1997],  20.  
41
 It  was  generally  recognized  that  Millbrook  was  finished  in  1965.    Greenfield  [2006],  238.    Formally  evicted  in  
February  1968  from  Millbrook,  Leary  moved  back  to  the  home  he  already  owned  on  Queens  Road  in  Berkeley.  
42
 The  most  entertaining  account  remains  Wolfe  [1968a]  and  [1968b].  

15  
 
on,   tune   in,   drop   out.”   The   importance   of   the   language   of   religion   that   he   had   already  

appropriated   in   the   earlier   Millbrook-­‐Castalia   period   now   segued   into   Leary’s   launching   of   a  

formally  legal  League  of  Spiritual  Discovery  on  19  September  1966  with  which  Leary  hoped  to  

capitalize  on  an  earlier  1964  California  Supreme  Court  decision  legally  approving  use  of  peyote  

for   its   rituals   by   the   indigenous   Native   American   Church.     This   was   followed   by   Leary’s   1967  

pamphlet  Start  your  own  Religion  offering  specific  instructions  on  how  to  legally  form  a  church  

based  on  the  clan  or  cult  principle:  “you  are  forming  not  only  your  own  religion,  but  your  own  

natural  political  unit.    This  is  inevitable  because  the  basic  political  unit  is  exactly  the  same  as  the  

basic  spiritual  grouping  –  the  clan.”43  Moreover,  by  late  1967  Leary  had  resolved  to  reside  again  

in  California  -­‐-­‐  the  “Hollywood”  of  image-­‐creation  -­‐-­‐  where  conditions  were  far  more  propitious  

for  his  cause.44  

  The   California   that   Leary   encountered   was   by   this   stage   far   along   the   path   of  

uncontrolled   psychedelic   experimentation,   cults,   and   visions.45     Actually   Leary’s   version   did   not  

much   attract   the   attention   of   potential   acolytes   (now   called   “hippies”   by   the   press)   although  

Leary  did  his  best  to  show  up  as  a  kind  of  trickster  “high  priest”  to  the  psychedelic  movement,  a  

turn   in   character   which   probably   help   lose   him   the   support,   notwithstanding   long-­‐term  

                                                                                                                     
43
 Leary  [1967],  4.  
44
 See  Leary’s  specific  formulation  of  his  goal  of  “Hollywood”  as  the  site  for  shaping  images  and  realities.  Leary  
[1990],  262.    Later,  after  his  1973-­‐76  incarceration,  Leary  did  move  to  the  physical  Hollywood  and  lived  there  for  
the  rest  of  his  life  (1976-­‐1996)  within  literal  proximity  to  the  house  where  Huxley  had  died  on  a  final  LSD  journey  in  
1963.  
45
 Comparing  themselves  to  the  “West  Coast  scene  at  that  time,”  Alpert/Dass  later  stated:  “We  were  serious  and  
they  weren’t.”    Dass  &  Metzner  [2010],  215.    See  also  Metzner  (221).  

16  
 
personal  affection  for  him,  of  such  earlier  allies  as  Ralph  Metzner  and  Richard  Alpert.46  Instead  

Leary  was  embraced  by  an  entirely  indigenously  Californian  variant  of  psychedelic  culture.  

  A  native  of  Anaheim  that  included  Disneyland,  although  from  the  low-­‐income  side,  John  

Griggs   is   probably   the   most   intriguing   actor   in   the   burgeoning   religion   of   psychedelia.     Active   in  

low-­‐level   criminal   activities   with   his   motorcyclist   peers,   Griggs   was   transformed   by   an   LSD  

experience  in  1966.    Overwhelmed  by  his  direct  access  to  “God,”  Griggs  resolved  with  his  peers  

to   “turn   the   whole   world   on”   to   universal   Love   through   the   free   or   cheap   availability   of  

psychedelics,   and   he   visited   Leary   in   Millbrook   in   1966   to   seal   his   collaboration   with   Leary’s  

League  aims.    Returning  to  Southern  California  with  copies  of  Leary’s  Psychedelic  Prayers,  Griggs  

turned  his  recently  named  Brotherhood  of  Eternal  Love  “into  a  West  Coast  spiritual  center”  by  

making  it  a  legally  tax-­‐exempt  religious  organization  on  26  October  1966  before  embarking  on  

the  construction  of  the  Mystic  Arts  World  store  in  Laguna  Beach  offering  clothing,  art,  beads,  

health  food,  juice,  psychedelic  reading  room,  and  head  shop,  while  the  back  of  the  store  would  

provide   a   meditation   room   containing   a   painting   by   the   artist   Dion   Wright   called   Taxonomic  

Mandala.47    

The   store   was   completed   by   1967   and   soon   became   the   Southern   Californian   answer   to  

Haight-­‐Ashbury   after   the   latter’s   deterioration   through   and   after   the   1967   Summer   of   Love.     In  

November   of   that   year   Leary   was   joined   by   Griggs   at   a   lecture   at   California   State   University,  

Long  Beach,  where  Leary  presented  both  as  inspirers  behind  the  creation  of  a  “new  breed”  or  

                                                                                                                     
46
 See  Leary  [1995].    Metzner  and  Alpert/Dass  later  expressed  strong  reservations  about  embarking  on  psychedelic  
experiences  without  “spiritual  energy-­‐work.”    Dass  &  Metzner  [2010],  214.  
47
 Details  in  Schou  [2010],  60.  Dion  Wright  informs  me  that  his  work  resulted  from  his  involvement  with  the  multi-­‐
media  Art  group  USCO  (electronic  message,  21  April  2014).  

17  
 
“race”  whose  message  was  Love.48  Dion  Wright  would  later  describe  the  two  as  “like  the  Castor  

and  Pollux  of  the  psychedelic  revolution,”  and  it  was  never  clear  whether  Griggs  was  a  follower  

of  Leary  or  Leary  was  in  fact  an  acolyte  of  Griggs  whom  Leary  consistently  described  as  deeply  

“religious”  and  even  “the  holiest  man”  in  America.49  

  In  its  larger  goals  the  Brotherhood  intended  not  only  to  spread  the  cult  of  psychedelia  

throughout   the   world   but   also,   under   the   inspiration   of   Huxley’s   Island   which   Griggs   had  

carefully  read,  to  eventually  found  a  psychedelic  utopia,  preferably  on  a  tropical  island,50  since  

many   members   were   serious   surfers   and   had   enjoyed   their   own   quasi-­‐mystical   experiences  

riding  the  waves  of  the  great  Pacific  Ocean.51  The  task  was,  however,  complicated  by  the  fact  

that  on  6  October  1966  LSD  became  illegal  in  California  (followed  later  in  the  United  States  as  a  

whole).    Since  in  addition  the  Swiss  company  Sandoz  had  stopped  making  LSD  available  to  the  

public   in   early   1966,   private   illegal   production   took   on   new   importance   and   highlighted   the  

surreptitious  chemical  labors  of  such  figures  as  Augustus  Owsley  Stanley,  III,  Timothy  Scully,  and  

eventually   Nick   Sand.     Griggs   connected   with   Leary’s   son   Jack   Leary   in   the   fall   of   1967   in  

Berkeley   as   he   established   a   pipeline   to   the   new   production   of   LSD   after   Owsley’s   arrest   in  
                                                                                                                     
48
 Schou  [2010],  71.  
49
 Describing  Griggs  as  “deeply  religious,”  Leary  later  recalls  Griggs’  bedroom  cottage  as  “a  psychedelic  womb  of  
oriental  rugs,  paisley  cottons,  religious  statues,  candles,  incense.”    Leary  [1990],  267.    Hearing  of  Griggs’  death  in  
August  1969,  Leary’s  immediate  reaction  was  that  Griggs  “was  the  holiest  man  ever  to  live  in  this  country.”    Cited  
in  Schou  [2010],  192.    This  statement  concurs  with  Leary’s  later  view  that  Griggs  was  “one  of  the  most  successful  
radiant  holy  people  we  had  ever  known.”  Leary  [1990],  285.    Dion  Wright  kindly  informs  me  that  in  his  view  Griggs  
“was  a  true  prophet  who  espoused  no  system  other  than  God,  and  continued  through  his  short  life  to  testify  that  
‘It’s  all  God!’,”  a  declaration  that  resembles  many  utterances  attributed  to  Sufi  sages  (electronic  communication,  
18  April  2014).  
50
 Schou  claims  that  Griggs  and  his  friend  would  use  the  area  near  Mount  Palomar  for  some  of  their  psychedelic  
journeys,  adding  that  a  town  near  Palomar  called  “Pala”  may  have  been  the  inspiration  for  Huxley’s  use  of  the  
name  for  his  utopia;  Mount  Palomar  is  the  site  for  the  cosmic  explorations  of  astronomer  Edwin  Hubble  who  
happened  to  be  a  friend  of  Huxley.    Schou  [2010],  57.  
51
 The  connections  between  the  spirituality  of  a  Southern  Californian  surfer  community  and  later  involvement  in  
psychedelics  are  suggested  by  Tom  Wolfe  and  require  further  study.    See  Wolfe  [1968b),  4-­‐5.    Surfer  members  
included  Mike  Hynson  who  starred  in  the  classic  surfer  film  Endless  Summer.  

18  
 
December   1967.     By   January   1969   Griggs   himself   branded   the   new   product   by   Nick   Sand   as  

“Orange  Sunshine,”  and  the  Brotherhood  became  the  major  financier  and  distributor  of  LSD  in  

California.  

  As  long  as  Griggs  led  the  Brotherhood  cause,  a  general  structure  seems  to  have  taken  

form.    Among  the  Brotherhood  Griggs  continued  to  shape  a  psychedelic  ritual  often  composed  

of   recitals   from   The   Psychedelic   Experience   and   Leary’s   Psychedelic   Prayers   as   well   as   other  

sacred   sources.     Drawing   on   the   funds   from   the   Mystic   Arts   World   sales,   the   Brotherhood  

broadened   to   create   a   global   network   for   the   purchase   and   distribution   of   marijuana   and  

hashish,  working  out  a  remarkable  system  that  extended  from  Afghanistan  to  San  Pedro  Harbor  

in   Los   Angeles,   while   at   the   same   time   making   Orange   Sunshine   available   at   the   cost   of   five  

cents  or  even  nothing.      

  Nonetheless,  the  further  evolution  of  the  alliance  between  Leary  and  the  Brotherhood  

grew   strained   and   came   to   an   end   in   1969.     Instead   of   following   their   tropical   island   dream,  

Griggs  consented  to  try  the  alternative  of  a  ranch  in  the  Sierra  Mountains  suggested  by  Leary.  

Meanwhile,  however,  Leary’s  ambitions  had  vaulted  to  seeking  the  governorship  of  California  

for   1970,   accompanied   by   his   flirtations   with   more   directly   radical   language.52   Leary   was   also  

under   serious   pressure   from   criminal   drug   charges   related   to   arrests   in   1965   at   the   Mexican  

border  and  in  late  1968  as  he  was  leaving  the  Brotherhood  ranch.    In  addition,  the  Brotherhood  

as   a   rule   was   unhappy   with   Griggs’   preference   for   the   ranch   over   their   earlier   tropical   island  

alternative,   seeing   it   as   Griggs’   concession   to   Leary’s   publicity-­‐prone   obsessions.     Then   on   3  

                                                                                                                     
52
 Leary’s  comment  of  the  “white  light  of  the  Buddha  being  the  fire  from  the  gun  of  a  revolutionary”  disturbed  
Metzner  who  was  visiting  Leary  at  the  Brotherhood  ranch  during    Christmas  1968.  Cited  in  Stevens  [1987],  354.  

19  
 
August   1969   Griggs   suddenly   died   from   ingesting   a   synthetic   psilocybin,   and   almost  

immediately  the  Brotherhood  –  and  Leary  -­‐-­‐  abandoned  the  ranch.53    The  following  March  1970  

Leary  was  convicted  and  imprisoned  in  a  San  Luis  Obispo  correctional  facility  until  September  

when,   thanks   to   an   arrangement   between   the   Brotherhood   and   the   radical   group   the   Weather  

Underground,  he  was  enabled  to  escape,  fleeing  to  Europe  and  Africa,  only  to  be  captured  in  

Afghanistan  in  1973  and  re-­‐imprisoned  for  the  stint  1973-­‐1976.  

  Nonetheless,   that   same   March   1970   the   Brotherhood   picked   up   their   earlier   tropical-­‐  

island   utopia   motif   and   attempted   one   last   grand   venture   to   apparently   realize   Huxley’s   and  

Griggs’   (and   at   one   time   Leary’s)   vision.     Since   1967   they   had   contemplated   the   possibility   of  

Maui  (Tonga  and  Hawai’I  had  served  temporarily  as  possible  alternatives).    Upon  purchasing  the  

yacht  Aafje  in  Mexico,  the  Brotherhood  set  out  to  carry  6000  pounds  of  Mexican  pot  to  Maui  

where   they   would   grow   what   would   become   known   as   “Maui   Wowie”   for   the   economic  

sustenance  of  their  future  psychedelic  utopia.    Without  even  a  competent  oceanic  skipper,  the  

Brotherhood  ended  up  stranded  in  the  middle  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  without  food,  fuel,  or  proper  

direction.     Fortunately   they   were   saved   by   a   Norwegian   freighter   which   provided   for   their  

needs  and  helped  them  redirect  their  prow  toward  Maui  where  they  landed  in  the  obscure  port  

of   Hana   and   embarked   on   the   realization   of   their   psychedelic   dreams.     Unfortunately   within  

two   years   the   colony   had   collapsed   as   Brotherhood   members   sank   into   a   life   of   beer   and  

cocaine,  wild  parties,  and  the  increasing  hostility  of  the  local  hoodlum  population.54  

                                                                                                                     
53
 My  thanks  to  Dion  Wright  for  clarifying  this  matter  (electronic  communication,  21  April  2014).  
54
 The  full  and  fascinating  account  of  the  Maui  Expedition  is  described  in  Schou  [2010],  195ff.  For  a  glimpse  of  Maui  
communes  at  the  time,  see  Wein  [1972]  for  the  DVD  Rainbow  Bridge  which  recounts  Jimi  Hendrix’s  performance  
on  Maui  on  30  July  1970.  

20  
 
   1972  was  also  the  year  in  which  a  grand  warrant  by  the  state  of  California  went  out  to  

apprehend   the   entire   Brotherhood.     Large-­‐scale   arrests   brought   the   global   operations   of   the  

Brotherhood  to  a  quick  demise  and  by  October  1973  a  U.S.  Senate  Subcommittee  on  Internal  

Security  could  celebrate  the  overall  defeat  of  the  now  congressionally  recognized  “Brotherhood  

of  Eternal  Love.”55  

  By   this   stage   Leary   himself   was   back   in   prison   and   had   turned   against   the   counter  

culture  in  general,  facilitating  his  early  release  in  1976.56    As  his  later  preferences  turned  toward  

space  travel  and  the  electronic  worlds  of  cyberia,  Leary  by  1990  had  come  to  mock  those  earlier  

“scientifically   trained   psychologists”   who   “ended   up   chanting   mantric   nonsense   syllables   and  

solemnly  memorizing  the  names  and  totems  and  team  colors  of  obscure  Tibetan  Buddhist  sects  

and  Hindu  cults,”  thus  presumably  “distract[ing]  us  from  cybernetic-­‐scientific  pursuits.”57  

5.  

While   there   is   no   dearth   of   critiques   of   the   very   idea   of   a   “genuine”   religion   of  

psychedelia,   the   most   economic   strategy   may   be   to   restrict   our   considerations   to   critiques  

                                                                                                                     
55
 Schou  [2010],  272.  
56
 Leary’s  last  connection  with  his  earlier  interests  may  have  been  his  claim  that  while  in  a  Swiss  prison  during  his  
period  of  exile  he  reverted  to  the  assignment  Lama  Govinda  had  given  him  in  1964  to  work  out  common  numerical  
patterns  among  the  I  Ching,  the  Tarot,  and  the  periodic  table  of  elements.    Leary  [1990],  213-­‐216,  317.    Govinda  
himself  went  on  to  provide  a  study  of  such  patterns  at  least  for  the  Ching  in  Govinda  [1981].  
57
 Leary  [1990],  381.    Regarding  the  general  future  Leary  had  predicted  in  1963-­‐1964  that  “drugs  are  the  religion  of  
the  twenty-­‐first  century.”  Leary  [1998],  44.  

21  
 
“from  within.”58    Of  these,  the  analyses  by  Huston  Smith  and  Lama  Anagarika  Govinda  may  be  

the  most  pertinent.59  

  Smith’s  critiques  span  the  key  periods  of  the  evolution  of  a  psychedelic  culture  that  we  

have   traced.     Later   packaged   into   the   book   Cleansing   the   Doors   of   Perception   (2000),   two  

articles  carry  a  special  resonance.    The  first,  dated  1964,  already  shows  serious  misgivings  about  

the  whole  project  of  a  “church”  of  psychedelia  as  it  had  so  far  unfolded.60  Reporting  that  from  

the  Harvard  Project  “an  ad  hoc  ‘church’  emerged”  -­‐-­‐  with,  as  already  noted,  a  “sacramental  in  a  

vaguely   ritualistic   context   utilizing   incense,   favorite   poems,   passages   from   sacred   texts,   and  

spontaneous   input   in   the   style   of   Quaker   meetings”   along   with   the   organization   of   the  

International   Federation   for   Internal   Freedom   (IFIF)   -­‐-­‐   Smith   now   distinguished   between  

“religious   experience”   and   “religious   life   as   a   whole”   in   order   to   claim   that   while   drugs   did  

appear   to   induce   religious   experiences,   “it   is   less   evident   that   they   can   produce   religious   lives.”  

In   fact,   Smith   wondered   whether   any   religion   that   only   highlighted   substances   “can   be  

expected   to   come   to   a   good   end”:     a   “shortcut”   to   religious   experience   tended   in   effect   to  

become  merely  a  “short  circuit.”  If  there  were  to  be  something  more  substantial  to  the  role  of  

chemicals,   it   would   have   to   enhance   the   context   of   faith   and   discipline.     For   Smith,   however,  

                                                                                                                     
58
 Those  interested  in  some  more  benign  Seventies  currents  developing  out  of  this  Sixties  legacy  may  wish  to  
follow  the  thread  through  Dass  [1971],  Rainbow  Book  [1975],  and  Capra  [1975].  
59
 I  do  not  include  Alan  Watts,  since  his  position  was  that  once  one  had  “a  glimpse  of  genuine  mystical  insight”  
through  psychedelic  experience,  the  task  was  to  go  on  to  forms  of  meditation  “in  which  drugs  are  no  longer  
necessary  or  useful.”  Watts  [1970],  25-­‐26.    See  also  Watts  [1971].  This  position  resembles  that  of  Dion  Wright,  the  
creator  of  Taxonomic  Mandala  and  close  friend  of  Griggs;  for  him  there  can  be  no  religion  of  psychedelia  as  such,  
since  psychedelic  experience  is  simply  the  means  for  opening  out  the  spiritual  search  (my  thanks  for  his  electronic  
communication  of  18  April  2014).  
60
 The  article  was  originally  published  as  “Do  Drugs  have  Religious  Import?,”  in  the  Journal  of  Philosophy  (1  October  
1064).      Smith  [2000],  15-­‐32.  

22  
 
the  counterculture  had  already  shown  itself  to  be  seriously  lacking  in  such  needed  discipline  for  

the  religious  life.61  

  Smith’s  follow-­‐up  three  years  later  in  1967,  the  very  year  of  the  Summer  of  Love,  was  

even   more   emphatic   in   its   misgivings.62   Feeling   a   stronger   need   in   this   article   to   clarify   his  

earlier   distinction   between   religious   experience   and   the   religious   life,   Smith   recognized   the  

historical  staying  power  of  minority  faiths,  but  only  if  they  could  create  churches,  whereas  “to  

date,   the   psychedelic   movement   shows   no   signs   of   having   within   it   the   makings   of   such   a  

church.”    While  acknowledging  the  presence  of  a  charismatic  figure  in  the  movement,  namely  

Timothy   Leary,   Smith   went   out   on   a   limb   to   predict   that   no   genuine   church   would   emerge,  

since   the   movement   lacked   a   serious   social   philosophy,   remained   antinomian,   and   did   not  

sufficiently   maintain   the   line   between   exoteric   and   esoteric   aspects   of   its   faith.   Smith  

systematically   considered   apocalyptic,   revolutionary,   and   utopian   possibilities   for   the  

movement,   only   to   conclude   that   its   prime   message   of   “dropping   out”   was   “too   negative   to  

command  respect.”63  

  For   his   part,   Lama   Govinda   appeared   unwilling   to   grant   the   religion   of   psychedelia   even  

a   modicum   of   hearing.   In   his   1970s   essay   “Drugs   and   Meditation,”64   Govinda   alerted   his  

audience  to  the  fact  that  he  was  “not  speaking  theoretically,  but  from  my  own  experience”  in  

distinguishing   the   LSD   state   of   consciousness   from   that   of   meditation   –   a   delicate  

                                                                                                                     
61
 Smith  [2000],  30,  31.  
62
 “Psychedelic  Theophanies  and  the  Religious  Life,”  published  in  Christianity  and  Crisis  (1967).    Smith  [2000],  33-­‐
43.  
63
 In  an  accompanying  note,  Smith  did,  however,  later  concede  the  importance  of  the  flow  of  contemporary  youth  
toward  a  number  of  alternative  religions,  including  “pharmacological  mysticism.”    Smith  [2000],  34,  36,  37,  39,  43.  
64
 “Drugs  and  Meditation:  Consciousness  Expansion  and  Disintegration  versus  Concentration  and  Spiritual  
Regeneration,”  in  Govinda  [2007],  69-­‐76.  

23  
 
acknowledgment  of  his  own  unfortunate  LSD  experience  with  Ralph  Metzner  in  1964  –  before  

launching   an   attack   on   the   presumption   that   the   “consciousness   expansion”   promised   by  

psychedelic   advocates   would   provide   anything   other   than   a   “process   of   atomization”   and  

dissolution.65     In   contrast,   Govinda   extolled   and   elaborated   the   benefits   of   meditation   that  

brought   about   the   concentration   that   could   lead   to   harmony   and   unity.   Expansion   in   short   was  

valueless  without  the  prior  discovery  of  one’s  “inner  center”  as  the  means  to  “partake  of  the  

greater   life   of   the   universe.”   In   the   chaotic   experiences   of   the   LSD   trip,   no   such   preliminary  

control   helped   lead   the   user   to   the   kind   of   higher   psychic   states   that   was   available   to   the  

serious  and  committed  follower  of  meditation.66  

  Even   the   more   serious   advocates   of   a   religion   of   psychedelia   had   to   later   grant   the  

charge  that  it  had  failed  to  sufficiently  evolve  the  element  of  ritual.    For  Ralph  Metzner,  “the  

large   white   culture   was   unable   to   develop   a   format,   was   unable   to   develop   a   religion,  

psychotherapy,   or   medicine,   recreationally   or   any   other   way”   in   its   efforts   to   come   up   with   “an  

integrated   experience”.     For   fellow   author   Ram   Dass,   the   former   Richard   Alpert,   looking   into  

the  future,  “the  best  thing  we  could  do  would  be  to  ritualize  this.”    Finally,  for  Albert  Hofmann,  

the   chemist   who   synthesized   LSD,   the   task   of   such   future   ventures   requires   “a   kind   of  

                                                                                                                     
65
 Perhaps  Lama  Govinda’s  strong  rhetoric  disassociating  himself  from  consciousness  expansion  was  that  in  their  
1964  “tribute”  to  him,  Leary,  Metzner  &  Alpert  [1964]  had  explicitly  tried  to  connect  his  account  of  yogic  
experience  with  “consciousness-­‐expansion”  (28).    Metzner  suggests  that  Govinda  had  been  meanwhile  influenced  
by  “all  the  negativity  in  the  media,  which  was  absent  in  the  early  1960s”  (electronic  communication,  24  February  
2014).  
66
 Govinda  [2007],  69,  70,  73,  74.    This  was    also  my  understanding  of  Lama  Govinda’s  final  position  in  my  
conversations  with  him  at  his  home  in  Mill  Valley,  California  during  1980-­‐1984.  

24  
 
meditation   center   where   there   would   be   the   right   conditions,   the   right   dosages,   all   these  

factors  which  must  be  known  are  fulfilled.”  67    

6.  

Since   the   period   under   review,   an   additional   touch   to   the   formation   of   a   psychedelic  

religious   viewpoint   has   been   pursued   by   1970s   practitioners   who,   imitating   an   important  

component   of   traditional   religions,   have   loudly   proclaimed   an   apocalyptic   mythology.    

Culminating   in   the   prophecy   of   the   millennial   significance   of   2012   according   to   the   workings   of  

the   ancient   Mayan   calendar   as   well   as   the   I   Ching,   these   predictions   go   back   to   the   importance  

of  psychedelics  for  such  prominent  authors  as  Terence  McKenna  and  José  Argüelles.    Argüelles  

had  experimented  with  LSD  in  the  1960s  while  McKenna  and  his  brother  Dennis  embarked  on  a  

pivotal   trip   to   the   Amazon   Basin   in   1971   in   search   of   psilocybin   mushrooms,   only   to   experience  

the  equally  charged  psychedelic  worlds  of  ayahuasca  and  DMT.    The  brothers’  1975  book  The  

Invisible   Landscape   provides   the   first   suggestion   of   the   importance   of   2012   for   apocalyptic  

reckonings,  although  the  date  seems  to  have  resulted  solely  from  their  psychedelized  readings  

of   pattern   waves   derived   from   the   I   Ching.68     Meanwhile,   in   1985   McKenna   met   Argüelles   in  

Berkeley   and   was   apparently   instructed   by   him   on   the   importance   of   2012   for   the   Mayan  

calendar,   at   least   according   to   Argüelles’   account   in   his   1987   book   The   Mayan   Factor   which  

helped  create  excitement  for  an  event  called  the  Harmonic  Convergence  in  1987  to  presumably  

mark   the   25   years   prior   to   the   epochal   transformation   promised   by   the   forthcoming   date   of  

                                                                                                                     
67
 Comments  on  the  DVD  by  Littlefield  [2002].    
68
 Using  the  1975  edition.    McKenna  and  McKenna  [1975].  

25  
 
2012.69     According   to   the   researches   of   Sacha   Defesche,   psychedelics   played   a   major   role  

among  these  and  other  “neo-­‐psychedelic”  theorists  on  behalf  of  2012.70    

  Since  McKenna  died  in  2000  and  Argüelles  in  2011,  neither  is  on  hand  to  offer  us  their  

take  on  the  implications  of  the  subsequent  actual  passing  of  the  crucial  date  of  21  December  

2012   for   their   apocalyptic   prophetics.     What   then   remains   for   further   developments   to   our  

theme?    Hofmann’s  prediction,  after  all,  that  in  the  future  psychedelics  such  as  LSD  “will  find  

the  place  it  needs  in  human  culture”  remains  optimistic.    Putting  aside  the  substantial  body  of  

pseudo-­‐religious   proclamations   derived   from   psychedelic   experiences,   one   can   safely   assume  

that   serious   “psychonautic”   work   and   experimentation   has   continued   to   advance   under   the  

juridical   radar:     one   might   reference,   for   example,   the   important   research   and   production   of  

Christian   Rätsch   as   providing   the   kind   of   pharmacological   as   well   as   sociological   and  

anthropological  studies  into  religious  traditions  that  seem  necessary  to  move  the  subject  to  a  

more  sophisticated  level.    Having  previously  collaborated  with  Hofmann,  the  synthesizer  of  LSD,  

and   the   prominent   Harvard   ethnobotanist   Richard   Evans   Schultes,   Rätsch   has   succeeded   in  

producing   a   canonical   encyclopedia   and   a   rich   body   of   texts   for   an   understanding   of   the   role   of  

psychotropic  plants  in  human  culture.71      

Along   with   his   wife   Claudia   Müller-­‐Ebeling,   Rätsch   is   well   positioned   to   find   new   and  

dramatic  dimensions  for  a  religion  of  psychedelia.  Of  course,  such  results  would  belong  more  to  

academics   and   scholarship   than   to   the   direct   practitioners   of   a   religion   and   its   rituals.   But  

                                                                                                                     
69
 Argüelles  [1987].  
70
 Defesche  [2007],  17,  43,  44.    Defesche  refers  to  the  importance  of  2012  for  “contemporary  neo-­‐psychedelic  
circles.”  
71
 See  e.g.  Schultes,  Hofmann  &  Rätsch  [2001]  and  Rätsch  [2005].  

26  
 
insofar   as   research   has   helped   galvanize   previous   surges   for   the   evolution   of   our   theme,   it   may  

carry   its   own   unique   impact   on   the   future   for   a   religion   of   psychedelia   that   the   Harvard  

Psychedelic  Club  and  Castalia,  no  less  than  their  less  well-­‐scrubbed  acolytes  the  Brotherhood  of  

Eternal  Love  Sailing  to  Maui,  pursued,  once  upon  a  time,  in  the  California  of  the  Sixties.  

27  
 
  

THE  PSYCHEDELIC  “CANON”  

I  Ching  

Tao  te  King  

The  Tibetan  Book  of  the  Dead  (“Bardo  Thődol”)  

Hermann  Hesse,  The  Journey  to  the  East  (1932)  

Hermann  Hesse,  The  Glass  Bead  Game  (1943)  

Aldous  Huxley,  The  Doors  of  Perception  (1954)  

Aldous  Huxley,  Island  (1962)  

Alan  Watts,  The  Joyous  Cosmology  (1962)  

Timothy  Leary,  Ralph  Metzner,  and  Richard  Alpert,  The  Psychedelic  Experience  (1964)  

Timothy   Leary,   Psychedelic   Prayers   (1966)

28  
 
  

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30  
 
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