LSD

The phoney mystics who fooled the West

2 September 2023 9:00 am

Many suspect mystics have exploited naive westerners in search of spiritual enlightenment over the past century, Philip Hensher discovers

The power of prayerful washing-up

16 July 2022 9:00 am

My days pass largely in a state of inanition. The fit and able-bodied express their sympathy, claiming it’s much the…

The nearest thing to Paul McCartney’s autobiography: his guide to the Beatles’ songbook

13 November 2021 9:00 am

Whatever your favourite theory of creativity, Paul McCartney has a cheery thumbs-up to offer. You think the secret is putting…

From salivating dogs to mass indoctrination: Pavlov’s sinister legacy

25 September 2021 9:00 am

Peter Pomeranzev describes the refinement of thought-control techniques over the past century – and the worldwide competition to employ them

Will LSD cure my Brexit obsession?

19 May 2018 9:00 am

An 87-year-old friend, a former doctor, has been urging me for some while to have a look at the latest…

The Psychedelic Guide to Preparation of the Eucharist was a book produced in 1968 by the Neo-American Church, explaining how to manufacture and cultivate marijuana, peyote, mushrooms, morning glory, LSD and STP ‘for religious purposes’. Taken from Altered States: The Library of Julio Santo Domingo by Peter Watts (Anthology Editions, available at www.anthology.net)

Might LSD be good for you?

12 May 2018 9:00 am

When Peregrine Worsthorne was on Desert Island Discs in 1992, he chose as his luxury item a lifetime supply of…

Van Morrison — in another time, another place

In 1968, even supercilious Boston was ankle-deep in LSD

17 March 2018 9:00 am

‘And this is good old Boston/, The home of the bean and the cod,’ John Collins Bossidy quipped in 1910,…

Timothy Leary — apostle of acid and, according to Richard Nixon, ‘the most dangerous man in America’

A strange vibration

22 July 2017 9:00 am

Among the many curiosities revealed in this book, few are more startling than the fact that at the height of…

Dusty Springfield at the Royal Variety Performance in 1965 (Getty).

Everything you always wanted to know about Sixties pop —and more

28 November 2015 9:00 am

It might seem an odd choice, but after reading Jon Savage’s new book, I think if I had a time…

Skunk has changed me. But art has changed me, too

7 March 2015 9:00 am

Two recent preoccupations have led me to the same reflection. The first is a Channel 4 programme on the effects…

Status Quo. Photo: BBC

I love that people assume I’m gay

20 September 2014 9:00 am

At a birthday dinner over the weekend I was introduced to this delightful party girl of a certain age whose…