Mystic Chemist: The Life of Albert Hofmann and His Discovery of LSD - Softcover

Hagenback, Dieter; Werthmüller, Lucius

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0907791441 ISBN 13: 9780907791447

Publisher: Synergetic Press, 2013

Synopsis

Mystic Chemist tells the story of Albert Hofmann’s life and the parallel story of LSD. 

Authors Dieter A. Hagenbach and Lucius Werthmüller, close friends of Albert Hofmann, take readers on a journey through Hofmann’s mystical childhood experiences with nature to his chemistry studies with Nobel Prize winner Paul Karrer in Zurich through his discoveries of both LSD and psilocybin at Sandoz; to his adventurous expeditions; to his many years of retirement devoted to philosophy of nature. Hagenbach and Werthmüller document Hofmann’s rich social life including interactions with illustrious writers, artists and thinkers including luminaries like Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass). 

Throughout Mystic Chemist, the authors reveal the eventful history of LSD, and they chronicle Hofmann’s groundbreaking work with the drug that was later featured in the 2022 Netflix documentary series, “How to Change Your Mind.” From the start of his experimentations, Hofmann took a positive view towards LSD-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of illness, and he maintained that mystical experiences and trips to other worlds of consciousness are the best preparation for the very last journey we all must eventually make. 

Mystic Chemist: The Life of Albert Hofmann and His Discovery of LSD contains more than 500 photos, illustrations and drawings as well as a foreword by renowned Czech psychiatrist Stanislav Grof.

About this title

About the Authors

Dieter Hagenbach was born 1943 in Basel, Switzerland and studied in architecture and the arts at the Academy of Fine Arts, Düsseldorf, Germany. In 1975 he founded Sphinx publishing house, with works by Joseph Campbell, H.R. Giger, George Gurdjieff, Jean Houston, Timothy Leary, John Lilly, Terence McKenna, Alan Watts, Robert Anton Wilson, among others. From 1977-1986 he was editor of Sphinx magazine and the German language edition of the Brain/Mind Bulletin. Dieter Hagenbach met Albert Hofmann in the mid-1970s and remained his friend until his death.

Lucius Werthmüller was born 1958 in Basel, Switzerland. He is a consciousness researcher and parapsychologist. Since 1991 he has been president of the Basel Psi Association with over 1,200 members, the largest organization in the field of the paranormal and the spiritual in Switzerland, and is editor of the Psi-Info, a magazine. In 2000 he was awarded the "Swiss Foundation for Parapsychology” prize. For eight years Lucius was project manager of the "Basel Psi-Days,” a congress with the reputation as the most important public congress on "border areas” of science worldwide.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Mystical Wonders of Nature

The distant battlefields had little effect on eight-year old Albert. Despite the horrors of war, those years spent with his parents and siblings on Martinsberg were happy ones for him.His love of nature was reinforced by the plants and animals surrounding him. Nothing pleased him more than to wander through the fields and forests, alone or with his pals, and look out over the valley below through which the Limmat River wound its way to Zurich. He was a keen observer of the changing seasons, the greening of spring, the long summer days, the withering foliage in fall, and the winter snow that magically blanketed the fields and meadows in white. "I promised myself then that one day I would again live in country like the Jura.”



Each spring, Albert returned to walk through the forest on Martinsberg. There, he felt free yet secure and forgot all worries. One sunny morning he would remember the rest of his days, his perceptions sharpened acutely; he had a spontaneous mystical vision of the unity of all being that would shape his life ever after. He can vividly recall it in great detail: "The beauty of nature was revealed to me in the miracle of creation and defined the basics of my world view.” He could not recall the year but knew it was on a May morning and the particular place it happened. As he walked through the forest, he began to hear birdsong more clearly, the fresh green of the trees and the sparkle of leaves seemed more intense. Everything shone incredibly clearly. He wondered if he hadn't looked or listened carefully until then or whether, on that particular morning, the springtime forest first revealed itself in actuality. He felt his heart surge and was filled with bliss more profound than at any time before in his life, a sense of affinity with his surroundings, absolute emotional security as part of creation.

Edition details

• Publisher: Synergetic Press
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0907791441
• ISBN 13: 9780907791447
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 408