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 and 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 work with the drug, groundbreaking work that was later featured in the 2022 Netflix documentary series, ?How to Change Your Mind.? From the start of his experimentations, Hofmann he 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.
Autorentext
Dieter Hagenbach (July 24, 1943 - August 17, 2016) was born in Basel, Switzerland and studied 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.
Hagenbach met Albert Hofmann in the mid-1970s and remained his friend until his death. In 1986, Hagenbach published Hofmann's book, Einsichten Ausblicke (Insight Outlook). From 1990?2005 Hagenbach acted as a literary agent. In 1993 he launched the Gaia Media Foundation. He was initiator and program manager of the international symposium ?LSD ? Problem Child and Wonder Drug? in Basel in 2006, on the occasion of Albert Hofmann's 100th birthday, and was in charge of the program for the 2008 ?World Psychedelic Forum? in Basel. In the 2000s, Hagenbach served as editor of the Gaia Media Foundation website and the monthly electronic GoodNewsLetter. In 2013, along with Lucius Lucius Werthmüller, Hagenbach co-authored Mystic Chemist (Synergetic Press), which chronicled Hofmann's life and his discovery of LSD.