by Andy Roberts
On Tuesday, 29 April 2008, Albert Hofmann died aged 102. His death generated worldwide media coverage, with the British broadsheets devoting several pages to obituaries and features dealing with LSD and its effect on society and culture. People from all walks of life came forward to give the media soundbites about how LSD had influenced their lives and, rather than being vilified as the creator of a drug which destroyed minds, Hofmann was, by and large, lauded as the catalyst behind a minor cultural revolution, the echoes of which are still reverberating through the lives of everyone who came into contact with his “problem child”.
Albion Dreaming has shown that Britain has been a crucible for LSD culture, every bit as socially relevant as the American experience of the drug. It is hoped that this book will stimulate further research into just how influential the British LSD experience has been on the development of psychedelic culture worldwide. Whether you believe LSD is an escape from reality or a trip to the heart of it, the hidden history of the most potent and undefinable drug known to humankind is only just being unearthed. LSD is a valuable tool for consciousness change, the understanding of which is still in its infancy.
Millions of psychedelic voyagers have tried to articulate the purpose of their LSD experiences, but few have been effective in doing so. Perhaps the best verbalization, and the final word in this book, comes from philosopher Aldous Huxley in a letter to LSD’s discoverer, Albert Hofmann. Although specifically about LSD, Huxley’s comments could refer to the purpose of any transcendent human experience, whether accessed through natural or chemical means:
Essentially this is what must be developed: the art of
giving out in love and intelligence what is taken from
vision and the experience of self-transcendence and
solidarity with the universe.24
THANKS!
A few key people are responsible for this book’s existence. I would like to thank Martin Liu and Chris Newson of Marshall Cavendish for taking it on and to Pom Somkabcharti for bringing it to fruition. My editor, Sarah Abel tightened, tweaked and queried the text until it was in a fit state for your eyes. Thanks too to Adrian Whittaker and Deena Omar for their encouragement and constant attention to detail. And of course to my wife, Gaynor Roberts who endured the highs and lows of the research and writing process.
The following people gave freely of their time, experiences and insights, providing the background hum of authenticity necessary for a book such as this. If I have omitted anyone, please accept my apologies.
Steve Abrams, Nigel Ayers, Brian Barritt, Bear, Joseph Berke, Sue Blackmore, William Bloom, Walter Brock, David Brunskill, Chris Case, Bob Campbell, David Clarke, Maureen Clyne, Dave Cunliffe, Neil Cuttriss, Ray Daniel, Age Delbanco, Paul Devereux, Jeff Dexter, Jeremy Dunn, Dice George, Lyn Ebenezer, Chris Faiers, Max Freakout, Robert Forte, Christopher Gibbs, Eric Gow, Great White Shark, Paul Guest, Adrian Haggard, Michael Haggiag, Casey Hardison, Amira Harris, Lee Harris, Dave Henniker, Charles Herwin, Vanessa Hollingshead, Paul Hollister, Stewart Home, Luke Hopkins, Hoppy, Philip Hogg, Jean Houston, Roger Hutchinson, Ronald Hutton, Alan Ibbotson, Mike Jay, Andrew Kerr, Stephen Kirkpatrick, David Larcher, Martin Lee, Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon, Adrian Laing, Julie-Anne Lowe, Oliver Mandrake, Tom Maschler, John May, Toni Melechi, Pete Mellor, Penny Mellor, Patricia McCann, Mark McCloud, John Michell, Vin Miles, Monkey, Andy Munro, Steve Mynott, Chris Newson, Deena Omar, Neil Oram, Stephen O’Neill, Julian Palacios, Christopher Partridge, Kath Porteus, Sid Rawle, Matt Ridley, Tim Rundall, Rick Rutkowski, Ben Sessa, Craig Sams, Ronnie Sandison, Jonathan Schoch, Paul Sieveking, Peter Simmons, Lionel Snell, Mark Stahlman, Allan Staithes, Carl Stickley, Dominic Streatfeild, Liz Spencer, Dave Tomlin, Tom Vague, Roman Vasseur, Julian Venables, Justin Warman, Ian Wilson, Adrian Whittaker, Gary Woodcock, and Rowdy Yates.
CONTACT
The author is interested in hearing from anyone who reads Albion Dreaming. Comments, criticism and information I have missed are all welcome at: [email protected]
RECOMMENDED WEBSITES
The internet is increasingly the best way to find up-to-the-minute information about psychedelic drugs. I highly recommend the following sites:
http://www.lsdbritain.com
http://www.maps.org
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
http://www.hofmann.org
http://www.beckleyfoundation.org
http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk
http://psypressuk.com
http://www.erowid.org
http://www.blotterart.co.uk
http://www.blotter.com
http://www.ukrockfestivals.com
PERMISSIONS
Permission to use the photos in the plate section has been granted from the following sources:
Photos 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 16, 18, 25, 26, 30: Author’s collection
Photo 3: Ronald Sandison
Photos 4, 5: Maxwell Hollyhock; the New Scientist
Photo 9: Marianne Clancy
Photo 10, 13, 14: John Hoppy Hopkins; www.hoppy.be
Photo 11: Crown Copyright, the National Archives
Photo 12: Jonathan Schoch
Photo 15: Tom Maschler
Photo 17: Gabi Nasemann Pape
Photo 19: Hampshire Constabulary History Society; http://www.hants.org.uk/hchs/
Photo 20: Vin Miles
Photo 21: Julie-Anne Lowe and Stephen Kirkpatrick
Photo 22: Jeremy Dunn
Photo 23: Ray Daniel
Photo 24: Dave Henniker
Photos 27, 28, 29: D.C. Neil Cuttriss; copyright the Chief Constable of Sussex Police
REFERENCES
1. TURN ON, TUNE IN, DROP OUT
1. http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/LSD
2. www.lycaeum.org/~sputnik/Tattoo/
3. Cam Cloud, Acid Trips and Chemistry, Ronin Press, Berkeley, 1999
4. http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article338622.ece
5. Paul Devereux, The Long Trip: a prehistory of psychedelia, Penguin Arkana, London, 1997
6. Thomas Szasz, Ceremonial Chemistry: the ritual persecution of drugs, RKP, London, 1975
7. Jay Stevens, Storming Heaven, Heinemann, London, 1988
2. HOFMANN’S POTION
1. Albert Hofmann, LSD: my problem child, McGraw-Hill, New York 1980, p 61
2. ibid, p ix
3. Mary Kilbourne Matossian, Poisons of the Past, Yale University Press 1989, pp 113–22
4. Hofmann, 1980, op cit, p 14
5. ibid, p 15
6. ibid, p 19
7. Albert Hofmann, “LSD: from problem child to wonder drug”, speech given at Basel, Switzerland, 13–15 January 2006, quoted in http://undergrowth.org/lsd_problem_child_and_wonder_drug
8. The Guardian, 8 August 2002, “A dose of madness”
9. Hofmann, 1980, p 38
10. Omni, July 1981, vol 3 no 10, “Interview with Albert Hofmann”, p 70
11. ibid
12. Hofman, 1980, op cit, p 47
13. George Andrews, Burning Joy, Trigram Press, London, 1966, “Amsterdam Reflection” p 33
14. John Marks, The Search For The Manchurian Candidate, Allen Lane, London, 1979, p 53
3. LSD: THE CURE OF SOULS?
1. Peter Stafford, “Re-creational uses of LSD”, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, vol 17(4), Oct–Dec 1985, p 221
2. Ronald Sandison, A Century of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Group Analysis, Jessica Kingsley, London 2001
3. Interview with Ronnie Sandison, 3 February 2007
4. Sandison, 2001, op cit, p 20
5. Thomas Ling and John Buckman, Lysergic Acid and Ritalin in the Treatment of Neurosis, Lambarde Press, London, 1963, p 14
6. Interview with Ronnie Sandison, 3 February 2007
7. Sandison, 2001, op cit, p 38
8. Interview with Ronnie Sandison, 3 February 2007
9. R.A. Sandison, A.M. Spencer and J.D.A. Whitelaw, “The therapeutic value of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide in mental illness”, Th
e Journal of Mental Science, no 100, 1954, pp 491–507
10. ibid, p 500
11. Interview with Ronnie Sandison, 3 February 2007
12. The Journal of Mental Science, op cit, p 505
13. The Sunday Mercury, 23 August 1954, “Mrs. Brown comes out of the shadows”; The News Chronicle, 17 June 1954, “Science had Alice-in-Wonderland drug”
14. The Journal of Mental Science, op cit, p 507
15. Email from Joel Elkes, 22 June 2007
16. Letter from Joel Elkes, Lancet, no 268, 1955
17. Email from Ronnie Sandison, 29 May 2007
18. Interview with Ronnie Sandison, 3 February 2007
19. Sandison, 2001, op cit, p 42
20. The Journal of Mental Science, op cit, p 503
21. Email from Ronnie Sandison, 10 June 2007
22. Interview with Ronnie Sandison, 3 February 2007
23. Graham McCann, Frankie Howerd: stand-up comic, Harper Perennial, London, 2005, pp 186–9
24. http://www.contemporaryconcepts.co.uk/horsley-millman/chapter_2.htm
25. Adrian Laing, R.D. Laing: a life, Sutton Publishing, London, 2006, p 102
26. ibid, p 62
27. ibid, p 115
28. Scotland on Sunday, 21 May 2006, “Licence to trip: when 007 met Dr in the know”
29. Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 13 April 1974, Syd Barrett feature
30. A.G. Malleson, N.H. Rathod, P. Bruggen and C.E. Salter, “Withdrawal of LSD”, British Medical Journal, no 1, 1966, p 1483
4. LSD: A CURE FOR THE COMMON COLD?
1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4745748.stm
2. The National Archives, Abreactive Drugs, DEFE 10/35
3. http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/ WhatWeDo/HealthandSafety/PortonDownVolunteers/
4. The National Archives, Enzyme Panel of the Chemical Defence Advisory Board, Crown Copyright, 1953
5. Letter from Kim Galloway, Corporate Secretariat, Porton Down, 17 October 2007
6. Human studies with incapacitating agents, http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/ AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/Health andSafetyPublications/PortonDownVolunteers/
7. The Guardian, 22 January 2005
8. Email from Eric Gow, 15 November 2007
9. Coroner’s Report, Extract from autobiography of Dr. Collumbine, 7 September 2004, p 5
10. Peter Wright with Paul Greengrass, Spycatcher, Dell Publishing, New York, 1987, p 202
11. The Guardian, 14 March 2002, “Drugged and duped”
12. The National Archives, Abreactive Drugs, op cit
13. ibid
14. The National Archives, Screening tests prior to administration of psychomimetic drugs in human subjects, September 1960, WO 195/14637
15. Rob Evans, Gassed: British chemical warfare experiments on humans at Porton Down, House of Stratus, London, 2000, p 235
16. Dr. W.M. Hollyhock, Weapons Against The Mind, New Scientist, 22 April 1965
17. Human studies with incapacitating agents, op cit
18. Film held at The Imperial War Museum, Trial of an incapacitating drug, London, MGH 4464
19. James S. Ketchum M.D., Chemical Warfare: secrets almost forgotten, Chembooks Inc., Santa Rosa, 2006, p 156
20. Dr. W.M. Hollyhock, 1965, op cit
21. Letter from Val Hollyhock, 5 September 2007
22. Minutes of Applied Biology Committee meeting, Porton Down, 24 November 1965, WO 195/16161
23. Human studies with incapacitating agents, op cit
24. ibid
25. Philip Hoare, Spike Island: the memory of a military hospital, Fourth Estate, London, 2002, p 367
26. Email from Ronnie Sandison, 29 May 2007
27. The Times, 26 May 1964, “British defence against germ warfare”
28. The Guardian, 15 October 1968, “Protest over troops’ tests with LSD”
29. www.wiltshire.police.uk/antler
30. Hansard, 4 April 2005
31. http://www.leighday.co.uk/doc.asp?cat=852&doc=929
32. The Guardian, 23 January 2005, “MI6 ordered LSD tests on servicemen”
33. ibid
34. The Guardian, 14 March 2002, “Drugged and duped”
35. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4745748.stm
36. ibid
37. The Daily Record, 1 March 2006, “LSD test man will not sue”
38. The Guardian, 22 January 2005
5. THE JOYOUS COSMOLOGY
1. Bob Dylan, “It’s all right ma, I’m only bleeding”, In: Bringing it all back home, 1965
2. Nicholas Murray, Aldous Huxley: an English intellectual, Abacus, London, 2002. A comprehensive overview of all aspects of Huxley’s life
3. Martin Lee and Bruce Shlain, Acid Dreams, Grove Weidenfeld, New York, 1992, p 45
4. Email from Ronnie Sandison, 25 May 2007
5. Lee and Shlain, 1992, op cit, p 45
6. See chapter 1 no 7, p 45
7. Murray, 2002, op cit, p 399
8. Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception, Vintage, London, 2004. Gives a full account of Huxley’s first mescaline experience
9. ibid, p 50
10. Michael Horowitz and Cynthia Palmer (eds), Moksha: Aldous Huxley’s classic writings on psychedelics & the visionary experience, Park Street Press, Rochester, 1999, p 69
11. http://web.ukonline.co.uk/sotcaa/sotcaa.html?/ sotcaa/hidden/mayhew01.html
12. Horowitz and Palmer, op cit, 1999, p 107
13. ibid, p 107
14. ibid, p 107
15. ibid, p 81
16. ibid, p 86
17. ibid p 86
18. Alcoholics Anonymous, Pass it On: the story of Bill Wilson and how the A.A. message reached the world, 1986, pp 368–77
19. BBC interview with Aldous Huxley, 7 and 11 July 1961
20. Aldous Huxley, Island, Chatto and Windus, London, 1962, pp 32 and 145
21. Jeff Dexter interview, 6 October 2007
22. Murray, 2002, op cit, p 454
23. Email from Vanessa Hollingshead, 20 January 2007
24. ibid
25. Michael Hollingshead, The Man Who Turned On The World, Blond & Briggs, London, 1973, p 7
26. ibid, p 9
27. ibid, p 10
28. www.hofmann.org/lsd/index.html
29. Ram Dass, Fierce Grace, Zeitgeist Video, 2001
30. Robert Greenfield, Timothy Leary: a biography, Harcourt Inc., New York, 2006, p 164
31. Timothy Leary, High Priest, Ronin Publishing, Berkeley, 1995, p 244
32. ibid, p 246
33. ibid
34. ibid, p 249
35. Jeff Dexter interview, 6 October 2007
36. David Solomon (ed), LSD: the consciousness expanding drug, G.P. Putnam, New York, 1964
37. ibid, 1964, p x
6. THE FOGGY RUINS OF TIME
1. See chapter 5 no 25, p 33
2. Letter from Dave Cunliffe, 31 October 2006
3. ibid
4. ibid
5. The Guardian, August 8 2003, “Mean streets”
6. Brian Barritt, The Road of Excess: a psychedelic autobiography, PSI Publishing, London, 1998, p 4
7. ibid, p 4
8. The Guardian, 17 April 1983, “Tory peer tells of her LSD ‘trip’”
9. The Times, 19 February 1963, “M.O.H. took drug as hobby”
10. See chapter 5 no 31, p 246
11. See chapter 3 no 25, p 83
12. http://okneoac.com/m/chs/ch11.html
13. See chapter 5 no 25, p 142
14. V. Vale and A. Juno, RE/Search: Pranks, RE/Search Publications, San Francisco, 1988, p 78
15. Mojo, November 2000, “The leper messiah”, pp 58–63
16. Julian Palacios, Lost in the Woods, Boxtree Ltd, London, 1998, p 30
17. Interview with Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon, 26 January 2007
18. op cit
19. The Observer, 16 July 2006, “An eternal summer with Syd”
20. http://www.mp3lyrics.org/d/donovan/sunny-south-kensi
ngton
21. http://arts.independent.co.uk/books/features/article314324.ece
22. Interview with Dave Tomlin, 30 October 2006
23. See chapter 5 no 25, p 144
24. http://www.noah.org/trepan/ people_with_holes_in_their_heads.html
25. Joey Mellen, Bore Hole, Glucocracy, London, 1975
26. ibid
27. Letter from Trocchi to Hollinsghead, 8 December 1965
28. Michael Hollingshead’s Christmas card in author’s collection
7. STRANGELY STRANGE, BUT ODDLY NORMAL
1. Ivan Pawle, “Sign on my Mind”, In: Heavy Petting, REPUK 1045, 2005
2. See chapter 2 no 13
3. John Michell, The Flying Saucer Vision, Abacus, London, 1974, p 22
4. Email from Amanda Fielding, 28 November 2006
5. Postcard from Hollinsghead to Trocchi, Gstaad, 31 January 1966
6. See chapter 3 no 25, p 115
7. The Times, 11 May 1966, “Drug case said to be ‘trend setter’”
8. London Life, 19 March 1966, “The drug that could become a social peril”
9. ibid
10. The People, 20 March 1966, “The men behind ‘LSD’ – the drug that is menacing young lives”
11. The News of the World, 20 March 1966, “Menace of the ‘Vision of Hell’”
12. Bob Dylan, “Ballad of a Thin Man”, In: Highway 61 Revisited, Columbia 4609532, 1965
13. The News of the World, 20 March 1966, “Now – the morning glory kick”
14. The Guardian, 15 April 1966, “Morning glory seeds still banned”
15. The Times, 7 April 1966, “‘Vision of hell’ drug charges”
16. The Daily Telegraph, 30 April 2006, “Jagger’s dealer sells his stash”
17. The People, 17 April 1966, “BBC in a wild ‘drug party’ sensation”
18. The Times, 11 April 1966, “Drug case said to be ‘trend setter’”
19. The Times, 28 April 1966, “LSD drug charges man convicted”