Pharmakon - Drugs and the Imagination

Ranging across both published and anecdotal evidence, 'Pharmakon' traces the story of drug use as a means of self-exploration. By examining apparently simple questions such as 'what is a drug?', 'Pharmakon' deconstructs and reconstructs the idea of drug experience. Experiences that the author believes are fundamental to the process of self-actualisation and learning. Julian Vayne is an occultist who has written on a number of esoteric subjects (witchcraft, the tarot and the sociology of contemporary Paganism). This book is aimed at both the general reader and those who are interested in the use of drugs in a spiritual context. Delving into areas as diverse as philosophy and neurochemistry, this is a book that in both style and content seeks to invent a new understanding of drugs in culture.

Introduction; Essence -- Defining Drug Experience; Shamania - the Secret History of Drugs; Perfect Mystery -- Drugs, the Mind and the Human Brain; Odditorium -- the Dual Process of the Mind; Movements of a Visionary -- Drugs and the Occult; Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magick -- Drugs in Esoteric Culture; Break on Through -- The Experience of Drugs; The Modern things -- Drugs, Transgression and Society; Notes; Index.