A deeply personal account of the scientific, shamanic, and metaphysical encounters that led to the development of Metzner's psychological methods
* Recounts the author's meetings and friendships with Albert Hofmann, Alexander Shulgin, the McKenna brothers, Wilson Van Dusen, Myron Stolaroff, and Leo Zeff
* Details his lucid dream encounters with G. I. Gurdjieff, profoundly healing sessions with Hawaiian healer Morrnah Simeona, experiences with plant teachers iboga and ayahuasca, and ecological and mystical lessons learned from animal teachers
* Shares his involvement in the beginnings of the therapeutic use of MDMA and how it safely and effectively supports the healing of trauma, PTSD, and interpersonal relationships
Just as the search for the philosopher's stone is the core symbol of the alchemical tradition, Ralph Metzner, Ph.D., psychotherapist and one of the respected elders of the psychedelic research community, sees it as the central metaphor of his life-long quest to find methods of healing and insight through heightened states of consciousness.
Through captivating stories Metzner shares his encounters from the 1960s through the 1990s with genius scientists, shamanic healers, mystics, plant spirits, and animal guides that led to the development of his "alchemical divination" psychological methods, a structured intuitive process of accessing inner sources of healing and insight. He details lessons learned with psychedelic research legends Albert Hofmann, Alexander Shulgin, Terence McKenna, and Dennis McKenna. He reveals his deeply healing encounters with the Kahuna bodywork healer Morrnah Simeona, the first to introduce the Hawaiian Ho'oponopono healing method to the West, and his experiences with West African trance dancing and the psychoactive plant-drug iboga. Metzner recounts in vivid detail his unwelcome encounter with malignant sorcery during an ayahuasca experience in Ecuador and the lessons it taught him about connections with spirits, both harmful and beneficial. He tells of his involvement in the beginnings of the therapeutic use of MDMA and shows how it is an effective and safe substance to support psychotherapy for healing trauma, PTSD, and interpersonal relationships.
In sharing his remarkable encounters, Metzner shows how the most meaningful lessons in the alchemy of life come not only from the geniuses we meet but also from the spirits we encounter along the way.
A deeply personal account of the scientific, shamanic, and metaphysical encounters that led to the development of Metzner's psychological methods
* Recounts the author's meetings and friendships with Albert Hofmann, Alexander Shulgin, the McKenna brothers, Wilson Van Dusen, Myron Stolaroff, and Leo Zeff
* Details his lucid dream encounters with G. I. Gurdjieff, profoundly healing sessions with Hawaiian healer Morrnah Simeona, experiences with plant teachers iboga and ayahuasca, and ecological and mystical lessons learned from animal teachers
* Shares his involvement in the beginnings of the therapeutic use of MDMA and how it safely and effectively supports the healing of trauma, PTSD, and interpersonal relationships
Just as the search for the philosopher's stone is the core symbol of the alchemical tradition, Ralph Metzner, Ph.D., psychotherapist and one of the respected elders of the psychedelic research community, sees it as the central metaphor of his life-long quest to find methods of healing and insight through heightened states of consciousness.
Through captivating stories Metzner shares his encounters from the 1960s through the 1990s with genius scientists, shamanic healers, mystics, plant spirits, and animal guides that led to the development of his "alchemical divination" psychological methods, a structured intuitive process of accessing inner sources of healing and insight. He details lessons learned with psychedelic research legends Albert Hofmann, Alexander Shulgin, Terence McKenna, and Dennis McKenna. He reveals his deeply healing encounters with the Kahuna bodywork healer Morrnah Simeona, the first to introduce the Hawaiian Ho'oponopono healing method to the West, and his experiences with West African trance dancing and the psychoactive plant-drug iboga. Metzner recounts in vivid detail his unwelcome encounter with malignant sorcery during an ayahuasca experience in Ecuador and the lessons it taught him about connections with spirits, both harmful and beneficial. He tells of his involvement in the beginnings of the therapeutic use of MDMA and shows how it is an effective and safe substance to support psychotherapy for healing trauma, PTSD, and interpersonal relationships.
In sharing his remarkable encounters, Metzner shows how the most meaningful lessons in the alchemy of life come not only from the geniuses we meet but also from the spirits we encounter along the way.
INTRODUCTION
My Quest for the Philosophers’ Stone
ONE
The Frey Family Winemakers
TWO
Wilson Van Dusen--Mystic Navigator
THREE
Morrnah Simeona--Hawaiian Kahuna and Healer
FOUR
An Encounter with Ayahuasca Sorcery
FIVE
Conversations with Albert Hofmann, Master Alchemist
SIX
Meeting Mr. Ibogaine
SEVEN
Akuete Durchbach and West African Vodoun
EIGHT
Leo Zeff, Alexander Shulgin, MDMA, Empathy, and Ecstasy
NINE
From Traumatized Veteran to Peacemaker Activist
TEN
A History Lesson at the Ácoma Pueblo
ELEVEN
The Brothers Terence and Dennis McKenna
TWELVE
Lessons from Tortoise, Whale, and Lizard
THIRTEEN
Dream Teachings with G. I. Gurdjieff
FOURTEEN
A Message of Solace from Beyond
APPENDIX
Gurdjieff and the Gnostic Gospel of Judas
References
Index
Ralph Metzner (1936–2019) obtained his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Harvard University, where he collaborated with Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert on psychedelic research. He was Professor Emeritus at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and president and co-founder of the Green Earth Foundation. Dr. Metzner is the author of numerous books, including Overtones and Undercurrents and Green Psychology.
“Ralph Metzner is a great storyteller! These life tales overflow
with amazing events, profound insights, sorrowful traumas, and
madcap adventures. We share the times, places, and teachers--human,
plants, fungi, and animals--that expanded his worldview from the
narrow rational/material to the spiritual and beyond to the
shamanistic.”
*James Fadiman, Ph.D., author of The Psychedelic Explorer’s
Guide*
“A biographical journey of self-awareness through deep meditations,
mind-transforming substances, and the spiritual embrace of humans,
animals, and dreams. I recommend this work for the seeker in all of
us.”
*Peter Phillips, Ph.D., professor of political sociology at Sonoma
State University*
“From the 1960s to the present, Metzner has occupied a central role
as an experimental scientist, educator, and healer, leaving no
philosophers’ stone unturned, mapping consciousness in both
scholarly and personal ways in the enduring tradition of Jung and
Campbell, Huxley and Watts.”
*Michael Horowitz, coeditor of Aldous Huxley’s Moksha and Sisters
of the Extreme*
“What a fascinating life Ralph Metzner has lived and what marvelous
mentors he’s had along the way! The stories in Searching for the
Philosophers’ Stone are filled with charm, wonder, surprise,
warmth, and bold insights into consciousness. Metzner’s diverse
human guides are astute and compassionate. Just as impressive are
the spirit world teachers, who speak by way of animals, dreams,
meditative states, and, of course, mind-altering plants and other
entheogens.”
*Allen D. Kanner, Ph.D., coeditor of Ecopsychology and Psychology
and Consumer Culture*
“This beautiful chronicle of spiritual discovery, where each story
is a jewel shining with truth and wisdom, documents a great and
courageous journey into expanded consciousness.”
*Matthew McKay, Ph.D., author of Seeking Jordan*
“Few people have written as many life-changing books as Ralph
Metzner, and nobody has written about profound topics more
eloquently. Searching for the Philosophers’ Stone is no exception,
and his collection of conversations with remarkable men and women
will give readers a glimpse of inner and outer worlds that they
never knew existed.”
*Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., coauthor of Personal Mythology*
“Metzner beautifully fulfills his role as wisdom carrier with
Searching for the Philosophers’ Stone. His stories reveal an
intuitive mind, an integrated psyche, and steadfast allegiance to
his life mission: to cultivate approaches to healing our fractured
psyches/bodies in this fractured world by drawing on time-honored
mythology, expanded states of perception, and shamanistic practices
of times past and present. The book is a tale of adventure well
flavored by Metzner´s curiosity and humility.”
*Chellis Glendinning, Ph.D., psychologist*
“Part memoir, part vision quest, Metzner shares his moving
experiences of fatherhood and loss; meetings with masters, both
human and other worldly; dream state and power animal
transmissions; and more. He earns his place as a chief influencer
in today’s positive resurgence of the psychedelic psychotherapy
movement and also as a true scholar of human consciousness.”
*Jamy Faust, M.A. & Peter Faust, M.Ac., coauthors of The
Constellation Approach*
“Ralph Metzner is a brilliant psychologist and writer whose stellar
consciousness research helped to shape the path of an entire
generation of spiritual seekers, including my own. This is an
amazing treatise on the remarkable, wild, and profound life and
teachings of Ralph that led to the development of his alchemical
divination, which has touched the hearts of countless souls
searching for the meaning of life. Through fascinating stories and
his pioneering research he has opened us up to amazing wisdom and
cosmologies from multiple dimensions.”
*Sandra Ingerman, M.A., coauthor of Speaking with Nature*
“This amazing autobiographical volume is overflowing with rare and
unique information not found anywhere else. Beautifully recounting
his transformative journey, with a global cast of notable mystics,
scientists, and healers, Metzner describes how these encounters led
him to insights that were far beyond what he was expecting.”
*David Jay Brown, author of Dreaming Wide Awake*
“Searching for the Philosophers’ Stone is a cause for celebration
that takes us on an enlivening, robust, eye-opening journey with
the people and practices that have shaped Metzner’s thinking and
vision of an awakened life. This personal account of his path as a
legendary pioneer in the field of consciousness also reflects the
broader history of this movement in America. This is a book that
both skeptics and believers will find riveting and
enlightening.”
*Richard Strozzi-Heckler, author of In Search of the Warrior
Spirit*
“Ralph Metzner is one of the legendary visionary pioneers of
today’s consciousness movement. He records his experiences with
both entheogens and mystical practices. This book provides
psychological insights that are the result of many decades of deep
inquiry. It is a treasure.”
*Jeffrey Mishlove, Ph.D., host of New Thinking Allowed*
“As an educator there can be no greater journey of the self toward
the Self. This book provides the catalyst one needs to explore the
inner dimensions for coherence with our outer work.”
*Philip Snow Gang, Ph.D. master of education programs at Endicott
College*
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