Almost any discussion of the psychedelic culture is blurred by the illegal and impure aspects attached to it. Its very existence is a crime to some and the focus of an intense showdown across our nation. Even within the communities of psychedelic users there are always the typical exaggerations and dishonest portrayals of experiences with mind-altering substances.
Charles Hayes sorts through a vast collection of encounters with psychedelic substances in his book \Tripping."" The book is a collection of 50 stories from people of many walks of life relating their greatest to most frightening adventures in states of altered consciousness. Included in the volume is a brief history of the use of psychedelics and the features of a 'typical' trip.
""Tripping"" manages to cast away the taboo barriers that would confine a debate of the drug. It is at once informative, eye-opening, cautionary and objective. The stories are presented with a precise appreciation for detail and an unbiased look at all the different types of trips. Through interviews, Hayes manages to lift the veil on a hidden world and reveal everything from astonishing daydreams to horrendous nightmares. One man reports watching his own conception while another feels the dark blade of paranoia cut his world open.
In a story titled ""Loosing the Hounds of War,"" a user, Terry reports watching the Golden Gate Bridge gyrating like a snake from a hill in San Francisco. Jack, in ""The Pinball Machine I Could Play Without Feeding it Coins"" screams through a normal car trip. He experiences absolute horror while watching the scenery go by.
The book leaps across the spectrum of psychedelic experiences and takes the reader around the globe. Hayes lends the same ear to college kids hitting a rave in London as shamans taking peyote in Arizona or those attending the Kumbh Mela, a religious ceremony, on the shores of the Ganges River in India. The people are drawn together by the invitation to a perceptively enhanced experience and the curiosity of what their own minds hold.
""Tripping"" gives a voice and a common forum to the diverse stories spawned by acid, PCP, opium, LSD and a host of other psychoactive substances. It also carries those stories to readers who wander exactly what it's like to trip. The gap between users and non-users disappears within its pages. The book portrays the trips of the interviewees and brings the reader along.
The Daily Cardinal recently talked with Hayes about his writings on the drug culture.
How has your book been received by the psychedelic culture?
The Entheogen Review loved it. Mostly positive reviews in magazines such as Relics, which is a Grateful Dead-oriented magazine. It's been well received within the psychedelic subculture.
How did the interviewees feel about revealing their experiences?
They were very eager to. For some it was letting go of the secrets they've been holding onto; it was very cathartic. Because it's something that's been locked away as a negative experience, it's quite liberating. Even though you're not necessarily cured of all the haunting, it's a different feeling to share it with somebody. There were people quite delighted to tell their little stories, but not everybody had something troublesome to store away.
Have you followed up on any of the cases?
Some write to tell me how wonderful it was to share.
This book seems to be very complete, but do you feel you've missed any part of the psychedelic culture?
The introduction suggests the history. I touched on a lot. Other books go a lot deeper into different types of drugs, the whole technique of the shaman, the whole vision quest area of study. The stories, of course, are mostly Westerners ... a phenomena of tripping by a certain type of tripper'mostly male, mostly illegal, mostly middle class, not ghetto kids. There was one member of the Swedish nobility, his name was Jarl. He was one that got very emotional. Some of their material is so precious, the memories and the meanings of some of these trips, in the positive sense that they'll cry. What have I left out, I don't know. There are volumes of books on the anthropology of the ages. I didn't cover as much of the brand new rave scene as I might have'techno music and raves from Australia to Great Britain, it's just in there a little bit. Ecstasy is psychedelic in my opinion, but its not as psychedelic as LSD.
Why do you think Ecstasy is making inroads today?
It makes you feel darn good, that's the bottom line. It expands your horizons without threatening your ego. That is not to say that there are not dangers to it. There are dangers, especially among frequent users. I don't understand dancing to this type of music. I don't understand using the drug for that. I used Ecstasy 20 years ago. It was more intimate and quiet. I wouldn't have thought of dancing. Whenever I tripped it was quiet. I tried to keep it within a small group of familiar people.
You've stated that one of the differences between Ecstasy and LSD is that LSD seemed to be more personal.
Ecstasy dissolves boundaries much less violently than LSD. It doesn't obliterate the ego in that wonderful and terrifying way that LSD can. Ecstasy leaves the ego intact, but it can be abused. There's serotonin depletion in the brain, depression, possible neurotoxicity. People go to great lengths for drugs, so there's a danger in excessive use. You can trip for six times in your life and be done. Are they really going for a profound experience? I don't get you people doing E or X or whatever they call it every weekend. How many profound experiences can you live through? Are they really going after the deeper types of experiences? There are some [experiences] that I know that I wouldn't want to go through again.
