Psychology

The Way of the Psychonaut: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys (Vol #1)

The Way of the Psychonaut: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys (Vol #1)

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  • Create Date：2021-11-17 09:54:01
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Stanislav Grof
  • ISBN：0998276596
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Summary

The Way of the Psychonaut is one of the most important books ever written about the human psyche and the spiritual quest。 The new understandings were made possible thanks to Albert Hofmann’s discovery of LSD—the microscope and telescope of the human psyche—as well as other psychedelic substances。 This comprehensive work is a tour de force through the worlds of psychology and psychotherapy， Holotropic Breathwork， maps of the psyche， birth， sex， and death， psychospiritual rebirth， the roots of trauma， spiritual emergency and transpersonal experiences， karma and reincarnation， higher creativity， great art， and archetypes。

Written in his late eighties， at the height of his magnificent career， The Way of the Psychonaut is possibly Grof’s greatest contribution。 The commanding breadth and depth of his knowledge is astounding， the tone of his writing easy and accessible， and his narratives brightened with amusing anecdotes， intriguing personal accounts， and brilliant case studies。 Grof reviews the history of depth psychotherapy， the important revisions that are needed to make it more effective， and why the inner quest is such an essential pursuit。

As one of the fathers of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy， its most experienced practitioner， and deeply deserving of a Nobel Prize in medicine， in these two volumes Grof has successfully unveiled a new and sweeping paradigm in self-exploration and healing。 The vast and practical knowledge in this book is sure to be an invaluable and treasured resource for all serious seekers。

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Reviews

Jordan McGuire ，

Deeply insightful！

Michael ，

Grof is a giant in the world of psychedelic assisted psychotherapy。 This "encyclopedia" is a broad review of his work written by Grof himself and published by MAPS to support the training of those interested on catching up with the psychedelic renaissance。 Don't let the word "encyclopedia" scare you off。 "The Way of the Psychonaut， Volume One" is very readable and flows easily unlike most works that are referred to by the term。 In broad strokes Grof summarizes the development of the field and de Grof is a giant in the world of psychedelic assisted psychotherapy。 This "encyclopedia" is a broad review of his work written by Grof himself and published by MAPS to support the training of those interested on catching up with the psychedelic renaissance。 Don't let the word "encyclopedia" scare you off。 "The Way of the Psychonaut， Volume One" is very readable and flows easily unlike most works that are referred to by the term。 In broad strokes Grof summarizes the development of the field and delivers fascinating anecdotes regarding the pioneers who discovered these remarkable compounds。 He then goes on to describe his own fascinating work as a young student and onward throughout his many decades of his career as a pioneer employing LSD as a powerful adjunct to therapy and later when he developed the potent practice of "holotropic breath work" based on traditional eastern practices。 Grof's maps of the deep psychological territory that LSD allows a practitioner to access， and his synthesis of the many theories of depth psychology is potent and convincing。 His primary theory involves the working through of the stages of fetal development and the birth process that are stored in procedural memory and the corresponding transpersonal states of consciousness that are accessed in the process of doing so。 Grof is a pioneer of the field of transpersonal psychology and this is field remains in its early stages to this day。 It is likely that we will see much greater interest in this field as the psychedelic movement continues。 Grof is a well grounded thinker and his work will no doubt continue to be a cornerstone of the discipline。 A caveat is that Grof writes in a psychological tradition that is based on the early psychodynamic schools。 Some of his terms may seem somewhat dated， but don't let this deceive you as to the value of his work。 He remains innovative and ahead of his time even at his advanced age。 。。。more

Clint Carlson ，

Couldn't finish it。 Spends way too much time justifying Freud's outdated ideas。 Couldn't finish it。 Spends way too much time justifying Freud's outdated ideas。 。。。more

Seeton ，

The material can be dry sometimes， but some contents are very eye-opening。

Joas ，

The review 'robleestvanalles' wrote covers a lot of the thoughts I had reading this book， so I won't go into too much detail here。 The title is definitely misleading if you ask me。 The thing with psychedelic journeys is that they are heavily influenced by the set and setting。 So Grof's work is thereby influenced by his view of what is happening。 That view is very much focussed on birth as an important event in psychological development and in psychedelic journeys。 'Am I too close-minded to get i The review 'robleestvanalles' wrote covers a lot of the thoughts I had reading this book， so I won't go into too much detail here。 The title is definitely misleading if you ask me。 The thing with psychedelic journeys is that they are heavily influenced by the set and setting。 So Grof's work is thereby influenced by his view of what is happening。 That view is very much focussed on birth as an important event in psychological development and in psychedelic journeys。 'Am I too close-minded to get it？'， I thought when I skipped these parts （huge chunks of the book）。 Maybe。。。 Then recently I heard Matthew Johnson from Johns Hopkins talk about the influence Grof had on the outcome of his sessions and saying he "only had one or two questionable ones"， referring to rebirth experiences in the psilocybin sessions at Hopkins。 Time will tell whether Grof is onto something。 For now I feel like this book was more 'renaissance' than 'psychedelic'。 It certainly isn't a relatively unbiased encyclopedia。 Just opened Volume Two and checked out the images， lot's of birth in there too。 I may still read it， Grof remains a fascinating man in my world。 。。。more

robleestvanalles ，

The Way of the Psychonaut might be the magnum opus of Dr Grof near the end of his life。 This review is based on Volume One。I must admit I find the subtitle ‘Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys’ somewhat confusing as this volume fortunately does not read like an alphabetically ordered encyclopedia。 It also is less broad than an encyclopedia since it very much focuses on methods devised by Grof himself。 It clearly is not unbiased and neutral in its approach， and much of the information is contested， a The Way of the Psychonaut might be the magnum opus of Dr Grof near the end of his life。 This review is based on Volume One。I must admit I find the subtitle ‘Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys’ somewhat confusing as this volume fortunately does not read like an alphabetically ordered encyclopedia。 It also is less broad than an encyclopedia since it very much focuses on methods devised by Grof himself。 It clearly is not unbiased and neutral in its approach， and much of the information is contested， and at times rather incredible。 One of the strong points of this book is its author: Dr Grof who has much experience and knowledge and actively has been bridging gaps between Western science， specifically psychiatry， and spiritual practices。 Generally I would recommend anyone reading this book to remain critical on what they are reading （one should always be） and take out whatever resonates or works for you。 Also， most of this volume contains information which Dr Grof has been writing about since the 80s。 While most of his theories are therefore well-founded in the annals of time， they are not uniformly supported by mainstream scientists or many psychedelic researchers。 Great start Volume One kicks off with an intriguing description of psychedelic traditions throughout history， or what Grof refers to as psychonautics。 He defines psychonautics as: “the systematic pursuit and use of holotropic states of consciousness for healing， self-exploration， ritual activity， artistic inspiration， and as a spiritual， philosophical， and scientific quest。” （People expecting hardcore science will rightfully be disappointed！） In relatively few pages everything from consciousness-expanding substances in Tibetan Buddhism， the sacred potions kykeon， soma and haoma （in different traditions）， the usage of Amanita muscaria by Finno-Ugrian shamans， ancient references to psychedelics in Aztec and Mayan works of art， to MK-ULTRA or rites of passage， is described and many prominent researchers and their work are mentioned， such as the Wasson’s， Mechoulam， the Shulgin’s， Heffter， Dybowski and of course Hofmann。 Of course， since Grof’s extensive experience in working with LSD Dr Hofmann deserves special attention。 He goes out of his way to describe ‘Albert’s dream of a New Eleusis’ and the illegalization backlash of the 70s。 I particularly liked this sentence: “It is becoming increasingly clear that LSD was a wonder child， but it was born into a dysfunctional family。” The overall collection of historical facts is a fascinating read for anyone interested in psychedelics。 A New Psychology Grof describes his experiences in the field and his reasons for developing his methods。 Despite， or because（！）， his background in psychiatry and academics he rebels against traditional psychiatry and the dominant academic paradigm。 In his words: “traditional psychiatry， with its mechanistic materialistic philosophy， is a giant on clay legs that stands in the way of genuine understanding of the human psyche and has a damaging effect on many people diagnosed as mentally ill。 So I decided to dedicate my life and work to a concerted effort aimed at changing the dominant paradigm。” In his work he elaborately criticizes current practices and paradigms in the field of psychiatry and psychology。 He describes the need for ‘a new psychology’ in line with his book ‘Psychology Of The Future’。 His strong focus on traditional psychiatry seems a bit outdated and an easy target to criticize。 On the other hand， traditional psychiatry remains the basis on which mental health care and research today rests upon。 His rather lengthy description of approximately four key psychiatrists （Freud， Jung and Reich the most important） and their work tends to drag a bit。 His general critique on current psychoanalytic therapy is that it reasons from the Cartesian dichotomy by exclusively focusing on mental processes and neglecting the body。 Mainly because of this focus the “understanding of psychogenic emotional and psychosomatic disorders will remain superficial， unsatisfactory， and incomplete， and their therapy ineffective and disappointing。” Fortunately， the world has changed much the past decades and ‘fusions’ between psychological practice and spiritual traditions are becoming common。 For instance， psychologists are often using mindfulness and the importance of bodywork has resulted in Western alternatives such as psychosomatic psychotherapy。A strong and quite relevant critique by Grof on mental health care is how many people are misdiagnosed。 This is a huge contemporary problem and results in people receiving several –sometimes contradicting- diagnoses with undifferentiated consequences。 Grof limits his critique in this respect to psychosis and its standardized treatment by suppressive medication。 Many of these psychotic episodes， Grof argues， are actually invaluable spontaneous ‘holotropic experiences ‘ （“a large and important subgroup of non-ordinary states of consciousness that have therapeutic， transformative， heuristic， and evolutionary potential”） ， a concept invented by Grof。 These spontaneous experiences should be seen as， what Grof and his late wife call， ‘spiritual emergencies’ instead of psychotic episodes， and “are actually difficult stages of a radical personality transformation and of spiritual opening” which can be transformative and healing。 In Western practice these people are not helped to deal with these experiences。 Instead their potential remains unused and they end up battling with serious mental problems over time。 Grof mentions several other concepts that describe similar experiences and provides types of spiritual emergencies。 Examples are the awakening of Kundalini ， past life experiences， and communication with spirit guides。 He even describes drug addiction as ‘spiritual longing’。 In order to exactly know when something is a ‘spiritual emergency’ Grof provides little information besides that they are certainly not “conditions that are clearly biological in nature and require medical treatment” 。 Since for instance long-term addiction influences a person’s biology -such as biochemical changes- it can be argued if and when drug addiction is a spiritual emergency。 A thing which rightfully makes one wary is Grof’s strong critique on psychiatry and ‘the dominant paradigm’， but his complete lack of critique on everything that is the result of traditional practice in shamanism and spiritualism。 Everything， from ！Kung drumming， nada yoga and other sound healing to different methods of breathing therapy， qi gong， or mandala drawing… The logical reasoning seems to be that age-old traditions have proven themselves over a vaster span of time than post-war psychiatry and provide different antidotes to common spiritual decline in contemporary society。 Consciousness research Grof has been doing ‘consciousness research’ for decades。 He has been working on a cartography of the human psyche and has researched relations between consciousness and matter。 Pretty cool stuff。 So what is consciousness and how is it connected to us？ While Grof does not give any definite answer to what consciousness is， he does provide many insights and examples。 Consciousness “or its immediate precursor proto-consciousness， has been in the universe all along， perhaps from the Big Bang” and that which “we experience as a stream of sensations， feelings， intuitions and volitions is an integral part of the consciousness that pervades the cosmos。” He continues to give many examples of traditions with similar or overlapping descriptions/concepts， such as that of Atman and Brahman， Kundalini， the Tao， or even the Cosmic Christ。 Through holotropic states some can ultimately transcend individual consciousness and connect to that what he calls amongst others the ‘Metacosmic Void’， referring to ‘the ultimate cradle of all existence’。Clearly， consciousness has to do with cosmic energy that drives us。 Does this mean that other animals are conscious as well？ And what about fish？ Plants？ Rocks？ Grof does not go into this unfortunately。 He does， however， go into relations between matter and consciousness by discussing the location of consciousness in people。 He happily bashes the ‘mainstream materialistic worldview’ that consciousness is generated in， and confined to， the brain。 Also， he provides this wonderful allegory that counters the mainstream perspective: “The close correlation between the functioning of the TV set and the quality of the program does not necessarily mean that the entire secret of the program is in the set itself。” In the end Grof uses this allegory of the brain as a sort of receiver/mediator through which we can experience this cosmic flow of energy （which is all around us）。 This allegory is opted by many other psychedelic researchers， amongst which T McKenna and Strassman。The more radical claim Grof makes thereafter is that individual consciousness is not confined to our body at all and that ‘units of consciousness’ can persist beyond the brain。 He mentions this to be proven by ‘evidence from holotropic states’ in his sessions and gives many seemingly unconnected examples varying in credibility: out-of-body experiences （OBEs）， near-death experiences （NDE）， mediumship and channeling （‘psychosynthesis’）。 He reverts to ancient scripts for evidence， such as the Tibetan Book of Death。 Personally， I found his habit of presenting widely contested or unscientific evidence as proven facts disturbing， especially in case of the aforementioned claims。 In the case of NDE’s he refers to the widely criticized work of Dutch cardiologist van Lommel and he mentions the work of famous （trance） painters and mediums as evidence of consciousness existing after death。Finally， most of his research to consciousness （and his work in general） is in line with the field of ‘Transpersonal Psychology’。 The ‘transpersonal levels of the psyche’ are the “source of experiences which transcend the limitations of space， time， and the range of our physical senses” and help explain the existence of collective events such as revolutions， wars and genocide。 In my opinion this is an outrageous statement， which he also makes when referring to the importance of perinatal matrices。 Inter faeces et urinam nascimur Yes， I saved the cherry for last！ The Latin translates as: “We are born between shit and piss” 。 This quote is illustrative of Grof’s theory on how birth affects our （adult） lives。 He argues that : “The way delivery and the postnatal period are handled has a profound influence on the emotional and social life of the individual and has important implications for the future of our society。” He provides many examples of how （traditional） medicine understates the importance of birth and their mistaken belief that consciousness develops much later in life。 He credits Freud for recognizing that the roots of emotional disorders have their origins in early childhood and infancy but argues that he and all of traditional psychotherapy missed the decisive importance of perinatal （and transpersonal roots）。 The theory Grof describes involves COEX systems and perinatal matrices。 A considerable chunk （！） of this book addresses this theory and provides examples， and it is here that some statements become rather incredible。I deliberately cut off this review at this point because I clearly don’t get Grof’s views and theories on the collective unconsciousness， personality and birth trauma， with concepts such as ‘COAX systems’， Basic Perinatal Matrices （BPMs） and individual ones， and their irrevocable consequences。 In his 1980 book ‘LSD psychotherapy’ I also read much about these concepts， already in similar format。 If you get stuff like that， then yummy。。 there’s quite something in store for you。 Personally， this provided a breaking point for me， as I was somewhat offended by his sexual conservatism in describing deviant behaviour and linking them to events at birth， as well as his factual stance on the point。 Ever since new research and renewed interests in psychedelics took off， many papers， articles and books （and documentaries， series） are available on psychedelics。 Not so much on being a psychonaut。 Unfortunately ‘The Way of the Psychonaut: Volume One’ does not provide much information on how to begin or continue your journey as a psychonaut。 I get that， because we still live in times in which many countries prohibit the use of psychedelics， and using it is criminalized。 I wouldn’t call this volume ‘The Way of the Psychonaut’ however， more ‘The Way of Grof’。 I suspect that he is rightfully respected by his peers， but that at the same time many do not agree with him。 I tried swallowing the importance of birth trauma for instance， but couldn’t。 I even called my mom， wonderful woman but also annoying， to ask about a possible birth trauma （there was none）。 I found the causal relation between birth traumas and BPMs not validated and unscientific and simply far-fetched。 I do appreciate Grof as an academic and researcher with his untypical stance on traditions and the metaphysical， and I enjoy watching interviews with him， but I just don’t get his ‘theoretical frame’。 Finally， I also expected more about the existence of psychonauts， its contemporary meaning， differences in use， the dark side， the importance of integration， cross-overs between psychedelics and spiritualism， and there was nothing about this。 Rather， this book provided rehashed， outdated and contested views of Dr Grof， with much interesting information but more less-interesting information。 I’d say: If you’re a fan then “GO！”， otherwise choose something more general and neutral， such as ‘How to Change your Mind’ from Pollan。 And for those well-travelled psyhonauts: Erowid， and what not。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Way of the Psychonaut: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys (Vol #1)

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Way of the Psychonaut: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys (Vol #1)&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Way of the Psychonaut: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys (Vol #1)&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0