Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism

I think I ran across this book over at Seth's--but can't recall. I expected the standard fare: metaphysically curious seeker uses plant friends to anaesthetize himself against the manic neuroses of modern life, describes his drug experiences, says something is obviously missing from the world but still isn't sure what, blah-blah. These expectations weren't disappointed by this addition to the psychedelia genre, and I found Pinchbeck's book in fact near the summit of such literature. He's got the erudition of Huxley without the stodginess, and seems much less naive and New-Agey than many other modern expounders of a return to shamanism. His prose is also exquisite and witty.

There is nevertheless a great deal of New-Aginess in Breaking show more Open the Head, but Pinchbeck is refreshingly skeptical of his own experiences and beliefs, and is willing to deflate movement icons like Terrence McKenna when necessary (he trashes Timothy Leary, who deserved it). Pinchbeck's also fantastically well-read and marshalls heavyweight intellectuals like Walter Benjamin in this elegant book. I've not read a more accurate description of where I find myself intellectually and spiritually these last few years.

I started Breaking Open the Head randomly while working through Ouspensky's In Search of the Miraculous, which is a document of his 'work' with G.I. Gurdjieff. Strangely in a chapter about synchronicities in Pinchbeck I found myself reading quotes from Ouspensky's book that I'd read not an hour before. Then, in the mail that day, I received an unsolicited invitation from some Dr. and Mrs. so-and-so to come hear Gurdjieff's music at their Silver Spring home in a couple of weeks. How they got my name and address is beyond me. show less

This book is filled with fascinating insights about the relationship between botany, human consciousness, and "reality," from Pinchbeck's firsthand experience with various mind-altering substances across many contemporary shamanistic tribes. His account is well-written and engaging; I enjoyed living vicariously through his local and (other)-worldly experiences.

Pinchbeck does a pragmatic yet culturally unbiased examination of the universal role of psychedelics in the human experience. One might not take this statement with much importance at first glance; but we must realize that there is a taboo against psychedelics in our society. In order to understand psychedelics we must step outside of our preprogrammed biases about the subject. And I shall reiterate that Pinchbeck does just that.
This is a must read for anyone who is jaded with the trivialities of modern society and are seeking spiritual enlightenment or a greater knowledge of oneself. The book is itself a synthesis of individual experience, scientific knowledge, historical analysis, and comparing cultural constructs. The book also has show more a healthy bibliography of referenced material in regard to psychedelics. This book is both entertaining and noteworthy of academic examination at the same time.

Here is a quote
"In contemporary life we do whatever we can to deny intuition of the invisible realms. We clog up our senses with smog, jam out minds with media overload. We drown ourselves in alcohol or medicate ourselves into rigidly artificial states with antidepressants. Then we take pride in our cynicism and detachment. Perhaps we are terrified to discover that our “rationality” is itself a kind of faith, an artifice, that beneath it lays the vast territory of the unknown." show less

Already a modern classic of psychedelic drug writing, distinguished by the author's dogged efforts to try every notable psychedelic drug he could get his hands on, even if it meant traveling to remote corners of the world.

A look at various shamanistic traditions that use entheogens: substances that make you see "god". Pinchbeck explores personally the use of Ayahuasca, Ibogaine, Pyscillopsybin and others and comes up with sometimes fantastic theories about what is going on during such encounters with the sublime.

Wow, I have rarely seen such an arrogrant prick writing so lazily. If the subject matter hadn't been absolutely fascinating, It would have gotten 1 star. Because of the subject matter, I only hated it (or more precisely, the author).

author explores various chemicals and relation to reality in different cultures