Trip Sitting: the Art and Science of Holding Psychedelic Space by Julian Vayne
Readers of my various writings will almost certainly be the kind of people who are familiar with Julian’s work. Over the decades, he has successfully cultivated a clear, engaging and approachable style of writing about esoteric topics, shuffled together in inspiring new ways. This book is no exception. It is a book whose time has come. Although psychedelics are still illegal in many countries, including the stupid and backward UK, many people use them. (As David Nutt's 2009 report on the objective harmfulness of a range of recreational drugs showed, mushrooms are massively less dangerous than alcohol. Of course, Prof Nutt was sacked for revealing actual truths about drugs; truth was considered to be 'sending the wrong message'). People use psychedelics for a variety of reasons and goals, and this book is about inward-focused practice, the eyes-closed, music-on-headphones kind of trip. Julian sets the scene, discussing the venue, the construction and use of playlists, and,...