I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dr Thomas Roberts, author of The Psychedelic Future of the Mind and MindApps, among other books. Now 85 years old, Roberts became involved with the psychedelic movement way back in the late 1960s / early 70s. He attended seminars and conferences with Alan Watts, Stan Grof, and many other luminaries. For many years, he taught the only university course on the topic of psychedelics to be found in the US, at Northwestern Illinois University. I found it fascinating to get his perspective on the current psychedelic renaissance, which he thought would happen a long time ago!
I find Dr Roberts’ ideas fascinating. He proposes that the rediscovery of psychedelics by the Anglo-European world in the middle of the 20th Century was the start of the second Reformation. In the first Reformation, the Bible was translated from Latin into the common languages and published by the new printing presses. This meant that the people could now read and interpret the “word of God” for themselves. It is thought that this eventually led to the English Civil War, as people interpreted the Apocalypse of St John as an event happening in their time. With psychedelics, we can still read “the word of God” in the testimony of the prophets, but we also have direct. unmediated access to the visionary experiences they describe.
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Daniel Pinchbeck’s Newsletter to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
