The Way of the Psychonaut Volume Two: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys

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. The second section of this encyclopedia focuses on the observations and experiences from the research of holotropic states that indicate an urgent need for a radical revision of some basic assumptions of mainstream psychiatry and psychology.