It seems very appropriate that my LSD research series should finish with this last, seventh part. Number seven relates to the seven chakras. Now when I looked back at the themes of each part, I saw how the first three parts relate to the personal realm of experience and how the fourth part, which describes the oceanic bliss we experience in our mother’s womb, marks the transition from the personal to the transpersonal (collective). It is the fourth chakra also known as the heart chakra that through compassion and love lets us transcend our ego boundaries and get in contact with our Self. Individuation happens through a constant and fruitful interchange between consciousness and unconsciousness in a person. It is love that dissolves the rigidity of the ego.
Image credit: http://www.deviantart.com/art/heart-chakra-51249642
The final chapter of Grof’s report on his LSD research deals with transpersonal experiences during LSD sessions. Such experiences occur rarely in preliminary sessions, but they are fairly common in subjects who have successfully accessed and integrated their personal traumas and have also lived through the perinatal matrices I described in my previous posts. What characterizes transpersonal experiences is the feeling that the ego has expanded beyond the boundaries of space and time. The first type of such experiences are ancestral memories.
ANCESTRAL MEMORIES
Such memories can reach back over generations, even centuries. They are distinct from past-life memories, which I will describe later. One case of ancestral memories was a subject of a Scandinavian origin, who during their LSD experience witnessed various scenes from the conquests of the Vikings with an incredible vividness of detail in regard to clothes, weapons or their naval techniques. The significance of awakening ancestral memories is well phrased in the following passage:
Some subjects have reported in this context that as a result of such experiences they have developed a new understanding of some of their personal problems and conflicts. They could trace them back to friction points, incompatibilities, and incongruences between their maternal and paternal lineages and realized that what was considered to have been primary intrapsychic problems were actually introjected and internalized conflicts between generations of their dead kinsmen.
The way I see it, the intrapsychic does not need to preclude the external, but I would rather look at both as reflecting the same core archetypal conflict. I think this example can serve to show the difference between Freudian and Jungian thinking. Freudian psychoanalysis would look for a core event that changed the person, preferably a childhood trauma that, like an old wound, is festering in the dark recesses of the unconscious. They would explain someone’s behaviour as a direct result of that particular trauma. Jungians, however, would see both the childhood trauma and the subsequent behaviour of a person as an expression of an archetypal constellation, not as a cause-effect relation. With regards to astrology, this is even clearer: we have certain conflicts manifested in our natal chart in the form of challenging aspects between planets, for example. The chart is our archetypal blueprint. My Polish astrology teacher used the term “planetary inheritance” to indicate how the same conflicts and aspects are passed on across generations of the same family. As an Arab proverb says: What the father buried in the garden, the son will dig out. The archetypal approach offers more freedom than Freudian thinking. We are not caught in a causal loop and therefore doomed but we can choose to consciously access the archetypal blueprint that constellated a given life situation. We do not literally bear the sins of our fathers but we rather repeat the same patterns over and over again in our lives.
TIME AND SPACE TRAVELS
Quite frequently the subjects experienced events set in times and places unrelated to their ethnic background.
The degree of historical or ethnographic knowledge that emerges is clearly incongruent with the subject’s previous education and level of information in these areas. On occasion, unsophisticated individuals described details of Egyptian funeral services, including the form and meaning of various amulets ad sepulchral boxes, the colors of funeral cones, the technology of embalment and mummification, and the sequence of ritual procedures followed:
It is not uncommon that in association with specific LSD experiences some subjects discover the meaning of various symbolic gestures (mudras) or spontaneously assume quite unusual postures (asanas). … In several instances individuals enmeshed in elements of a certain culture felt a strong need to dance. Without any previous training or specific exposure to these cultures, they were able to perform complicated dance forms.
Such phenomena show that the human psyche on its unconscious level is able to transcend time and space limitations. According to Grof, these experiences are not connected with reincarnation but they are rather indicative of the psyche’s ability to travel in time and space to gain insights into different aspects of life. Past-incarnation experiences form a distinct category and will be described later.
EVOLUTIONARY MEMORIES
Quite distinct group of experiences is formed by evolutionary memories. Some of the subjects relived the evolution of various species by identifying themselves with animals. Those could have been the most primitive life forms and the most advanced. Subjects reported illuminating insights into what it feels like to be a hungry snake, a sexually excited turtle, some were talking about spinning spider webs, etc. On occasion, subjects have accurately described courtship dances, complicated reproductive cycles, techniques of nest-building, patterns of aggression and defense, and many other zoological and ethological facts about the animals they have experienced in sessions.
Image credit: http://www.hinduhumanrights.info/evolution-a-hindu-perspective/
PAST-INCARNATION EXPERIENCES
Yet another form of transpersonal experiences are past-incarnation experiences. What characterizes these experiences is that the subjects maintain their identity while experiencing themselves in a different form and another time and place. The individual has a strong conviction that he or she is confronted with a memory from a previous life; the experience is accompanied by a distinct feeling of déjà vu. There were subjects who had consciously rejected the concept of reincarnation or knew nothing about it before the session, and yet they offered “complex and detailed insights into this area that were strikingly similar to those described in various religious and occult scriptures.”
Grof observed two types of past-incarnation experiences. The first group were memories of deep love or friendship bonds, memories of being understood, nurtured and nourished by another. The second group were intensively charged events characterized by highly charged emotional content bringing pain, bitterness, suffering, hatred, murderous aggression, lustful passion, insane jealousy or intense greed. Amazingly, all these emotions at a certain point started to meld and lose their distinguishing features. I’m quoting a longer passage so that I do not distort its profound message:
LSD subjects have repeatedly stated that it does not seem to make a difference whether they were the oppressor or the victim in a negative karmic situation; it appears as though it is the dyadic traumatic pattern that is imprinted. On a deep level, the emotional state of the sadistic torturer is similar to that of the tortured, and the raging drive of the murderer fuses with the anguish of his dying victim. The inability to forgive and transcend one’s suffering appears to be as conducive to karmic imprinting as actively performed injustice or violence.
This kind of intoxication on the raging and undifferentiated passions sounds very Dionysian to me. Fittingly, Dionysos was the god of reincarnation and the afterlife. Perhaps these are our paroxysms of passions that send us back to this plane of existence. We are driven to be reborn: this is not a conscious, Apollinian choice.
Grof reports that during some of the sessions karmic patterns appeared to have been broken. All subjects reported a feeling of intense bliss and relief when a karmic pattern or bond was thus overcome during a session. Furthermore, people mentioned by the subject as involved in the resolved karmic pattern also experienced a change and a feeling of relief. Grof was able to verify this by interviewing all the parties involved. These feelings occurred even in people who lived far away from the subject during his or her LSD session.
EXPERIENCES OF IDENTIFICATION
Merging with another entity is yet another type of LSD experiences. This could take a form of an identification with another person, for example a significant other who is not present in the room. After the sessions was over subjects reported a profound and lasting feeling of unity with the person the had symbolically merged with during their session. Such an experience, according to Grof, frequently led to tantric and oceanic sex that the subjects were able to open themselves to.
Furthermore, subjects reported merging with both organic and inorganic matter:
He can experience himself as a germinating seed, a leaf in the course of photosynthetic activity, or a root reaching out for water and nourishment.
Reading this, I remembered an extraordinary experience of mine during meditation when I suddenly felt myself to be a green leaf touched by the gentle rays of the sun.
What also happened was subjects tuning in to the consciousness of various organs or tissues of the body. One subject experienced himself as a spermatozoon:
The middle part of my back was generating rhythmical impulses, and I had the feeling of being propelled through space and time toward some unknown goal; I had a very vague awareness of the final destination, but the mission appeared to be one of utmost importance. …
There was a clear awareness of the biochemical processes in the nucleoplasm; in a nebulous atmosphere I could recognize the structure of the chromosomes, individual genes, and molecules of DNA. I could perceive their physiochemical configuration as being simultaneously elements of ancestral memories, primordil phylogenetic forms, nuclear forms of historical events, myths, and archetypal images. … This microworld of the spermatozoid was at the same time influenced and governed by some forces modifying and determining the outcome of the race. They seemed to have the form of karmic, cosmobiological, and astrological force-fields.
Grof ends the report by enumerating other examples of transpersonal LSD experiences. These included encounters with spirit guides and guardians from higher planes of consciousness, also UFO encounters.
ARCHETYPAL EXPERIENCES AND INTUITIVE UNDERSTANDING OF UNIVERSAL SYMBOLS
Some subjects, also naïve ones without any educational background, reenacted complex archetypal and mythological sequences and appeared to have encountered various deities from all possible cultures. A lot of the subjects displayed an impressive understanding of universal symbols, as if they had tuned in to the universal matrix of meaning and were just channeling its contents. The most frequent symbols experienced by subjects during the sessions were the cross, the star of David, the swastika, the ankh, the lotus flower, the yin-yang, the lingam, the diamond, the wheel of death and rebirth, the mandala and the ouroboros. Even unsophisticated subjects displayed deep understanding of the meaning of these symbols. What is more:
Subjects who had previously ridiculed astrology and had a condescending attitude toward alchemy discovered deeper meaning in these systems and gained a deep appreciation of their metaphysical relevance.
Images by Vasily Kafanov retrieved from kafanov.com (Illutrations of The Smashing Pumpkins ‘Machina’ album cover)
Source of all quotes:
Stanislav Grof, Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research
Related posts:
symbolreader 
A very interesting, enlightening series on a subject (LSD) of which I am clueless! Thank you for shedding a light…
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Thank you very much. You may be clueless about LSD but you have experienced many mystic phenomena in other ways, I think.
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Wow! All of my LSD experiences were when I was so young I didn’t have a clue as to the spiritually transmuting depths I could get from it. I did however get something from them even at that clueless age. Great series. Amazing images to accompany them.
✿ღ✿ღ.¸¸ღ♫*¨`*•..¸ƸӜƷ ✿ღ ✫❀
Much love~
Sindy
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Thank you, Sindy! I think Grof said that transpersonal experiences were quite rare and happened usually in the late sessions. Maybe you did not get enough exposure and maybe, after all, this is a good thing.
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True that!
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I found the entire post absolutely fascinating and so enlightening, Monika, especially the distinction you made between Freudian and Jungian thinking in the whole realm of archetypal constellation and the cause-effect relation. While reading your post I just once again became deeply aware of the sheer interconnectedness of all things, especially in the experiences you described. Thanks again for a remarkable piece of work. I must confess that I struggle with the concept of reincarnation, but my mind and heart remains open to working with it.
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Thank you so much. I totally respect your struggling with reincarnation. I feel there is a lot of simplistic information out there about karma for example. I understand the resistance.
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That’s precisely the problem. There is so much simplistic stuff. I’ve yet to find something I can really respect and work with.
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This is a wonderful conclusion to a really thought provoking series. Thank you for sharing this.
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Thank you, Henry!
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Thank you for sharing this research in such an original and elegant manner. I love the images you chose here, from the sublime to the ” ridiculous ” – Woody Allen! I can’t help but wonder if there is an internal, brain chemical or chemical combination that can mimic these processes. I love when posts are so provocative that they leave me with more questions ….
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My internal trickster could not resist including Woody Allen here – thanks for catching up on that – I can always count on your intelligence. I understand your doubts concerning provocation.
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That was a compliment regarding provocation Monika. Your writing serves to provoke the reader to bypass the logical and enter the paradoxical, illogical, elusive world of the infiinite. sorry if my comment was not clear 😉
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Thank you, that is an amazing compliment!
Love,
Monika
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🙂
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Wonderful post Monika. I have loved these LSD sessions and wish I could undergo similar sessions in a clinical, exploratory controlled environment (rather like Graham Hancock describes in Supernatural). Thank you so much for such meaningful articles. I don’t know if you realize how much you contribute. As I’ve said before, I leave your posts till last, for when it is quiet, and I have a glass of wine with me. Then I savour both the wine and your words. A truly exquisite moment!
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That is so touching, thank you! You have made my evening. I am still not sure whether I would take lsd but I would definitely love to live through some of these experiences.
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PS, Bravo on the new additions to your format, The artwork is exquisite!
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Thanks!
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A grand finale Monika! Like Sindy, my experiences with LSD never amounted to anything like a transpersonal experience, but I was struck by the idea of identification between victim and abuser. A friend of mine who was doing LSD with us, was having a very bad time and one of the other people there with us was taunting him. I got pretty upset by this, and it felt as if not only I could feel Eric’s pain but that I was in a sense him. I did ask the guy to leave Eric alone, which he eventually did, and then spent some time with Eric, trying to comfort him. Some people are too fragile for LSD, that is for sure.
Yes, I like the distinction between Freud and Jung too. Freud seemed to place all of his patients in the same story, Jung did give us a way to understand things in light of an archetypal background.
I too, like to savor your writings and read them when I have time to settle in! Thanks for all the work you do!
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Thank you! I must confess I am happy it is over because after all these years I realized how Grof’s writing style does not resonate with me at all. There are great ideas to be taken from his research but I am so glad to be able to return to Jung and Hillman now, to the real fountain of inspiration.
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I know that feeling, as I suppose many do as writing style can make or break the experience of reading!
It was a daunting task, perhaps the spinach of your studies, room for dessert? 🙂
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Well put! I crave some sweetness, we are in Libra after all.
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Make mine chocolate, I’ll share of course. 🙂
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This is our speciality in Zurich. 🙂
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Jealous!!!! I didn’t know you lived there Monika. If I ever do travel, Zurich is on the list.
We’re catching up here in the states, but we still have a ways to go.
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You’d be most welcome here. I moved here on the 50th anniversary of Jung’s death, maybe it matters.
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Wow, so not too long ago. I would say it matters. I think this is how we honor the dead; you remember him by noting a correspondence of an event in your life to the 50th anniversary of his passing.
Part of what compels me to revisit Hillman now was his passing in 2011. I never thought it would it touch me the way it has as it had been awhile since I had read his books, but I was fortunate to attend several of his conferences, and his presence, through his ideas, and even his voice, has stayed with me and admittedly I do want to honor him and keep him present.
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Wonderful end to an excellent series! While reading the first parts of the post, I wondered where it would all lead to…then the more and more I read…right to the very end, I saw the connecting thread. Every single experience which were recounted, in whatever way it was experienced shows the truth of the Oneness in all. It was like a flower blooming to reveal what it means when those like Carl Jung and even Cayce talk about the universal unconscious or superconscious. At that level every experience is also our own, and what this LSD experiment has shown is that! – totally awesome!!
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Exactly! Thank you for verbalizing it so beautifully. This is where the inner world and the outer world converge.
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This series has been absolutely wonderful. I have learned so much from it! This research raises a great deal of questions. Do you have any information / idea about how this research was received by the scientific community when it was published or how it is regarded today? I imagine if this work were truly taken seriously – then it would require the change of a good many foundational assumptions in not only the pscyhological arena but others disciplines as well. I am curious (and suspect) that it might have been pushed under the rug – due to the nature of the questions it raises….Anyhow, thank you so much for this thoughtful summarization of and reflection upon this work – I would likely never have been exposed to it otherwise.
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The first time I heard about this research was at university when I was a psychology student. It was covered during an optional series of lectures on The Psychology of New Age. It never made its way to the official curriculum but was always treated as a curiosity. Right now LSD research is illegal, but Grof continues his work utilizing the method of holotropic breathwork. I do not know much about it. The mainstream psychology is really so dry and boring – they are still not ready for these insights, I think. The only inspiration I found at university was at these fringe lectures, where I always felt that the psyche is an object of wonder. I am very happy you enjoyed the series. Thank you.
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I love this post, Monika. On shrooms (Psilocybin) when I was 15, my body morphed into the proportions of a chimpanzee — short legs, short trunk, long arms — and my posture was just as theirs when they are seated. On that particular trip, I also had to check my face frequently to make sure it was still my own. It was. 😉
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Haha, now I can’t get that image out of my head!
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This series has been absolutely phenomenal! Thank you for all of your efforts on this – writings and research and pictures. Fascinating… Is there a link you can direct us to where all the parts of the series are together? I’d like to download it to re-read it all in one place so that I can go back and forth between sections.
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Thank you, that is so heartwarming. There is links to all the previous posts under each article. I hope this is enough because I am not very tech savvy… I am also thinking of creating a page index.
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You’re welcome! I already downloaded this article, so I’ll do the same on the others – no problem. An index would be a good idea. Don’t feel bad about not being too tech savvy – with your other considerable talents, that doesn’t matter!!!
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Thank you for your kindness.
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Totally appreciated your most interesting series! stay well and happy, Eddie
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Thank you, heartfelt wishes to you, too!
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A fascinating study. My path, my life, my identity itself has been forever changed by the psychedelic experience. Grof’s work is monumental, especially for it’s scientific rigor. I was always more interested in the work of Tim Leary, Ram Dass, Alan Watts, whose explorations were more personal and subjective, and consequently more poetic and accessible.
I need to go back and check out the rest of your series!
~ Ben
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Thank you, Ben! I am also much more into poetry and subjective experience than science and I love Ram Dass. I really tried to liven up the series. I am grateful to Groff but occasionally reading him was very tiring. Best, Monika
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