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

by Daniel Pinchbeck

Book Overview

A dazzling work of personal travelogue and cultural criticism that ranges from the primitive to the postmodern in a quest for the promise and meaning of the psychedelic experience. While psychedelics of all sorts are demonized in America today, the visionary compounds found in plants are the spiritual sacraments of tribal cultures around the world. From the iboga of the Bwiti in Gabon, to the Mazatecs of Mexico, these plants are sacred because they...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767907434
• ISBN13: 9780767907439
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

A Humpty Dumpty Story

My initial thought upon starting this book was that Daniel Pinchbeck's personal odyssey to find the source of Truth and Knowledge arose from his need to experience the creative forces that formed the artistic life of his mother, a talented Beat Generation writer, and his father, an accomplished abstract painter. I wondered if this would be just another middle-class "drug tale". Fortunately, for the reader, his metier is a deft and sparkling prose style that enriches the telling of his story and induces us to follow him on his journey. Throughout this book, I felt a kinship with Pinchbeck in that I, too, have felt compelled to find meaning beyond the insanity that stands in for culture in America; an insanity, I might add, that is increasingly propelling us towards a questionable existence that is impossible for a thinking person to ignore any longer. My seduction, however, was tempered by fear and my journeys stayed in the intellectual area rather than the experiential. Like many in my generation (the 60's, hippies), half-hearted attempts at searching for "enlightenment" eventually gave way to being co-opted by the very culture I tried to abjure. Pinchbeck, on the other hand, finally reached a point in his life where his own dysfunction forced him to reach towards the things that appealed to him in his youth. He wanted to return to a kind of naivete and hope in psychedelic drugs; a time before media, politics and capitalism ended the real quantitative advancements (especially in psychological healing) that psychedelics were just starting to reveal. Instead, what resulted from those times was a sterile and superficial marketing-driven world that has spawned the self-absorbed, drug culture we see today; a culture where there's a medication for every physical, social and psychological disorder and where the culture itself is the intoxicant of choice to mask the divisiveness, hatred, injustice, dangers and lies we must face every day in our society. "Breaking Open the Head" is an apt title for the audacious--some would say foolhardy--attitude Pinchbeck proceeds with in his "spirit quest". Yet, as a foundation for his psychedelic journeys, there is an intellectual framework that ranges from Plato to Rudolph Steiner and from neolithic cave paintings to the Burning Man Festival. In fact, besides this being superbly-written story of one man's exploration of the "subtler realms", "Breaking Open the Head" is an invaluable survey of historical and current ideas as to the nature of mind and reality. What becomes clear as one reads the book is that for a hundred millenia, mankind had existed in an often mysterious and dangerous world with the help of some kind of knowledge available to just a few. Yet it is apparent that for any group of people to survive, these few individuals would have to have been part of that society. Only in the last 300-400 years has science been around to create the surety in today's world tha

To Put It Simple

This book, like all good books, expanded my consciouness without the use of any psychedelics- psychonauts please think on these words. Anyway, I found that the most important idea explored in this book to cover in my review is that human beings have many, perhaps infinite doors into different states of consciousness within the human mind. Whether or not we choose to deny these completely different worlds, we must understand that current "rational" theories about the world, and about consciousness in general could never be true or complete without exploring these worlds; if you see them you know that many are just as true as "rational" reality. Those doors are there for a reason, or they simply wouldn't be there. Interestingly enough, not only are the doors there after millions of years of evolution, but many keys to open these doors are naturally occuring in thousands of diverse life-forms all over the world (Some of which Mr. Pinchbeck describes wonderfully). Considering psychoactives, I find it particularly interesting that (for example) although the brain has a receptor for THC found in the soft drug marijuana which kills 0 people a year (themselves from use), alcohol- the legal alternative- poisons the brain to intoxication and kills countless brain cells, users and non-users a year. It is also important to note that in general natural psychelics cause no physical addiction or damage (quite the opposite), as the brain is wired specifically for their use. I don't necessarily support the habitual use of drugs, as I find that the mind can be explored to a great extent without them, but they are tools on this earth which we are obviously meant to use- if you don't agree, read this book, as I found it very convincing. Don't forget to explore EROWID.ORG!!!One Love

Psychedelics and Anti-Capitalism

We can now speak of an entheogenic renaissance and this book is part of the growing literature of that movement. "Breaking Open the Head" is an autobiographical account in which the author details his transformation from a cynical Manhattan atheist to an entheogenic psychonaut. Along the way, the writer introduces us to the various psychedelics in use, their effects and cultural history (i.e how they have been used throughout history & /or at present).One element that differentiates this book from other psychedelic accounts is Pinchbeck raises criticisms of capitalism, often viathe voice of Walter Benjamin. We are all under the spell of capital. We are hypnotised by commercials and advertising jingles. We are told, by the powers that be, that capitalism is "natural", that we have arrived at some kind of Hegelian "End of History", in which capitalism has won and any attempts to imagine a different scenario, a different form of global exchange, is empty utopianism. Unfortunately, many of us have accepted this fabrication. And so it is, that the rainforest continues to be depleted, many people in Third World countries live in poverty (thanks to multinational corporations and the politics of debt played by such organizations as the World Bank); spirituallyempty we, in the post-industrial capitalist countries, greedily seek to fill our spiritual emptiness with things, commodities. We consume more and more, yet still cannot fill the emptiness. We're like rats on a turnwheel.Psychedelics MAY be PART of the antidote to all of this.Through psychedelics we are awakened from our trance and can see the world from a completely different perspective. Psychedelics spark creativity. It has been said that Silicon Valley (where I work by the way) would not exist if it were not for acid. That may be an exaggeration, but only in part. Numerous luminaries in the field of computer science sought/seek inspiration through psychedelic visions. What's more, psychedelics reveal a broader (not necessarily HIGHER) reality. As biological organisms, our brains have specialized (at least this is my opinion) and have closed out many parts of the larger reality that exists. In our everyday existence, We stare out at the world through a narrow chink and conclude that is all there is.All this may sound incredible to those who have never experienced the states entrained by psychedelics. Many believe that psychedelics are a means of escaping reality. It is possible, like all things, that they could be used to that end. However,for the escapist, psychedelics would not be the drug of choice. The reason for this being that psychedelics are AMPLIFIERS, not sedatives. If you were to use them as a means to escape some phenomenon, that phenomenon would more than likely end up in your trip amplified to the nth power!I am happy that through his book an anti-capitalist orientation has been introduced into the psychedelic context. While it is true that psychedelics have more o

Fascinating, fun, and intelligent

I highly recommend this book to anyone who in interested in exploring the metaphysical realm and has existential angst. This book not only speaks to the possibility of the existence of other dimensions but sends an important message to the world as it exists today--a world devoid of spirituality, of meaning, of real purpose. Although his explanations of spiritual experience is well-grounded in scientific and rational thought, it is completely accessible to the layman and entirely enjoyable to read.