Albert Hofmann, LSD and the Formation of the Lost Field of Parapsychopharmacology

Abstract

In 1943, following a peculiar presentiment to re-synthesize LSD-25, Dr. Albert Hofmann accidentally had his first psychedelic experience with this chemical and consequently had his first out-of-body experience as well. It has been well documented that, beginning in the early 1950s, psychological and psychophysiological research with LSD and other psychedelics boomed until prohibition in the late 1960s, but little has been reported about the significant influence of psychedelics on, and Hofmann’s contribution to parapsychological research at that time. This paper draws attention to the importance attached to paranormal phenomena among the earliest and most famous psychedelic discoverers and researchers in the developed world, along with the subsequent interest in psychedelics among parapsychologists, thereby plotting the course of the formation of what might be called the lost field of parapsychopharmacology. It is also asked that, given that we are now witnessing a renaissance in psychedelic research, isn’t it time that anthropologists, parapsychologists and psychedelic researchers again unite to once more investigate the profound paranormal experiences people more frequently report with these substances, to find out what they can genuinely add to our potential as human beings.