Holy communion
Apr 24th, 2013 by houghtonmodern
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the newly acquired Santo Domingo collection.
As the use of hallucinogenic drugs proliferated in the counterculture of the 1960s, instructional texts appeared to guide novice users in the preparation and consumption of these substances. This week’s volume from the Santo Domingo Collection, The psychedelic guide to preparation of the Eucharist in a few of its many guises, is a prime example. As the title suggests, the guide also exemplifies the spiritual, mystical, and consciousness-raising properties associated with these drugs; the editing credits on the title page go to “Robert E. Brown & Associates of the Neo American Church League for Spiritual Development & the Ultimate Authority of the Clear Light”. There are several editions of this work in the collection; the volume featured here is the third edition, published in 1973 and distributed by the Linga Sharira Incense Co.
In its introductory material, the guide warns that the substances it deals in are all illegal (these substances being marijuana, peyote, and psilocybin and ergot fungi), and that the guide is “designed for persons who know how to use hallucinogens and who wish to use them for religious purposes such as the mystical Psychedelic Experience” (p. 1). Numerous illustrations, some spiritual and some biochemical in nature, accompany the text.
The psychedelic guide… Austin, Tex.: [Distributed by] Linga Sharira Incense Co., 1973. RM315.P73 1973.
Thanks to rare book cataloger Ryan Wheeler for contributing this post.