League for Spiritual Discovery
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League for Spiritual Discovery (LSD) was a spiritual organization inspired by the works of
Origins
Timothy Leary and
The Castalia Foundation hosted weekend retreats on the estate where people paid to undergo the psychedelic experience without drugs, through meditation, yoga, and group therapy sessions.[10] The Castalia Foundation adopted some of the mystic teachings of Gurdjieff for their non-drug workshops.[11] During 1965 Castalia Foundation members collaborated with artists, including the media art collective USCO (The Company of US), to reproduce the LSD experience in improvised audio-visual psychedelic shows in Manhattan.[12][13]
The origins of the League for Spiritual Discovery can also be found in the Original Kleptonian Neo-American Church, whose clergy members administered sacraments in the form of psychedelic drugs.[8][14] The church was founded in 1965 by Arthur Kleps, a participant in Leary's circle at Millbrook.[14] The Millbrook residents were a tight-knit group whose goal was to discover and cultivate the divinity within each person, and they regularly took high doses of LSD in group sessions.[9]
Leary was arrested in December 1965 for possession of
History
On September 19, 1966, Leary reorganized the IFIF/Castalia Foundation under the nomenclature of the League for Spiritual Discovery, a religion with LSD as its holy
The League for Spiritual Discovery's belief structure was based on Leary's mantra: "drop out, turn on, tune in." Though the more popular "turn on, tune in, drop out" became synonymous with Leary, his actual definition was: "Drop Out – detach yourself from the external social drama which is as dehydrated and ersatz as TV. Turn On – find a sacrament which returns you to the temple of God, your own body. Go out of your mind. Get high. Tune In – be reborn. Drop back in to express it. Start a new sequence of behavior that reflects your vision."[10] Although The Brotherhood of Eternal Love would subsequently consider Leary their spiritual leader, The Brotherhood did not evolve out of the League for Spiritual Discovery. The motto of the group, "Turn on, tune in, drop out"[20] became synonymous with the sixties.
Nicholas Sand, the clandestine chemist for the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, followed Leary to Millbrook and joined the League for Spiritual Discovery. Sand was designated the "alchemist" of the new religion.[21] Owsley Stanley encouraged Sand to shift his operations to California, and offered him the services of his lab partner, Tim Scully. There Sand and Scully manufactured Orange Sunshine LSD - their history is documented in the documentary The Sunshine Makers.[21]
On October 6, 1966, LSD was made illegal in the state of California. Later, on October 24, 1968, LSD was added to the list of Schedule 1 substances, which made it illegal to possess, manufacture, or use for any purpose in the United States.[22][23]
At the end of 1966, Nina Graboi, a friend and colleague of Leary's who had spent time with him at Millbrook, became the director of the Center for the League of Spiritual Discovery in Greenwich Village.[24][25] The Center opened in March 1967.[26] Graboi explained "The League of Spiritual Discovery had only two commandments: Thou shalt not alter the consciousness of thy fellow man, and Thou shalt not prevent thy fellow man from altering his own consciousness."[27][28] Graboi accepted the position as director to disseminate information about the use and misuse of psychedelics, in order to minimize their ill effects.[24] Leary thought their work together could educate people about the constructive use of LSD, as well as serve as a rescue center.[19][29] Leary and Alpert gave free weekly talks at the center, and other guest speakers included Ralph Metzner and Allen Ginsberg.[24][29]
During late 1966 and early 1967, Leary toured college campuses to spread the psychedelic gospel by presenting a multi-media performance called "The Death of the Mind" which attempted to artistically replicate the LSD experience.[8][30] It had initially opened at a theater that became the location for the Fillmore East.[30] Leary said the League for Spiritual Discovery was limited to 360 members and was already at its membership limit, but he encouraged others to form their own psychedelic religions. He published a pamphlet in 1967 called Start Your Own Religion to encourage people to do so.[8]
At the end of 1967, Leary was evicted from the
Around end of 1967/early 1968 the League for Spiritual Discovery was closed down, and the New York Center for the League of Spiritual Discovery was abandoned shortly after Graboi left her position as director.[33]
Leary's papers at the New York Public Library include complete records of the International Federation for Internal Freedom, the Castalia Foundation, and the League for Spiritual Discovery.[4]
Revival
In October 2006, the League for Spiritual Discovery was restarted, taking all of the original intents of the prior organization as a foundation, but updating the message and expanding the work.
See also
- Ayahuasca
- Bwiti
- Entheogen
- God in a Pill?
- Ibogaine
- List of psychedelic drugs
- List of psychoactive plants
- Mystical psychosis
- Peyote
- Psilocybin mushroom
- Psychedelic experience
- Psychedelic psychotherapy
- Tabernanthe iboga
References
- OCLC 818414448.
- ISBN 978-0942344103.
- ^ Santa Cruz Sentinel. "Remembrances", 02 January, 2000
- ^ a b Staton, Scott. “Turn On, Tune In, Drop by the Archives: Timothy Leary at the N.Y.P.L.", The New Yorker, 11 June 2011
- ^ Hiatt, Nathaniel J. “A Trip Down Memory Lane: LSD at Harvard", Harvard Crimson, 23 May 2016
- ^ Timothy Leary Archives. “International Federation For Internal Freedom – Statement of Purpose" Archived 2017-08-23 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 978-0802130624.
- ^ a b c d e f g Chevallier, Jim. “Tim Leary and Ovum - A Visit to Castalia with Ovum", Chez Jim/Ovum, 03 March 2003
- ^ ISBN 978-0802130624.
- ^ a b c d e f Lander, Devin (30 January 2012). "League for Spiritual Discovery". World Religions and Spiritualities Project.
- ^ a b Ulrich, Jennifer. “Transmissions from The Timothy Leary Papers: Hesse, Gurdjieff and Minor White", New York Public Library, 14 May 2012
- ^ a b Junker, Howard. “LSD: ‘The Contact High’" Archived 2017-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, The Nation, 05 July, 1965
- ^ a b Ulrich, Jennifer. “Transmissions from The Timothy Leary Papers: Evolution of the "Psychedelic" Show", New York Public Library, 04 June, 2012
- ^ a b Original Kleptonian Neo-American Church. "About the OKNeoAC".
- ISBN 978-0942344103.
- ^ Harvard Crimson. “Leary Arrested On Drug Charge", Harvard Crimson, 3 January 1966
- ^ San Francisco Chronicle September 20, 1966 Page One
- ISBN 978-0813366128.
- ^ a b Linder, Douglas O. “Testimony of Timothy F. Leary", Famous Trials
- ISBN 080164092X.
- ^ a b Grimesmay, William. “Chemist Who Sought to Bring LSD to the World, Dies at 75", New York Times, 12 May 2017
- ^ Jarnow, Jesse. “LSD Now: How the Psychedelic Renaissance Changed Acid", Rolling Stone, 06 October, 2016
- ^ Johnson, Lyndon B. "Statement by the President Upon Signing Bill Relating to Traffic in or Possession of Drugs Such as LSD", 25 October 1968. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.
- ^ ISBN 978-0892817863.
- ISBN 978-0942344103.
- ISBN 978-0942344103.
- ISBN 978-0942344103.
- ISBN 978-0802130624.
- ^ ISBN 978-0942344103.
- ^ ISBN 978-0942344103.
- ^ "Leary Drops Out". The Ottawa Journal. 29 November 1967.
- ^ Menand, Louis. “Acid Redux: The life and high times of Timothy Leary", New Yorker, 26 June 2006
- ISBN 978-0942344103.