Robert Cavanna & Emilio Servadio, 1964

The intake of drugs in connection with divinatory practices is probably as old as mankind. We assume that thought transference is an archaic means of communication among humans and therefore was probably much more widespread in primitive cultures. It is reasonable to think that there was often the need of inducing particular personality states by interfering more or less empirically, with the physiological substratum called to extra work, i.e. the central nervous system. If we consider Oriental practices for introducing trained individuals into states of contemplation, or shamanistic sessions in primitive cultures, we see that such rituals are usually accompanied by emotional stress, probably reflecting a very particular cerebral metabolism.

It is quite likely that primitive men in search of food accidentally discovered that, when ingesting certain plants or mushrooms, they felt "different" and started "seeing things." One can postulate that the intake of natural products endowed with such extraordinary powers was soon organized in ceremonies aiming to widen knowledge on important events or to strengthen self-assurance before taking decisions involving the whole community. Probably, it was then realized that some men were more apt than others to enter such states, and so the intake of active products became their privilege. In some instances, scarcity in nature of a certain plant containing active principles contributed to reinforce both the belief in its magic properties and the privilege of its use by certain members of the community. This is a schematic picture of a highly complex phenomenon involving several disciplines. Nevertheless, we want to emphasize that in the specialized literature several observations are reported which deserve attention from the modern researcher in psychopharmacology, in spite of their having been collected with the purely descriptive methods of classical anthropology.

One of the latest cases is that of the Mexican mushroom teonanacatl used ab antiquo in connection with divinatory practices. A few years ago a team of natural scientists attended such ceremonies and the observations made were interesting enough to prompt the taxonomic classification of the mushrooms used, their cultivation in Europe, and finally the extraction and purification of the active principle. This proved to be 4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyl-tryptamine, mainly present in the mushrooms as phosphoric ester; a novel and simple indolic compound endowed with a definite pharmacologic action on the central nervous system.

Even if not found in nature, another most interesting substance is the diethylamide of d-lysergic acid (LSD 25), a derivative prepared in the laboratory from the skeleton of naturally occurring ergot alkaloids whose properties were known for many centuries. An impressive amount of material has been published on the biological activity and the psychological impact of this highly active substance, but its mechanism of action is still unknown, despite extensive studies on its metabolic fate.

Assuming the validity of Hess' functional systems, an interesting hypothesis was formulated on the interaction of psychotropic compounds with brain processes. Most likely the steady state for cerebral metabolism is a dynamic one in which both systems, "ergotropic" and "trophotropic" are balancing each other, and it is reasonable to suppose that the subjective feeling of presence in the waking state is nothing but the subconscious awareness of such an equilibrium. This equilibrium is presumably controlled by a number of factors, most of them still unknown, but we can grossly oversimplify the picture and assume that any interference with such a highly complex homeostatic system should result in instantaneous alterations of the balance between chemical mediators. To postulate such a simplified general mechanism of action for psychotropic compounds is obviously a very rough approximation with several functionally interdependent physiologically active substances existing in the brain.

In the case of psychodysleptic compounds, although a few investigations on their possible interference with some enzymatic processes in the central nervous system have not given conclusive evidence of a direct and specific interaction, thus failing to help in explaining their mode of action, such studies ought to be diligently pursued bearing in mind not only Hess' hypothetical systems, but also the operational interactions of many highly specific biochemical mechanisms regulating the turnover of low molecular compounds, which have a powerful central action and are rapidly and topically produced, released and destroyed.

This kind of interpretation of presence-regulating mechanisms is obviously one-sided; we are aware that many other approaches are equally valid and that all of them are needed to complete the general picture. Nevertheless, on the assumption that a certain degree of loss of presence would favor regression to more empathic states, and that such a regression might represent a favorable ground for the occurrence ESP phenomena, we attempted to induce such states by pharmacological means, because we think they have several advantages over other procedures. In fact, trance-induction, hypnosis, lack or excess of oxygen, hypothermia, fasting, sensory deprivation, etc., besides lacking in specificity of action, all challenge with a serious stress not only the central nervous system but the whole organism, and some of them even jeopardize life. Another negative side of these procedures is the lack of cooperation of the subject and the difficulty in establishing good contacts with him, which renders the performance of scientifically meaningful experiments an extremely difficult task.

The use of psychodysleptic compounds in suitable doses for provoking a moderate loss of presence enabled us to overcome these difficulties, besides being physiologically harmless. Care must be taken, though, to gather all possible information about the personality of the subject and to have experienced personally the effects of each substance, in order to be able, at the right moment, to counteract possible psychic troubles resulting from experiments with such drugs, which may shake the very core of a personality. We believe that skilled support, based upon documented knowledge of the personalities involved, can succeed in restoring an upset balance and even in helping the subject to turn such an experience into a highly positive and fruitful event.

The ideal substance, making possible a sort of "tuning" between humans, has not yet been found. We chose for our pilot work LSD 25 and psilocybin, as both affect personality functions by altering the balance between coordination and drives. We could rely on a large amount of credible observations available on their impact on human personality under a variety of conditions. Both compounds considerably depress the ego functions and uncover less mediated communication mechanisms even in very low doses. How much advantage we shall be able to take of it in our research, we cannot tell before having thoroughly studied the conditioning of possibly occurring ESP phenomena. States of regression are undoubtedly advantageous for the operation of more archaic ways of communication, but existing patterns of interpersonal relations contribute to the establishment and configuration of empathic states. Moreover, these interpersonal relations are not static but, due to the impact of the substances and to more or less conscious manipulation by the individuals involved, evolve dynamically towards more overtly rewarding relationships.

For the sake of simplicity, we considered only GESP in this first approach, and made experiments with one subject at a time under drug, or placebo. At the end of this volume we report two exploratory experiments in telepathy, which we made with the same subjects using the same targets: the results obtained in these experiments and in previous ones of the same type made us aware of the necessity to broaden the scope of our project. The investigation of possible ESP occurrences between two individuals both under the drug, whose emotional connections with each other are predictable because of previous knowledge, and can be kept under observation during the course of the experimental session, seems very promising. Monozygotic twins would be invaluable in this respect. But we think that such types of experiments will require a considerable refinement of methods and techniques.

In this first phase we could already detect remarkable differences between the psychic effects of LSD 25 and those of psilocybin, probably reflecting the known differences in their mechanisms of action. The arousal pattern of the central nervous system under psilocybin is much milder and less irresistible than that under LSD 25 in comparably effective doses and regression is more massive and primary in the latter than in the former. Moreover, exploratory experiments which we carried out with the collaboration of highly selected subjects, consistently pointed to striking qualitative differences between these effects. While LSD 25 uncovers the mechanics of the relationship ego-es, psilocybin seems to disclose another aspect of personal dynamics, namely the interaction between ego and superego. The imagery often evoked by psilocybin is more decor-like, richer in objectual references, as compared to the ego-concerned hallucinatory experiences induced by LSD 25. There are pros and cons in both cases as far as ESP experiments go: if it is difficult to grasp and describe an image out of an overwhelming flow of inner events, as under LSD 25, it is equally difficult to discern meaningful and self-contained images in a continuously swaying, deeply interwoven, decorative pattern, as under psilocybin.

Maybe other substances or combination of substances, such as the amide of d-lysergic acid (Sandoz LA 111), most recently found in the seeds of the Rivea corimbosa, the " ololiuqui" of the Mexicans, and the monoethylamide of the same acid (Sandoz LAE 32) not yet found in nature, could bring us much nearer to the desired state of receptivity. In this series of compounds the arousal pattern induced in the nervous system, so impressive in the case of LSD 25, is directly proportional to the number of ethyl groups, the unsubstituted amide producing a sort of stuporous, sleep-like state accompanied by rich imagery. A withdrawal from reality is induced by all these compounds , but has a strikingly different character for each of them: it is, so to speak, highly active in the case of the diethyl substitution and totally passive with no substitution at all, going through an intermediate type of reaction for the monoethylamide. Effective doses for LAE 32 and LA 111 are in the range of 5 to 10 micrograms per kg. Of body weight, ten times higher than those of LSD 25. Another compound, which could be of some interest in this respect, is 1-(phenylcyclohexyl)-piperidine hydrochloride (Sernyl), reported to induce states resembling sensory deprivation.

It is obvious that ESP tests should be designed to fit the particular type of response elicited by each drug and still be flexible enough to allow for different individual reactions to such drugs. At the same time, a consistent methodology has to be defined and the significance of the results obtained through it should be assessed. The present investigation aims at establishing the validity of the experimental setting and procedure which we devised for testing the effects of various psychotropic compounds on the performance and outcome of ESP experiments.