Swimming in the Sacred | Free Book
The use of entheogens, or psychedelics, is out of the closet today. LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and other medicines once associated only with the counterculture are now being legally studied for their healing properties. But as Rachel Harris shows, the underground use and study of psychedelics by women dates back to the Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece.
Harris interviews the modern women elders carrying on this tradition to gather their hard-won wisdom of experience. Any reader interested in inspiration, healing, and enlightenment will find here a wonder-filled narrative packed with provocative and perhaps life-changing insight.
In The Press
“The space of psychedelic ceremony is vast — a sacred ocean. This
remarkable book is a narrative distillation of knowledge and insight
informed through extensive conversation with women ceremony leaders
from the psychedelic underground of contemporary Western society. It
is a skillfully woven pedagogical treasure for present and future
generations of healers — a sourcebook of wisdom jewels from medicine
women who operate with intuitions cultivated over decades and
thousands of hours of immersive practice. A true gem!”
— David E. Presti, University of California, Berkeley, author of
Foundational Concepts in Neuroscience: A Brain-Mind Odyssey and Mind
Beyond Brain
“Rachel Harris has delivered a singular book, inspired by in-depth
interviews with fifteen elder underground guides, women with ‘more
experience with the process of working with entheogens than any of the
academic research teams’ involved with psychedelics today. The author
brings her psychology and research background, and her study of the
history of psychedelics, together with insights grounded in her own
encounters with visionary realms. In doing so, she connects the wisdom
of these guides with scholarship from multiple disciplines that the
reader can explore for further learning. Articulating the ineffable
conditions of nonordinary states — and the unique expertise of women
engaged in ‘lifelong learning with entheogens’ — is no small task.
With deep respect and admiration, the author interprets for the reader
stories, wisdom, and guidance from these remarkable women, ‘silent and
unseen,’ who have been ‘in relationship with these medicines for
decades.’ Harris invokes the ‘existential reassurance’ that can
benefit clients who work with medicine guides and therapists connected
to ‘a much larger and more subtle world,’ who have centered their own
healing in service to others.”
— Sylvia Thyssen, senior editor, Erowid.org
“What an opportunity! Fifteen wise women with hundreds of years of
experience guiding psychedelic life-changing journeys share their
stories. Rachel Harris has deftly woven their opinions, concerns,
reservations, and reflections into a book-length conversation. Her own
additional observations, personal experiences, and pertinent research
expand the value of every other contribution. The result is a feast of
wisdoms to guide the next generation, emphasizing putting healing
others above all else to develop their hearts as well as their skills.
This book is a treasure box of guidance and support.”
— James Fadiman, microdose researcher and author of The Psychedelic
Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys
“Ever so carefully, Rachel Harris leads us into the deep end. Her
storytelling pulses with life, illuminating treasures that have been
overlooked for far too long. In gratitude, she reveals the untold
stories of some of our bravest navigators. Swimming in the Sacred
takes us on a delightful journey through the underground of this
psychedelic renaissance and brings us back to the surface, for a
much-needed breath of fresh integrity.”
— Joe Tafur, MD, author of The Fellowship of the River: A Medical
Doctor’s Exploration into Traditional Amazonian Plant Medicine
“Rachel Harris has become an important voice in psychedelic studies.
Her perspective is compassionate, balanced, informed, and pragmatic.
Swimming in the Sacred is full of wisdom, experience, and nuance — a
necessary contribution to the field.”
— Jeremy Narby, author of Plant Teachers and The Cosmic Serpent
“Swimming in the Sacred brings the stories of women who serve as
underground psychedelic guides into the brilliant light of day. With
gratitude and openheartedness, Rachel Harris honors their wisdom and
commitment, without shying away from the potential for harm. The
diverse practices cultivated by women over the decades, which span the
distance between the psychedelic emergence of the 1960s and the
current reemergence, contribute an invaluable perspective to the field
of psychedelic care.”
— Jamie Beachy, PhD, MDiv, assistant faculty in wisdom traditions
and director of education, Center for Psychedelic Studies, Naropa
University
“Swimming in the Sacred is an astute set of observations by a seasoned
psychonaut, trained in psychology (but well aware of traditional
perspectives), on the pressing questions of today’s psychedelic
movement. Rachel Harris offers enormous insight into the possible
nature of entity encounters, psychedelic therapy (and who’s best
qualified to offer it), scientific and traditional metrics for
assessing such matters, and other issues. This is a must-read for
psychedelic explorers, coming at exactly the right moment in our
collective journey.”
— Dana Sawyer, professor emeritus of philosophy and world
religions, Maine College of Art & Design, and author of Aldous
Huxley: A Biography and Huston Smith: Wisdomkeeper: The Authorized
Biography of a 21st Century Spiritual Giant
“Rachel Harris takes readers on a personal journey to meet women of
the psychedelic underground, and along the way she reveals how women
have been quietly but persistently nurturing a therapeutic renaissance
that is not reflected in the scientific headlines. Beautifully
written, this is a compelling and intimate look at some of the unsung
heroines building a sustainable psychedelic future.”
— Erika Dyck, University of Saskatchewan, author of Psychedelic
Psychiatry and Women & Psychedelics
“I would like to offer my heartfelt endorsement of Swimming in the
Sacred. In this insightful and timely book on women psychedelic
elders, Rachel Harris weaves together her wide-ranging interviews with
fifteen women who have, for decades, at the risk of incarceration,
been skillfully guiding medicine journeys with others as part of the
psychedelic underground. These courageous women, impelled by the keen
desire to help others to grow spiritually, were willing to share their
compelling stories with Harris, who in turn crafted this lucid, vivid,
and often wryly humorous text as a way to honor the wisdom and heart
of these gifted women.”
— G. William Barnard, professor of religious studies, Southern
Methodist University
“A luminescent light shines onto shadow aspects of the psychedelic
renaissance in Swimming in the Sacred. Rachel Harris provides a
long-overdue recognition of women’s hidden contributions to
psychedelic healing, research, and sacred wisdom. Harris astutely
navigates the paradox of shadow and light in the current explosion of
collective interest in psychedelic medicines in the US by recounting
the experiences of women healers who have traversed healing realms for
decades, some underground and some in the open light. Through a
Jungian lens, Harris weaves her personal experiences with the life
experiences of psychedelic medicine women, including Harris’s healing
through indigenous Shipibo healers of the Peruvian Amazon, writing
with humor, clarity, and easy-to-read flow. Her book exposes
vulnerable moments in the unfolding of psychedelic healing in her
life, juxtaposing her intellectual skepticism of the nonmaterial
realms with her curiosity and reverence for these same invisible yet
real realms accessible through psychedelic medicines and the healers.
Harris shares her personal process impacted by psychedelic medicines,
revealing her individuation process, while deeply honoring the lives
of scantly recognized women healers.”
— Jerome Braun, MA, LMFT, IAAP, Jungian analyst; diplomate of
C. G. Jung Institute, Zurich; and author of “Impact of Personal
Psychedelic Experiences in Clinical Practice” in Psychedelics &
Psychotherapy, edited by Tim Read and Maria Papaspyrou
“As with the women she describes, Rachel Harris’s gift is her ability
to straddle different worlds. Weaving together academic research, a
discerning psychologist’s intuition, and a deep belief in the
transformative power of mystical experience, she highlights the
critical importance of listening carefully to the spiritual wisdom of
the underground healers among us whose work stands resolutely outside
the Western therapeutic model.”
— Mark Woodbury Brown, author of The Headless Vase
“This is an important and wonderful book. It’s full of surprises and
revelations, facts and stories, humor and wisdom. Rachel Harris gives
us an immensely helpful and necessary guide for anyone interested in
the transformative traditions that emerge in all cultures from the
essential symbiosis between human beings and the plants and fungi that
make life on earth possible. It’s the fruit of a long life lived with
courage, curiosity, compassion, and a wise and critical intelligence.
The voices of these shadowy figures of the sacred underground are so
important for us to hear now. The lives and practices of these women
provide essential context, grounding, and cautions for everyone hoping
to explore the powerful healing potential of our mysterious and
elusive life-giving companions.”
— Tom Cheetham, author of Imaginal Love
“I’ve spent twenty-six years in the Amazon jungles apprenticing with
one of the last of the traditional ayahuasquero shamans. As a gringa
in that machismo society, it was no small feat. Now Rachel Harris
proudly brings to light the wisdom of modern women in modern settings
who are keepers of the psychedelic mysteries of the feminine.”
— Connie Grauds, author of Amazon Medicine Woman
“Now that the transformative potential of psychedelic exploration is
once again spoken of openly, many curious but inexperienced seekers
recognize that they would prefer not to make the journey alone. For
the past half century, those who have had a wise teacher or mentor to
support them have been remarkably fortunate, since our social
environment has made it difficult to find this kind of guidance, and
dangerous to provide it. Swimming in the Sacred explores the work of a
group of women whose skillful presence in the psychedelic underground
perpetuates an ancient spiritual and cultural tradition that has been
carefully concealed during fifty years of reprehension and
suppression. Without pulling away the protective cloak of discretion,
this inspiring book reveals the work of these priestesses in a way
that is respectful, factual, and instructive.”
— Mariavittoria Mangini, PhD, FNP, Women’s Visionary Council
“An invaluable account of medicine women, working at the edges of
consciousness and societal consensus, in deep relationship to the
unseen, in service and allyship to the healing forces of life. Rachel
Harris has captured their voices with her exquisite narrative that
draws us into the very essence of the felt sense, the tactile, the
delicate, the mythopoetic worlds such work emerges from. As we are
navigating the process of mainstreaming psychedelic medicines in the
Western world, these voices bring a depth and wisdom that are
essential for informing our ways forward.”
— Maria Papaspyrou, MSc, coeditor of Psychedelics &
Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Expanded States and
codirector of the Institute of Psychedelic Therapy
“In this poignant, inspirational, and heartfelt book, Rachel Harris
takes us on a fascinating journey exploring the compassionate and
dedicated work of women elders of the psychedelic community. Drawing
from her life as a psychologist and a commitment to spiritual
practice, Dr. Harris beautifully weaves together stories of the
compassion, courage, and wisdom of these women, along with remarkable
tales of the early history of psychedelic research. In these often
bewildering times, this book reminds us of the essential human
capacity for transcendence, meaning, and the awareness of our
interconnectedness with each other and with nature, all of which are
available through spiritual experience, potentially generated by
psychedelics administered in safe, trusted, and supported
relationships and settings. Harris elegantly reveals the ineffable
wonder of human consciousness, including worlds of joy and suffering
and the transformative wisdom within. Swimming in the Sacred is a gift
and a refreshing delight, arriving at the right time.”
— Anthony P. Bossis, PhD, clinical psychologist and clinical
researcher
“Rachel Harris shows deep admiration and respect for the powerful and
accomplished women she has come to know: the underground guides who
connect with the plants that are the source of psychedelic medicines
for our age, as they were long before the culture of modern medicine.
This book, while it may be dense to read, carries the understanding of
wise women who have lived at the center of the psychedelic plant world
and have made their healing powers accessible. Here you will find the
experiential complement to rule-bound academic studies that cannot
acknowledge spiritual dimensions. Swimming in the Sacred is an
antidote to the medicalization of psychedelics that risks losing this
spiritual core.”
— Dr. Roger D. Nelson, director of Global Consciousness Project
- Title: Swimming in the Sacred | Free Book
- Author: Steven
- Created at : 2024-10-24 20:26:15
- Updated at : 2024-10-26 21:50:52
- Link: https://novels-ebooks.techidaily.com/210809808-9781608687312-swimming-in-the-sacred/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.