The Pharmacopoeia Maleficorum:

Drugs & Magick

by Hades



“I hate to recommend drugs, violence or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.”

- Hunter S. Thompson

Okay, kids… a few moments of straight talk about entheogens! Speaking entirely hypothetically but perhaps quite realistically now... we can’t deny that the modern occult revival arrived gland-in-hand with the psychedelic revolution, which made the musical and political and psychological culture of the late 20th century into whatever the hell it was. As Owsley Stanley once said, "Chemistry is applied theology.” A popular 1960s slogan was "Reality is just a crutch for people who can't handle drugs."



The powers-that-be have always declared most mind-altering substances illegal, and since our governments constantly lie to us, this clearly must mean that they are probably very good things indeed. Their influence on all of human history is undeniable, and the range of available possibilities remarkable. Intoxication is a frequent metaphor for ecstasy in many spiritual traditions. Consider Sufi or Skaldic poetry, recall the brews, potions and flying ointments that led to the frenzies of the Witches’ Sabbat, and the newly-made vintage of the wine in the Dionysian Bacchanal; the peyote of the Native American vision quest and the amanita mushrooms of the Siberian shaman; the lost sacred substances of initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries and the fabled Indic soma. I have no idea where toad-licking fits in. Chaos magick rather coyly refers to all of this fun as "chemognosis". Modern science is producing new brain drugs every day, and we might consider that many traditional substances were pretty toxic and often had gawd-awful side effects, from stuff like datura or jimson weed (the Manson Family was into this!), and in parts of Africa the use of ‘ordeal poisons’. My, don't those sound appetizing!





In magical terms I might seek to classify the possibilities by the traditional four elements. On first view we might loosely classify alcohol and all other liquids under the sphere of Water; smokables such as marijuana, hashish and opium under Air; depressants would be Earth and stimulants Fire; and the psychedelics are clearly Spirit. A little bit can go a long way, and the importance of concentration and control in many rituals could imply that it might be a bad idea to attempt some of the more complicated practices while totally blitzed. Alternatively, long centuries of tantrik tradition suggest that many rites are best performed while happily whacked out of your skull. The decision must then be based on exigent circumstances and the current beliefs of all the individuals involved, and on the wisdom of Timothy Leary, who always emphasized two vital aspects for any such experiment: set and setting. Be in the right state and in the right time and place. The mind-set previously programmed by the participants affects every aspect of subsequent experience, and the setting or location and conditions under which it takes place are vital to an effective and meaningful outcome. It may also be prudent to have at least one sober person to guard the circle and deal with any emergencies.





I find that modern science conveniently accepts a fourfold division as well, and the common classifications of intoxicants are inebriants, hallucinogens, hypnotics, and stimulants. So:

Inebriants: this covers many unpleasant chemicals such as chloroform, benzene, ether and other inadvisable solvents; but the best known and most widely distributed is alcohol in all its countless varieties, and the act of drinking must clearly relate to Water. The process of making various forms of alcohol or 'spirits' is among the oldest types of alchemy, and ale, mead, wine, and the harder stuff have been used in a wide range of religio-magical contexts worldwide, while the brewing of beer may well predate the baking of bread. Many ancient peoples also mingled a wide variety of other unusual substances in their drinks of choice; in Greece the fabled psychedelics of the Eleusinian Mysteries were mixed in the wine, and the Vikings spiced up their ales with all kinds of wild things (henbane and hemlock and hemp, mandrake and mushrooms, belladonna and opium poppies). In Old Norse myth the richly fermented honey-mead is the sacred drink of Odin, the very wellspring of poetic inspiration and source of all sorcerous effectiveness; a frequently used rune-magical word is ALU, meaning both ‘Ale’ and ‘magical power’. Even the simple act of Sharing Water (or whatever) is a primal affirmation of the friendship, blood brotherhood, and vital hospitality that is a key to the social matrix of most human cultures worldwide. According to the Roman historian Tacitus the Germanic tribes would debate all of their most important decisions twice: once roaring drunk, then again cold sober and hung over the following morning. This clearly proves that so-called barbarians are not necessarily stupid. Wine has a most ancient history as the sacramental liquid, and the rites of the Greek Dionysos and Roman Bacchus long predate any Christian usage as the holy Eucharist in the rites of communion.





One of the odder magico-theological debates I have had over the years was whether or not mixed drinks were okay as a sacrament: martinis on the altar, their ice cubes gently clinking? Perhaps just for diabolical or qlipothic rituals? For a while we tried to figure out which species of booze could be attributed to the various Tunnels of Set… alcohol has a well-known tendency to clear away inhibitions; moderate intake can stimulate pleasure, excess can easily become toxic. Always designate a sober charioteer before the orgies begin. To quote Dean Martin, “If you can lie on the floor without holding on, you're not drunk.”

Hallucinogens: includes all the varieties of hemp or cannabis, and also such well-known mushrooms as the amanita muscaria or fly agaric beloved of shamans and the wondrous psilocybe; also peyote and San Pedro cactus, mescaline, harmaline, LSD and other synthetics, toxic belladonna and henbane, and certain exotic South American vines like ayahuasca. Because their effect is largely in the mental sphere I will attribute the smokable cannabis derivatives such as hashish and marijuana mostly to Air and the others to Spirit.





From hemp we receive the bhang beloved of tantrik sadhus or the reefer of the beatniks, the hashish of the Assassins or the ganja of the Rastafarians. This is among the most ancient and harmless of human intoxicants, and may be the most useful and manageable adjunct to arcane practices. Long long ago in a galaxy far far away I participated in the founding of a new cult of the green goddess Euphoria, Leafy Lady of the High, twin sister of Eris. Her worship gives blessings good for ten thousand lifetimes, minimum. There is also a Taoist cannabis goddess named Ma Ku, ‘Lady Hemp’. We might note that magicians Pascal Beverly Randolph and Aleister Crowley were both very enthusiastic devotees of the "Grass of the Arabs" as well. Cannabis can indeed give wings to the imagination, as long as one can maintain enough focus to be useful; it is probably the least toxic and most salutary of any of any these varied possibilities, and perfectly suited to represent Air as the breath of life. Lord Shiva is also noteworthy as its patron, and Hindu sadhus or holy men float on a cloud of heavenly hemp. Crowley in 777 remarks that cannabis will "produce in one mood voluptuous visions which pertain to Venus, and in another confer the power of self-analysis, which is Mercurial." Remember clapping your hands to the childhood rhyme “Patty-cake, Patty-cake, Baker’s Man”?

"Cakes of light, cakes of light, IO PAN!

Make me a Beast as Great as you can!

Roll it,

and smoke it,

and mark it V.V.V.V.V.

then Cross the Abyss, solar-phallically!"

I also note that nitrous oxide, a.k.a. laughing gas, is a remarkable tool for tracing thoughts to their source, and a real blast for charging sigils. William James, the noted author of the classic The Varieties of Religious Experience , was said to have used this in his investigation of his own mind.





In the next step up we must reserve a special place in our black hearts for the psychedelics, from magic mushrooms to the latest synthetics, in the opening of the doors of perception. Entheogens can indeed be doorways to divinity, true forms of Transcendental Medication. The origins of shamanism and human culture may lie in psychedelic experiences, and some suggest that prehistoric cave art began with people tracing the images and patterns of their visions onto the walls. Castaneda's early work with peyote and mescaline, Leary's popular experiments with LSD and McKenna's with other possibilities, have produced unique and unexpected happenings, and the ripples of culture shock continue to spread outwards. Those freely-growing and very pretty little psilocybin mushrooms became the vehicle of the 80s and 90s, a healthy organic vegetarian alternative in an era when it seems that corporate culture has largely co-opted the impetus of the mind-expanding revolution into yet another form of life-style product.



As one example of this, the merely recreational use of Ecstasy in the rave subculture often seems designed to reduce a remarkable substance with genuine therapeutic potential into just another distraction to keep the empty-headed masses occupied. In early LSD experiments (before it was banned), good results were obtained in the treatment of alcoholism and also reduced recidivism in prison trials. In a free democracy, of course, everyone is entitled to my opinion: I do not believe that science should be held hostage to politics. However (and this is important) is very wise to recall that the quality and purity of most street drugs is extremely unreliable and potentially toxic.





The fifth element of Spirit is also what you yourself bring to the experience of these entheogenic equations. As Robert Hunter said, "Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right."

Hypnotics cause states of calm, stupor or slumber; examples are kava, mandrake, opium and its bastard child heroin, and all such narcotics and tranquilizers. I ascribe them to Earth, and while they clearly may have some benefits in healing I remain rather dubious about their magical uses, although I am sure that we have all heard romantic tales of the daemon sultan opium...

Stimulants include cocaine and amphetamines; qat, pituri, and betel; and such socially acceptable toxic substances as tobacco, coffee, tea, cocoa, coca, and cola. As sources of energy I connect them to Fire, and some may have their moments, yet they do have a rather checkered history. Cocaine is not called the 'devil's dandruff' without reason, and to have known junkies is all too seldom to respect them. Crowley was one of the earliest researchers to scientifically document the effects of many of these substances, and one often wonders where his career might have led him without perpetual alternation of cocaine and heroin whenever he felt that one or the other was becoming an addiction. It should be noted that for much of his life they were still legal, and his use was originally medically prescribed for asthma and other conditions. At the time this was more or less socially acceptable and quite widespread, and much less was known about their perils; in fact, they were all perfectly legal when he started, and Freud himself was also a major cokehead. Now it has become much more apparent that for every odd literary icon like the Great Beast or William S. Burroughs, there are far too many sordid overdoses in lavatories. Where are Elvis and Lenny Bruce when we really need them? Oh well, if you don't have a good vice it's hard to get a grip on your self.





Some personality types appear far more subject than others to such loss of control. Metabolism and genetics are very different for every individual, and quite frankly I have come to suspect that the more synthetic such a chemical substance is, the further it overflows into the realm of the qlipoth. Methamphetamines are a good example: from their birth in the laboratories of Nazi scientists striving to keep the Luftwaffe flying to their current distribution by violent motorcycle gangs, they remain rather unsavory. The same can be said for most of the legal pharmaceutical pill-heads, and prescription-drug abuse is a huge phenomenon in America (with some of its highest rates in Mormon Utah, strangely enough!) and around the world. To quote The Who: "Uppers and Downers - either way blood flows!" To quote Frank Zappa: “Speed will turn you into your parents.” Reading over this, I do seem to note some occasional and quite unfortunate incidents of my ill-informed opinions appearing to become mere heavy-handed moralism. However, whenever I look at the huge overuse of Ritalin in American schools I know perfectly well that Johnny is not hyperactive, just bored, and he gets more than enough chemicals in his system from a diet of junk food. Since the advent of Viagra, there has been a virtual epidemic of STDs in old-age retirement homes. We expect results and we get consequences. Addiction is not True Will, but not all use is abuse…





Once again, Crowley was a pioneer in both experimenting with and documenting of the drug experience, writing a number of articles in the Equinox and the novel Diary of a Drug Fiend . Published extracts of his magical diaries clearly show his struggles with his habits (see The Fountain of Hyacinth ), although it really must be remembered that in his era these substances were freely available in pharmacies, and that half the population of America was hooked on patent medicines made up largely of alcohol and laudanum. It has also recently been suggested that some of his work in espionage during the World Wars (for both British and American intelligence services) may have involved his expertise in unusual drugs, as a forerunner of the CIA’s LSD and MK-ULTRA experiments. Many of his devotees see Crowley as an excuse for rampant overindulgence, but one should really never take anyone else's excuse for such things, or forget that a great deal of his usage grew out of chronic and painful health conditions. Perhaps this is the reason Crowley has such a scowl on his face as he gazes out from the back row of the cover picture on the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album (appropriately, between a sadhu and Mae West). At any rate, freedom of personal choice seems to be the only possible Thelemic attitude here, and the Book of the Law has some fairly suggestive lines on the subject:

“I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge & Delight and bright glory, and stir the hearts of men with drunkenness. To worship me take wine and strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet, & be drunk thereof! They shall not harm ye at all.” (AL, II, 22)

In his Djeridensis Comment he has this to say: “Aiwass now flings his third great challenge at the world. He denies flatly the truth of all the teachings of the past. He tells us that to worship Hadit, that is, to cause him to stir, we should make ourselves drunk by the use of wine and certain strange drugs. So much is common knowledge. But he adds the startling statement: “They shall not harm ye at all.” One can but gasp; to argue in support of his statement would be beyond the power of any man. The proof must be with time. Lest there be folly, let me say that this passage does not license reckless debauch. The use of drink and drugs is to be strictly an act of Magick.”





Both western and eastern forms of alchemy were as much concerned with the spiritual and intellectual transformation of the alchemist as with any merely external chemical or metallurgical processes. Obligatory notes of relative caution, however, are usually customary. According to Doonesbury "There is no room in the drug culture for amateurs”, and Pete Caroll says "Never put anything in your mouth that you can't spell." Then again, many folks in both the British and American mainstreams of occultism still seem very nervous about the question of drugs; some valid legal concerns or a lingering respectability, perhaps. Too many very bad experiences with people who can’t handle them, more likely. However, if the essence of magick lies in deliberately willed changes of consciousness, it seems folly to ignore tools kindly designed by Mother Nature for precisely that purpose. As I said, it has often been suggested that shamans on shrooms are the origin of magick, religion, science and all of human culture.





Our many control-obsessed politicians have seized upon their utterly indefensible and notoriously unsuccessful "war on some drugs" as a convenient excuse to gut the Constitution, and succeeded only in massively enriching organized crime, corrupting law enforcement, imprisoning large and quite harmless segments of the population, and utterly betraying the public's trust. We won’t even mention the wildly racist aspects of their very selective enforcement. "In order to preserve liberty it became necessary to destroy it." Apparently Prohibition worked so well in the 1930s that it seemed like a good idea to try it again, but somehow back then we had enough brains left to actually repeal Prohibition. Strangely enough, the most truly lethal drugs are those that are still legal: alcohol and tobacco kill off significantly large chunks of the population every year with impunity while marijuana harms no one. This is precisely the kind of casual hypocrisy that gives people enormous contempt for their “representatives”. A recent study of the much-touted D.A.R.E. program of anti-drug education in the schools has discovered that it actually makes children more likely to experiment with drugs, not less. Children usually know when they are being lied to. In the same way, abstinence-only sex education has not only been proven to result in a higher rate of teen pregnancy and STDs than a more rational variety, but also to be less effective than no classes at all: it is literally worse than nothing! Apparently you may lose the people’s trust and respect when you constantly deceive them. Sooner or later we will have to face the simple fact that the War on Drugs has been a monumental failure, wasting billions of dollars only to destroy people’s lives (does that sound like any other current wars?). Other countries have already arrived at the simple and blindingly obvious conclusion that substance abuse responds to treatment and not punishment. As William S. Burroughs said, “Drug control is a thin pretext, and getting thinner, to increase police powers and to brand dissent as criminal.”





The establishment anti-drug message so dutifully echoed by many craft covens and magickal orders seems mainly to imply a desire for simple anonymity and immunity from the attentions of local authorities and torch-bearing mobs of villagers, and a fear of radical extremes that ill-serves the cosmic quest for the Holy Grail. Face facts: most teenagers in the last few decades have at least occasionally "inhaled", and a lot of occultists started out as goddam hippies. Let he who has never been stoned cast the first sin. Like fire, such intoxicants may be good servants and very bad masters. It was Benjamin Franklin who said that "The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either." He is also reputed to have said, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” The man partied with the Hellfire Club…





Some moralizing Theosophists like to insist that drug-induced states are not ‘legitimate’ mystical experiences, but scientific studies have shown that they often appear to be identical, and once you have been to a place once it is much easier to find your way back. These varied substances are powerful triggers, and reprogramming the brain for ecstasy or enlightenment certainly seems to serve a higher purpose. Yogis of many schools have employed such methods without any hesitation. In the long run, it hardly seems to matter if the doors to enlightenment are opened by mushrooms or by hyperventilation. To quote Dupont: “Better living through chemistry!” Remember, without chemicals, nothing would exist! And as the prophet William Blake said, "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom."

A Bibliography on Altered States

Allegro, John M. Lost Gods;

The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross

Andrews, George Drugs & Magic

Bennett, C. & Osburn, L. & Osburn, J. Green Gold the Tree of Life

DeKorne, James Psychedelic Shamanism

Devereux, Paul The Long Trip: A Prehistory of Psychedelia

Harner, Michael Hallucinogens & Shamanism

Heinrich, Clark Strange Fruit: Alchemy & Religion: the Hidden Truth

Leary, Timothy complete works

Lilly, John C. Programming & Metaprogramming the Human Biocomputer;

Center of the Cyclone;

The Dyadic Cyclone;

The Deep Self;

Simulations of God

McKenna, Terrence The Archaic Revival;

Food of the Gods;

True Hallucinations;

Invisible Landscape

Pendell, Dale Pharmako/poeia;

Pharmako/gnosis;

Pharmako/dynamis

Rudgley, Richard Essential Substances

Schultes, R.E. & Hofmann, A. Plants of the Gods

Stafford, Peter Psychedelics Encyclopedia

Vayne, Julian Pharmakon: Drugs & the Imagination



Weil, G./Metzner, R./Leary, T. The Psychedelic Reader

Wilson, Peter Lamborn Ploughing the Clouds