Mystic Chemist tells the story of Albert Hofmann’s life and the parallel story of LSD.
Authors Dieter A. Hagenbach and Lucius Werthmüller, close friends of Albert Hofmann, take readers on a journey through Hofmann’s mystical childhood experiences with nature to his chemistry studies with Nobel Prize winner Paul Karrer in Zurich through his discoveries of both LSD and psilocybin at Sandoz; to his adventurous expeditions; to his many years of retirement devoted to philosophy of nature. Hagenbach and Werthmüller document Hofmann’s rich social life including and interactions with illustrious writers, artists and thinkers including luminaries like Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass).
Throughout Mystic Chemist, the authors reveal the eventful history of LSD, and they chronicle Hofmann’s work with the drug, groundbreaking work that was later featured in the 2022 Netflix documentary series, “How to Change Your Mind.” From the start of his experimentations, Hofmann he took a positive view towards LSD-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of illness, and he maintained that mystical experiences and trips to other worlds of consciousness are the best preparation for the very last journey we all must eventually make.
Mystic Chemist: The Life of Albert Hofmann and His Discovery of LSD contains more than 500 photos, illustrations and drawings as well as a foreword by renowned Czech psychiatrist Stanislav Grof.
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Lucius Werthmüller (May 12, 1958 – April 9, 2021) was born in Basel, Switzerland. He was a consciousness researcher and parapsychologist. Starting in 1991, Werthmüller served as president of the Basel Psi Association with over 1, 200 members, the largest organization in the field of the paranormal and the spiritual in Switzerland. Werthmüller was also editor of Psi-Info, a magazine. In 2000 he was awarded the “Swiss Foundation for Parapsychology” prize. For eight years Lucius was project manager of the “Basel Psi-Days, ” a congress with the reputation as the most important public congress on “border areas” of science worldwide. Beginning in 1992, Werthmüller ran an antique bookshop specializing in parapsychology and spirituality.Werthmüller was a founding board member of the Gaia Media Foundation. He was project manager of the international symposium “LSD – Problem Child and Wonder Drug” in January 2006 on the occasion of the 100th birthday of Albert Hofmann in Basel, and of the “World Psychedelic Forum” held in 2008. Lucius met Albert Hofmann, who was a good friend of his parents, as a child and remained close to him until the end of his life. In 2013, along with Dieter Hagenbach, Werthmüller co-authored Mystic Chemist (Synergetic Press), which chronicled Hofmann’s life and his discovery of LSD.