LSD: My Problem Child: Reflections on Sacred Drugs, Mysticism, and Science

«In the future, I hope that LSD provides to the individual a new worldview, which is in harmony with nature and its laws.» — Hofmann, citado por el editor en una declaración posterior a su centenario, formula lo que espera del LSD: una visión del mundo en armonía con la naturaleza y sus leyes

«I am hopeful because I have the impression that more and more human individuals are becoming conscious, and that the creative spirit, which we call “God,” speaks to us through his creation—through the endlessness of the starry sky, through the beauty and wonder of the living individuals of the plant, the animal, and the human kingdoms.» — de dónde saca Hofmann esa esperanza: cada vez más individuos se vuelven conscientes, y el espíritu creador al que llama Dios habla por su creación —el cielo estrellado, lo vivo vegetal, animal y humano—; la cita viene de la nota del editor, no del cuerpo del libro

«We human beings are able to understand this message because we possess the divine gift of consciousness. This connects us to the universal mind and gives us divine creativity.» — la consciencia como don divino que conecta con la mente universal: para Hofmann es la facultad que permite entender ese mensaje, y de ahí la creatividad

«Any means that helps to expand our individual consciousness—by opening up and sharpening our inner and outer eyes, in order to understand the divine universal message—will help humanity to survive.» — el argumento con que Hofmann justifica los medios de expansión de la consciencia: abrir y afinar los ojos interiores y exteriores para entender el mensaje universal; lo pone como condición de supervivencia, no como recreo

«An understanding of the divine message—in its universal language—would bring an end to the war between the religions of the world.» — la consecuencia que Hofmann extrae de ese entendimiento, y el único punto en que toca la disputa entre religiones

«LOOKING BACK ON My LIFE, I presume that the constellation of stars—or that whatever could determine one’s fate in life— indicated good fortune when I saw the light of day on January 11, 1906 in Baden, Canton of Aargau.» — arranque de la autobiografía que Hofmann escribió para su funeral, traducida del alemán por Elisabeth Riccabona: lee su nacimiento bajo la constelación como buena fortuna, y lo dice en condicional

«My father, Adolf Hofmann, and my mother Elisabeth, born Schenk, met in Miinchenstein, near Basel, where my father worked as a locksmith for one of the subsidiaries of the mechanical engineering group Brown-Boveri.» — los nombres que Hofmann da de sus padres y el oficio del padre, cerrajero en una filial de Brown-Boveri

«My first childhood memory is an image of large red strawberries in the garden where my mother used to carry me around in her arms.» — el primer recuerdo que Hofmann consigna, y el tono con que lleva toda la autobiografía

«There is a comet in the sky. It was the Halley's Comet in 1910.» — el segundo recuerdo, que Hofmann fecha por el cometa Halley

«We were forced to move due to my father’s illness — he was suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis — which had deteriorated, and even the short way from Martinsberg Street to the factory had become too strenuous for him.» — la mudanza que Hofmann llama destierro del paraíso de la infancia, causada por la tuberculosis pulmonar del padre

«During these expeditions I experienced the magic and charm of the Jura landscape, which was in constant change with the seasons.» — las escapadas al bosque del Martinsberg desde el barrio fabril, y lo que Hofmann dice haber encontrado ahí

«It was there that, during enchanted moments, the wonder of creation revealed itself to me in the beauty of nature, and already then forged my view of the world in its basic features.» — la tesis que Hofmann pone en el origen de todo lo demás: en esos momentos encantados la maravilla de la creación se le reveló en la belleza de la naturaleza y ahí quedó forjada su visión del mundo

«My dear godfather Hans Kithni, founder of the Kihni machine factory in Allschwil, paid for the tuition fees at the Minerva private school in Zurich.» — quién le pagó la escuela que le abrió la universidad; el troceo imprime el apellido del padrino de dos maneras en el mismo renglón, *Kithni* y *Kihni*, donde el alemán pide Kühni

«Fascinated by the mysteries of the subject, I decided to study chemistry at the University of Zurich.» — el motivo con que Hofmann explica su elección de carrera

«At the age of 23 I had already finished my Chemistry studies, after only eight semesters and received my Ph.D.» — el dato de su doctorado, a los veintitrés años y en ocho semestres

«In May 1929, I started my professional life, joining the Basel-based Pharmaceutical-Chemical Department of Sandoz Laboratories, whose director was Professor Arthur Stoll.» — fecha de entrada a Sandoz y nombre de quien dirigía el departamento farmacéutico-químico de Basilea

«At the laboratories we were studying the properties of medicinal plants, the kind of work that entirely fulfilled my love of plants.» — Hofmann enlaza el trabajo de laboratorio con su afición de infancia por las plantas

«I found complete satisfaction in my work when isolating, elucidating the chemical structure, and synthesizing the active substances of medicinal plants.» — en qué cifra Hofmann la satisfacción del oficio: aislar, elucidar la estructura química y sintetizar los principios activos de las plantas medicinales

«Valuable drugs like Methergine, Dihydergot, and Hydergine derive from substances I produced during my studies.» — los fármacos que Hofmann declara derivados de sustancias suyas

«By research and chance I discovered the psychoactive agent, which became known worldwide as LSD.» — la fórmula con que Hofmann resume el hallazgo en su propio obituario: investigación y azar a la vez

«In my book titled, LSD: My Problem Child, 1 illustrated the history of LSD and its relation to the Mexican magic mushrooms.» — Hofmann remite a este mismo libro y dice de qué trata: la historia del LSD y su relación con los hongos mágicos mexicanos

«We met in 1934 while on skiing holidays in Arosa.» — cómo y cuándo dice Hofmann que conoció a Anita Guanella, su mujer durante setenta y dos años

«Only some of the many fond memories I have of that wonderful time, the middle of my life, I shall mention here: Our holidays in the Engadin valley, where Anita felt particularly happy as she originally came from the Canton of Graubtinden, the home of her parents. While hiking and mountaineering together we experienced the magic, grandeur and sublime beauty of this high mountain valley. One of the highlights was certainly our ascent to the Bernina peak.» — los recuerdos que Hofmann elige de la mitad de su vida: el valle de la Engadina, la montaña y la ascensión al Bernina; el troceo imprime el cantón como *Graubtinden* donde el alemán pide Graubünden

«I also very fondly remember the great trips to India, Thailand, and particularly the expedition to indigenous Indian areas in Mexico. These trips were part of my work and Anita used to always accompany me.» — Hofmann cuenta que los viajes a la India, Tailandia y la expedición a zonas indígenas de México eran parte de su trabajo y que su mujer siempre lo acompañaba

«I spent my time in the silence of my “hermitage,” writing literary works, publications and dissertations, partly associated with my former occupation, as well as writing down my personal understandings and thoughts on natural philosophy.» — en qué ocupó Hofmann el retiro de Rittimatte: obra literaria, publicaciones y la escritura de sus ideas de filosofía natural, que es la capa con que lee todo el libro

«It was also up at Rittimatte that my circle of life closed itself as I found the paradise of my childhood again, the same landscape as on Martinsberg, where I used to be blissful as a boy, the same meadows with the same flowers and the same view into the far distance.» — el cierre del círculo que Hofmann declara: encontrar de viejo el mismo paisaje del Martinsberg donde de niño tuvo las experiencias visionarias

«Paracelsus described nature and creation as a “book that was written by God’s finger”.» — Hofmann cierra su autobiografía citando a Paracelso: la naturaleza y la creación como libro escrito por el dedo de Dios

«During my life I was given this exhilarating and entirely comforting experience: The one who understands how to read this book, not only with regards to scientific research but with marveling and loving eyes, will find a deeper, wonderful reality revealing itself—a reality in which we are all secure and united for ever and ever.» — la experiencia que Hofmann dice haber recibido y la condición que le pone: leer ese libro no solo con investigación científica sino con ojos que se maravillan y aman; de ahí la realidad más honda en que dice que estamos todos seguros y unidos

«AT THE END OF THE LAST INTRODUCTION, written over 30 years ago, I expressed my hope that the problem child LSD might become a miracle child, if one could learn how to make use of its extraordinary psychic effects.» — Hofmann abre el prefacio de la edición nueva recordando lo que esperó treinta años antes: que el problem child se volviera miracle child si se aprendía a usar sus efectos psíquicos

«But LSD Is sTILL A PROBLEM CHILD.» — el veredicto con que Hofmann contesta a su propia esperanza treinta años después; el troceo imprime las versalitas como mayúsculas y minúsculas mezcladas

«After LSD had been used nearly exclusively in medicine and biological research for decades, it entered the drug scene in the sixties. It was for a time the number one drug in mass consumption, especially in the U.S., with all the problems associated with this.» — la cronología que Hofmann da: décadas de uso casi exclusivamente médico y de investigación biológica, y luego la escena de las drogas en los sesenta

«Following this, the health authorities imposed a draconian prohibition, which also banned the use of LSD and related substances in medical practice, psychiatry and psychology. This ban is still in place today.» — Hofmann llama draconiana a la prohibición y señala su alcance sobre la práctica médica, la psiquiatría y la psicología

«Although this is how the medical use of LSD came to a halt, the private use continues, with all the dangers and difficulties of a drug forced into illegality.» — la asimetría que Hofmann objeta: el uso médico se detuvo y el privado siguió, con los peligros de una droga empujada a la ilegalidad

«This is difficult to understand, because the documented experiences show that use in medical settings is safe, and that LSD can be beneficial as a supplemental medication in psychiatry.» — el argumento de Hofmann contra la negativa a liberar el LSD para uso médico, apoyado en la experiencia documentada

«The ban also looks questionable in another light, after components similar to LSD were found in sacred Mexican drugs that have been used medicinally for thousands of years.» — el segundo argumento de Hofmann: los componentes emparentados con el LSD hallados en drogas sagradas mexicanas usadas como medicina desde hace milenios

«It is no accident that it was LSD which brought these Mexican drugs into my laboratory for chemical analysis. It was the similarity in the psychological effects between these sacred plants and LSD which lead the anthropologists and botanists who had explored their use by the Mazatec in the mountains of southern Mexico to hand the chemical analysis to the same laboratory where LSD was discovered.» — Hofmann explica por qué los análisis de las plantas sagradas mazatecas acabaron en su laboratorio: la semejanza de efectos llevó a antropólogos y botánicos a mandarlos ahí

«The analysis gave the surprising result that the chemical structure of the components extracted from these plants was related closely to the structure of LSD.» — el resultado que Hofmann llama sorprendente y que enlaza las dos mitades del libro

«This resulted in the important finding that LSD belongs chemically, as well as in its psychological effects, to this group of sacred Mexican drugs. Thus the adventure of the discovery of LSD found a surprising continuation 15 years later, in the exciting discovery of ancient sacred drugs—the account of which covers a big part of this book.» — la tesis que Hofmann saca de ahí —el LSD pertenece químicamente y por sus efectos al grupo de las drogas sagradas mexicanas— y el plan del volumen: una continuación del descubrimiento quince años después

«THERE ARE EXPERIENCES that most of us are hesitant to speak about, because they do not conform to everyday reality and defy rational explanation. These are not particular external occurrences, but rather events of our inner lives, which are generally dismissed as figments of the imagination and barred from our memory.» — arranque de la introducción de Hofmann: hay experiencias de las que cuesta hablar porque no encajan en la realidad cotidiana y se descartan como imaginación

«Suddenly, the familiar view of our surroundings is transformed in a strange, delightful, or alarming way: it appears to us in a new light, takes on a special meaning. Such an experience can be as light and fleeting as a breath of air, or it can imprint itself deeply upon our minds.» — cómo describe Hofmann esas experiencias: el entorno familiar transformado, con una luz y un sentido nuevos, y con duración variable

«THIS FOURTH ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDITION of Albert Hofmann’s LSD; My Problem Child is being published after Albert’s recent death. On April 29th, 2008, Albert Hofmann died at the age of 102.» — la nota del editor de MAPS que abre la cuarta edición inglesa la data después de la muerte de Hofmann y fija el día y la edad

«Anita Hofmann, Albert’s wife for over 72 years, died on December 20, 2007, at the age of 94.» — la misma nota consigna la muerte de Anita Hofmann cuatro meses antes que la de su marido, tras setenta y dos años de matrimonio

«Before he died, Albert was fortunate to have the time, the health and the peace of mind to write a summary of his life to be read at his funeral by his two surviving children, Andreas and Beatrix.» — el editor cuenta de dónde sale la autobiografía que abre el volumen: un resumen de su vida que Hofmann escribió para que sus dos hijos lo leyeran en su funeral

«Albert’s family has given us permission to publish a translation of that autobiography as the new introduction to this edition of LSD: My Problem Child.» — MAPS declara el permiso de la familia y el lugar que le da al texto, de introducción nueva a esta edición

«Shortly before Anita’s death, Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Peter Gasser obtained government approval for his MAPS-sponsored study of LSD-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with anxiety associated with end-of-life issues.» — la nota del editor nombra el estudio de Peter Gasser, aprobado por el gobierno suizo y patrocinado por MAPS, sobre psicoterapia asistida con LSD en pacientes con angustia ante la muerte

«Albert spoke about the renewal of LSD psychotherapy research as “the fulfillment of my heart’s desire.”» — el editor cita la fórmula con que Hofmann recibió esa reanudación

«Shortly before he died, Albert said that he’d continue to help support the renaissance in LSD psychotherapy research either from “this side or the other side.”» — según la nota del editor, Hofmann dijo poco antes de morir que seguiría apoyando ese renacimiento desde un lado o desde el otro

«The first LSD session in the Swiss study took place on Tuesday, May 13, 2008. This session is part of the first controlled, scientific study of the therapeutic potential of LSD in over 36 years.» — el editor fecha la primera sesión del estudio suizo y la presenta como el primer estudio científico controlado del potencial terapéutico del LSD en más de treinta y seis años

«Albert himself took LSD for the last time at age 97.» — el dato que la nota del editor deja como cierre

«THE USE OF PSYCHEDELIC SUBSTANCES can be traced back for millennia, to the dawn of human history. Since time immemorial, plant materials containing powerful consciousness-expanding compounds have been used in many different parts of the world to induce non-ordinary states of consciousness in various ritual and spiritual contexts. They have played an important role in shamanic practice, aboriginal healing ceremonies, rites of passage, mysteries of death and rebirth, and spiritual traditions.» — arranque del prólogo que Stanislav Grof escribió para esta edición: sitúa el uso de sustancias psicodélicas en el alba de la historia humana y lo reparte entre práctica chamánica, curación, ritos de paso, misterios de muerte y renacimiento y tradiciones espirituales

«The ancient and native cultures using psychedelic materials held them in great esteem and considered them to be sacraments, “flesh of the gods.”» — según Grof, esas culturas los tenían por sacramentos, con la fórmula carne de los dioses

«Human groups, which had at their disposal psychedelic plants, took advantage of their entheogenic effects (entheogenic means literally “awakening the divine within”) and made them the principal vehicle of their ritual and spiritual life.» — Grof introduce el término *entheogenic* y da su lectura literal, despertar lo divino adentro; es la voz del prologuista, no la de Hofmann

«Anthropological literature contains many reports indicating that native cultures use psychedelics to cultivate intuition and extrasensory perception for a variety of divinatory, as well as practical purposes, such as finding lost persons and objects,» — Grof remite a la literatura antropológica para el uso divinatorio y práctico; la frase sigue en la plana siguiente, donde nombra la información sobre personas lejanas y el rastreo de la caza

«In the history of Chinese medicine, reports about psychedelic substances can be traced back about 3,000 years. The legendary divine potion referred to as haoma in the ancient Persian Zend Avesta and as soma in the Indian Vedas was used by the Indo-Iranian tribes millenia ago.» — Grof alinea el haoma del Zend Avesta con el soma de los Vedas y les da milenios de antigüedad; el troceo imprime *millenia*

«The mystical states of consciousness induced by soma were very likely the principal source of the Vedic and Hindu religion.» — la tesis que Grof enuncia con grado —very likely— sobre el soma como fuente principal de la religión védica e hindú

«They represented an important sacrament for such diverse groups as the Indian Brahmans, certain orders of Sufis, ancient Scythians, and the Jamaican Rastafarians.» — el reparto que Grof hace de los preparados de cáñamo entre brahmanes, órdenes sufíes, escitas antiguos y rastafaris jamaiquinos

«Highly effective mind-altering plants were well known in several Pre-Columbian Indian cultures—among the Aztecs, Mayans, Olmecs, and Mazatecs.» — los pueblos precolombinos que Grof nombra para el uso ceremonial en Centroamérica

«The most famous of these are the Mexican cactus peyote (Anhalonium Lewinii), the sacred mushroom teonanacatl (Psilocybe mexicana) and ololiuhqui, or morning glory seeds (Rivea corymbosa).» — los tres nombres que Grof da con su binomio latino —peyote, teonanácatl y ololiuhqui—, que son los que el cuerpo del libro trabaja

«People from our culture, who see the use of psychedelic plants as something that is practiced in exotic and “primitive” cultures and is alien to our own tradition would be very surprised to find out that psychedelic substances very likely profoundly influenced the ancient Greek culture, generally considered the cradle of the European civilization.» — el giro del prólogo de Grof: lo que aquí se tiene por exótico y primitivo habría pesado, dice con grado, sobre la cultura griega

«Many giants of Greek culture, including Plato, Aristotle, Alkibiades, Pindaros, and others were initiates in the Mediterranean mysteries of death and rebirth held in the names of Demeter and Persephone, Dionysus, Attis, Adonis, Orpheus, and others.» — los nombres que Grof da como iniciados en los misterios mediterráneos de muerte y renacimiento

«According to a theory proposed by a research team that included Albert Hofmann himself, the sacred potion kykeon administered to thousands of initiates in the Eleusinian mysteries every five years for almost two millennia contained an ergot alkaloid similar to LSD.» — Grof atribuye a un equipo que incluía a Hofmann la tesis de que el kykeon de Eleusis llevaba un alcaloide del cornezuelo semejante al LSD; es la tesis de The Road to Eleusis, que el propio Hofmann retoma en el cuerpo

«The first psychedelic substance that was synthetized in a chemically pure form and systematically explored under laboratory conditions was mescaline, the active alkaloid from the peyote cactus.» — Grof pone la mescalina como primera de estas sustancias obtenida pura y estudiada en laboratorio; el troceo imprime *synthetized*

«Clinical experiments conducted with this substance in the first three decades of the twentieth century focused on the phenomenology of the mescaline experience and its interesting effects on artistic perception and creative expression. Surprisingly, they did not reveal its therapeutic, heuristic, and entheogenic potential.» — la objeción de Grof a los ensayos con mescalina de los tres primeros decenios del siglo: se quedaron en la fenomenología y en el efecto sobre la percepción artística, sin ver el potencial terapéutico ni entógeno

«After these pioneering clinical experiments with mescaline, very little research was done in this fascinating problem area until Albert Hofmann’s 1942 epoch-making serendipitous discovery of the psychedelic properties of LSD-25, or diethylamid of lysergic acid, a substance of extraordinary potency.» — Grof data en 1942 el descubrimiento serendípico de las propiedades psicodélicas del LSD-25, y el cuerpo del libro lo fecha en 1943; la divergencia se consigna sin armonizar

«Because of the incredible promises it held in many different fields of research, this new substance appeared to be Albert Hofmann’s “prodigious child.”» — la fórmula con que Grof le da la vuelta al título: por sus promesas, la sustancia parecía el hijo prodigioso de Hofmann

«The discovery of powerful psychedelic effects of miniscule dosages of LSD started what has been called a “golden era of psychopharmacology.”» — Grof llama era dorada de la psicofarmacología al periodo que arranca ahí; el troceo imprime *miniscule*

«During a relatively short period of time, the joint efforts of biochemists, pharmacologists, neurophysiologists, psychiatrists, and psychologists succeeded in laying the foundations of a new scientific discipline that can be referred to as “pharmacology of consciousness.”» — los oficios que Grof reúne en la fundación de lo que llama farmacología de la consciencia

«Following the discovery of the psychedelic effects of LSD-25, Albert Hofmann identified the active principles of the Mexican magic mushrooms (Psilocybe mexicana), psilocybin and psilocin, and that of ololiuhqui, or morning glory seeds (Rivea corymbosa), which turned out to be lysergic acid amide, closely related to LSD» — Grof enumera lo que Hofmann identificó después: psilocibina y psilocina de los hongos mexicanos, y la amida del ácido lisérgico del ololiuhqui; el troceo corta la cifra final del renglón, que la plana siguiente recoge como *2;*

«The armamentarium of psychedelic substances was further enriched by psychoactive derivatives of tryptamine—DMT (dimethyl-tryptamine, DET (diethyl-tryptamine), and DPT (dipropyltryptamine)—synthetized and studied by the Budapest group of chemists, headed by Steven Szara» — los derivados de la triptamina que Grof adjudica al grupo de químicos de Budapest encabezado por Steven Szara

«After the publication of the first clinical paper on LSD by Walter A. Stoll in the late 1940s, in which the author described the effects of this extraordinary substance in a group of volunteers and psychiatric patients and mentioned its possible therapeutic potential, Albert Hofmann’s “wonder child” became an overnight sensation in the scientific world.» — Grof nombra *Walter A. Stoll* como autor del primer trabajo clínico sobre LSD, donde el cuerpo del libro escribe Werner A. Stoll; la divergencia se consigna sin arbitrar

«Never before in the history of science had a single substance held so much promise in such a wide variety of fields.» — el grado que Grof le pone al caso: ninguna sustancia había prometido tanto en tantos campos a la vez

«Experimental psychiatrists saw LSD as a unique means for creating a laboratory model for naturally occurring functional, or endogenous, psychoses.» — la primera esperanza que Grof registra: el LSD como modelo de laboratorio de las psicosis endógenas

«It was suddenly conceivable that the brain or other parts of the body could under certain circumstances produce small quantities of a substance with similar effects as LSD. This meant that disorders like schizophrenia would not be mental diseases, but metabolic aberrations that could be counteracted by specific chemical» — la consecuencia que esa hipótesis abría según Grof: la esquizofrenia como aberración metabólica y no enfermedad mental; la frase termina en la plana siguiente con la palabra *intervention*

«The promise of this research was nothing less that the fulfillment of the dream of biologically oriented clinicians, the Holy Grail of psychiatry—a test-tube cure for schizophrenia.» — la fórmula con que Grof nombra esa esperanza, el Santo Grial de la psiquiatría; el troceo imprime *nothing less that*

«LSD was also highly recommended as an extraordinary unconventional teaching device that would make it possible for clinical psychiatrists, psychologists, medical students, and nurses to spend a few hours in the world of their patients and as a result of it to understand them better, be able to communicate with them more effectively, and improve their ability to help them.» — el segundo uso que Grof registra: el LSD como recurso docente para que psiquiatras, psicólogos, estudiantes y enfermeras pasaran unas horas en el mundo de sus pacientes

«Kurt Beringer, author of the influential book Der Meskalinrausch (Mescaline Inebriation) published in 1927,» — Grof nombra a Kurt Beringer y su Der Meskalinrausch de 1927 como el libro influyente de aquella primera etapa; la frase se corta en el cambio de plana y concluye en la 18 con el veredicto de psicosis tóxica

«Many found that the current model, limiting the psyche to postnatal biography and the Freudian individual unconscious, was superficial and inadequate.» — la objeción que Grof dice que salió de esos experimentos: el modelo que limita la psique a la biografía posnatal y al inconsciente individual freudiano se quedaba corto

«The new map of the psyche that emerged out of this research added two large transbiographical domains—the perinatal level, closely related to the memory of biological birth, and the transpersonal level, harboring the historical and archetypal domains of the collective unconscious as envisioned by C. C. Jung.» — el mapa que Grof propone en su lugar, con el nivel perinatal y el transpersonal añadidos; el troceo imprime *C. C. Jung* donde la inicial del segundo nombre es G

«Using LSD as a catalyst, it became possible to extend the range of applicability of psychotherapy to categories of patients that previously had been difficult to reach—sexual deviants, alcoholics, narcotic drug addicts, and criminal recidivists.» — las categorías de pacientes que, según Grof, el LSD como catalizador puso al alcance de la psicoterapia

«Particularly valuable and promising were the early efforts to use LSD psychotherapy in the work with terminal cancer patients. Research on this population showed that LSD was able to relieve severe pain, often even in those patients who had not responded to medication with narcotics. In a large percentage of these patients, it was also possible to ease or even eliminate difficult emotional and psychosomatic symptoms, such as depression, general tension, and insomnia, alleviate the fear of death, increase the quality of their life during the remaining days, and positively transform the experience of dying.» — lo que Grof reporta de la psicoterapia con LSD en enfermos terminales de cáncer: alivio del dolor donde no respondían los narcóticos, y disminución del miedo a la muerte