Through the Gateway of the Heart: Accounts of Experiences with MDMA and Other Empathogenic Substances

by Sophia Adamson, Ralph Metzner, Padma Catell

MDMA, or as it is commonly known, "ecstasy," has a pardoxical double role in contemporary society. As the party-drug ecstasy, it is consumed by tens (perhaps hundreds) of thousands of people at "rave" dance parties in the United States, Europe, and the Far East. In its other role as a promising adjunct to psychotherapy, MDMA is currently being researched as a treatment for many conditions, including PTSD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and interpersonal anxiety. This book, originally published in 1985 before MDMA became illegal, is a compilation of experiences conducted in supportive and/or therapeutic settings. The vignettes are not part of a formal research study, and there is no control group. These accounts illustrate the value and potential of MDMA for generating insight, facilitating empathic communication, and supporting spiritual practice. Although the use of MDMA remains illegal (except in the limited context of research), the editors of this book, like many professionals in the field of psychotherapy, believe that a fresh look at this very promising substance is warranted. Ralph Metzner, PhD & Padma Catell, PhD

202 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Teo · Rating 5 out of 5]

2015.05.21–2015.05.28

Readable for free on MAPS' website at http://www.maps.org/ibogaine-mexico/5.... Empathogenic sessions are still regrettably illegalized in much of the world, which MAPS for one is helping to change. We humans on Earth would do wisely to understand the contents and implications of this book (and related MDMA-assisted therapy research) rather than continue with current habits of unguided pharmaceutical prescriptions that cannot as efficiently heal emotional wounds at the root level.

Contents

Adamson S (1986) Through the Gateway of the Heart - Accounts of Experiences with MDMA and Other Empathogenic Substances

Compiled and Edited by Sophia Adamson
Foreword by Ralph Metzner

Individual Experiences: Women
• Earth is Eden, and Adam is Within (45 year-old female, teacher)
• I Was Resting in the Palm of His Hand (35 year-old former school teacher, ex-nun)
• The 1000 Petal Lotus Unfolding and Unfolding (45 year-old female, housewife, mother)
• The Energy Flows through Me, I Make It into Music (35 year-old female, graduate student, computer programmer)
• Springs of Enchantment (26 year-old female, student)
• All of Me, Just Being (42 year-old housewife, mother)
• To Bathe the World in Light (35 year-old female, graduate student)
• I Can Now Move through the Trauma (35 year-old female, therapist, rape victim)
• Affirming Who I Am, Where I Am Going (37 year-old female, graduate student, systems designer)
• The Fire of Love and Trust Banishing Demons and Pain (32 year-old female, psychologist)
• A Secret of Life Revealed (40 year-old female, artist, mother of two)
• Clairvoyance and a Sense of Open Truth (48 year-old female, artist)
• Such Deep Compassion, Such True Caring (39 year-old female, filmmaker)
• To Speak of What Was Too Painful to Remember (26 year-old female, schoolteacher, rape victim)
• The Chooser Becomes the Chosen (45 year-old female, artist-filmmaker, mother of two)
• Body/Mind/Spirit Move into Hovering Space (37 year-old female psychologist, healer)
• Out of Nowhere Appeared My Inner Guides (40 year-old female, therapist, mother of three)
• I Learned to Know Myself as a Whole (27 year-old female, graduate student)
• Born Again out of the Mother Star (37 year-old female, artist)
• My Leaving Became My Homecoming (25 year-old female, student)
• I Surrendered to the Death of My Outworn Fears (50 year-old female, therapist)
• My Body Dissolved into Tiny Cells (44 year-old female with breast cancer)
• I Saw Myself from the Creator's Eyes (36 year-old female, professional, invalid)
• Seeing into the Beauty of One's Being (35 year-old female, businesswoman)
• Brand New to This Planet (39 year-old female, psychologist, ex-alcoholic)
• And Love to Season the Soul (28 year-old female, professional model)
• Baby Floating through the Universe (43 year-old female, housewife, mother of two)

Individual Experiences: Men
• Peace with Great Energy, Tangible, Expansive (53 year-old male, minister)
• Adam Reveals Emotional Truth (37 year-old male, psychiatrist)
• MDMA Experiences Have Saved My Relationship (37 year-old male, businessman)
• Examining My Emotions with a Sharp Lucidity (32 year-old male, writer)
• Honoring Our Differences (42 year-old male, college professor)
• Meditating and Remembering the MDMA State (32 year-old male)
• Now I Feel the Pain as an Ally, not as an Enemy (45 year-old male, writer, arthritis sufferer)
• Wake Up! Wake Up! Before It's Too Late (26 year-old male, graduate student)
• A Sense of Passive Urgency (69 year-old male, professor, author, activist)
• A Spirit Moved through All My Meridians (45 year-old male, therapist)
• Desire Transcended by Being Fulfilled (48 year-old male, writer)
• In the Womb, When the Light Was Primary (22 year-old male, college student)
• My First Sense of Not Being Paranoid (33 year-old male, graduate student)
• Being in the Center of a Sphere, Breathing (28 year-old male, poet, programmer)
• The Infinite Bliss of Being a Conscious Entity (30 year-old male, compulsive sexual masochist)
• In the Land of the Gods (30 year-old male, professional)
• The Continuous Embrace of Shiva-Shakti (55 year-old male, teacher)

Group Experiences
• Around Us Huge, Mythic Archetypes Stood (35 year-old male, writer)
• A Rite of Passage into a New Vision (35 year-old male, graduate student, father of three)
• Expressing Feelings Long Gone Unsaid (33 year-old male, depressed)
• "I Love You!" They Cried Out, Soundlessly (22 year-old male, college student)
• We Had All Just Been Born (25 year-old male, graduate student)
• When Each is the Other, and Self as a Whole (35 year-old female, teacher)
• A Very Deep Kundalini Experience (32 year-old male, professional)
• Mother Earth Communicated Her Grounded Presence (37 year-old married woman)
• I Meet the Feminine Half of Myself (26 year-old male, programmer, poet)
• Ocean Vastness Enters Me (36 year-old female, photographer, scientist)

Guidelines for the Sacramental Use of Empathogenic Substances by Sophia Adamson
• Preparation and Set
• Alchemical Catalysts
• Setting and Context
• Process and Method in Individual Sessions
• Process and Ritual for Group Sessions
• Follow-Up and After-Effects

[cadence · Rating 5 out of 5]

these are just my sober thoughts on paper

[Shhhhh Ahhhhh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clear accounts of people's experiences and results using mda/mdma. Useful in the same way that the erowid vaults are useful for burgeoning psychonauts.

[Spencer]

MDMA trip reports compiled by ralph metzner. On MAPs for free