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Albion Dreaming - A history of LSD in Britain

I

Ismene

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 17, 2005
Messages
13,158
Not a bad new book. Concentrates on the story of LSD in the UK but it has a few bits about LSD that might be new to you even if you've read every book about psychedelics that's been published.
 
Cool... THANKS! Lots of reviews out here... still wondering what "Albion" has to do with it, anyone know?

This review has some of the best detail and is notable for the personal story by the writer:

http://www.evolver.net/node/49058

Then this site's review, while more perfunctory, features a beautiful photo, though I have no idea how it relates to the book but is definitely a keeper and had earned a spot in my Images folder. Looks like a cool site, I'll have to delve into it some more:

http://www.psychointegrator.com/?p=122

girl2.jpg
 
Last edited:
Feste said:
Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

apparently it was the original ancient Greek name for the British Isles! No wonder I was attracted to the term, being half Greek, haha!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albion

EXCERPT:

Albion (Greek: Ἀλβιών) is the oldest known name of the island of Great Britain. It is thought to derive from the white cliffs of Dover. Today, it is still sometimes used poetically to refer to the island or England in particular. It is also the basis of the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland, Alba. New Albion and Albionoria ("Albion of the North") were briefly suggested as possible names of Canada during the period of Canadian Confederation.[1][2]


Etymology

The derivation of the name Albion is discussed by Eilert Ekwall in an article called "Early names of Britain" in Antiquity 1930.

Gallo-Latin Albiōn (cf. Middle Irish Albbu) derives from the Proto-Celtic * Alb-i̯en-, sharing the same stem as Welsh elfydd "earth, world", together with other toponyms such as Alpes. The Latin word alba is the feminine singular form of the adjective albus, meaning 'white'. French aube, Spanish and Italian alba.
[edit] Attestation

The early writer (6th century BC), whose periplus was translated by Avienus at the end of the 4th century (see Massaliote Periplus), does not use the name Britannia; instead he speaks of nesos 'Iernon kai 'Albionon: the islands of the Ierni and the Albiones. Likewise, Pytheas of Massilia (ca. 320 BC) speaks of Albion and Ierne. But Pytheas' grasp of the νῆσος Πρεττανική nesos Prettanicé (Britanic island) is somewhat blurry, and appears to include anything he considers a western island, including Thule.[3]

The name was used by Isadorus Charactacenis and subsequently by many classical writers. By the 1st century AD, the name refers unequivocally to Great Britain. The Pseudo-Aristotelian text De mundo (393b) has:

Ἐν τούτῳ γε μὴν νῆσοι μέγισται τυγχάνουσιν οὖσαι δύο, Βρεττανικαὶ λεγόμεναι, Ἀλβίων καὶ Ἰέρνη
"the largest islands they reached were two, called the Britannic [isles], Albion and Iernē."

Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History (4.16.102) likewise has:

"It was itself named Albion, while all the islands about which we shall soon briefly speak were called the Britanniae.[4]"

In his Geographia, Ptolemy, writing in the 2nd Century AD, uses the name "Albion" instead of the Roman name Brittania; possibly following the commentaries of Marinus of Tyre[5].

As late as 930, the English King Æthelstan was sometimes styled: rex et primicerius totius Albionis regni[6] ("King and chief of the whole realm of Albion")​
 
Book sounds good. Hopefully will turn up in a charity shop near me soon. Tis amazing what does :)

Also, Albion <3

PS: My hometown gets a mention in it - possibly the most obscure part of greater London (un)known to man which always brings a smile to my face :)
 
thanks for the headsup! If I remember I'll try to get it next pay day from amazon... I really dont know shit about what was going on in england or europe during the counter culture... Well I know about Syd Barret but who doesnt =D
 
I'll give it a fuller review once I've got through it. Opening few chapters are about the really early psychiatric history of it in the 50's. One nice quote from a psychiatrist involved "LSD gives people hope".
 
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