• Psychedelic Drugs Welcome Guest
    View threads about
    Posting RulesBluelight Rules
    PD's Best Threads Index
    Social ThreadSupport Bluelight
    Psychedelic Beginner's FAQ

Thank you, Dr. Shulgin

necropolis

necropolis

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 10, 2020
Messages
69
I would like to take a moment to commemorate the life of Dr. Alexander Theodore Shulgin, known as "Sasha" to his friends. He would have been 95 today. He made an invaluable contribution to the field of psychopharmacology and to psychedelic chemistry, single-handedly inventing hundreds of new drugs and testing all of them on himself before sharing some of the better ones with a small group of trusted friends. Sadly he passed away in 2014 due to complications from a stroke. For anyone unfamiliar with his story, I highly recommend the books PiHKAL (Phenethylamines I Have Known And Loved) and TiHKAL (Tryptamines I Have Known And Loved), both co-authored with his wife Ann. They provide a fascinating insight into the exploration of the mind and soul using chemical tools.

May his legacy continue on...
 
One of my regrets in life is not writing to him before he passed away in 2014. I always meant to sit down and write him a letter but life always got in the way. I think I'll reach out to Ann tonight and see if she's open to correspondence.
“How long will this last, this delicious feeling of being alive, of having penetrated the veil which hides beauty and the wonders of celestial vistas? It doesn't matter, as there can be nothing but gratitude for even a glimpse of what exists for those who can become open to it.”
Click to expand...
― Alexander Shulgin, Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story
 
Nice tribute to Shulgin. I had read PIHKAL when it first came out around 1995. The chemical love story taught me a lot as the woman that Sasha was suppose to hook up with that was teasing him reminded me of a girlfriend I had in the past that acted the same. lol

But yes he should have gotten the Nobel Prize but humanity is far behind the greatness it could be. Earth still seems infantile as we look out and see what people consider important. We are an ingorant race still trying to grow and a long way to reach the stars. We will get there though and people like Sasha Shulgin help humanity more than they know.
 
Last edited:
The man was a legend. I’ll wear my Sasha shirt today in his name :)

If it wasn’t for Shulgin I probably wouldn’t be who I am today. I never would’ve pursued the avenues of research I did.

I was just a junkie kid from a rural small town in the Midwest. Reading his first true experience of MDMA and seeing the mountains inspired me to seek it out. My first experience wasn’t far off..


Something interesting... The day he died I remember not long after hearing the news I saw off to the west (his direction) a rainbow cloud that was the only cloud in the sky. In the center of the cloud was a beam of light shooting straight through a hole in the center of the cloud.

Kid you not, I even got it on camera. I’ve seen both random beams of light as well as rainbow clouds but never together like this.

3 days later (Jesus correlation?) I had an MDMA/San Pedro Experience and prayed to Shulgin before going into it. It turned out to be one of the strongest most life changing experiences I’ve ever had, it left me effected in the most beautiful way for months after.

The love I felt for all of humanity, all of earths living things, all of the universe, it cannot be put into words.

I’m tears as I write this it was so profound. Thanks again Sasha for everything!

-GC
 
Sasha was a true pioneer in psychopharmacology. His methodology alone is revolutionary. He's been a massive inspiration for me once I started getting into drugs. The science of how these things work to change our entire consciousness is the thing that drives me to get through school. He is about the only researcher to investigate this in such a profound way. Most scientists studying drugs seem to ignore the somewhat subjective "Well how does it feel?" when it comes to studying drugs often favoring biological research of "what does it do?". What they fail to see is that the two are inherently intertwined and neither can be separated from the other. Sasha understood this intuitively and, in my opinion, that is where his brilliance comes from
 
I didn't even knew this gentleman, all love to his family. Must be terrible news for both worlds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top