Magic Medicine

Magic Medicine explores the fascinating history of psychedelic substances and provides a contemporary update about their growing inclusion in modern medicine, science, and culture. Each chapter dives into the rich history of a single plant or compound and explores its therapeutic and spiritual uses in cultures near and far. Firsthand quotes allow glimmers of psychedelic light throughout. Learn all about:

Classical psychedelics, including 2C-B, ayahuasca, LSD, and peyote
The empathogenic psychedelics MDA and MDMA
Dissociative psychedelics, including DXM, ketamine, and salvia
Unique psychedelics, including cannabis, DiPT, and even fish and sea sponges


The history of psychedelic plants and substances is full of colorful facts and stories, and intriguing questions. Did US Army Intelligence really use LSD as an enhanced military interrogation technique? How is DiPT able to make a familiar tune sound utterly foreign? Can MDMA (Ecstasy) help people overcome traumatic experiences?
Many psychedelic plants and substances have a long history of being incorporated into various healing traditions-such as cannabis and opium in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Science is beginning to research what traditional cultures have told us for years: psychedelics have transformative healing properties.


Anyone who has ever wondered about psychedelics-from complete neophytes to veteran trippers, seekers and sages to skeptics and scientists, therapists and patients to green thumbs and armchair anthropologists-will find something in this engrossing and beautifully designed book.

“What a good book this is! A rarity among psychedelic publications, it is straightforward, useful, makes complex biochemistry understandable, and will be a reference for years to come. It is a drug-by-drug series of clear, useful descriptions of just what you need to know about both synthetic and plant-based psychedelics. I thought I knew all this stuff, but Johnson weaves in excellent scholarship and some wonderful stories that surprised and delighted me as well. - James Fadiman, Ph.D., microdose researcher and author of The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide”

Cody Johnson beautifully balances historical knowledge with cutting-edge science to produce a thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening read which paints a holistic picture of the risks and benefits of psychedelic use in modern day medicine and culture. -- Rick Doblin, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
What a good book this is! A rarity among psychedelic publications, it is straightforward, useful, makes complex biochemistry understandable, and will be a reference for years to come. It is a drug-by-drug series of clear, useful descriptions of just what you need to know about both synthetic and plant-based psychedelics. I thought I knew all this stuff, but Johnson weaves in excellent scholarship and some wonderful stories that surprised and delighted me as well. -- James Fadiman, Ph.D., microdose researcher and author of The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide
Magic Medicine is a wonderful object as well as a valuable text on this essential subject. Johnson describes a wide range of psychedelic substances - their effects, history and contemporary uses - in a readable style of prose and set amidst an alluring and beautifully presented format. Highly recommended! -- Dr. Ben Sessa, psychiatrist, psychedelic researcher, and author of The Psychedelic Renaissance
This is a delightful book that takes the reader on a pleasurable trip through several millennia of use and reflections on humans use of psychedelics. It is beautifully researched and pleasingly produced, with a satisfying balance of science, history and insights. I am sure that everyone interested in this growing field will find something new to intrigue and hopefully inspire them. -- Prof. David Nutt, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London, and author of Drugs Without the Hot Air
Magic Medicine is an entertaining, up-to-date encyclopedia of the ineffable, offering easy-to-digest insight into a dizzying array of psychoactive drugs and sacred plant medicines.  -- Don Lattin, author of The Harvard Psychedelic Club and Changing Our Mind
Magic Medicine takes us on a journey into the most controversial and mysterious of medicines: the mind altering plants and chemicals responsible for some of our greatest visionary creativity and also our paranoid delusions. Cody Johnson does a great job at separating fact from fiction in this eye-opening book. -- Jason Silva, host of National Geographic's Brain Games and the hit YouTube series, Shots of Awe

Cody Johnson is an intrepid psychonaut and humanist who writes about mind-expanding plants and compounds at PsychedelicFrontier.com. His first taste of psychedelia came in the form of MDMA, which opened him up to the vast realm of unexplored states of consciousness. He dove head first into this new world, experimenting with dozens of psychedelics new and old while blogging about all things psychedelic: their history, emerging scientific research, therapeutic and spiritual applications, and legality.

An armchair traveller's guide to all substances psychedelic! Readers will learn about their properties, use, lore, place in history, and their current research and applications as medicine. The history of psychedelic plants and substances is full of colourful, fascinating facts and stories, and intriguing questions. Did U.S. Army Intelligence really use LSD as an enhanced military interrogation technique? Why does Ayahuasca have such a long history of use in Peru? Science is beginning to research what traditional cultures have told us for years: psychedelics have transformative healing properties. Many psychedelic plants and substances have a long history of being incorporated into various healing traditions - such as cannabis and opium in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Magic Medicine explores the fascinating history of psychedelic substances and provides a contemporary update about their growing inclusion modern medicine, science, and culture.

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