Bizarre Posse aus der Welt der Esoterik landet vor Gericht: Der sehbehinderte Verwaltungsangestellte Axel P. (46) zahlte an einen Schamanen, weil er hoffte, gesund zu werden.

Mit LSD-getränkten Gewürzgurken eine Sehstörung heilen - wie, bitte schön, soll das denn gehen? Patrick B. (35) stellte sich im Urlaub einem sehbehinderten Mann als Schamane in Ausbildung vor und versprach Heilung. Opfer Axel P. (46) schöpfte Hoffnung, zahlte 20.000 Euro und bekam von dem obskuren Heiler seltsame Substanzen serviert. Geholfen haben die LSD-Gürkchen freilich nicht. Am Dienstag traf Axel P. den angeblichen Schamanen vor dem Amtsgericht wieder.

mopo.de
shz.de
abendblatt.de

Jobless hairdresser Patrick Baecker, 35, posed as a mystic healer and told Axel Pfeffer he would make him see for £20,000.

The court in Fehmarn, Germany, heard how the former motorcyclist had tried everything to restore his sight after losing it in a crash.

metro.co.uk

Der in Florida lebende investigative Journalist Hank Albarelli hat in seinem neuen Buch »A Teribble Mistake« ein weiteres Verbrechen der CIA aufgekälrt. Unter dem Namen l’affaire du pain maudit (zu Deutsch: Affäre des verfluchten Brotes) ist eine Massenvergiftung bekannt, die sich am 16 August 1951 in Pont-Saint-Esprit ereignete. Die Ursache war verunreinigtes Brot der örtlichen Bäckerei Roch Briand, welches neben Übelkeit und Erbrechen auch psychotische Symptome hervorrief. Sieben Personen starben bei Panikanfällen, 50 wurden in psychiatrische Kliniken eingewiesen, weitere 250 Personen litten unter mehr oder weniger schweren Vergiftungssymptomen. Die Einwohner der Stadt gerieten in Panik, und es gab langanhaltende und weitreichende Spekulationen über die Ursache der Vergiftungserscheinungen. Wegen der teilweise halluzinatorischen Symptome wurde von den örtlichen Gesundheitsbehörden eine Mutterkornvergiftung (Ergotismus) vermutet, die aber nie bestätigt werden konnte. Weitere Hypothesen machten eine Quecksilberverbindung, die zur Desinfektion von Getreide verwendet wurde.

taz.de

This essay, which tells the story of the inventor of LSD and his ‘problem child's' turbulent history, is taken from Hofmann's Elixir: LSD and the New Eleusis. It first appeared on brainwaving.com

If, as Albert Hofmann believes, it was not he who discovered LSD, but rather LSD that found him, then indeed it chose wisely. For, as those who know him are aware, Albert and his Wunderkind are a very well-matched pair. It is a rare thing in the modern world, or in any world, for a man to live beyond a century. But to live so long with senses so intact and above all with his luminous intellect undimmed, is so exceptional as to suggest a strikingly remarkable individual. He takes pride in the collage, made by an admirer, juxtaposing portraits of Newton, Einstein and Hofmann, three men who have fundamentally transformed the way we conceive reality. Apart from his scientific achievements, it is his personal qualities -- the nobility of his character, the humanity and breadth of his vision, and his humility and awe before the beauty of Creation -- that mark him out as an outstanding natural philosopher.

realitysandwich.com

PARIS: In 1951 a quiet village in southern France was suddenly and mysteriously struck down with mass insanity and hallucinations. At least five people died, dozens were committed to asylums and hundreds afflicted.

For decades it was assumed that the local bread had been unwittingly poisoned with a psychedelic mould. Now an even more extraordinary explanation has emerged, with evidence suggesting the CIA peppered food with the hallucinogenic drug LSD as part of a mind-control experiment at the height of the Cold War.

The mystery of Le Pain Maudit (''The Cursed Bread'') still haunts Pont-Saint-Esprit, in the Gard, south-east France. On August 16, 1951, the inhabitants suddenly suffered frightful hallucinations of terrifying beasts and fire.

smh.com.au
telegraph.co.uk

A man who told police he unknowingly ate food containing LSD fell from the roof of the Phoenix Theater in downtown Petaluma early Sunday morning, police said today.

insidebayarea.com

Andy Roberts is a writer and the author of ‘Albion Dreaming – A cultural history of LSD in Britain’. The first book to deal exclusively with the impact of LSD on British culture ‘Albion Dreaming’ is a thoughtfully researched space into the history of the relationship, which investigates military, scientific and social perspectives.

psypressuk.com
Albion Dreaming: A popular history of LSD in Britain (Hardcover) [amazon]

Experimental Compound MER 17 (Frenquel) and LSD-25: Psychosis. National Security Council. Central Intelligence Agency. (09/18/1947 - 12/04/1981). ARC Identifier 1634172 / Local Identifier 263.1057. This film examines human medical experiments to determine the efficacy of LSD-25 and MER 17 (Frenquel) on treating psychosis. Producer: National Archives and Records Administration. Creative Commons license: Public Domain