A Psychonaut's Guide to the Invisible Landscape: The Topography of the Psychedelic Experience

By Dan Carpenter

A bold cartography of the inner landscape visible only to those experiencing altered states - Presents the psychedelic experience as an objective landscape that embodies the Other, rather than a subjective state of mind - Provides corroboration of phenomena encountered by those who venture into this domain Journeying into the invisible world revealed by his use of the dissociative psychedelic DXM (dextromethorphan), Dan Carpenter found that what he experienced was not simply subjective sensations and psychological states but an objective world of familiar, if inordinately odd, landmarks and characters. The running diary he kept of these voyages recounts impressions of a landscape charted by other travelers into this Inner Space and includes descriptions of many of the same phenomena recorded by such mind travelers as Terence and Dennis McKenna, Alexander and Ann Shulgin, and others who have experienced the hive mind--the pool of all consciousness. Into this territory where expression is like chaos theory, where oddly symmetrical order manifests out of the seemingly anarchic swirl of images and events, the author ventures with the mind-set of a naturalist, accepting whatever might be rather than what he hopes he might find. What emerges is not a location crafted by subjective experience, but a landscape that embodies the Other and that represents a conscious state in which the barriers between the self and the not-self dissolve.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594770905
• ISBN13: 9781594770906
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Park Street Press
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Details are Compelling

I found this book compelling in the author's details of his diary - lighter moments into dark and very unsettling moments. There is sincerity in his ability to convey the depth of the psychedelic experiences that he encountered. All in all, he did a great job of explaining what he saw, felt and ultimately in his own mind - knew.

Absolutely Mind-Blowing!

I loved this book! For people who enjoy reading about heroic psychedelic adventures--and the mapping of uncharted hallucinogenic territory--this is a must read! Dan Carpenter follows bravely in the tradition of courageous mind explorers, like John Lilly, Terence McKenna, Zoe 7, and D.M. Turner. I couldn't put this book down. It's simply overflowing with fascinating ideas and mind-blowing firsthand accounts of amazing encounters with intelligent other-dimensional beings. Sadly, Dan has left this world (perhaps to enter the "Hive Mind" that he writes about), but thank the stars that he left us this extraordinary account of his travels and insights. Dan Carpenter will be honored by future generations for his brave explorations and excellent writing.

Book title

I would like it to be known to two other reviewers who stated in effect that Dan Carpenter's title to his book was inappropiate, that Dan did not give his book the title "A Psychonaut's Guide to the Invisible Landscape". He had chosen either "Psychedelic Passageways" or "The Psychedelic Explorer". The publisher chose the title after Dan's death and shortly before the book went to print. I feel that this should be told to those two reviewers and to anyone who reads the reviews. It's only fair to let that fact be known since Dan is not here to say that himself.

A Psychonaut's Guide to the Invisible Landscape

I found the book to be quite interesting although scary at times to realize that the author was willing to leave his ego behind in search of the spiritual world and the inner workings of the mind. It was fascinating to read of his journey. DXM is found it cough syrups but the author used it in a powdered form which makes it seem a more logical way to use it if a person is so inclined to do it for exploration. The previous sentence is in response to the last person's review.