The Way of the Psychonaut: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys (Volume Two)

Holotropic states and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy are central to The Way of the Psychonaut: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys (Volume Two), written by Stanislav Grof. The volume presents a wide-ranging synthesis of insights from depth psychology and psychotherapy, holotropic breathwork, and “maps of the psyche,” covering themes like birth, sex, and death, psychospiritual rebirth, the roots of trauma, spiritual emergency, transpersonal experiences, and transpersonal frameworks such as karma and reincarnation. The book also argues that observations from research into holotropic states point to an urgent need to revise assumptions within mainstream psychiatry and psychology. It situates Grof’s work in the broader historical shift enabled by Albert Hofmann’s LSD discovery, framing LSD as a “microscope and telescope” for exploring the human psyche.