The Ego Trip
Psychedelic Toads, A Trail of Deaths and The Guru Who Peddled Transcendence
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- CHF 10.00
Beschreibung des Verlags
A psychedelic guru, a magical toad and the dark side of the modern quest for transcendence.
'Entirely mesmerising . . . The Ego Trip is itself a trip' PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE
'A one-of-a-kind book. I loved it' WILLIAM FINNEGAN
'Strange and wonderful' SUSAN ORLEAN
In 2012, physician Octavio Rettig claimed he had revived a forgotten indigenous ritual: smoking the secretions of the Sonoran Desert toad, which releases a potent psychedelic substance known as 'the God molecule'. The experience promised ego death, communion with the divine and extraordinary relief for those suffering from PTSD, depression and drug addiction. As word spread, Octavio became the face of a global psychedelic movement, drawing seekers from around the world.
Yet as his fame grew, so did troubling reports of extreme dosing, abusive behaviour and a disturbing cult-like following. what began as a spiritual revival evolved into something far more dangerous.
In this gripping and deeply reported book, Kimon de Greef explores the promise and the peril of 'toad medicine'. Part true crime, part cult story, part investigative journalism, The Ego Trip chronicles the rise and fall of a self-made messianic figure while probing our relentless search for cosmic understanding.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
South African journalist de Greef (Poacher), who has spent years reporting on global psychedelic movements, delivers a chilling saga about a former doctor who spearheaded the rise of toad smoking in the 2010s. Part exposé, part Mexican travelogue, the narrative profiles Octavio Rettig, who claimed that he cured himself of cocaine addiction by smoking the dried secretions from the Sonoran Desert toad in 2012. The author details how Rettig stripped the rituals of the Indigenous Seri peoples for parts, claiming that the Seris had a long history of smoking the secretions. In addition to the trippy high the practice achieved, Rettig claimed the "medicine" could cure suicidal tendencies, PTSD, and alcoholism, drawing huge crowds to Sonora to attend his rituals. But even at the pinnacle of Rettig's fame, stories circulated about people dying—including Rettig's girlfriend—during those rituals. As de Greef digs into those deaths and Rettig's motives, he takes the narrative on intriguing side quests, including a look at the heaps of corporate money being poured into the development of synthetic toad venom. Propulsive and rigorously reported, this wild work of true crime grips from first page to last.
