The Ego Trip
Psychedelic Toads, a Trail of Deaths, and the Guru Who Peddled Transcendence
-
- € 10,99
Beschrijving uitgever
A lost tradition of "toad medicine," a global psychedelic movement, and the charismatic doctor who left a trail of destruction in his wake
“Entirely mesmerizing. . . . Richly reported and written with humor and flair, The Ego Trip is itself a trip—and Kimon de Greef is a major talent.” —Patrick Radden Keefe, #1 New York Times bestselling author of London Falling
“Toad-laced psychopathy is one hell of a drug. . . . An enthralling, galling journey into the deeply weird underbelly of the psychedelic renaissance.” —The New York Times
In 2012, a Mexican doctor named Octavio Rettig declared that 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.” This enormously powerful drug can induce states of ego death and the sensation of being directly connected with the divine. In some cases, it offers profound relief for numerous conditions and illnesses. Drawn in by Octavio's visionary message of healing, many psychonauts, spiritual seekers, and patients without other options flocked to Sonora and sparked a psychedelic movement that would eventually circle the globe. But as Octavio's fame grew, stories emerged of extreme dosing, abusive behavior, and even dramatic deaths.
In this gripping and deeply reported book, Kimon de Greef uncovers the truth behind this cultish figure and the wider world of toad medicine. While Octavio touted the cultural authenticity of his toad ceremonies, verifiable evidence of ancestral practice appeared questionable. Fractious turf wars broke out among toad collectors, who sent impoverished locals into drug cartel territory to chase after the animals and risk their lives in the process. And pharmaceutical companies raced against one another to profit from the commercial potential of the God molecule and develop a transformative mental health treatment that could rival Prozac in its impact on psychopharmacology.
Part true crime, part cult story, part cultural history, The Ego Trip is a chronicle of the rise and fall of a messianic figure and an investigation into larger truths about our age of spiritual desolation. As de Greef makes clear in this hypnotic story, no matter the lengths we go to in attaining a more cosmic understanding, we will always remain firmly in the real world, bound by our limitations and inescapably human.
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.
