Robert Gordon Wasson September 22, 1898 – December 23, 1986

 

 

R. Gordon Wasson. 1st International Conference on Hallucinogenic Mushrooms. 1976. Photo: Linda Deer

 

The Sacred Mushroom Seeker, by Reidlinger.

 

Gordon Wasson

 

DeWitt Peterkin, retired vice president in charge of domestic lending, joined J.P. Morgan & Co. in 1937. Gordon was already there, initially as a credit banker. He soon proved himself “a great person for putting together the background  and history” of Morgan’s accounts, recalled Peterkin.

[…]

In subsequent years, Gordon’s role as a credit banker gave way to new responsibilities. Eventually, as vice president, he would up in charge of “communications, public relations—that sort of thing,” recalled Peterkin. Personal contact with overseas clients was part of the job.

 “Unbeknownst to most people, we for many years were one of the bankers for the Vatican,” Peterkin said.  “And Gordon used to have private audiences with the Pope.”  Though he could not recall which particular Pope [?], other sources later told me it had been Pius XII – and that Gordon had not liked him much.

According to Peterkin, no preview copy of Gordon’s life article had made the rounds within the bank before publication. But his colleaques reportedly took it in stride when they finally saw it. […]

Asked if he thought it incongruous that Gordon had been studying hallucinogenic mushrooms while employed as a Morgan banker, Peterkin answered, sincerely:

“Oh no, because people had their avocations and their hobbies. We had mountain climbers, skiers; a little bit of everything. Mushrooms are a little more esoteric than most things, but Gordon had a very inquiring mind.”

I got a similar reaction from another of Gordon’s bank colleagues, James Brugger, who had started with Morgan in 1954 and retired after serving many years as a public relations manager. He had not known Gordon’s interest in mushrooms until the eve of publication of the Life magazine article.

 – Reidlinger, “A Latecomer’s View of R. Gordon Wasson”, in Sacred Mushroom Seeker, 1990, p. 210

 

Excerpt from Seeking The Magic Mushroom, Life Magazine, May 13, 1957:

 

It was a walk in the woods, many years ago, that launched my wife and me on our quest of the mysterious mushroom. We were married in London in 1926, she being Russian, born and brought up in Moscow. She had lately qualified as a physician at the University of London. I am from Great Falls, Montana of Anglo-Saxon origins. In the late summer of 1927, recently married, we spent our holiday in the Catskill Mountains in New York state. In the afternoon of the first day we went strolling along a lovely mountain path, through woods criss-crossed by the slanting rays of a descending sun. We were young, carefree and in love. Suddenly my bride abandoned my side. She had spied wild mushrooms in the forest, and racing over the carpet of dried leaves in the woods, she knelt in poses of adoration before first one cluster and then another of these growths. In ecstasy she called each kind by an endearing Russian name. She caressed the toadstools, savored their earthy perfume. Like all good Anglo-Saxons, I knew nothing about the fungal world and felt that the less I knew about those putrid, treacherous excrescences the better. For her they were things of grace, infinitely inviting to the perceptive mind. She insisted on gathering them, laughing at my protests, mocking my horror. She brought a skirtful back to the lodge. She cleaned and cooked them. That evening she ate them, alone. Not long married, I thought to wake up the next morning a widower.

 

These dramatic circumstances, puzzling and painful for me, made a lasting impression on us both. From that day on we sought an explanation for this strange cultural cleavage separating us in a minor area of our lives…

~ R. Gordon Wasson

 

Wasson's connection to the CIA and CFR (from Richard Grove):

3a, 3b
4a,b,d,e
5a,d
6a,b,e
8a,b

Bruce Campbell Adamson - (Contacted 11-25-2009)
bca@got.net

http://www.ciajfk.com/

 

Person Knew
Robert Graves Gordon Wasson
Maria Sabina Gordon Wasson
Maria Sabina Allan Richardson
Gordon Wasson Robert Graves
Robert Graves William Sargent
Gordon Wasson William Sargent
Morse Allen (CIA) Dr James Moore (CIA)
Gordon Wasson Morse Allen (CIA)
Dr James Moore (CIA) Maria Sabina
Gordon Wasson Dr James Moore (CIA)
Allan Dulles (CIA) Albert Hoffman (Sandoz Pharmaceuticals)
Wasson Unnamed Scientist Friend Albert Hoffman (Sandoz Pharmaceuticals)
Gordon Wasson Wasson Unnamed Scientist Friend
Albert Hoffman (Sandoz Pharmaceuticals) Gordon Wasson
Albert Hoffmans Wife Gordon Wasson
Albert Hoffman (Sandoz Pharmaceuticals) Maria Sabina
Albert Hoffmans Wife Maria Sabina
Life Magazine Article Gordon Wasson
Timothy Leary Life Magazine Article
Gerhadt Braun Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary Gerhadt Braun
Timothy Leary Jack Kerouac
Timothy Leary Allen Ginsberg
Timothy Leary Robert Lowell
Timothy Leary Peter Orlovsky
Jack Kerouac Timothy Leary
Allen Ginsberg Timothy Leary
Robert Lowell Timothy Leary
Peter Orlovsky Timothy Leary
Allen Ginsberg Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie Allen Ginsberg
Dizzy Gillespie Dizzy Gillespie's band
Dizzy Gillespie's band Dizzy Gillespie
Aldous Huxley Humphrey Osmond
Humphrey Osmond Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley Life Magazine Article
Humphrey Osmond Life Magazine Article
Aldous Huxley Gordon Wasson
Humphrey Osmond Gordon Wasson
Gordon Wasson Aldous Huxley
Gordon Wasson Humphrey Osmond
Timothy Leary Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley Timothy Leary
Robert Graves Oxford Students (1961)
Oxford Students (1961) Robert Graves
Albert Hoffman (Sandoz Pharmaceuticals) Ronald Sandison (psychiatrist)
Ronald Sandison (psychiatrist) Albert Hoffman (Sandoz Pharmaceuticals)
Ronald Sandison (psychiatrist) Professor Joel Elkes (Advisor to Porton Down Labs)
Professor Joel Elkes (Advisor to Porton Down Labs) Ronald Sandison (psychiatrist)
World Health Organisation on LSD Ronald Sandison (psychiatrist)
World Health Organisation on LSD Aldous Huxley
World Health Organisation on LSD Dr Harold Abramson (CIA)
Ronald Sandison (psychiatrist) World Health Organisation on LSD
Aldous Huxley World Health Organisation on LSD
Dr Harold Abramson (CIA) World Health Organisation on LSD
Alfred M. Hubbard (Millionaire) Ronald Sandison (psychiatrist)
Ronald Sandison (psychiatrist) Alfred M. Hubbard (Millionaire)
Albert Hoffman (Sandoz Pharmaceuticals) Alfred M. Hubbard (Millionaire)
Alfred M. Hubbard (Millionaire) Albert Hoffman (Sandoz Pharmaceuticals)
Alfred M. Hubbard (Millionaire) Aldous Huxley
Alfred M. Hubbard (Millionaire) Humphrey Osmond
Aldous Huxley Alfred M. Hubbard (Millionaire)
Humphrey Osmond Alfred M. Hubbard (Millionaire)
Alfred M. Hubbard (Millionaire) Oscar Janiger (psychiatrist)
Oscar Janiger (psychiatrist) Alfred M. Hubbard (Millionaire)
Oscar Janiger (psychiatrist) Anais Nin
Oscar Janiger (psychiatrist) Andre Previn
Oscar Janiger (psychiatrist) Jack Nicholson
Oscar Janiger (psychiatrist) James Coburn
Oscar Janiger (psychiatrist) Cary Grant
Anais Nin Oscar Janiger (psychiatrist)
Andre Previn Oscar Janiger (psychiatrist)
Jack Nicholson Oscar Janiger (psychiatrist)
James Coburn Oscar Janiger (psychiatrist)
Cary Grant Oscar Janiger (psychiatrist)
Dr Harold Abramson (CIA) Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson Dr Harold Abramson (CIA)
Gregory Bateson Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg Gregory Bateson
Allen Ginsberg CIA experiment
Ken Kesey  CIA experiment
CIA experiment Ken Kesey 
Ken Kesey  Magic Bus
Magic Bus Ken Kesey 
Magic Bus Parties of people
Parties of people Magic Bus
Timothy Leary LSD Research Group Mexico City
Timothy Leary LSD Research Group Massachusetts
Timothy Leary LSD Research Group Los Angeles
Timothy Leary LSD Research Group New York
Mexico City Timothy Leary LSD Research Group
Massachusetts Timothy Leary LSD Research Group
Los Angeles Timothy Leary LSD Research Group
New York Timothy Leary LSD Research Group
Mexico City Mainstream
Massachusetts Mainstream
Los Angeles Mainstream
New York Mainstream
Mainstream Mexico City
Mainstream Massachusetts
Mainstream Los Angeles
Mainstream New York
Oxford Students (1961) Mainstream
Mainstream Oxford Students (1961)
Parties of people Mainstream
Mainstream Parties of people
Dr Harold Abramson (CIA) CIA experiment
Morse Allen (CIA) CIA experiment
CIA experiment Dr Harold Abramson (CIA)
CIA experiment Morse Allen (CIA)
Cary Grant Mainstream
CIA experiment Allen Ginsberg
Allan Dulles (CIA) CIA experiment
CIA experiment General Public
Timothy Leary Timothy Leary LSD Research Group
Timothy Leary Mexico City
Timothy Leary Massachusetts
Timothy Leary Los Angeles
Timothy Leary New York
CIA experiment Dr James Moore (CIA)
Gordon Wasson Allan Richardson
Russia Albert Hoffman (Sandoz Pharmaceuticals)
Albert Hoffman (Sandoz Pharmaceuticals) CIA experiment
Timothy Leary LSD Research Group Mainstream
Albert Hoffman (Sandoz Pharmaceuticals) Robert Graves
Professor Joel Elkes (Advisor to Porton Down Labs) British inteliigence services
William Sargent British inteliigence services

 

“Promptly at five—the cocktail hour, I suppose—Tim, driving Flo and Maynard’s white Jaguar, picked me up. In a moment we were heading uptown to Gordon Wasson’s apartment. On the way Tim told me that Wasson had graduated from Columbia’s School of Journalism, then worked for newspapers as a financial writer, and in the thirties was hired by the J.P. Morgan Company. “Sandoz was a client. That’s how Mr. Wasson became a director,” Tim concluded the biographical information, then hurried on. “I keep him posted on everything. I want his guidance on what to do next. Sandoz has invested a lot of money in psilocybin research without getting one penny back. Of course, Mr. Wasson’s more aware of this than anyone. He’s a banker. In other ways, he’s farther out than any of us. Wait till you read his stuff.” [underline – mine]

~ B.H. Friedman, Tripping, page 48.

 

It is clear that his [Wasson’s] motivations became more complex, and more muddied, once he had actually eaten the mushrooms in 1955. Thereafter, his banker’s instincts seem to have taken over so that he came home with every intention of profiting from his discoveries. In a shrewd move, he had already acquired the rights to all of Allan Richardson’s photos, in exchange for funding the photographer’s travel and subsistence costs. But within months of returning he had a meeting with top executives of the Merck Sharp & Dohme pharmaceutical company to discuss rights to the mushrooms’ potential active ingredients. …it was Albert Hofmann’s team at Sandoz in Basle who eventually isolated psilocybin and psilocin, but nevertheless, when Sandoz put its patented brand Indocybin on the market, Wasson appears to have been rewarded for his part in its discovery with a directorship of one of its American subsidiaries. [underline – mine]

~ Andy Letcher, Shroom

 

One more source to Wasson as CIA: Mind Control and UFOs: Casebook on Alternative 3, By Jim Keith.Pg. 98.

“In his biography, Leary seems less than forthcoming about the large number of his friends who have been CIA, OSS, and members of the Council on Foreign Relations/Eastern Establishment. These include Harry Murray (OSS chief psychologist), Robert Gordon Wasson (vice president of J.P. Morgan & Co.), Martin Orne (“a brilliant CIA-funded consciousness researcher…sometimes to be seen in our kitchen drinking coffee and asking intelligent questions about the relationship of drug states to hypnosis”), and socialite Mary Pinchot Meyer, who had been married to top level CIA agent Cord Meyer, Jr., and who may have been assassinated because of her knowledge of the hit.”

(Be sure to also quote page 99).

 

 

http://www.whale.to/b/bowart3.html

 

In his workshop Ross offered the names of some of the more

insidious doctors and the institutions which supported them. At

the top of the list was Dr. George Estabrooks who, in 1950 wrote:

"I can hypnotize a man -- without his knowledge or consent --

into committing treason against the United States." Ross

described Estabrooks as a pivotal figure in the cryptocracy's

mind-control research. He drew an elaborate map connecting

Estabrooks to the CIA's MKULTRA research, the FBI and other

agencies. Then, he named the following professionals as part of

the mind control conspiracy: William C. Hollinger, L. Wilson

Green, Richard Ofshe (Sociologist), James Hamilton, Harold

Abramson, Carl Pfeiffer, Louis Jolyon West (Psychiatrist UCLA),

Carl Rogers, Martin T. Orne, George White (Army Col, CIA, BNDD),

Maitland Baldwin, Harold Wolff, Raymond Prince (Mass. General

Hospital), R. Gordon Wasson (stock broker and mycologist

mushroom expert), John Mulholland (magician), B.F. Skinner

(Harvard Behaviorist), Garner Murphy (Harvard), E.R. Hilgard

(member of DSM IV Dissociative Disorders Committee), Ron Shore

(collaborator with Martin Orne) Milton Erickson (Psychiatrist and

inspiration for Neurolinguistics Programming), Daniel X.

Friedman (Editor of Archives of the Journal of Psychiatry

1970-1993), Allen Dulles (Director CIA 1953-1961), Loretta

Bender, Paul Hawk (psychiatrist who killed Harold Blauer in 1953

with an inject of supposed mescaline), Robert White (Harvard), J.

Edgar Hoover (Director of the FBI), John Gittinger (CIA

psychologist), Robert Lifton (psychiatrist and well-known author),

Margaret Singer (psychologist, author of "Cults in Our Midst"),

Paul McHugh (Chairman of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins), James

Whitehorn (former Chairman of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins and

advisor of the Human Ecology Foundation with Top Secret

Clearance), Harold Lief (advisor of the False Memory Syndrome

Foundation), Colston Westbrook (CIA Psy-War expert who worked at

Vacaville Prison with prisoners such as Donald Defreeze and

Timothy Leary), Robert Heath (doing brain electrode implant

research at Tulane), Francisco Silva (Cuban psychiatrist who

allegedly put Lee Harvey Oswald up in his home and got him a job

at the hospital where Silva worked prior to the assassination),

Mark Sweet (collaborator with L.J. West for the UCLA Violence

Project), Wagner Joreg (son of Wagner Joreg who won the Nobel

Prize for treating syphilis with malaria), Amadeo Morazzi (LSD

researcher at the University of Minnesota), Gregory Bateson,

Allen Ginsburg, Ken Kesey, Sydney Mallett, and the list goes on.

 

Ross linked dozens of institutions to the research which, he

said he suspects, is still going on in one form or another. Among

the institutions he reeled off the top of his head were: Butler

Hospital Health Center (part of Harvard), Children's International

Summer Village, Columbia University, Cornell University, Denver

University, Emory College, Florida University, George Washington

University, Harvard University, Houston University, Illinois

University, Indiana University, Johns Hopkins University, Eli

Lilly Pharmaceuticals, University of Minnesota, New Jersey

Reformatory, Bordentown in Tennessee, Ohio University, University

of Pennsylvania, Penn State University, Princeton University,

Stanford University, Wisconsin University, University of Texas,

University of Oklahoma, McGill, the National Institute of Health,

the National Institute of Mental Health, the New Jersey

Psychiatric Research Institute, National Philosophical Society,

Office of Naval Research, Worcester Foundation for Experimental

Biology, Vacaville State Prison, Public Health Service, Cornell,

Bureau of Narcotics, Bureau of Prisons, and many others.

 

"You get the idea," Ross said. Then, the well-prepared

researcher gave a litany of declassified code names under which

many of these atrocities occurred: MKULTRA, MKSEARCH, MKNAOMI,

ARTICHOKE, BLUEBIRD, STARGATE, CHATTER, OFTEN, CHICKWIT,

DERBYHAT, THIRD CHANCE, MKDELTA, QK HILLTOP and others.

Walter Bowart -  MindNet Journal - Vol. 1, No. 94

 

 

 

 

Jay Stevens, Storming heaven p. 77 - Wasson meats Al Hubbard, Humphry Osmond, and Aldous Huxley. - We know he was already working with Huxley at the Century - by the recording. 

Aldous knew Andrija Puharich - from Carlos Castaneda, Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic Sixties, P. 34 by Jay Fikes.