A 30 years ago, Bruce Eisner, Peter Stafford and Lynn Francis produced LSD a Generation Later -- LSD Discoverer Albert Hofmann's first public account of the discovery of LSD. The catalyst of the Sixties Alternative Culture, the conference held at the University of California in October of 1977 was the first event focusing on psychedelics since 1967. The turbulence and hysteria of the Sixties had made it almost impossible for scientific meetings to be held on the subject. It brought together many of the scientific researchers and counterculture figures for the first time. These included Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, Ralph Metzner, Albert Hofmann, John Lilly, Oscar Janiger, Allen Ginsberg and many others. .

The original poster

Bruce Eisner decided to take some mushrooms. During this experience, which was influenced by two books he had just finished, Island by Aldous Huxley and Intelligence Agents by Timothy Leary -- he had a vision of a life-long project to create a psychedelic sanctuary in the South Pacific. It was far from the influence of Western Industrial Politics, he feels, that the new forms of consciousness and the lifestyles that this consciousness suggests could have a chance of developing without repression and give to the world a chance at creating what Adous Huxley would call a "sensible culture." Later, Laura Huxley asked to present Bruce's question: "Brave New World or Island: Which Way Shall We Go?" at the 100th Centennial of Aldous Huxley's Birth. She assigned Richard Alpert known as Ram Dass the topic which he obviously took quite seriously as spent three and one half hours on this theme and a transcript can be found here.

Ram Dass

Bruce has been involved in the counterculture since he "turned on, tuned in and dropped out" at age 19 in 1967. Later he became a journalist, writing about the psychedelic and consciousness movement, first for Underground Publications but later for Omni Magazine. In 1989, he published Ecstasy: The MDMA Story. That same year, he founded Mind Media Software and the next year the Island Foundation, named for Huxley's "utopian novel."

Island Foundation was a continuation of a psychedelic group that Bruce had co-founded with author Peter Stafford and his partner Lynn Francis in 1976 called the Psychedelic Education Center, sponsors of the LSD -- A Generation Later Conference. In 1990, Bruce founded Island Group which later changed its name to Island Foundation and become a Federally Chartered Non-Profit Educational Organization. A special memorial to Aldous Huxley describes the possible society he wrote to counter the horror of the approaching Brave New World he saw coming. His love for alternative ideas makes for <%If Session("fromsite") = "1" Then%> <%Else%> <%End If%>Voyages Elsewhere.

In his original vision, Bruce felt that Island Foundation needed to evolve slowly before trying to create a new island nation. Discussion salons, national conferences, an ever evolving website, newsletters, lectures and magazines were the product of Island's first ten years. The main goal was to attempt to hold together and create a meeting place for the various groups and individuals who gathered in the psychedelic tent. Two years ago, Bruce decided it was time to move.

The 'I Ching Hexagram Strategic Retreat advises to retreat when one is surrounded by superior forces. Eisner interpreted this to mean that he should initiate the project of creating an actual community for the Island Foundation, which he has first conceived in his vision many years before. So he created the Island Sanctuary Project as a vehicle for carrying out Island Foundation's ultimate pupose.

The Sanctuary Project is divided into two phases. Before the lengthy, complex and difficult task of actually constructing the Sanctuary, a Phase One Feasibility Study is now under way. The goals:

1. Determine the legalities involved in providing a safe place for people to integrate divine substances as a part of their lives.
2. Locate an island or parcel of land in an area far from the political struggles and powerful influence of the modern industrial states.
3. Create a plan with milestones, specific structures and a budget in order for the Sanctuary to be created in the most ecological and technologically sophisticated manner.

Once the questions are answered, the budget figured and the plans drawn, the amount of money that the study determines will be required, will be set up as a trust of Island Foundation.

If you want to be part of the sanctuary project, . Email Bruce Eisner directly: bruce@island.org.

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