Ann Shulgin

[WVC 2]

Ann Shulgin (born 22 March 1931) is an American author and the widow of chemist Alexander Shulgin. Laura Ann Gotlieb was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and grew up in the village of Opicina outside the Italian city of Trieste; her father was U.S. Consul in these places, in Trieste for six years before World War II. Later in her childhood she lived in the US, Cuba, and Canada. She studied art and became an artist, married an artist and had a child, and they later divorced. She had two more marriages ending in divorce and had three more children. Ann went back to work as a medical transcriber, and met Alexander ("Sasha") Shulgin in 1978; they were married on 4 July 1981 in their back yard.

She worked as a lay therapist with psychedelic substances such as MDMA and 2C-B in therapeutic settings while these drugs were still legal. In her writings she stresses the potential of these drugs from a Jungian psychoanalytic perspective, as well as their use in combination with hypnotherapy. She often appears as a speaker at conventions, and has continued to advocate the use of psychedelics in therapeutic context.

Together with her husband she has authored the books PiHKAL and TiHKAL, and contributed to the books Thanatos to Eros: 35 Years of Psychedelic Exploration, Entheogens and the Future of Religion, Ecstasy: The Complete Guide, The Secret Chief Revealed, Higher Wisdom: Eminent Elders Explore the Continuing Impact of Psychedelics, and Manifesting Minds: A Review of Psychedelics in Science, Medicine, Sex, and Spirituality.

As a community elder who serves as a WVC advisor, Ann will talk about “The Shadow.”

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