Transform Press

01/20/2025

Join us for a fascinating 1-hour Zoom session with Paul Daley January 26 from 2-3 PM PST, latter-day colleague and sidekick of the legendary psychedelic chemist, Sasha Shulgin. ⁠

In this intimate class, Paul will guide us through the groundbreaking work Shulgin did in the realm of novel tryptamine chemistry, sharing insights into how his discoveries have shaped the field and where they might take us in the future. If anyone has had the pleasure of a whiteboard chemistry lesson from Paul, tucked by the fireplace in Sasha's old lab, you know how special it feels to be an audience to his curiosity and wonder. This is a rare opportunity to learn with someone who learned from Sasha himself. Gather ye round!⁠

Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sasha-shulgins-last-stand-exploring-a-luminarys-final-compounds-tickets-1137883804089?aff=oddtdtcreator

01/11/2025

Today, we honor the birthday of Albert Hofmann, the visionary chemist who first synthesized L S D. 🌾⁠
⁠
At Transform Press, we’re proud to have published the English edition of Hofmann’s renowned Ergot Alkaloids—an exploration of the ergot fungus and its role in medicine, history, and experimental psychiatry.⁠
⁠
Learn more: https://transformpress.com/ergot-alkaloids-history-chemistry-and-therapeutic-uses/

01/10/2025

The Nature of Druvs, Volume 1, transcribed from Sasha Shulgin's lecture series given at San Fransisco State University in 1987, contains a short reflection by Leonard Pickard, fellow chemist and researcher, who was Sasha's student at the time. ⁠
⁠
He writes, "The privilege of being taught by Sasha was, from the moment we met,the transformative event in my then limited life. I had failed to solve a problem in advanced chemistry. Only one man was capable of the insight, and was of like mind in advancing the procedure: Sasha. It was 1983 when I ventured to write him of my long admiration. of reading his many papers, and of the difficulty in an esoteric realm of synthesis. Sasha replied with an invitation to join his lectures in drug studies at San Francisco State University. I hastened to attend: honored, timid, excited."⁠
⁠
Learn more about the book: https://transformpress.com/the-nature-of-drugs-volume-one/

01/06/2025

We love this clip of Sasha Shulgin being interviewed by the late Dutch journalist, Luc Sala, at the Entheobotany Conference in Palenque, Mexico, in 1996, of which Terence McKenna was one of the founders. 🌴⁠
⁠
In this snippet, Sasha emphasizes the importance of focusing on how we use substances rather than the substances themselves, highlighting that even valued concepts like education can be either weaponized or used constructively, depending on their application.

01/02/2025

What defines a drvg? How do psychoactive substances shape consciousness, culture, and society? 🌱

The Nature of Drvgs: History, Pharmacology, and Social Impact, Volume One offers a rare glimpse into the mind of Alexander "Sasha" Shulgin, transcribed from his original lectures in 1987. This book is more than a history—it’s a deep dive into humanity's intricate relationship with psychoactive substances, blending biochemistry, philosophy, and a call for individual freedom in exploration.

Learn more: https://transformpress.com/the-nature-of-drugs-volume-one/

07/31/2024

Earlier this year, Ann Shulgin’s daughter and owner of Transform Press, Wendy Tucker was interviewed on the Psychedelics Today podcast.

Recorded in Sasha’s old office, Wendy recounts her formative years, giving an insider’s look into her Mother’s openness about psych-delics, working with Sasha in the lab, how the Shulgins made a perfect team, and watching a close-knit circle of self-experimenters start to form at Shulgin Farm – and keep coming back over the years.

She talks about the energy infused into the property from decades of research and gatherings, and how she is trying to preserve it – not just to capture its history and the pioneering research that happened there, but as a beacon for future generations. She imagines weddings, conferences, other communal gatherings, and more.

Listen to the podcast here: https://psychedelicstoday.com/2024/03/22/pt497-wendy-tucker/

07/29/2024

"You contain a universe inside yourself. There's no end to it - your conscious, your subconscious. There is no limit to what's inside you. We are very much connected. There's no end to it." —Ann Shulgin

07/26/2024

We love this beautiful capture by .cardimona of PIHKAL and TIHKAL next to some other beautiful books. 📖

PIHKAL and TIHKAL are psych-delic classics, telling the tale of a psychopharmacologist and his wife/research partner, and recounting decades devoted to the creation and investigation of psychedelic drugs as tools for the study of the human mind. The books also feature altered state experiences that are explored in the context of intimacy.

Get your copies: https://transformpress.com/physical-books/

07/24/2024

“How long will this last, this delicious feeling of being alive, of having penetrated the veil which hides beauty and the wonders of celestial vistas? It doesn't matter, as there can be nothing but gratitude for even a glimpse of what exists for those who can become open to it.” ― Alexander Shulgin, Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story

07/22/2024

Wendy Tucker, daughter of Ann Shulgin and owner of Transform Press was recently featured in an interview with Tricycle Day about the campaign to preserve the Shulgin Farm as well as reflecting on what it was like to grow up together with Sasha and Ann.

Speaking of how Sasha influenced her understanding of psychoactive substances she shared, “Joining the Shulgin family shifted my perception of psychedelics from things you’d take recreationally with friends, to tools that could be used intentionally within a container. Hearing about the research group, the reports they wrote, and their scientific approach was fascinating. I got to see that there's something about working with these compounds in a conscientious way that felt really good and different.”

[5-min read] Q&A with Wendy Tucker, Artist & Publisher

07/19/2024

So, what is a drvg? 🌿

This is your invitation to “Just Say Know” and explore The Nature of Drvgs with renowned chemist Alexander Shulgin in his San Francisco State University lecture hall in 1987. This two-volume set includes lectures 1-23 includes a unique transcription of Sasha’s original lectures recorded by Ann Shulgin during his classes, and stands as the culmination of his philosophy on drvgs and the societal and individual freedoms pertaining to their use—both medicinal and exploratory. Here he dives deep into the specific categories of drugs including stimulants, depressants, intoxicants, deliriants, and psych-delics; their chemical makeup and actions; the cultural history of to***co and alcohol use; the mechanics of drvg testing; and more, all with his signature humor and vast wisdom.

Get Volumes 1 & 2 together and get $10 off via the link in the bio. 🧪

06/21/2024

Introducing the groundbreaking PIHKAL, which stands for Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved, by the late Sasha and Ann Shulgin.
⁠
PIHKAL is the tale of a psychopharmacologist and his wife/research partner, and recounts decades devoted to the creation and investigation of psych-delic drvgs as tools for the study of the human mind. PIHKAL was the first book to fully impart the how-to chemistry, and convey the effects, of many of the entheogenic drvgs that are currently being studied and used to heal trauma and deal with death. The book spans autobiography, organic chemistry, politics, ethnobotany, and psychopharmacology, and the cultural impact is likely to be profound for decades to come, as it has already.
Get your copy via the link in bio. 📚

Photo via 📸