The Doors of Perception

By Aldous Huxley

The Doors of Perception is Aldous Huxley’s groundbreaking 1954 essay that explores his experiences with the psychedelic substance mescaline. In the book, Huxley recounts a controlled experiment in which he took mescaline and recorded his thoughts, visions, and philosophical insights during the altered state of consciousness.

The work delves into the nature of human perception, consciousness, and reality, suggesting that the mind is filtered by the brain and that psychedelic substances can “open the doors” to a more profound, unfiltered awareness. Huxley draws from art, religion, psychology, and mysticism to interpret the experience, making the book a foundational text in both psychedelic literature and 20th-century philosophy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Global Publishers
• Release date: Jun 29, 2025
• ISBN: 9781916700826

Aldous Huxley

Aldous Huxley was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly fifty books—both novels and nonfiction works—as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxley family, he graduated from Balliol College, Oxford with an undergraduate degree in English literature.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Start

WILLIAM BLAKE

It was in 1886 that the German pharmacologist, Ludwig Lewis, published the first systematic study of the cactus, to which his own name was subsequently given. Harmonium Lewinsky was new to science. To primitive religion and the Indians of Mexico and the American Southwest, it was a friend of immemorially long standing. Indeed, it was much more than a friend. In the words of one of the early Spanish visitors to the New World,

‘They eat a root which they call peyote and which they venerate as though it were a deity.’

Why they should have venerated it as a deity became apparent when such eminent psychologists as Enschede, Havelock Ellis, and Weir Mitchell began their experiments with mescaline, the active principle of peyote. True, they stopped short at a point well this side of idolatry, but all concurred in assigning to mescaline a position among drugs of unique distinction.

Administered in suitable doses, it changes the quality of consciousness more profoundly and yet is less toxic than any other substance in the pharmacologist’s repertory.

Mescaline research has been going on sporadically ever since the days of Lewis and Havelock Ellis. Chemists have not merely isolated the alkaloid; they have learned how to synthesize it so that the supply no longer depends on the sparse and intermittent crop of a desert cactus. Alienists have dosed themselves with mescaline in the hope thereby of coming to a better, a firsthand understanding of their patients’ mental processes. Working, unfortunately, upon too few subjects within too narrow a range of circumstances, psychologists have observed and catalogued some of the drug’s more striking effects. Neurologists and physiologists have found out something about the mechanism of its action upon the central nervous system. And at least one professional philosopher has taken mescaline for the light it may throw on such ancient unsolved riddles as the place of mind in nature and the relationship between brain and consciousness.

There matters rested until, two or three years ago, a new and perhaps highly significant fact was observed. [1] Actually, the fact had been staring everyone in the face for several decades, but nobody, as it happened, had noticed it until a young English psychiatrist, at present working in Canada, was struck by the close similarity, in chemical composition, between mescaline and adrenaline. Further research revealed that synergic acid, an extremely potent hallucinogen derived from ergot, has a structural biochemical relationship to the others. Then came the discovery that monochrome, which is a product of the decomposition of Adrenalin, can produce many of the symptoms observed in mescaline intoxication. But monochrome probably occurs spontaneously in the human body. In other words, each one of us may be capable of manufacturing a chemical, minute doses of which are known to cause profound changes in consciousness.

Certain of these changes are similar to those that occur in that most characteristic plague of the twentieth century, schizophrenia. Is the mental disorder due to a chemical disorder? And is the chemical disorder due, in its turn, to psychological distresses affecting the adrenals? It would be rash and premature to affirm it. The most we can say is that some kind of a prim face case has been made out. Meanwhile, the clue is being systematically followed; the sleuths—biochemists, psychiatrists, and psychologists—are on the trail.

By a series of, for me, extremely fortunate circumstances, I found myself, in the spring of 1953, squarely athwart that trail. One of the sleuths had come on business to California. In spite of seventy years of mescaline research, the psychological material at his disposal was still absurdly inadequate, and he was anxious to add to it. I was on the spot and willing, indeed eager, to be a guinea pig. Thus it came about that, one bright May morning, I swallowed four-tenths of a gram of mescaline dissolved in half a glass of water and sat down to wait for the results.

We live together, we act on and react to one another, but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves. The martyrs go hand in hand into the arena; they are crucified alone. Embraced, the lovers desperately try to fuse their insulated ecstasies into a single self-transcendence; in vain. By its very nature, every embodied spirit is doomed to suffer and enjoy in solitude.

Sensations, feelings, insights, fancies—all these are private and, except through symbols and at second hand, incommunicable. We can pool information about experiences, but never the experiences themselves. From family to nation, every human group is a society of island universes.

Most island universes are sufficiently like one another to permit of inferential understanding or even of mutual empathy or ‘feeling into.’ Thus, remembering our own bereavements and humiliations,

[rickgeissal · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As I expected Aldous Huxley wrote a book that is very meaningful to me about different methods of getting thru doors to see what is real. I had not known that he had used mescaline as one of those methods, but he did; and what he wrote about that experience was enlightening.

[ranjr-562000 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found the first section of this book a little bland and boring on par with The Joyous Cosmology: Adventures in the Chemistry of Consciousness by Alan Watts. In fact, they seem to mirror each other a little in what they say about the drug experience. However, I found the second half of the book, Heaven & Hell, much more enjoyable and interesting. In particular, the idea of a 'visionary' as opposed to a 'negative visionary'. I'm still mulling that over in my head as I write this. Bad trips and hell lie in the concentrated idea of individualism and the opposite laying in ego death and the destruction of self makes sense to me and is plainly engaging to my mind. I have had some experience with drugs especially cannabis and alcohol and with some hard drugs and hallucinogens as well. I've never seen heaven or hell while under the influence as Huxley and Alan Watts seem to have, save for spinning, vomiting, and really bad hangovers/mush-brain.

I would recommend this book, not so much the first part (The Doors of Perception), but for the second, (Heaven & Hell) and the included essay Drugs that Shape Men's Minds particularly because the line, "...others embark upon their course of slow suicide as a result of mere intimation and good fellowship because they have made such an "excellent adjustment to their group" - a process which, if the group happens to be criminal, idiotic or merely ignorant, can bring only disaster to the well-adjusted individual." Which really connected with me (a sort of unpleasant flashback to my youth).

[the_literary_jedi · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is 79 pages and I could not be more bored if I tried. This book recounts the time the author took mescalin. One would think it would be a very mesmerizing read but it's actually dull as tombs.

Huxley's experience is described in the most boring and numbing words possible. This is frankly an absolute shock since I am quite fond of Brave New World. The telling is in some ways a stream of consciousness but also telling from the outside looking in while looking out from the inside...if that makes any sort of sense. Huxley seems to simultaneously describe the mescalin trip as it's happening to him and as he's being watched while having it. And this should be a very unique understanding but it just isn't. This brought me to:

DNF'd after 40 pages.

This will be leaving my collection.

**All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

[sashame-485567 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

most interesting part is def the connections made bw (1) various mystical (non)conceptions of splendorous emptiness, (2) the xp of mescaline, and (3) the aesthetic meanings of material ornaments in religious art

[wickenden-285487 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Aldous Huxley: respectable when one mentions "Brave New World", despised for "The Doors of Perception". This book is two books in one, the first well known. Huxley experimented with mescaline and LSD, going so far as order himself injected with many cc's of LSD on his deathbed. What a trip that must have been! He believed that LSD and other "pschedelic" drugs opened up a "valve" that normally stays closed except for intense periods when humans are mating, meditating or engaged in some intense activity. The valve is required for evolutionary survival, but it closes of much perception that is useful, just not for the everday.

A wonderful book by a legend.

[064-699196 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've never had someone parallel my thoughts on psilocybin so perfectly, yet in the absolute best wording possible... Worth a read for all of you who have had an eye-opening trip and need to consolidate some of your thoughts. Huxley somehow predicted our building of perception when we would not solidify these theories until just recently with modern neuroscience. He did it with his own doors of perception, and an excellent philosophical mindset. He predicted many things that are true. I was shocked when I found out this was written in the '50s. A true renegade of his time.
"Most of these modifiers of consciousness cannot now be taken except under doctor’s orders, or else illegally and at considerable risk. For unrestricted use, the West has permitted only alcohol and tobacco. All the other chemical Doors in the Wall are labeled Dope, and their unauthorized takers are Fiends."

[matthewfrend · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderfully written eye opening account of another level our minds can reach.

[jasoncomely-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Incredible. The Doors of Perception is like a zen haiku turned up to 11! Heaven and Hell is equally as fascinating (and scholarly). Wish I'd read this years ago.

[jakebornheimer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Doors of Perception is very interesting, but Heaven and Hell is complete nonsense.

The former is fascinating for being a trip report by a person born pre-1900. In addition, Huxley was definitely an excellent writer who was able to accurately relay his experience. And his experience was remarkably similar to mine! I especially enjoyed the kind of 'literary criticism' he performed during and after the experience, in which he discussed the similarities between the psychedelic experience and Buddhist notions of the dharmakāya & Buddha nature, as well as its relations to art and literature. An interesting fact that I just stumbled upon when writing this: at the time of the book, Huxley was if not blind, then quite visually impaired. This calls into question the intensely visual aspect of his experience. In the book he described with what seemed to be perfect clarity his visual experiences. How much of this was his experience, how much was mescalin, and how much was his experience with the aforementioned literature of art and visionary writers? Overall though, The Doors of Perception was compelling and well worth reading.

The latter piece is a bunch of hogwash, written 2-3 years after his mescalin experience, that largely attempts to rationally explain psychedelic phenomena. Huxley seems to have drunk the Jungian Kool-Aid and sincerely believes that the chemical changes in the brain due to mescalin have the effect of allowing us to access sense-data from the collective unconscious - in his words "the Mind-at-Large". There are many similarly foolish claims here too. One could give the excuse that he lived long enough ago to make these ideas plausible, but Huxley himself opened Heaven and Hell by remarking that at that point in time (1953) the study of the mind was in the naturalist/collector stage of scientific progress, and that they were not yet ready for classification, analysis, and theory. He knew what he was doing was likely to be without merit, but he did it anyway. Skip Heaven and Hell.

[nicholas_floyd-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

When I first read The Doors of Perception / Heaven and Hell, most of it was lost on me, and I assumed this was because at the time I lacked any experience with psychedelics. The second time I read the book — many years and many psychedelics later — I still found myself struggling to follow along. I generally don't write negative reviews, but I think this book offers at least two valuable lessons to writers.

Lesson One: don't alienate the reader.

I'm not sure who Huxley's intended audience might have been, but it certainly was not the casual reader, regardless of psychedelic experience. Below is a list of the names that Huxley casually references without any explanation, seemingly under the assumption that the reader is already well familiar with each:

Pickwick, Sir John Falstaff, Joe Louis, Lungarno, Meister Eckhart, Suzuki, Braque, Juan Gris, Bergson, Wordsworth, St. John of the Cross, Hakuin, Hui-neng, William Law, Laurent Tailhade, Botticelli, Ruskin, Piero, El Greco, Cosimo Tura, Watteau, Cythera, Ingres, Mme. Moitessier, Cezanne, Arnold Bennett, Vermeer, The Le Nain brothers, Vuillard

That's just from the first forty pages or so. I gave up and stopped writing them down after that.

Lesson Two: be clear and concise.

In the passage below, Huxley describes a chair that caught his attention during his mescaline experience:

--------------------
I spent several minutes — or was it several centuries? — not merely gazing at those bamboo legs, but actually being them — or rather being myself in them; or, to be still more accurate (for "I" was not involved in the case, nor in a certain sense were "they") being my Not-self in the Not-self which was the chair.
--------------------

Under the influence of psychedelics, I too have felt entranced by common household objects, toiled over the distinction between self & not-self, etc., so I can relate to the sentiment, but the passage above (along with many others) struck me as rather confusing.

Huxley was clearly a pretty smart dude, and the book contains interesting ideas (some more believable than others), but overall the book simply left me scratching my head.

[joeydag · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I think I read this when I was in college years ago. I don't remember much but it was interesting material.

[rajivc_18 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the second time that I read this book. The first time was when I was in college, and we were very open to all things psychedelic. At that time we were all reading the books of Carlos Castaneda, and were fascinated by anything and everything that had to do with mescalin and peyote.

When I read the book at that time, I read it as an endorsement for the use of mescalin. However, times changed, and when I read it again, I read it as a rather erudite writing on the use of the drug, as well as the experience. Some of that earlier, innocent, magic was missing in this re-reading of the book.

Having said that, it is a very good book. The appendices are well worth the read, and while he does reduce some mystical experiences to the level of an increased amount of carbon dioxide in the body, I don't think that he debunks the actual experience.

This is a remarkable book, by a remarkable author.

[peterjameswest · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I bought this book a long time ago and only recently started reading it. Initially it caught my eye as something that might be interesting from a psychology perspective. Doors of Perception is difficult to define in terms of who will like it. It deals with how we perceive images, colour and the reality around us, and tries to analyse what makes this perception vivid or lacking in different people. It covers the use of drugs such as Mescalin and the effects that these drugs have on our perception. He takes the drug as part of an experiment and undergoes an interview and practical session to see how it has affected his vision and thinking.

The book also covers many aspects of different paintings by various artists and touches on spiritual experiences. It talks about a valve that filters the world so that our brains can cope with the level of input, and how to open that valve to allow more input into our brains so that we experience beyond the normal reality.

Large parts of the book are rambling and lack focus. It uses the word 'preternatural' more times than you will find anywhere else on earth.
Probably a more oppressive editor would have done wonders for this book. There is some good content, largely in the latter sections of the book and the appendices, but you need a fair amount of stamina to dig them out of Huxley's clearly intelligent but rambling discourse. If he'd found someone to help shape his thoughts into a more concise and structured book it would be easier to chew. Still, if you have an interest in perception, hallucinations, or mind altering substances and experiences, you may well find some insight here. Artists with an edge in how we perceive and render colours and objects may also enjoy this book.

[curtisclennon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reads like no other book - mesmerising! The title incidently, is where the band 'The Doors' took their name from.

[hectigo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an interesting read, especially in the reference frame of more modern research on human perception. Our knowledge of the inner workings of the brain has expanded considerably since Huxley's days, but he's got the basic idea narrowed down surprisingly well. It's quite a testament to how reality can be explored by looking into within.

What especially stands out in this book is the quality of the writing. Huxley has extraordinary ability to convey exotic internal experiences in text, and it's no wonder the book gained quite a following during the rise of the hippie movement. I disagree with the spiritual implications Huxley drew from his experiences, but the parallels to how artists perceive the world are doubly interesting. Transporting, indeed!

[guhlitz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This particular reading had my mind space cornered in several areas of subjective reality. Huxley's illucidating writing was defined and very subjective of course from his own experience with the ontological experiences of perception. Subjectivity begets subjectivity, and the beauty which is invoked within this text is provacative beyond reasonable doubt, and in my opinion unparralled by any other pschedellic laureate from this particular era. Huxley was well into his fifties when Albert Hoffman's LSD came to market; leading me to believe Aldous had quite the foundation of intellect and knowledge to extrapolate upon. And the greatest Door of Perception...Huxley's wife administering LSD directly into his blood, while he lay dying in the hospital, sending him to the heavens on Nov. 22, 1963....the day John F. Kennedy was assasinated...."People are strange, when you're a Stranger"

[andyray_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As did AA co-founder Bill Wilson and former senator Eugene MacCarthy and Ram Doss and manyh others, Huxley writes of the experience of ingesting mescalinl, also known as peyote, a drug that southwest American natives have used for eons as a spiritual aid. he explained things that put its proper use into place for me. When I was raging and thinking hurtful things, if I had dropped that or LSD then I would have had a "bad trip," but now that I have a serene heart and a loving soul, I want to have some; i want the experience.

[juliana_t_10 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed Huxley's perspective as a research subject experiencing the effects of mescalin for the first time. Also enjoyed the description of art/artists and how Huxley sees art history as connected to the visionary experience of a 'mescalin taker.'

[sarahtakash · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was good- but pretty matter-of-fact. I felt as though he was just recounting what he did. It was interesting, but nothing novel or inspirational for me- probably because I had already known.

[jwcs81 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Huxley's "The Doors of Perception" is one of the most interesting books i've encountered. Obviously, its notable for its account of an experiment with the drug mescalin, found in peyote. The fundamental notion of the work is that the mind acts, in its most normal and evolved state, as a "reducing valve." The world of perception is way too intense for one mind to encounter so it seeks to reduce experiences as a need for survival. A drug induced experience allows for the opening of said "reducing valve" ushering in opportunities to see things "isness" and "suchness." I found it particularly interesting that Huxleys suggested that the increase in drug use is in direct relationship to the lack of "transcendance" provided by organized religion. A shortcoming Huxley thinks the church should be addressing.

I found this book to be interesting, informative, and challenging. All symptoms of a good read.

[drwhy_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Huxley's fascinating account of LSD experimentation in the early 1950's.......Title of his book was taken as a name

by the Rock group, "The Doors of Perception"

[takeitorleaveit_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

anyone who has interest in the future and everyone who has experimented with acid or psychedelic drugs in general must this book (preferably before the drugs)

[autumnc_12 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Careful- the Doors of Perception is a life-changer.

[hennis_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting read about how a great writer experiences mescalin. Second part (heaven and hell), I found less interesting. Appendices are interesting again..

[vvilliam_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An interesting read, although very lacking in parts. I enjoyed Doors of Perception quite a bit, and found Huxley's insights onto mystic visions and their relation to religion insightful. He also does a nice job giving the feeling of experiencing mescalin with him. Heave and Hell, however, was very dissappointing. I felt that most of his claims were ill founded and that he made several leaps in logic that weren't valid (like religious singing's purpose is to expel oxygen to create visions). Huxley is also very much an art scholar, so familiarity with various art styles is a must. The appendixes are worth a read as well. I would recommend this book to someone interested in how visions/drug experiences are reflected in art and the social conscience.

[vyode_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"the doors..." changed the way i look at things [ like black moon (movie) ]. "heaven hell" brings to mind jewels. i am thankful for the former.

[pancakekiller · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

could huxley get any better? i think not.