One of the founding fathers of Basel`s pharmaceutical industries was the medicus, magician and natural philosopher Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim known as `Paracelsus` who practiced alchemical research in Basel around 1530. The swisse city also became known for the poisoning of the river Rhein by the chemical plant `Sandoz` in 1986.
On January, the 13th 2006 scientists, therapists, researchers, artists, psychonauts and guests from over 37 countries gathered for a symposium at the `Congress Center` in Basel. These were the international emissaries of the modern consciousness research community. Compiling results they shared their experiences with the audience. For three days, more than 2.000 guests would pay homage to the Basel chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann, who had celebrated his 100th birthday only two days earlier. In the early morning an excited group of chinese Doctors called from the airplane to reserve tickets and even undercover state security officials were mingling amongst the guests.
The Reason?! … during his army service he was employed as a natural chemist at the pharmaceutical research laboratory of the Sandoz AG, whose supervision he later took over. In 1938 Dr. Hofmann synthesized new chemical compounds from the `Ergot`, among them the 25th of the Lysergic acid diethylamide. Five years later, on april 19th 1943 at the peak of World War 2 and precisely on the day of the Warsaw ghetto revolt, Dr. Hofmann conducted a self experiment with this consciousness expanding substance. In this he discovered a psychoactive substance of unknown potency, a spiritual counter balance to the destructive power of the nuclear age. LSD, the mysterious `Philosopher`s Stone`, a chemical agent with a explosive potential to fundamentally change and renew our stagnated materialistic world perceptions.