The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell

This volume joins two linked essays on altered states of mind. In The Doors of Perception, Huxley describes a day in 1953 under the influence of mescaline, noting how colour, light and ordinary objects seemed newly vivid and meaningful. In Heaven and Hell, he considers visionary experience more widely, drawing on art, religion and psychology to ask why people across cultures seek such states. The writing is calm, curious and personal rather than medical. The books influenced later debates on consciousness, mysticism and drugs, and remain a notable record of one thoughtful man's inquiry.