Tim Leary's LSD cult in Zihuatanejo

The Zihuatanejo Project was a psychedelic training center and intentional community created during the beginning of the counterculture of the 1960s by Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert under the umbrella of their nonprofit group, the International Federation for Internal Freedom (IFIF). The community was located in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico, and took up residence at the Hotel Catalina in the summers of 1962 and 1963.

Thousands of people applied to the IFIF in the hopes of joining the project in Zihuatanejo.[5] Out of this pool of applicants, a small, select group of people were chosen. Amenities cost $200 a month per person, including food and lodging in bungalows near a secluded beach. Fishermen supplied a bounty of fresh fish from the bay. During the first training session in 1962, Leary and 35 guests rented the Catalina Hotel for a month using their own version of the Tibetan Book of the Dead as a guide book for LSD sessions; Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert helped manage the group.[6] Group LSD sessions began in the morning with the consumption of liquid LSD, with a dosage of 100 to 500 micrograms ingested by participating individuals; the experience would usually last until late afternoon.

The Zihuatanejo Project was a psychedelic training center and intentional community created during the beginning of the counterculture of the 1960s by Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert under the umbrella of their nonprofit group, the International Federation for Internal Freedom (IFIF). The community was located in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico, and took up residence at the Hotel Catalina in the summers of 1962 and 1963.

Thousands of people applied to the IFIF in the hopes of joining the project in Zihuatanejo.[5] Out of this pool of applicants, a small, select group of people were chosen. Amenities cost $200 a month per person, including food and lodging in bungalows near a secluded beach. Fishermen supplied a bounty of fresh fish from the bay. During the first training session in 1962, Leary and 35 guests rented the Catalina Hotel for a month using their own version of the Tibetan Book of the Dead as a guide book for LSD sessions; Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert helped manage the group.[6] Group LSD sessions began in the morning with the consumption of liquid LSD, with a dosage of 100 to 500 micrograms ingested by participating individuals; the experience would usually last until late afternoon.

Yes, there was a nice discussion of this about 12 years ago, now found in the old Message Board Archives. My wife and several of her friends recall their presence and their antics here. Stories abound.

One of the paintings left behind by the group, signed Vincent Van Joint (courtesy of Roberto!)

About 20 years ago, I read a condensed version of Timothy Leary's training center on a Catalina Hotel restaurant menu about the hotel's history. Not sure if the hotel still has this extended menu. All sorts of treasures about Zihua!

Thanks for the attribution regarding the "Vincent Van Joint" photo Tocayo.

Yesterday, when I was going through some of my photographs trying to pinpoint when the "Golden Gate Bridge" was replaced, I came across that photograph and negative which I was going to send to you.

The photo of the artwork was taken the first year we vacationed in Zihuatanejo (1998) and was on the wall in our room at the Sotavento.

When the Catalina and Sotavento separated, I made an effort to see if I could obtain the picture but wasn't successful.

Pleased to see you still have the copy of the picture because I think it is a classic reminder of some of the halcyon days at the Sotavento/Catalina.

Roberto!

So I clicked on this thread anticipating something a little more ummm...contemporary.

What a very interesting piece of history!! That would have been a very cool time to be around here. Unfortunately I was only about 9 years old and even worse...living in Kentucky.

In Zihuatanejo, from Kentucky.
Are you that lady with the husband who looks and sounds like Joe Walsh?

So I clicked on this thread anticipating something a little more ummm...contemporary.

What a very interesting piece of history!! That would have been a very cool time to be around here. Unfortunately I was only about 9 years old and even worse...living in Kentucky.

Hey now. I resemble that remark. Land of smooth bourbon, Abe Lincoln, fast women and beautiful horses! And in summer, the "darkies" are GAY. (No offense to my darker friends.)

Joe Walsh ... great memories of days gone by. Love his music.

So I clicked on this thread anticipating something a little more ummm...contemporary.

What a very interesting piece of history!! That would have been a very cool time to be around here. Unfortunately I was only about 9 years old and even worse...living in Kentucky.

Hey now. I resemble that remark. Land of smooth bourbon, Abe Lincoln, fast women and beautiful horses! And in summer, the "darkies" are GAY. (No offense to my darker friends.)

While all that is certainly true, I was 9 and living in a trailer park in Covington.
We moved there from Cape Canaveral and I was so out of my element. Them kids didn't know jack shit about space.

In Zihuatanejo, from Kentucky.
Are you that lady with the husband who looks and sounds like Joe Walsh?

Spent the last year
Rocky Mountain way
Couldn't get much higher
Out to pasture
Think it's safe to say
Time to open fire
And we don't need the ladies
Cryin' 'cause the story's sad
'Cause the Rocky Mountain way

Nope...not me or him. Whatever

What a very interesting piece of history!! That would have been a very cool time to be around here. Unfortunately I was only about 9 years old and even worse...living in Kentucky.

That was a very cool time for people who were cool. It was a very uncool time for people who were uncool.

Every time is a cool time for people who choose to make it a cool time. Every time is an uncool time for people who don’t choose to make it a cool time.

So I clicked on this thread anticipating something a little more ummm...contemporary.

What a very interesting piece of history!! That would have been a very cool time to be around here. Unfortunately I was only about 9 years old and even worse...living in Kentucky.

Hey now. I resemble that remark. Land of smooth bourbon, Abe Lincoln, fast women and beautiful horses! And in summer, the "darkies" are GAY. (No offense to my darker friends.)

While all that is certainly true, I was 9 and living in a trailer park in Covington.
We moved there from Cape Canaveral and I was so out of my element. Them kids didn't know jack shit about space.

Ha! But you had Cincinnati right there. A big beautiful city full of theaters, every kind of store, museums and its amazing zoo. And the mighty Ohio River full of history, culture, adventure and lore.

When I was a kid in Louisville I knew quite a bit about the space program, its missions and astronauts. I had models of many of the rockets and even the Lunar Landing Module. You just needed to come downriver a bit.

And what a coincidence. I ended up in Titusville near where you started off. It was one of my favorite places in Florida because the tourists only showed up for a few hours during launches, otherwise we had the place all to ourselves, though I preferred the beaches of the Gulf to the Atlantic.

That was a very cool time for people who were cool. It was a very uncool time for people who were uncool.

Every time is a cool time for people who choose to make it a cool time. Every time is an uncool time for people who don’t choose to make it a cool time.

Profound! I wish I were cool ...

That was a very cool time for people who were cool. It was a very uncool time for people who were uncool.

Every time is a cool time for people who choose to make it a cool time. Every time is an uncool time for people who don’t choose to make it a cool time.

Profound! I wish I were cool ...

I hereby anoint you COOL. We'll do the official initiation rite after we've been vaccinated.

Still got the moves? Turn this up.

https://youtu.be/h8ZYTFCHZTM

You're so cool, Paco!

Yes, Cinci was the escape valve...I was always pestering my mom to take me to the big Cincinnati library downtown.

Fun fact...we had to go to Ohio to get Kentucky Fried Chicken.

I was never uncool...at least in my own mind.

That was a very cool time for people who were cool. It was a very uncool time for people who were uncool.

Every time is a cool time for people who choose to make it a cool time. Every time is an uncool time for people who don’t choose to make it a cool time.

Profound! I wish I were cool ...

I hereby anoint you COOL. We'll do the official initiation rite after we've been vaccinated.

Still got the moves? Turn this up.

https://youtu.be/h8ZYTFCHZTM

Gee, Thanks, Rob! This is better than when I got that award for no longer wetting the bed. That was just last week. (Shhh. Please don't tell anyone, okay?)

You're so cool, Paco!

Muchisimas Gracias, Senorita! Muy amable! Ojala todo esta bien con ustedes en Paraiso!