To understand how drug use can induce synesthesia, we explored a couple centuries of our lives of strange literary and pharmacological experiments.
Substance use is often associated with experiences of expanded consciousness and heightened sensitivity, as reflected in religious revelations and utopian visions. However, the question arises: do all users of hallucinogenic drugs become synesthetes, able to perceive multiple sensations simultaneously? The effects of depressants, stimulants and hallucinogens on human perception and thinking are well studied, as evidenced by an extensive scientific literature. In this area, one can find references to drug-induced synesthesia in both scientific and literary sources.
We have studied with great interest the work of poets and novelists who have conducted experimental studies of perception at the edge of human experience. While reading the vivid and sometimes extravagant descriptions associated with drug-induced synaesthesia, we also explored the pharmacological and neurological aspects of these experiences. One of our first findings was that there is indeed a link between drugs and synaesthesia, but it is not what we expected.
Substance use is often associated with experiences of expanded consciousness and heightened sensitivity, as reflected in religious revelations and utopian visions. However, the question arises: do all users of hallucinogenic drugs become synesthetes, able to perceive multiple sensations simultaneously? The effects of depressants, stimulants and hallucinogens on human perception and thinking are well studied, as evidenced by an extensive scientific literature. In this area, one can find references to drug-induced synesthesia in both scientific and literary sources.
We have studied with great interest the work of poets and novelists who have conducted experimental studies of perception at the edge of human experience. While reading the vivid and sometimes extravagant descriptions associated with drug-induced synaesthesia, we also explored the pharmacological and neurological aspects of these experiences. One of our first findings was that there is indeed a link between drugs and synaesthesia, but it is not what we expected.
Crying opium
In eighteenth-century England, opium was considered a common medicine and was used in the same way as aspirin is used today. It was used to relieve pain, fatigue and depression and was available at the pharmacy. Opium was also often used to combat insomnia. Many English writers and poets of the Romantic era, such as Thomas De Quincey, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, George Crabb, and Francis Thompson, shared their experiences with opium.
In their descriptions one can find visions that resemble contemporary accounts of synesthetes. For example, Francis Thompson once described a sunrise that he saw «with the ringing of cymbals» and on another occasion described how «melodies rose with golden curls» when «the light through the petals of the buttercup tinkled like a percussion gong». He also heard «the enamel tone of the flute and the rich sound of the clarinet».
Samuel Taylor Coleridge claimed that his poem «Kubla Khan» was written under the influence of opium, and upon waking up, all he had to do was write it down.
In studying drug-induced synaesthesia, we have come across many interesting literary and pharmacological experiments spanning two centuries. In particular, Thomas De Quincey deeply investigated the effects of opium, which he took in the form of laudanum, an alcohol tincture. Through introspection, he investigated how the drug affected his perceptions, hallucinations, and dreams, and summarized his observations in Confessions of an English Opium Addict, published in 1821.
In eighteenth-century England, opium was considered a common medicine and was used in the same way as aspirin is used today. It was used to relieve pain, fatigue and depression and was available at the pharmacy. Opium was also often used to combat insomnia. Many English writers and poets of the Romantic era, such as Thomas De Quincey, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, George Crabb, and Francis Thompson, shared their experiences with opium.
In their descriptions one can find visions that resemble contemporary accounts of synesthetes. For example, Francis Thompson once described a sunrise that he saw «with the ringing of cymbals» and on another occasion described how «melodies rose with golden curls» when «the light through the petals of the buttercup tinkled like a percussion gong». He also heard «the enamel tone of the flute and the rich sound of the clarinet».
Samuel Taylor Coleridge claimed that his poem «Kubla Khan» was written under the influence of opium, and upon waking up, all he had to do was write it down.
In studying drug-induced synaesthesia, we have come across many interesting literary and pharmacological experiments spanning two centuries. In particular, Thomas De Quincey deeply investigated the effects of opium, which he took in the form of laudanum, an alcohol tincture. Through introspection, he investigated how the drug affected his perceptions, hallucinations, and dreams, and summarized his observations in Confessions of an English Opium Addict, published in 1821.
De Quincey concluded that the visions caused by opium were triggered by the dreaming ability in the human mind. He believed that taking opium stimulated the dreaming faculty, which in the awake person produced memories and emotions in symbolic patterns seen under the influence of the drug. He called these experiences «involutes».
According to De Quincey, an involuta is a complex feeling composed of memories, impressions, and symbols that involuntarily present themselves to the mental gaze. The way he presents «involutes» leads me to think of them as synesthetic perception, in which sensory elements such as images and sounds blend to form new perceptual unities.
Unfortunately, however, De Quincey was not very specific in his descriptions, so they could be perceived as either mental constructs or synesthetic perception. Fortunately, other authors experimenting with drugs have been more specific in their descriptions of drug-induced perception, perceptions that resemble our modern conceptions of synesthesia.
Whispering twilight
Gothic writer Edgar Allan Poe created an impressive body of work in which he explored the darker sides of human feelings, while alcoholism and drug addiction eventually led to his early death. Drugs played an important role in his exploration of the human soul and likely opened him up to new perceptions and experiences, including his awareness of synesthetic perception. In his short story «The Tale of the Ragged Mountains» — Poe describes, through his character Augustus Bedloe, the effects of morphine on his sensibility:
Poe's poems are dominated by sensory symbols of the human heart, including the use of darkness, night, cold, and sound (frightening knocks on the door and creaking open windows). The darkness itself evokes synesthetic experiences. Poe hears sounds in shades of black and gray. In his early poem «Al Araaf» this type of synesthesia comes forward and identifies itself in the second and last lines of the following passage:
The muttering of the gray twilight and the flesh of darkness becomes almost tangible. The darker the sky, the clearer the sound. Poe's synesthesia finds similarities with the experiences of people with this ability, who perceive high sounds as light and low sounds as darkness.
He was well aware of his perceptual peculiarities, as evidenced by a footnote in the second part of Al-Araf: «It often seemed to me that I could distinctly hear the sound of darkness as it crept up from the horizon». Poe also seems to have realized the bilateral nature of his synesthesia, as evidenced by his entry in the Democratic Review for November 1844: «The orange ray of the spectrum and the buzzing of a mosquito cause me almost identical sensations. When I hear the mosquito, I perceive color. In perceiving color, it is as if I were hearing a mosquito».
«The orange ray of the spectrum and the buzzing of a mosquito produce almost identical sensations in me» — Edgar Allan Poe noted in 1844. «When I hear a mosquito, I perceive color. In perceiving color, I seem to hear the mosquito».
Poe's «dark» poems and his unconventional lifestyle inspired many poets, including French poet Charles Baudelaire, who lived in Paris several decades later. One of the themes Baudelaire developed was that of drugs, sensitivity, and synesthesia.
Hash Club
In France, Baudelaire's poem «Correspondences» in the collection Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil), published in 1857, initiated a new Romantic interest in synesthesia. The poem became paradigmatic for the poets of the Symbolist movement, who sought to discover a higher, spiritual reality by exploring sensual correspondences.
He was well aware of his perceptual peculiarities, as evidenced by a footnote in the second part of Al-Araf: «It often seemed to me that I could distinctly hear the sound of darkness as it crept up from the horizon». Poe also seems to have realized the bilateral nature of his synesthesia, as evidenced by his entry in the Democratic Review for November 1844: «The orange ray of the spectrum and the buzzing of a mosquito cause me almost identical sensations. When I hear the mosquito, I perceive color. In perceiving color, it is as if I were hearing a mosquito».
«The orange ray of the spectrum and the buzzing of a mosquito produce almost identical sensations in me» — Edgar Allan Poe noted in 1844. «When I hear a mosquito, I perceive color. In perceiving color, I seem to hear the mosquito».
Poe's «dark» poems and his unconventional lifestyle inspired many poets, including French poet Charles Baudelaire, who lived in Paris several decades later. One of the themes Baudelaire developed was that of drugs, sensitivity, and synesthesia.
Hash Club
In France, Baudelaire's poem «Correspondences» in the collection Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil), published in 1857, initiated a new Romantic interest in synesthesia. The poem became paradigmatic for the poets of the Symbolist movement, who sought to discover a higher, spiritual reality by exploring sensual correspondences.
Baudelaire's idea of sensory correspondences differs somewhat from the modern understanding of synesthesia. He associated sensory correspondences with a state of mind in which different sensory impressions — scents, colors, and sounds — found correlation. Perception of perfume, according to his perceptions, evoked sensations of coolness, sweetness, and greenness in other sensory areas. Although these qualities are physically different, in his perception they formed a unified harmony, as if they were communicating with each other. He interpreted these correspondences as a voice coming from a deeper spiritual level of reality.
Baudelaire drew inspiration from the philosophy of Emanuel Swedenborg, an eighteenth-century Swedish scholar and thinker who argued that sensual correspondences in the material world reflect parallels in the spiritual world. These correspondences not only emphasize the unity of the senses, but also point to the unity of spiritual reality.
What role did drugs play in this vision, according to Baudelaire?
In his essay «Les paradis artificiels» he described in detail his experiments with drugs and their effect on perception.He claimed that the use of hashish plunged a person into a state that heightened sensory experience.In this state, he could perceive more sensory detail with a more vivid emotional awareness.He believed that when the senses become more receptive to new stimuli — a state known as «hyperesthesia» — new correspondences are discovered. Hypersensitivity allows one to go deeper into consciousness where sensory qualities are not yet separated.
Baudelaire drew inspiration from the philosophy of Emanuel Swedenborg, an eighteenth-century Swedish scholar and thinker who argued that sensual correspondences in the material world reflect parallels in the spiritual world. These correspondences not only emphasize the unity of the senses, but also point to the unity of spiritual reality.
What role did drugs play in this vision, according to Baudelaire?
In his essay «Les paradis artificiels» he described in detail his experiments with drugs and their effect on perception.He claimed that the use of hashish plunged a person into a state that heightened sensory experience.In this state, he could perceive more sensory detail with a more vivid emotional awareness.He believed that when the senses become more receptive to new stimuli — a state known as «hyperesthesia» — new correspondences are discovered. Hypersensitivity allows one to go deeper into consciousness where sensory qualities are not yet separated.
Baudelaire believed that in a state of heightened sensitivity, new connections between sensations could be discovered. The effect of hashish, he said, was precisely this discovery: he noted that colors, smells, sounds, and tactile sensations became more vivid and interconnected under the influence of the substance. Correspondences such as colored sounds and musical colors, which his contemporaries might have considered temporary hallucinations, appeared to Baudelaire as serious perceptions of a deeper level of consciousness.
Narcotic intoxication could lead to a state of hyperesthesia when correspondences such as colored sounds and musical colors occurred. During this period of intoxication a new subtlety, a supreme acuity of every sense was manifested: smell, sight, hearing and touch were united in this forward flow; the eyes could contemplate the Infinite, and the ears picked up almost inaudible sounds amidst the chaos.It was then that hallucinations began; external objects took on the strangest forms and were transformed. Ambiguities, misunderstandings and changes of ideas followed! Sounds took on color, and colors blossomed into music.
In 1845 Baudelaire participated in the unique experiment of the Club de Hachichins in Paris. The artist, poet, and musician Joseph Ferdinand Boissard de Buadenier organized monthly meetings, called «fantasies» — held in his luxurious apartment on the island of Saint-Louis. His close friend, the French poet and journalist Théophile Gautier, preserved one of the invitations, which read, «Dear Théophile, next Monday the third day of the ninth [1845] a hash will be taken at my house under the supervision of Moreau and Roche».
Jacques-Joseph Moreau and Aubert Roche, physicians who studied the effects of hashish on patients, published separate articles on the subject. Moreau was interested in using hashish for medical treatment by inducing artificial psychoses, while Aubert Roche sought to use it to combat epidemics. Although Ober Roche's work has been largely forgotten, Moreau's book contains striking ideas that anticipate modern pharmacology. In his work Du hachisch et de l'alienation mentale, he argued that mental illness could be studied by inducing abnormal states of mind in healthy people using hallucinogenic drugs such as hashish.
Narcotic intoxication could lead to a state of hyperesthesia when correspondences such as colored sounds and musical colors occurred. During this period of intoxication a new subtlety, a supreme acuity of every sense was manifested: smell, sight, hearing and touch were united in this forward flow; the eyes could contemplate the Infinite, and the ears picked up almost inaudible sounds amidst the chaos.It was then that hallucinations began; external objects took on the strangest forms and were transformed. Ambiguities, misunderstandings and changes of ideas followed! Sounds took on color, and colors blossomed into music.
In 1845 Baudelaire participated in the unique experiment of the Club de Hachichins in Paris. The artist, poet, and musician Joseph Ferdinand Boissard de Buadenier organized monthly meetings, called «fantasies» — held in his luxurious apartment on the island of Saint-Louis. His close friend, the French poet and journalist Théophile Gautier, preserved one of the invitations, which read, «Dear Théophile, next Monday the third day of the ninth [1845] a hash will be taken at my house under the supervision of Moreau and Roche».
Jacques-Joseph Moreau and Aubert Roche, physicians who studied the effects of hashish on patients, published separate articles on the subject. Moreau was interested in using hashish for medical treatment by inducing artificial psychoses, while Aubert Roche sought to use it to combat epidemics. Although Ober Roche's work has been largely forgotten, Moreau's book contains striking ideas that anticipate modern pharmacology. In his work Du hachisch et de l'alienation mentale, he argued that mental illness could be studied by inducing abnormal states of mind in healthy people using hallucinogenic drugs such as hashish.
He hypothesized that hallucinations resulted from stimulation of the areas of the brain where imagination and memories reside. Moreau experimented with drugs on himself and some of his patients. He also tried to convince colleagues at the hospital to use hashish, but they refused. He found a more positive response from the bohemian artists in Paris, which is how the meetings of the Hashish Lovers Club began.
The meetings, made famous by articles published by Gautier, were attended by many writers and artists of the time, including Baudelaire, Honoré de Balzac, Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, Gérard de Nerval, and the painters Eugène Delacroix and Honoré Daumier.
In an article, Gautier wrote that when he felt he was under the influence of hashish, he noticed a strong desire to draw, and within five minutes he had sketched more than fifteen sketches on paper. One sketch depicted Moreau in Turkish costume sitting at a piano. Gauthier represented the synesthetic colors of the piano notes as curling lines over the instrument. After consuming «davamesque» green paste made of hashish, butter, pistachios, almonds, and honey-Gauthier reported his perceptions in units of time, as in a scientific report.
At the beginning of the experience Gautier was seized with a general chill, and his body seemed to become transparent; he felt his eyelashes grow and curl like golden threads on little ivory wheels. Avalanches of color sparkled around him like a kaleidoscope. Half an hour later, he went into a second hashish rush with even stranger visions of billions of swarming butterflies whose wings made an extremely loud noise, as if they were fans.
Following Dr. Moreau's example, Gauthier considered these drug-induced synesthetic experiences to be experiences of artificial psychosis. He described them as a frightening experience of alienation from one's own body (which is, in fact, very different from the way synesthetes describe their experiences today). Unlike Baudelaire, who considered sensory correspondences to be revelations of spiritual correspondences, Gauthier simply considered it a disturbance in the brain.