February 23, 1961

Dear Alan:

The APA Symposium is set for early September. It promises to be an exciting and well received affair.

We are recovering from a three day visit of Arthur Koestler. I've known him for some time and invited him here to try and convert him. Final score- a tie ball game. He despises mysticism-yet the mushrooms shook him up.

I'm looking forward to your visit in March. We hope you'll be available on Friday, March 31st for a colloquim. Expenses are guaranteed and if you'll be willing to spend the entire day I can arrange for a consulting fee. I'm hoping that you and Mary Jane will stay over the weekend.

There's a lot to talk over. We've given varying degrees of Satori to over 100 creative people and the results are rich - to say the very least.

Did I tell you that Dean Josiah Bartelett of the Stan King School for the Ministry was interested in having a couple of his divinity students try the mushrooms? I've written him a follow up on this. I wonder if you would be willing to act as curando- and run an afternoon session. It's best to talk to the person for an hour or so about the experience and then if the atmosphere feels right--i.e., if they make sense to you and vice versa-- then give them 5 and 5 (i.e. 10 mg. followed by 10 mg.)

If you are interested I'll ask Jo Bartlett to phone you. If we could get some Unitarians turned onto the mystical experience I think we would have accomplished a lot.

Lunch with Houston Smith today. He speaks of you with affection and respect. He had a memorable experience and remains a most fervent collaborator.

Looking foward to your arrival.

Best,
Timothy Leary