@samwoolfe

Freelance writer and author of Altered Perspectives: Critical Essays on Psychedelic Consciousness (2024). Editor for https://xitter.cf/t.co/XtGPQsdVj1

 London, England
samwoolfe.com/
Joined June 2009
  • Tweets5.3K
  • Following1K
  • Followers2.5K
582Media
My book in the wild. @HousmansBooks #philosophy #books
2
23
1,023
Selling a ticket for Carbon Based Lifeforms this Saturday (3 October) in London. twickets.live/app/block/9336…
1
83
I wrote about the link between psychedelics and hylozoism, an ancient philosophical view that says all matter is alive. I also look at scientific explanations of why objects look like they're breathing during psychedelic experiences. samwoolfe.com/2026/09/when-o…

When Objects Breathe: Psychedelics and the Hylozoic Experience

After ingesting mescaline, Aldous Huxley wrote that he saw “a bunch of flowers shining with their own inner light and all but quivering under the pressure of the significance with which they were...

samwoolfe.com
4
4
77
1,729
Really enjoyed the new book by @daisyldixon, which looks at different ways art can be 'depraved'. Lots of interesting philosophical perspectives on controversial art and immoral artists.
2
95
An excerpt from my book Altered Perspectives, where I discuss a Western tendency to romanticise Amazonian shamanism. I refer to this as 'Amazonianism', drawing on Edward Said's concept of 'Orientalism'. samwoolfe.com/2026/08/plant-…

Plant Spirits, Amazonianism, and the Tourist Gaze

When it comes to the belief in plant spirits, there may be a tendency to exoticise indigenous beliefs and be biased towards them over other religious beliefs one is exposed to or familiar with. This...

samwoolfe.com
2
1
8
255
Really interesting read. Philosopher Justin Garson looks at the tension between two perspectives on madness throughout history: the view that all madness is a dysfunction and the view that it involves a kind of strategy – a function, purpose, or goal.
1
93
An article I wrote on the link between hot weather and challenging psychedelic experiences. samwoolfe.com/2026/07/psyche…

Psychedelics and Hot Weather: Risks and Harm Reduction

The UK experienced an unprecedented heatwave last month, along with the rest of Europe. In the UK, where I am, the heatwave broke June temperature records (peaking at 37.7C), while Germany hit an...

samwoolfe.com
4
100
New essay exploring Terence McKenna's Stoned Ape Theory, psychedelic theories of Christianity, and DMT-pineal gland theories – and how they may be examples of what I call 'psychedelic apophenia'. samwoolfe.com/2026/07/psyche…

Psychedelic Apophenia: Seeing the Influence of Psychedelics Where None Exists

Being passionate and enthusiastic about psychedelics – or even evangelical about them – can sometimes lead to seeing their influence everywhere. When you spend a lot of time thinking about these...

samwoolfe.com
1
3
10
217
I'm pleased to announce that I've signed a contract to publish my next book, Secular Ecstasy: Making Sense of Mystical Experiences Without the Supernatural. More details on publication timing to come.
1
7
144
An article by writer and journalist Ed Prideaux that critically examines the claims made in Brian Muraresku's highly popular book, The Immortality Key. psychedelics.community/histo…

Psychedelic Bullshit? An Evaluation of The Immortality Key | Psychedelics-Community

The Immortality Key builds a sweeping psychedelic-religion narrative on evidence that its own primary scientific authority later rejected as methodologically flawed, undermining the book's credibil...

psychedelics.community
1
3
91
My book in the wild. Seen at Word on the Water, a bookshop on a barge (definitely recommend checking it out if you're in London). #philosophy #essays #books
1
3
129
More info on the book here: collectiveinkbooks.com/iff-b…

Altered Perspectives from Iff Books

This collection of essays delves into some of the strangest and most profound aspects of the psychedelic experience, such as seeing the self as ...

collectiveinkbooks.com
54
Has AI Spoiled the Use of the Em Dash and Semicolon? samwoolfe.com/2026/03/ai-use… via @samwoolfe

Has AI Spoiled the Use of the Em Dash and Semicolon?

A client recently gave me some feedback on an article I wrote, and they picked up on my use of en dashes (in this piece, mostly to offset parenthetical information) and thought it best to avoid them,...

samwoolfe.com
1
1
58
I wrote about Mike Leigh's 'Home Sweet Home', his first collaboration with actor Timothy Spall and the last film he contributed to the BBC's Play for Today series. I discuss how it compares to the other bleak films he's more well-known for. samwoolfe.com/2026/06/home-s…

Home Sweet Home (1982, Mike Leigh): A Bleak Picture of British Suburbia

Home Sweet Home (1982), a television film directed by Mike Leigh, part of the BBC’s Play for Today series, is one of Leigh’s bleakest films. In it, the last of his contributions to this series, Leigh...

samwoolfe.com
2
61
I wrote about psychedelic #horror, looking at films such as Midsommar, Mandy, Climax, and Altered States, how they depict bad trips and psychedelic cults, and what other aspects of the psychedelic experience could be portrayed through the lens of horror. samwoolfe.com/2026/06/what-i…

What is the Future of Psychedelic Horror?

I’m a big fan of horror, as well as the subgenre of ‘psychedelic horror’, in which the psychedelic experience or ‘psychedelic’ aesthetic is used to unsettle and terrify viewers. I’m also interested...

samwoolfe.com
2
74
An article I wrote about high ventilation breathwork, describing some experiences I had, as well as new research on the use of this technique to induce spiritual and therapeutic experiences. samwoolfe.com/2026/06/breath…

Breathing Your Way to Altered States

In a blog post from a couple of years ago, I described my first experience with high ventilation breathwork – a form known as Psychedelic Breath, based on the principles of Holotropic Breathwork,...

samwoolfe.com
1
8
233
Excited to share that Psychedelics Community is live – the new home for the Chemical Collective blog, which I've been managing for the past year. psychedelics.community/

Psychonaut News and Guides | Consciousness Exploration Hub

Explore psychedelic culture, consciousness, and community. Science-backed articles, personal experiences, and guides for safe exploration.

psychedelics.community
1
60
My latest blog post is about how yoga nidra (or non-sleep deep rest) can induce hypnagogia: the trippy, transitional state between waking and sleeping. samwoolfe.com/2026/05/hypnag…

Entering the Hypnagogic State Through Yoga Nidra

Yoga nidra (or yogic sleep) is a technique for inducing a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping. I often use it when I’m sleep-deprived, either as a way to (hopefully) have a nap, or at...

samwoolfe.com
2
94
I recently rewatched Arrival. Here, I explore the film's connection to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in linguistics, the ontological turn in anthropology, Terence McKenna's DMT-inspired view of reality, and the tension between premonition and free will. samwoolfe.com/2026/05/langua…

Language and the Perception of Time: Revisiting 'Arrival' (2016)

I recently rewatched Arrival (2016, Denis Villeneuve), adapted from Ted Chiang’s novella Story of Your Life, having first watched it five years ago. My experience, based on what I can remember, was...

samwoolfe.com
4
110
My latest blog post is on how cultural factors and cognitive biases may cause people to embellish memories of their psychedelic experiences. I also explore the difficulty in knowing whether memory distortion has occurred. samwoolfe.com/2026/05/do-we-…

How Much Do We Embellish Our Memories of Psychedelic Trips?

The embellishment of memories is a widespread phenomenon. Sometimes, the distortion of memory goes beyond embellishment and becomes fabrication: false memories are common, and they can be easily...

samwoolfe.com
1
57
In this blog post, I look at what anemoia (nostalgia for an era one didn't live through) can reveal about identity and culture – how it influences trends like the Y2K aesthetic, the resurgence of 90s and 2000s-style music, the manosphere, and tradwives. samwoolfe.com/2026/04/nostal…

Nostalgia for a Past Unlived: Anemoia, Identity, and the Ghosts of Culture

Anemoia, a coinage from the writer John Koenig – author of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows – refers to a feeling of nostalgia for a time one didn’t live through. I previously wrote about why this...

samwoolfe.com
1
1
71
Load more