Sasha Shulgin & Terence McKenna in Prague (1992) | Prague Gnosis

In this archival segment from Terence McKenna’s Prague Gnosis, Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin joins Terence McKenna for a wide-ranging conversation on psychopharmacology, tryptamines, drug policy, and the future of this work.

Documentary Prague Gnosis was produced and edited by Steve Marshank.

Filmed in Prague during Stanislav Grof’s International Transpersonal Conference, held June 20–25, 1992, this exchange takes place in the Old Jewish Cemetery, one of the city’s most historic sites, where the oldest gravestone dates to 1439. In that setting, Sasha reflects with characteristic precision and humility on his role not as a “builder,” but as a maker of tools—compounds and knowledge he believed future generations may one day more fully understand and responsibly use.

The 1992 conference, themed Science, Spirituality, and the Global Crisis: Toward a World with a Future, brought together participants from 36 countries and marked a rare and powerful meeting of Eastern and Western voices in the transpersonal movement after decades of Communist repression in Czechoslovakia.

This excerpt captures a remarkable exchange between Sasha and Terence: thoughtful, historically rich, and still strikingly relevant. It offers a rare glimpse into Sasha’s views on ketamine, tryptamines, legalization, scientific freedom, and the importance of preserving knowledge for the future.