The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell

In The Doors of Perception Aldous Huxley takes us on his trip as he experiences the world having taken mescaline. Inspired by Blake to open his eyes and really see the world around him. His vivid descriptions are, as to be expected from such an author, excellent and thankfully he does not become introspective. However, the 26 black letters of the alphabet do not feel enough to truly portray Huxley's first exposure to hallucinogens.

Heaven and Hell sees Huxley return to his experiences with mescaline and examine the mystical world he discovered beyond the borders of his sentience. He examines imagery in art and how these seem to reflect the “antipodes” of the mind, an inner world reached on meditation, through drugs or in physical exhaustion or mental illness.
This volume was definitely preferable to the previous, expanding as it it did on inner consciousness and the similarities found across humankind's experiences. I note a review suggesting it would have been improved by illustrations but in black and white many of the works of art he references would lose their allure. Part of the joy is in finding and examining these works ourselves.