Ken Kesey and The Merry Pranksters

While Dr. Leary and other psychologists were wondering the grounds at the Millbrook Estate having their own spiritual revelations, the Merry Pranksters, led by former Stanford Graduate student Ken Kesey, were off to change the world forever. Kesey was turned on to psychedelics after learning of a federally funded study that paid $75 for participants to ingest, “psychedelic compounds”. After consuming LSD, mescaline, and Ditran in conjunction with the study, Kesey’s perspective on life was changed forever.
“Before I took drugs I didn’t know what the guys in the psycho ward at the VA hospital were there for,“ said Kesey. “I didn’t understand them. After I took LSD, suddenly I saw it. I saw it all. I listened to them and watched them, and I saw that what they were saying and doing was not so crazy after all.” Kesey’s psychedelic use escalated quickly, however within three years Kesey published two novels, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Sometimes A Great Notion, both about personal experiences using LSD and peyote.
Summer of 1964 signified the first Merry Pranksters road trip. Fashioned in ridiculously flamboyant costumes and colorful outfits the Pranksters left California in a 1939 School bus headed to New York. The word, “FURTHUR” appeared across the front of the Pranksters bus. This was because the idea of the Pranksters was to take everything further, explore the unknown, and feel no limits. Kesey stated, “The purpose of psychedelics is to learn the conditioned responses of people and to prank them. That’s the only way to get people to ask questions, and until they ask question they’re going to remain conditioned robots.” The Pranksters views regarding LSD contrasted greatly from both the 1950’s scientists and the Millbrook estate crews view on the purpose of LSD. Kesey and his disciples urged others to break away from their conditioned robotic lives by taking LSD and releasing yourself from social obligations.
On their way back to California The Pranksters did not want to miss an opportunity to visit Dr. Timothy Leary at his Millbrook estate. However, when Kesey arrived Leary refused to meet with him. Leary told the Pranksters he would be upstairs on a serious three-day trip. Regardless, the Pranksters stayed at Millbrook for a short time and were astonished at the scene. As a result of the emphasis on The Tibetan Book of the Dead, in addition to the statues of Buddha and special meditation rooms throughout the estate, The Merry Pranksters named this the “Crypt Trip.”
Kesey and his Pranksters had an immense impact on the American youth culture in the mid to late 1960’s, especially on the Haight. As 1966 approached Haight-Ashbury was quickly becoming a haven for non-conformists, misfits, and anyone else that could fit there. In January of 1966 Ken Kesey and the Pranksters hosted the Trips Festival in the Haight. The festival was an open three-day LSD gathering that included dance floors, music, trampolines, and The Grateful Dead as the headlining band. The results of the Trips festival were remarkable, Haight-Ashbury was buzzing with excitement, and the counterculture movement was uniting.