Amanda Feilding
Encyclopedia
Amanda Charteris, Countess of Wemyss and March, (nee Fielding), is a British artist, scientist and drug policy reformer. She is scientific director and founder of the Beckley Foundation, a charitable trust. The Foundation both works at the forefront of national and international global drug policy reform and initiates and directs research into consciousness and its altered states.
Feilding is the youngest child of Basil Feilding (himself a great-grandson of the 7th Earl of Denbigh
and the Marquess of Bath
) and his wife and cousin Margaret Feilding. She grew up at Beckley Park
outside Oxford. Since the late 60s she lived with Joseph Mellen
with whom she had two sons, Rock Basil Hugo Feilding Mellen (born 1979) and Cosmo Birdie Feilding Mellen (born 1985). She and Mellen separated in the early 90s and on 29 January 1995, she married James Charteris, 13th Earl of Wemyss, 9th Earl of March
, son of David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss, 8th Earl of March
.
She studied Comparative Religions and Mysticism with Prof. R.C. Zaehner
and later did research into psychology and altered states of consciousness. She gained notoriety in the early 1970s when she performed trepanation
on herself, about which she made a short cult art film entitled "Heartbeat in the Brain", shown only to invited audiences. During the 1970s and 80s she painted, and produced conceptual artworks to do with consciousness, which were exhibited at PS1 in New York and other galleries in the US. She also wrote "Blood and Consciousness".
Feilding has long had interest in exploring different ways of modulating consciousness for the benefit of the individual and society. She has investigated many different ways of altering consciousness from meditation to the use of psychoactive substances and trepanation.
Feilding, influenced by Bart Huges
who published a scroll on the topic, believes that trepanation
allows greater blood
flow to the brain
, which Feilding believes was decreased when our ancestors began to walk upright. To compensate for this theorized decrease, she hypothesizes humanity developed an internal system of controlling blood flow in the brain, a development that Feilding identifies with the origins of language. Trepanation, Feilding believes, allows people to achieve higher states of consciousness that she theorizes children experience before fusion of the cranial bones. Recent research carried out by Feilding on patients with cranial lesions in collaboration with Prof. Yuri Moskalenko has provided evidence of blood flow changes. This is part of a larger research programme investigating how intracranial dynamics change as we age, and what can be done to increase cranial compliance which they theorize might to help limit some of the detrimental changes associated with aging. Through this research, a new, non-invasive means of assessing intracranial dynamics, "The Moskalenko Method", has been developed by Moskalenko, Feilding, et al.
Feilding ran for British Parliament twice, on the platform 'Trepanation for the National Health' with the intention of advocating research into its potential benefits, but received few votes (40 in 1979 and 139 in 1983). 35 years later, she is funding this research at the Sechenov Institute for Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, St. Petersburg.
Through the Beckley Foundation
, Feilding is engaged in a programme of research using psychedelics as tools to alter consciousness. In 2007, her LSD
study on consciousness was one of the first involving LSD and human participants since the late 1980s.
She is also collaborating on other psychedelic research projects. These include: investigating the efficacy of using psilocybin as an aid to psychotherapy in overcoming addiction; a brain imaging study investigating the effects of psilocybin on cerebral blood supply and the recall of distant memories; the neurophysiology underlying the effects of cannabis that the users find beneficial; the effects of cannabis on the creative process; the effects of the different components of cannabis and the importance of the THC/CBD ratio in mental health.
Feilding is also active in drugs policy reform, arguing that benefits as well as harms should be considered in forming policies. In 2007, Feilding convened the Global Cannabis Commission Report, authored by a group of leading drug policy analysts, which lays out a blueprint for possible reforms of cannabis control policies at national and international levels. The Report was presented at the 10-yearly UN General Assembly Global Drug Policy Review in Vienna in March 2009 (the Beckley Foundation is a UN accredited NGO). The Cannabis Commission Report is being published by Oxford University Press and the Beckley Foundation.
Feilding is also the founder of the Trepanation Trust.
Feilding is the youngest child of Basil Feilding (himself a great-grandson of the 7th Earl of Denbigh
William Feilding, 7th Earl of Denbigh
William Basil Percy Feilding, 7th Earl of Denbigh, 6th Earl of Desmond, GCH, PC was a British peer and courtier.-Biography:...
and the Marquess of Bath
Marquess of Bath
Marquess of Bath is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1789 for Thomas Thynne, 3rd Viscount Weymouth. The Thynne family descends from the soldier and courtier Sir John Thynne , who constructed Longleat House between 1567 and 1579...
) and his wife and cousin Margaret Feilding. She grew up at Beckley Park
Beckley Park
Beckley Park is a stately home located near the village of Beckley, in Oxfordshire, England.It was built in 1540 by Lord Williams of Thame, who also built a great house at Rycote, a few miles away. It was originally built as a lodge for use when the lord and a party hunted the great park...
outside Oxford. Since the late 60s she lived with Joseph Mellen
Joey Mellen
Joseph "Joey" Mellen is the British-born author of Bore Hole, a book about his attempts at self-trepanation, influenced by Bart Huges, and his eventual success with the help of his partner Amanda Feilding...
with whom she had two sons, Rock Basil Hugo Feilding Mellen (born 1979) and Cosmo Birdie Feilding Mellen (born 1985). She and Mellen separated in the early 90s and on 29 January 1995, she married James Charteris, 13th Earl of Wemyss, 9th Earl of March
James Charteris, 13th Earl of Wemyss
James Donald Charteris, 13th Earl of Wemyss and 9th Earl of March, is a member of the Scottish peerage, the 13th Earl of Wemyss and 9th Earl of March.Neidpath was educated first at Eton....
, son of David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss, 8th Earl of March
David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss
Francis David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss and 8th Earl of March, KT, DL succeeded his grandfather in the family titles in 1937....
.
She studied Comparative Religions and Mysticism with Prof. R.C. Zaehner
Robert Charles Zaehner
Robert Charles Zaehner was a British academic who specialised in Eastern religions. He was also an intelligence officer.-Life:Born on 8 April 1913 in Sevenoaks, Kent, the son of Swiss immigrants to England, Zaehner was educated nearby at Tonbridge School...
and later did research into psychology and altered states of consciousness. She gained notoriety in the early 1970s when she performed trepanation
Trepanation
Trepanning, also known as trephination, trephining or making a burr hole, is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the human skull, exposing the dura mater in order to treat health problems related to intracranial diseases. It may also refer to any "burr" hole created...
on herself, about which she made a short cult art film entitled "Heartbeat in the Brain", shown only to invited audiences. During the 1970s and 80s she painted, and produced conceptual artworks to do with consciousness, which were exhibited at PS1 in New York and other galleries in the US. She also wrote "Blood and Consciousness".
Feilding has long had interest in exploring different ways of modulating consciousness for the benefit of the individual and society. She has investigated many different ways of altering consciousness from meditation to the use of psychoactive substances and trepanation.
Feilding, influenced by Bart Huges
Bart Huges
Hugo Bart Huges was a Dutch librarian and proponent of trepanation. He attended, but did not complete, medical school at the University of Amsterdam, and in 1964 he published "The Mechanism of Brainbloodvolume " a scroll in which he proposed that trepanation could be used to...
who published a scroll on the topic, believes that trepanation
Trepanation
Trepanning, also known as trephination, trephining or making a burr hole, is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the human skull, exposing the dura mater in order to treat health problems related to intracranial diseases. It may also refer to any "burr" hole created...
allows greater blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
flow to the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
, which Feilding believes was decreased when our ancestors began to walk upright. To compensate for this theorized decrease, she hypothesizes humanity developed an internal system of controlling blood flow in the brain, a development that Feilding identifies with the origins of language. Trepanation, Feilding believes, allows people to achieve higher states of consciousness that she theorizes children experience before fusion of the cranial bones. Recent research carried out by Feilding on patients with cranial lesions in collaboration with Prof. Yuri Moskalenko has provided evidence of blood flow changes. This is part of a larger research programme investigating how intracranial dynamics change as we age, and what can be done to increase cranial compliance which they theorize might to help limit some of the detrimental changes associated with aging. Through this research, a new, non-invasive means of assessing intracranial dynamics, "The Moskalenko Method", has been developed by Moskalenko, Feilding, et al.
Feilding ran for British Parliament twice, on the platform 'Trepanation for the National Health' with the intention of advocating research into its potential benefits, but received few votes (40 in 1979 and 139 in 1983). 35 years later, she is funding this research at the Sechenov Institute for Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, St. Petersburg.
I. M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry
The I. M. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry is a facility in Saint Petersburg, Russia, dedicated to research in the fields of biochemistry and evolutionary physiology.- History :...
Through the Beckley Foundation
Beckley Foundation
The Beckley Foundation is a charitable trust that promotes health orientated cost effective harm reductive drug policy reform. It also investigates consciousness and its modulation from a multidisciplinary perspective working in collaboration with world renowned scientists. The Foundation is based...
, Feilding is engaged in a programme of research using psychedelics as tools to alter consciousness. In 2007, her LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
study on consciousness was one of the first involving LSD and human participants since the late 1980s.
She is also collaborating on other psychedelic research projects. These include: investigating the efficacy of using psilocybin as an aid to psychotherapy in overcoming addiction; a brain imaging study investigating the effects of psilocybin on cerebral blood supply and the recall of distant memories; the neurophysiology underlying the effects of cannabis that the users find beneficial; the effects of cannabis on the creative process; the effects of the different components of cannabis and the importance of the THC/CBD ratio in mental health.
Feilding is also active in drugs policy reform, arguing that benefits as well as harms should be considered in forming policies. In 2007, Feilding convened the Global Cannabis Commission Report, authored by a group of leading drug policy analysts, which lays out a blueprint for possible reforms of cannabis control policies at national and international levels. The Report was presented at the 10-yearly UN General Assembly Global Drug Policy Review in Vienna in March 2009 (the Beckley Foundation is a UN accredited NGO). The Cannabis Commission Report is being published by Oxford University Press and the Beckley Foundation.
Feilding is also the founder of the Trepanation Trust.