The context of Pynchon's MDMA saying

[Lorentzen / Nicklaus]

"Perhaps the most interesting code name for MDMA, that seems to have originated 
with a group of therapists on the West Coast, is the term 'Adam', by which is 
meant not Adam as a man, but rather Adam-and-Eve as androgynous ancestor.
The figure of Adam is a highly important symbolic figure in Gnostic and Hermetic 
writings, and C.G. Jung wrote extensively about it. He represents 'primordial 
man', the 'original being', the 'man of Earth', the condition of primal 
innocence and unity with all life, as described in the Bible's account of the 
Garden of Eden. Feelings of being returned to a natural state of innocence, 
before guilt, shame and unworthiness arose, are common in these Adam ecstasies; 
and so are feelings of connectedness and bonding with fellow human beings, 
animals and all the forms and energies of the natural world".

(Ralph Metzner: The Nature of the MDMA Experience & Its Role in Healing, 
Psychotherapy & Spiritual Practice. Quoted by Bruce Eisner [p. 6])

                                                                           KFL