Key points
Psychedelics have been called “entheogens” based on their ability to result in "God encounter experiences."
Such experiences are associated with significant meaning, belief in God, and decreased fear of death,
However, such experiences tend to decrease belief in monotheism.
Lived experience has long told us that taking psychedelic substances like psilocybin, mescaline, and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) can result in feelings of religious or spiritual inspiration. Indeed, throughout history and across the world, various cultures have used peyote, ayahuasca, mushrooms, and other plants in ritual practices with the intent of achieving trance states, interacting with the spirit world, or communing with God. In modern times, the term “entheogen” (derived from the Greek word entheos meaning “the divine within”) was coined as an alternative to the word “hallucinogen” to describe substances that can give rise to such mystical experiences without implying that such experiences are psychotic in nature.
Over the past few decades, scientific inquiry has focused on validating the therapeutic and spiritual enhancing properties of psychedelic drugs, with its findings helping to shift public perception from dismissing them as recreational drugs to recognizing their potential medicinal and healing properties. The late Dr. Roland Griffiths—a Johns Hopkins University psychopharmacologist who passed away in the fall of 2023—was pivotal in using traditional research methodologies to increase awareness of psychedelics as entheogens.
In 2006, Griffith and his colleagues published a double-blind crossover study of psilocybin compared to methylphenidate ( Ritalin ) given to healthy volunteers over a single 8-hour session. 1 Using questionnaires to measure psychiatric symptoms, mystical experiences, and quality of life, the study found that while on psilocybin—the psychedelic component of "magic mushrooms"—67 percent of subjects rated their experience as either the single most meaningful experience of their life or among the top five, on par with the birth of a first child or the death of a parent (only 8 percent reported such experiences on methylphenidate). Seventy-nine percent of subjects rated that their psilocybin experience increased their sense of personal well-being or life satisfaction “moderately” or “very much” (compared to 21 percent after methylphenidate). Follow-up studies found that the […]
Study: 85% of cannabis users drive the same day, causing concern for Wisconsin authorities
(WLUK) (WLUK) — New information is shedding light on how
