Substances like ayahuasca and psilocybin can induce a sense of unity with the world—and even allow some users to “see God.” Getty Images FOR MILLENNIA, HUMANS HAVE BEEN EXTRACTING and using natural psychedelics like ayahuasca and psilocybin to alter their moods and perceptions, distorting their sense of reality. History is scattered with religious and cultural rituals involving these psychoactive substances, from Native Americans to South Asian Vedic practitioners to Europeans. For instance, boiling particular plants in the Amazon basin creates Ayahuasca, which translates to “vine of the spirits” or “vine of the dead” in the Quechua language native to Peru. The bitter beverage played a role in shamanic rituals, allowing people to feel a communion between themselves and the wider world, both natural and spiritual. Meanwhile, early humans from all over the world may have been consuming psilocybin “magic mushrooms” for thousands of years, which may have expanded their consciousness .
Psychedelic compounds can create feelings of euphoria, a loss of your sense of self , and as various treatment studies demonstrate, cause a transcendent experience so deeply moving that it helps people kick heavy burdens like depression and alcoholism—at least temporarily. And after ingesting a psychedelic, your brain might even feel like it’s connecting to the “ Ultimate Reality ,” according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Compounds like psilocybin attach to serotonin receptors in your central nervous system. However, neuroscientists still don’t understand what links the resulting hallucinations and reality altering sensations to the broader sense of spiritual connection that some users have reported experiencing, such as “seeing God.” But combining therapy, brain scans, and controlled doses of psychedelics could provide a firm roadmap for the scientists trying to unravel the mystery.
A 2019 research survey, centered on a detailed questionnaire from Johns Hopkins’ Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, probed 4,285 healthy people about their out-of-body experiences of God, or a higher “Ultimate Reality.” The volunteers included both users and non-users of classic psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin, LSD , ayahuasca, and DMT. The psychedelics users were most likely to choose what they felt to be […]
Psychedelics Can Awaken Your Consciousness to the ‘Ultimate Reality,’ Scientists Say
