Psi and Psychedelics - Paranthropology - Weebly

PARANTHROPOLOGY: JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE PARANORMAL VOL. 2 NO. 2
Psychedelics & Spirituality
Peter Barrett
Over the decades since the discovery of dlysergic
acid diethylamide (LSD) as a
mind altering drug there has been a great
deal written on the subject of psychedelics
and spirituality. The main claim and topic
of examination is that mystical
experiences have been induced through
the use of psychotropic drugs that are
similar to accounts gained from non-drug
using mystics across most of the major
religious traditions. Various research has
been carried out into this claim and
numerous writers have expressed views
either supporting or rejecting the use of
psychotropic drugs as a means to
awakening spiritual consciousness. The
following is a brief examination of the
claim that psychedelic experiences might
share some of the same phenomena as the
spiritual.
When considering any relationship
between psychedelics and spirituality it is
important to define what is meant by these
terms. A definition of psychedelics is
fairly straightforward, the term derives
from the Greek ψυχή (psyche, "soul") and
δηλοῦν (deloun, "to manifest") and can be
translated as "soul-manifesting".
However, a psychedelic experience can be
induced through various techniques,
including sensory stimulation, sensory
deprivation as well as psychotropic
substances. These experiences have been
described as hallucinations, changes of
perception, synaesthesia, altered states of
awareness, mystical states, and sometimes
as states resembling psychosis.
Nevertheless, the commonality between
their properties is of an alternative state to
normal everyday consciousness. An
explanation of spirituality is more
complex, but a simple dictionary
definition is “the experiential side of
religion as opposed to outward beliefs,
practices and institutions, which deals
with the inner spiritual depths of a
person” (Goring, 1992:499). It can also
refer to the experience of an ultimate or
immaterial reality; and the awakening of
an experience that transcends ordinary
consciousness.
In an essay entitled Drugs that
Shape Men's Minds (1958), Aldous
Huxley discussed the use of Lophophora
williamsii or peyote within religious
ceremonies, and suggested its usage
facilitated a form of self-transcendence in
two profound ways: (1) it introduces the
user into the 'Other World' of visionary
experience: and (2) gives the user a sense
of solidarity with their fellow
worshippers, human beings at large and
with the divine nature of things.
According to Huxley, modern synthetic
substances such as d-lysergic acid
diethylamide (LSD) can duplicate the
transcendent effects of peyote. (1999:154)
Until its prohibition LSD was being used
experimentally in small doses by
psychotherapists. The drug was
considered able to lower the barriers
between the conscious and subconscious
thus allowing the patient to look more
deeply into the recesses of their mind.
Huxley however went further and
proposed this deepening of selfknowledge
took place against a
background of visionary and even
mystical-like experiences, suggesting that:
“when administered in the right kind of
psychological environment these chemical
changers made possible a genuine
religious experience”. (1999:154)
In direct contrast, in Drugs,
Mysticism and Make-Believe (1972), R C
Zaehner argued there was little
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