Entheogens are psychoactive substances such as
Psilocybin, Mescaline, and Ahahuasca that are used as adjuncts
to mystical, religious or spiritual experiences.
The use of some entheogenic substances are widely described in
historical documents such as the Hindu 'Soma'
of the Rig Veda, the 'Kykeon' of the Greek 'Eleusinian
Mysteries' and the 'teonanactl' of the ancient Mexican
Mushroom Cults.
Contemporary use of entheogens include the use of Ayahuasca
by the
União do Vegetaland Santo Daime Tradition
in Brazil,
and Peyote by the Native American Church. Although
somewhat contentious, it could be claimed that the role of
Cannabis within the Rastafarian religion is that of an
entheogen.
However, the concept that beneficial religious or spiritual
development can result from the consumption of mind-altering
substances is not readily accepted in contemporary ‘Western
Society’ either on a secular or a religious level.
“Nothing then could be more repugnant to
this cultural tradition than the notion of spiritual or
psychological growth through the use of drugs.” 1
Unlike many
‘Eastern’ religions such as Buddhism, traditional
Judaeo-Christian theologies lack both the concept of, and the
terminology to describe, identity with or oneness with God or
the universe. Epiphanies and revelations such as those reported
by users of ‘entheogenic’ substances such as Psilocybin,
Mescaline, Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and Lysergic Acid
Diethylamide (LSD), are viewed with suspicion and rarely given
value. Aldous Huxley suggested that there was no place in the
current (Western) world view for valid transcendental experience
and that “to be a mystic
or visionary is no longer credible”.
Despite this there is currently increasing
interest in the use of hallucinogens in spiritual development.
Clinical research into the use of psilocybin has recently
resumed in the
United States,
Germany
and
Switzerland
and on July 7th
2006 the first study of its kind in over forty years
was published. Conducted in compliance with US Laws it was a
result of a collaboration between the Department of Psychiatry
and Behavioral Science of Johns Hopkins University in
Baltimore, Maryland,
and the Council for Spiritual Practice based in
California.
The results of their research can be read in their report,
entitled “Psilocybin can
occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and
sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance” which can be accessed
here.
It provided confirmation of what Dr. Walter Panhke had concluded
following his 1962 Marsh Chapel Experiment.
More information about the origins of the
word entheogen is provided here.
1 WATTS,
A. 1968. Psychedelics and
Religious Experience in AARONSON, B. and OSMOND, H. 1970.
Psychedelics. New York : Anchor Books pp. 131 - 144
