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Drugs and Mysticism
Walter N. Pahnke
©The International Journal of Parapsychology,
Vol. VIII, No. 2, Spring 1966, pp. 295-313.
The claim has been made that the experience facilitated by
psychedelic drugs, such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline, can be
similar or identical to the experience described by the mystics
of all ages, cultures, and religions. This paper will attempt to
examine and explain this possibility.
There is a long and continuing history of the religious use
of plants that contain psychedelic substances. Scholars such as
Osmond (1957b), Schultes (1963), and Wasson (1961) have made
valuable contributions to this intriguing field. In some
instances, such natural products were ingested by a priest,
shaman, or witch doctor to induce a trance for revelatory
purposes; sometimes they were taken by groups of people who
participated in sacred ceremonies. For example, the dried heads
of the peyote cactus, whose chief active ingredient is mescaline,
were used by the Aztecs at least as early as 300 B.C. and are
currently being employed by over fifty thousand Indians of the
Native American Church as a vital part of their religious
ceremonies. Both ololiuqui, a variety of morning-glory
seed, and certain kinds of Mexican mushrooms (called teonanacatl,
"flesh of the gods") were also used for divinatory and
religious purposes by the Aztecs. These practices have continued
to the present among remote Indian tribes in the mountains of the
state of Oaxaca, in Mexico. Modern psychopharmacological research
has shown the active chemicals to be psilocybin in the case of
the mushrooms, and several compounds closely related to LSD in
the case of ololiuqui. Amanita muscaria, the mushroom that
has been used for unknown centuries by Siberian shamans to induce
religious trances, does not contain psilocybin. The most
important psychologically active compound from this mushroom has
not yet been isolated, but promising work is in progress. Other
naturally occurring plants, which are used by various South
American Indian tribes in a religious manner for prophecy,
divination, clairvoyance, tribal initiation of male adolescents,
or sacred feasts are: cohoba snuff, made from the pulverized
seeds of Piptadenia; the drink vinho de Jurumens,
made from the seeds of Mimosa hostilis; and the drink caapi,
made from Banisteriopsis. These last three products
contain various indolic compounds that are all closely related to
psilocybin, both structurally and in their psychic effects
(bufotenine, dimethyl-tryptamine, and harmine, respectively).
Both LSD and psilocybin contain the indolic ring, and mescaline
may be metabolized to an indole in the body.
An Experimental Examination of the Claim that
Psychedelic
Drug Experience May Resemble Mystical Experience
Some of the researchers who have experimented with
synthesized mescaline, LSD, or psilocybin have remarked upon the
similarity between drug-induced and spontaneous mystical
experiences because of the frequency with which some of their
subjects have used mystical and religious language to describe
their experiences. These data interested the author in a careful
examination and evaluation of such claims. An empirical study,
designed to investigate in a systematic and scientific way the
similarities and differences between experiences described by
mystics and those facilitated by psychedelic drugs, was
undertaken (Pahnke, 1966, 1967). First, a phenomenological
typology of the mystical state of consciousness was carefully
defined, after a study of the writings of the mystics themselves
and of scholars who have tried to characterize mystical
experience. [For example, William James (1935) was an invaluable
pioneer in this area.] Then, some drug experiences were
empirically studied, not by collecting such experiences wherever
an interesting or striking one might have been found and analyzed
after the fact, but by conducting a double-blind, controlled
experiment with subjects whose religious background and
experience, as well as personality, had been measured before
their drug experiences. The preparation of the subjects, the
setting under which the drug was administered, and the collection
of data about the experience were made as uniform as possible.
The experimenter himself devised the experiment, collected the
data, and evaluated the results without ever having had a
personal experience with any of these drugs.
A nine-category typology of the mystical state of
consciousness was defined as a basis for measurement of the
phenomena of the psychedelic drug experiences. Among the numerous
studies of mysticism, the work of W. T. Stace (1960) was found to
be the most helpful guide for the construction of this typology.
His conclusion—that in the mystical experience there are
certain fundamental characteristics that are universal and not
restricted to any particular religion or culture (although
particular cultural, historical, or religious conditions may
influence both the interpretation and description of these basic
phenomena)—was taken as a presupposition. Whether or not the
mystical experience is "religious" depends upon one's
definition of religion and was not the problem investigated. Our
typology defined the universal phenomena of the mystical
experience, whether considered "religious" or not.
The nine categories of our phenomenological typology may be
summarized as follows:
Category I: Unity
Unity, the most important characteristic of the mystical
experience, is divided into internal and external types, which
are different ways of experiencing an undifferentiated unity. The
major difference is that the internal type finds unity through an
"inner world" within the experiencer while the
external type finds unity through the external world outside the
experiencer.
The essential elements of internal unity are loss of
usual sense impressions and loss of self without becoming
unconscious. The multiplicity of usual external and internal
sense impressions ( including time and space ), and the empirical
ego or usual sense of individuality, fade or melt away while
consciousness remains. In the most complete experience, this
consciousness is a pure awareness beyond empirical content, with
no external or internal distinctions. In spite of the loss of
sense impressions and dissolution of the usual personal identity
or self, the awareness of oneness or unity is still experienced
and remembered. One is not unconscious but is rather very much
aware of an undifferentiated unity.
External unity is perceived outwardly with the
physical senses through the external world. A sense of underlying
oneness is felt behind the empirical multiplicity. The subject or
observer feels that the usual separation between himself and an
external object (inanimate or animate) is no longer present in a
basic sense; yet the subject still knows that on another level,
at the same time, he and the objects are separate. Another way of
expressing this same phenomenon is that the essences of objects
are experienced intuitively and felt to be the same at the
deepest level. The subject feels a sense of oneness with these
objects because he "sees" that at the most basic level
all are a part of the same undifferentiated unity. The capsule
statement "... all is One" is a good summary of
external unity. In the most complete experience, a cosmic
dimension is felt, so that the experiences feels in a deep sense
that he is a part of everything that is.
Category II: Transcendence of Time and Space
This category refers to loss of the usual sense of time and
space. This means clock time but may also be one's personal sense
of his past, present, and future. Transcendence of space means
that a person loses his usual orientation as to where he is
during the experience in terms of the usual three-dimensional
perception of his environment. Experiences of timelessness and
spacelessness may also be described as experiences of
"eternity" or "infinity."
Category III: Deeply Felt Positive Mood
The most universal elements (and, therefore, the ones that
are most essential to the definition of this category) are joy,
blessedness, and peace. The unique character of these feelings in
relation to the mystical experience is the intensity that
elevates them to the highest levels of human experience, and they
are highly valued by the experiencers. Tears may be associated
with any of these elements because of the overpowering nature of
the experience. Such feelings may occur either at the peak of the
experience or during the "ecstatic afterglow," when the
peak has passed but while its effects and memory are still quite
vivid and intense. Love may also be an element of deeply felt
positive mood, but it does not have the same universality as joy,
blessedness, and peace.
Category IV: Sense of Sacredness
This category refers to the sense of sacredness that is
evoked by the mystical experience. The sacred is here broadly
defined as that which a person feels to be of special value and
capable of being profaned. The basic characteristic of sacredness
is a non-rational, intuitive, hushed, palpitant response of awe
and wonder in the presence of inspiring realities. No religious
"beliefs" or traditional theological terminology need
necessarily be involved, even though there may be a sense of
reverence or a feeling that what is experienced is holy or
divine.
Category V: Objectivity and Reality
This category has two interrelated elements: ( 1 ) insightful
knowledge or illumination felt at an intuitive, non-rational
level and gained by direct experience; and (2) the authoritative
nature of the experience, or the certainty that such knowledge is
truly real, in contrast to the feeling that the experience is a
subjective delusion. These two elements are connected, because
the knowledge through experience of ultimate reality (in the
sense of being able to "know" and "see" what
is really real) carries its own sense of certainty. The
experience of "ultimate" reality is an awareness of
another dimension unlike the "ordinary" reality (the
reality of usual, everyday consciousness); yet the knowledge of
"ultimate" reality is quite real to the experiencer.
Such insightful knowledge does not necessarily mean an increase
in facts, but rather in intuitive illumination. What becomes
"known" (rather than merely intellectually assented to)
is intuitively felt to be authoritative, requires no proof at a
rational level, and produces an inward feeling of objective
truth. The content of this knowledge may be divided into two main
types: (a) insights into being and existence in general, and (b)
insights into one's personal, finite self.
Category VI: Paradoxicality
Accurate descriptions and even rational interpretations of
the mystical experience tend to be logically contradictory when
strictly analyzed. For example, in the experience of internal
unity there is a loss of all empirical content in an empty
unity which is at the same time full and complete. This
loss includes the loss of the sense of self and the dissolution
of individuality; yet something of the individual entity remains
to experience the unity. The "I" both exists and does
not exist. Another example is the separateness from, and at the
same time unity with, objects in the experience of external unity
(essentially a paradoxical transcendence of space).
Category VII: Alleged Ineffability
In spite of attempts to relate or write about the mystical
experience, mystics insist either that words fail to describe it
adequately or that the experience is beyond words. Perhaps the
reason is an embarrassment with language because of the
paradoxical nature of the essential phenomena.
Category VIII: Transiency
Transiency refers to duration, and means the temporary nature
of the mystical experience in contrast to the relative permanence
of the level of usual experience. There is a transient appearance
of the special and unusual levels or dimensions of consciousness
as defined by our typology, their eventual disappearance, and a
return to the more usual. The characteristic of transiency
indicates that the mystical state of consciousness is not
sustained indefinitely.
Category IX: Persisting Positive Changes in Attitude and
Behavior
Because our typology is of a healthful, life-enhancing
mysticism, this category describes the positive, lasting effects
of the experience and the resulting changes in attitude. These
changes are divided into four groups: (1) toward self, (2) toward
others, (3) toward life, and (4) toward the mystical experience
itself.
(1) Increased integration of personality is the basic inward
change in the personal self. Undesirable traits may be faced in
such a way that they may be dealt with and finally reduced or
eliminated. As a result of personal integration, one's sense of
inner authority may be strengthened, and the vigor and dynamic
quality of a person's life may be increased. Creativity and
greater efficiency of achievement may be released. An inner
optimistic tone may result, with a consequent increase in
feelings of happiness, joy, and peace. (2) Changes in attitude
and behavior toward others include more sensitivity, more
tolerance, more real love, and more authenticity as a person by
virtue of being more open and more one's true self with others.
(3) Changes toward life in a positive direction include
philosophy of life, sense of values, sense of meaning and
purpose, vocational commitment, need for service to others, and
new appreciation of life and the whole of creation. Life may seem
richer. The sense of reverence may be increased, and more time
may be spent in devotional life and meditation. (4) Positive
change in attitude toward the mystical experience itself means
that it is regarded as valuable and that what has been learned is
thought to be useful. The experience is remembered as a high
point, and an attempt is made to recapture it or, if possible, to
gain new experiences as a source of growth and strength. The
mystical experiences of others are more readily appreciated and
understood.
The purpose of the experiment in which psilocybin was
administered in a religious context was to gather empirical data
about the state of consciousness experienced. In a private chapel
on Good Friday, twenty Christian theological students, ten of
whom had been given psilocybin one and one half hours earlier,
listened over loudspeakers to a two-and-onehalf-hour religious
service which was in actual progress in another part of the
building and which consisted of organ music, four solos,
readings, prayers, and personal meditation. The assumption was
made that the condition most conducive to a mystical experience
should be an atmosphere broadly comparable to that achieved by
tribes who actually use natural psychedelic substances in
religious ceremonies. The particular content and procedure of the
ceremony had to be applicable (i.e., familiar and meaningful) to
the participants. Attitude toward the experience, both before and
during, was taken into serious consideration in the experimental
design. Preparation was meant to maximize positive expectation,
trust, confidence, and reduction of fear. The setting was planned
to utilize this preparation through group support and rapport;
through friendship and an open, trusting atmosphere; and through
prior knowledge of the procedure of the experiment in order to
eliminate, if possible, feelings of manipulation that might
arise.
In the weeks before the experiment, each subject participated
in five hours of various preparation and screening procedures,
which included psychological tests, medical history, physical
examination, questionnaire evaluation of previous religious
experience, intensive interview, and group interaction. The
twenty subjects were graduate-student volunteers, all of whom
were from middle-class Protestant backgrounds and from one
denominational seminary in the free-church tradition. None of the
subjects had taken psilocybin or related substances before this
experiment. The volunteers were divided into five groups of four
students each on the basis of compatibility and friendship. Two
leaders, who knew from past experience the positive and negative
possibilities of the psilocybin reaction, met with their groups
to encourage trust, confidence, group support, and fear
reduction. The method of reaction to the experience was
emphasized (i.e., to relax and co-operate with, rather than to
fight against, the effects of the drug). Throughout the
preparation, an effort was made to avoid suggesting the
characteristics of the typology of mysticism. The leaders were
not familiar with the typology that had been devised.
Double-blind technique was employed in the experiment, so
that neither the experimenter nor any of the participants
(leaders or subjects) knew the specific contents of the capsules,
which were identical in appearance. Half of the subjects and one
of the leaders in each group received psilocybin (thirty
milligrams for each of the ten experimental subjects and fifteen
milligrams each for five of the leaders). Without prior knowledge
of the drug used, or of its effects, the remaining ten subjects
and the other five leaders each received two hundred milligrams
of nicotinic acid, a vitamin that causes transient feelings of
warmth and tingling of the skin, in order to maximize suggestion
for the control group.
Data were collected during the experiment and at various
times up to six months afterward. On the experimental day, tape
recordings were made both of individual reactions immediately
after the religious service and of the group discussions that
followed. Each subject wrote an account of his experience as soon
after the experiment as was convenient. Within a week all
subjects had completed a 147-item questionnaire which had been
designed to measure the various phenomena of the typology of
mysticism on a qualitative, numerical scale. The results of this
questionnaire were used as a basis for a one-and-one-half-hour,
tape-recorded interview which immediately followed. Six months
later each subject was interviewed again after completion of a
follow-up questionnaire in three parts, with a similar scale.
Part I was open ended; the participant was asked to list any
changes that he felt were a result of his Good Friday experience
and to rate the degree of benefit or harm of each change. Part II
(fifty-two items) was a condensed and somewhat more explicit
repetition of items from the post-drug questionnaire. Part III
(ninety-three items) was designed to measure both positive and
negative attitudinal and behavioral changes that had lasted for
six months and were due to the experience. The individual
descriptive accounts and Part I of the follow-up questionnaire
were content-analyzed with a qualitative, numerical scale by
judges who were independent of the experiment and who knew only
that they were to analyze twenty accounts written by persons who
had attended a religious service.
Prior to the experiment, the twenty subjects had been matched
in ten pairs on the basis of data from the pre-drug
questionnaires, interviews, and psychological tests. Past
religious experience, religious background, and general
psychological make-up were used for the pairings, in that order
of importance. The experiment was designed so that by random
distribution one subject from each pair received psilocybin and
one received the control substance, nicotinic acid. This division
into an experimental and a control group was for the purpose of
statistical evaluation of the scores from each of the three
methods of measurement that used a numerical scale: the post-drug
questionnaire, the follow-up questionnaire, and the content
analysis of the written accounts.
A summary of percentage scores and significance levels
reached by the ten experimentals and ten controls, for each
category or subcategory of the typology of mysticism, is
presented in Table I. The score from each of the three methods of
measurement was calculated as the percentage of the maximum
possible score if the top of the rating scale for each item had
been scored. The percentages from each method of measurement were
then averaged together. A comparison of the scores of the
experimental and control subject in each pair was used to
calculate the significance level of the differences observed by
means of the non-parametric Sign Test. As can be seen from Table
I, for the combined scores from the three methods of measurement,
p was less than.020 in all categories except deeply felt
positive mood (love) and persisting positive changes in attitude
and behavior toward the experience, where p was still less than
.055.
(TABLE I)
Although this evidence indicates that the experimentals as a
group achieved to a statistically significant degree a higher
score in each of the nine categories than did the controls, the
degree of completeness or intensity must be examined.
In terms of our typology of mysticism, ideally the most
"complete" mystical experience should have demonstrated
the phenomena of all the categories in a maximal way. The
evidence (particularly from the content analysis and also
supported by impressions from the interviews) showed that such
perfect completeness in all categories was not experienced by all
the subjects in the experimental group. In the data, the various
categories and subcategories can be divided into three groups in
regard to the degree of intensity or completeness, as shown in
Table II. Criteria were the percentage levels and the consistency
among different methods of measurement. The closest approximation
to a complete and intense degree of experience was found for the
categories of internal unity, transcendence of time and space,
transiency, paradoxicality, and persisting positive changes in
attitude and behavior toward self and life. The evidence
indicated that the second group had almost, but not quite, the
same degree of completeness or intensity as the first group. The
second group consisted of external unity, objectivity and
reality, joy, and alleged ineffability. There was a relatively
greater lack of completeness for sense of sacredness, love, and
persisting positive changes in attitude and behavior toward
others and toward the experience. Each of these last eight
categories and sub-categories was termed incomplete to a greater
or lesser degree for the experimentals, but was definitely
present to some extent when compared with the controls. When
analyzed most rigorously and measured against all possible
categories of the typology of mysticism, the experience of the
experimental subjects was considered incomplete in this strictest
sense. Usually such incompleteness was demonstrated by results of
the content analyses.
(TABLE II)
The control subjects did not experience many phenomena of the
mystical typology, and even then only to a low degree of
completeness. The phenomena for which the scores of the controls
were closest to (although still always less than) the
experimentals were: blessedness and peace, sense of sacredness,
love, and persisting positive changes in attitude and behavior
toward others and toward the experience.
The design of the experiment suggested an explanation for the
fact that the control subjects should have experienced any
phenomena at all. The meaningful religious setting of the
experiment would have been expected to encourage a response of
blessedness, peace, and sacredness. In the case of love and
persisting changes toward others and toward the experience,
observation by the controls of the profound experience of the
experimentals and interaction between the two groups on an
interpersonal level appeared, from both post-experimental
interviews, to have been the main basis for the controls'
experience of these phenomena.
The experience of the experimental subjects was certainly
more like mystical experience than that of the controls, who had
the same expectation and suggestion from the preparation and
setting. The most striking difference between the experimentals
and the controls was the ingestion of thirty milligrams of
psilocybin, which it was concluded was the facilitating agent
responsible for the difference in phenomena experienced.
After an admittedly short follow-up period of only six
months, life-enhancing and enriching effects similar to some of
those claimed by mystics were shown by the higher scores of the
experimental subjects when compared to the controls. In addition,
after four hours of follow-up interviews with each subject, the
experimenter was left with the impression that the experience had
made a profound impact (especially in terms of religious feeling
and thinking) on the lives of eight out of ten of the subjects
who had been given psilocybin. Although the psilocybin experience
was unique and different from the "ordinary" reality of
their everyday lives, these subjects felt that this experience
had motivated them to appreciate more deeply the meaning of their
lives, to gain more depth and authenticity in ordinary living,
and to rethink their philosophies of life and values. The data
did not suggest that any "ultimate" reality encountered
had made "ordinary" reality no longer important or
meaningful. The fact that the experience took place in the
context of a religious service, with the use of symbols that were
familiar and meaningful to the participants, appeared to provide
a useful framework within which to derive meaning and integration
from the experience, both at the time and later.
The relationship and relative importance of psychological
preparation, setting, and drug were important questions raised by
our results. A meaningful religious preparation, expectation, and
environment appeared to be conducive to positive drug
experiences, although the precise qualitative and quantitative
role of each factor was not determined. For example, everything
possible was done to maximize suggestion, but suggestion alone
cannot account for the results, because of the different
experience of the control group. The hypothesis that
suggestibility was heightened by psilocybin could not be ruled
out on the basis of our experiment. An effort was made to avoid
suggesting the phenomena of the typology of mysticism, and the
service itself made no such direct suggestion.
Implications for the Psychology of Religion
The results of our experiment would indicate that psilocybin
(and LSD and mescaline, by analogy) are important tools for the
study of the mystical state of consciousness. Experiences
previously possible for only a small minority of people, and
difficult to study because of their unpredictability and rarity,
are now reproducible under suitable conditions. The mystical
experience has been called by many names suggestive of areas that
are paranormal and not usually considered easily available for
investigation (e.g., an experience of transcendence, ecstasy,
conversion, or cosmic consciousness); but this is a realm of
human experience that should not be rejected as outside the realm
of serious scientific study, especially if it can be shown that a
practical benefit can result. Our data would suggest that such an
overwhelming experience, in which a person existentially
encounters basic values such as the meaning of his life (past,
present, and future), deep and meaningful interpersonal
relationships, and insight into the possibility of personal
behavior change, can possibly be therapeutic if approached and
worked with in a sensitive and adequate way.
Possibilities for further research with these drugs in the
psychology of religion can be divided into two different kinds in
relation to the aim: (1) theoretical understanding of the
phenomena and psychology of mysticism, and (2) experimental
investigation of possible social application in a religious
context.
The first, or theoretical, kind of research would be to
approach the mystical state of consciousness as closely as
possible under controlled experimental conditions and to measure
the effect of variables such as the dose of the drug, the
preparation and personality of the subject, the setting of the
experiment, and the expectation of the experimenter. The work
described above was a first step in the measurement of these
variables, but more research is needed. The results should be
proved to be reproducible by the same and by different
experimenters under similar conditions. Such work could lead to a
better understanding of mysticism from physiological,
biochemical, psychological, and therapeutic perspectives.
Several experimental approaches can be envisioned for the
second kind of research—to determine the best method for useful
application in a religious context. One suggestion would be the
establishment of a research center where carefully controlled
drug experiments could be done by a trained research staff which
would consist of psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and
professional religious personnel. Subjects, ideally, would spend
at least a week at the center to facilitate thorough screening,
preparation, and observation of their reactions, both during and
after drug experiments. Another suggestion would be the study of
the effect of mystical experience on small natural groups of from
four to six people who would meet periodically, both prior to and
after a drug experience, for serious personal and religious
discussion, study, and worship. The reactions of a varied range
of subjects with different interests could be studied, but
perhaps a good place to start would be with persons
professionally interested in religion, such as ministers,
priests, rabbis, theologians, and psychologists of religion.
Such research may have important implications for religion.
The universal and basic human experience that we have called
mystical is recorded from all cultures and ages of human history,
but mysticism has never been adequately studied and understood
from physiological, biochemical, sociological, psychological, and
theological perspectives.
Perhaps there is more of a biochemical basis to such
"natural" experiences than has been previously
supposed. Certainly many ascetics who have had mystical
experiences have engaged in such practices as breathing and
postural exercises, sleep deprivation, fasting, flagellation with
subsequent infection, sustained meditation, and sensory
deprivation in caves or monastic cells. All these techniques have
an effect on body chemistry. There is a definite interplay
between physiological and psychological processes in the human
being. Some of the indolic substances in the body do not differ
greatly from the psychedelic drugs.
Many persons concerned with religion are disturbed by
drug-facilitated mystical experiences because of their apparent
ease of production, with the implication that they are
"unearned" and therefore "undeserved."
Perhaps the Puritan and Calvinistic element of our Western
culture—especially in the United States, where most of the
controversy about psychedelic drugs has centered—may be a
factor in this uneasiness. Although a drug experience might seem
unearned when compared with the rigorous discipline that many
mystics describe as necessary, our evidence has suggested that
careful preparation and expectation play an important part, not
only in the type of experience attained but in later fruits for
life. Positive mystical experience with psychedelic drugs is by
no means automatic. It would seem that the "drug
effect" is a delicate combination of psychological set and
setting in which the drug itself is the trigger or facilitating
agent—i.e., in which the drug is a necessary but not sufficient
condition. Perhaps the hardest "work" comes after the
experience, which in itself may only provide the motivation for
future efforts to integrate and appreciate what has been learned.
Unless such an experience is integrated into the ongoing life of
the individual, only a memory remains rather than the growth of
an unfolding renewal process which may be awakened by the
mystical experience. If the person has a religious framework and
discipline within which to work, the integrative process is
encouraged and stimulated. Many persons may not need the
drug-facilitated mystical experience, but there are others who
would never be aware of the undeveloped potentials within
themselves, or be inspired to work in this direction, without
such an experience. "Gratuitous grace" is an
appropriate theological term, because the psychedelic mystical
experience can lead to a profound sense of inspiration,
reverential awe, and humility, perhaps partially as a result of
the realization that the experience is a gift and not
particularly earned or deserved.
Mysticism and inner experience have been stressed much more
by Eastern religions than by Western. Perhaps Western culture is
as far off balance in the opposite direction—with its
manipulation of the external world, as exemplified by the
emphasis on material wealth, control of nature, and admiration of
science. Mysticism has been accused of fostering escapism from
the problems of society, indifference to social conditions, and
disinterest in social change. While the possibility of such
excesses must always be remembered, our study has suggested the
beneficial potential of mystical experience in stimulating the
ability to feel and experience deeply and genuinely with the full
harmony of both emotion and intellect. Such wholeness may have
been neglected in modern Western society.
The participants in our experiment who were given psilocybin
found the religious service more meaningful, both at the time and
later, than did the control subjects. This finding raises the
possibility that psychedelic drug experiences in a religious
setting may be able to illuminate the dynamics and significance
of worship. Increased understanding of the psychological
mechanism involved might lead to more-meaningful worship
experiences for those who have not had the drug experience. The
analogy with the efficacy of the sacraments is one example of
what would have to be considered for a better psychological
understanding of what goes on during worship. Such considerations
raise the question of the place of the emotional factor, compared
to the cognitive, in religious worship. An even more basic
question is the validity of religious experience of the mystical
type in terms of religious truth. Reactions to such religious
implications will vary with theological position and
presuppositions, but one value of our study can be to stimulate
thoughtful examination of the problems.
Although our experimental results indicated predominantly
positive and beneficial subjective effects, possible dangers must
not be underestimated and should be thoroughly evaluated by
specific research designed to discover the causes and methods of
prevention of physical or psychological harm, both short-term and
long-term. While physiological addiction has not been reported
with psychedelic substances, psychological dependence might be
expected if the experience were continually repeated. The intense
subjective pleasure and enjoyment of the experience for its own
sake could lead to escapism and withdrawal from the world. An
experience which is capable of changing motivation and values
might cut the nerve of achievement. Widespread apathy toward
productive work and accomplishment could cripple a society.
Another possible danger might be suicide or prolonged psychosis
in very unstable or depressed individuals who are not ready for
the intense emotional discharge. If it can be determined that any
of these forms of harm occur in certain types of individuals,
research could be directed toward the development of pretest
methods to screen out such persons. Our evidence would suggest
that research on conditions and methods of administration of the
drugs might minimize the chance of harmful reactions. Spectacular
immediate advance must be sacrificed for ultimate progress by
careful, yet daring and imaginative, research under adequate
medical supervision.
The ethical implications also cannot be ignored. Any research
that uses human volunteers must examine its motives and methods
to make certain that human beings are not being manipulated like
objects for purposes they do not understand or share. But in
research with powerful mental chemicals that may influence the
most cherished human functions and values, the ethical problem is
even more acute. The mystical experience, historically, has
filled man with wondrous awe and has been able to change his
style of life and values; but it must not be assumed that greater
control of such powerful phenomena will automatically result in
wise and constructive use. Potential abuse is just as likely.
Those who undertake such research carry a heavy responsibility.
This is not to say that research should be stopped because of
the fear of these various risks in an extremely complex and
challenging area that has great promise for the psychology of
religion. But while research is progressing on the theoretical or
primary level and before projects for testing useful social
applications in a religious context become widespread, serious
and thoughtful examination of the sociological, ethical, and
theological implications is needed without delay.
Not the least of these implications is the fear that research
that probes the psyche of man and involves his spiritual values
may be a sacrilegious transgression by science. If the
exploration of certain phenomena should be prohibited, should the
mystical experiences made possible by psychedelic drugs be one of
the taboo areas? Such restrictions raise several relevant
questions: Who is wise enough to decide in advance that such
research will cause more harm than good? If such restrictions are
applied, where will they end, and will they not impede knowledge
of unforeseen possibilities? This attitude on the part of
religion is not new. Galileo and Servetus encountered it hundreds
of years ago. The issue should not be whether or not to undertake
such research, but rather how to do so in a way that sensitively
takes into consideration the contribution, significance, and
values of religion. A better scientific understanding of the
mechanisms and application of mysticism has the potential for a
greater appreciation and respect for heretofore rarely explored
areas of human consciousness. If these areas have relevance for
man's spiritual life, this should be a cause for rejoicing, not
alarm. If the values nurtured by religion are fundamental for an
understanding of the nature of man, then careful and sensitive
scientific research into the experiential side of man's existence
has the potential for illumination of these values. The
importance of such research should be emphasized, especially
because of its possible significance for religion and theology.
At present we are a long way from legitimate social use of
such drugs in our society. We do not yet have nearly enough
adequate knowledge of the long-term physiological or
psychological effects. It is true that thus far no organ or
tissue damage has been reported in the usual dosage range, and
physiological addiction has not occurred. But as in the case of
any new drug, deleterious side effects sometimes do not become
apparent until years after a drug has been introduced. The social
suffering caused by the misuse of alcohol is a major public
health problem throughout the Western world. We certainly need to
hesitate before introducing a new agent, much more powerful than
alcohol and perhaps with a potential for the development of
subtle psychological dependence. And yet, paradoxically, these
very drugs may hold a promise for the treatment of chronic
alcoholism by way of the psychedelic mystical experience
(Kurland, Unger, and Shaffer, 1957; Unger et. al., 1966; Unger,
1965). Such questions can be satisfactorily answered only by
thorough scientific research of the possibilities and by sober
evaluation of the results.
Many unknown conscious and unconscious factors operate in the
mystical experience. Much investigation is needed in this area,
and drugs like psilocybin can be a powerful tool. Experimental
facilitation of mystical experiences under controlled conditions
can be an important method of approach to a better understanding
of mysticism. Better understanding can lead to appreciation of
the role and place of such experiences in the history and
practice of religion.
If parapsychology is concerned in an interdisciplinary way
with the question of the potentials of human experience, then the
controlled exploration of experimental mysticism, facilitated by
psychedelic drugs, is an important parapsychological research
area, where psychopharmacology, psychiatry, psychology, and
theology can meet to mutual advantage.
TABLE I
SUMMARY OF PERCENTAGE SCORES AND
SIGNIFICANCE LEVELS REACHED
BY THE EXPERIMENTAL VERSUS THE
CONTROL GROUP FOR CATEGORIES
MEASURING
THE TYPOLOGY OF MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE
| % of Maximum Possible
Score for 10 Ss | |
|---|
| Category | Exp. | Cont. | P* |
|---|
| 1. Unity | 62 | 7 | .001 |
| A. Internal | 70 | 8 | .001 |
| B. External | 38 | 2 | .008 |
| 2. Transcendence of time and space | 84 | 6 | .001 |
| 3. Deeply felt positive mood | 57 | 23 | .020 |
| A. Joy, blessedness and peace | 51 | 13 | .020 |
| B. Love | 57 | 33 | .055 |
| 4. Sacredness | 53 | 28 | .020 |
| 5. Objectivity and reality | 63 | 18 | .011 |
| 6. Paradoxicality | 61 | 13 | .001 |
| 7. Alleged ineffability | 66 | 18 | .001 |
| 8. Transiency | 79 | 8 | .001 |
| 9. Persisting positive changes in attitude and behavior | 51 | 8 | .001 |
| A. Toward self | 57 | 3 | .001 |
| B. Toward others | 40 | 20 | .002 |
| C. Toward life | 54 | 6 | .011 |
| D. Toward the experience | 57 | 31 | .055 |
*Probability that the difference between experimental and
control scores was due to chance. (back)
TABLE II
RELATIVE COMPLETENESS* OF
VARIOUS CATEGORIES IN WHICH THERE
WAS
A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL
AND CONTROL GROUPS
| (1) | (2) | (3) |
|---|
| Closest approximation to the most complete and intense expression | Almost, but not quite, as complete or intense as (1) | Least complete or intense, though still a definite
difference from the control group |
| Internal Unity | External unity | Sense of sacredness |
| Transcendence of time and space | Objectivity and reality | Deeply felt positive mood (love) |
| Transiency | Alleged ineffability | Persisting positive changes in attitude and behavior toward others and the experience |
| Paradoxicality | Deeply felt positive mood (joy, blessedness, and peace) | |
| Persisting positive changes in attitude and behavior toward self and life | | |
* Based on qualitative score levels and agreement among the
three methods of measurement in comparing the scores of the
experimental versus the control group. (back)
|
