Entheogen Use in Spiritual Contexts

Bruce Sewick

3 Entheogen Use in Spiritual Contexts

This chapter will focus on psychedelics for spiritual growth or as part of religious ceremonies. The non-recreational use of psychedelics is denoted using the term “entheogen.” a term developed by a group of ethnobotanists and scholars of mythology. It roughly translates as “god within us”. The use of psychedelics in plant form and as part of religious rites might have preceded written spiritual texts. Ancient artifacts and rituals reflect a perceived connection between sacred plants and the divine. It is important to understand the role hallucinatory plants and the ecstatic-visionary state facilitated might have played in the conceptualization of the divine.

This ecstatic visionary state facilitated by psychedelics was suggested as a possible way to ease the pain of dying by Valentina Wasson, a Russian born pediatrician, because of her participation in a religious ceremony using psychedelic mushrooms in the 1950’s. Aldous Huxley, an English writer and philosopher, thought administering LSD to the dying would make the dying process more spiritual and less medical. He had his wife administer LSD intra-muscularly on his deathbed in 1963.

Research corroborated how powerful mystical experiences can be to relieve the existential distress around dying. As the psychedelic renaissance continues to unfold, these powerful mind-altering tools have shown they can also facilitate wellness. This will be the topic of discussion in future chapters.

A special thank you to Yva Neal, a dear friend and visionary artist for the use of her PowerPoints: “inSPOREational ART: Mushroom Art as an expression of mystical experience.”

Insporeational Art Powerpoint