Arise, like He did!
Easter is coming, and Spring is here; we are now in a time of renewal, rebirth and resurrection.
Every year at this period, I think about the famous Marsh Chapel Experiment.
This was the first experimental study on psychedelic-induced mystical experiences, composing Walter Pahnke’s PhD thesis under the supervision of Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert.
A group of 10 students (out of a cohort of 20) were given a solid dose of psilocybin-containing mushrooms, without ethics-board approval, during the 1962 Good Friday mass at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel.
Keep in mind that psychedelics were still legal at the time of this study.
In brief, the vast majority of the students reported strong mystical-like experiences, and scored significantly higher than the control group on the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30) developed by Pahnke, leading the researchers to conclude that psilocybin could reliably facilitate mystical experiences in spiritual contexts.
I like to view this study as the scientific re-discovery of entheogens (substances facilitating spiritual experiences), and the clandestine permission for scientists to dive again into these abstract realms, which have been condemned as heresy by the Church and as baseless superstitions by the scientific orthodoxy that emerged from modernity.
This experiment was nevertheless a double-edged sword.
The genius behind this project morphed and transformed its primary investigators (Leary and Alpert) into over-hyped mad scientists, whom, despite their pioneering ideas, significantly contributed to the negative vision of psychedelics by dismissing the University’s ethical warnings, their professional responsibilities, and encouraging unexamined drug use in students and the general public.
Not a good look.
This, in fact, led to their termination from Harvard a year later, and started a change of social sentiment towards psychedelics that, combined with other socio-political factors, led to their overarching prohibition.
Why am I mentioning this?
Well, because insights, rebirth and renewal, as exciting as they are, have to be approached carefully and with discernment if they are to transform our lives for the best.
We know all too well what happens when overzealous people fly too close to the sun.
Re-discovering that psychedelics can reliably facilitate mystical experiences when taken in a spiritual/religious context is extremely exciting, but disregarding ethics and encouraging potentially dangerous behaviors ends in self-sabotage, and in a disservice to society and to the generations who have worked with those plants.
So in this time of renewal and rebirth, let this be a reminder to hold on to the insights discovered during Lent, and to continue riding that wave, not as a permanent success to take for granted, but as a never-ending process that ought to be made sustainable over the long term.
Temptations and distractions will always exist, so ask yourself, what should you be careful about?
What could make you revert back to your old ways?
How will your insights fit into the new you?
What should you do, to carve these positive changes upon a stone?
In the psychedelic sphere, we call that integration, a long process of reviewing one’s experiences to extract meaningful insights and taking concrete steps to live them out.
It is by no means an easy or linear process; it requires constant self-awareness and discipline.
This is as much a reminder to you, my dear reader, as it is to myself.
One day at a time, one step at a time.
And when we take a step back, let’s also take two forward.
Safe journey
References
Pahnke, W. N. (1963). Drugs and mysticism: An analysis of the relationship between psychedelic drugs and the mystical consciousness: A thesis (thesis). Drugs and mysticism: an analysis of the relationship between psychedelic drugs and the mystical consciousness: a thesis. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Wikipedia contributors. (2024, March 27). Marsh Chapel Experiment. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 04:17, March 29, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marsh_Chapel_Experiment&oldid=1215854339
