BY ITS FRUITS? MYSTICAL AND VISIONARY STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS OCCASIONED BY ENTHEOGENS

Clinical trials on entheogens, notably at Johns Hopkins University and sponsored by the Council for Spiritual Practices, are reshaping psychological studies of religion. The author argues that this research aligns with William James's pragmatic approach in the psychology of religion, which evaluates religious practices by their practical benefits. Concerns that entheogen-induced religious experiences threaten the integrity of religious communities are largely unfounded. However, the research poses risks of colonizing religious life and commodifying its practices, as well as significant individual harm from entheogen use, warranting ethical scrutiny.

Study at a glance

Abstract

A new era has emerged in research on entheogens largely due to clinical trials conducted at Johns Hopkins University and similar studies sponsored by the Council for Spiritual Practices. In these notes and queries, I reflect on implications of these developments for psychological studies of religion and on what this research may mean for Christian churches in the United States. I conclude that the aims and methods of this research fit well within Jamesian efforts of contemporary psychology of religion to assess religious practices by their fruits for life. Furthermore, some communitarian religious concerns that religious experiences occasioned by entheogens pose risks to the integrity of religious community are shown to be largely unfounded. However, it is suggested that certain risks for religious life posed by all investigations/interventions by knowledge experts—in particular, the colonization of the religious life world and the commodification of its practices—also attend these developments for Christian churches. Additionally, risks of individual harm in the use of entheogens appear to be significant and, therefore, warrant earnest ethical study.