Entheogenic Experience and Spirituality
Method & Theory in the Study of Religion December 17, 2020 DOI: 10.1163/15700682-12341512
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractEntheogen users report two distinct types of spiritual experience. One type resembles classic mystical experiences and is predicted by having a spiritual affiliation, motivation, and practice. The other type involves insight, positive feelings, and improved connections to others and nature, and is predicted only by spiritual motivation, not by affiliation or practices. These findings suggest competing conceptualizations of spirituality among users.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 319 |
| Population | Participants from the Cannabis and Psychedelics User Survey |
| Citations | 11 |
| Key finding | Two types of entheogenic spiritual experience were identified: a mystical-type predicted by spiritual affiliation, motivation, and practice, and an insight/connection type predicted only by spiritual motivation. |
Abstract
Abstract Spiritual experiences with entheogens have usually been studied as a form of mystical experiences. However, entheogen users have also reported less intense experiences that they refer to as spiritual experiences. Using data from the Cannabis and Psychedelics User Survey, this study analyzed the characteristics of such experiences in 319 participants. It found evidence of two types of entheogenic experience that may be called spiritual. The first involved mystical-type characteristics and was predicted in multivariate linear regression models by the spirituality of the participants, operationalized as a spiritual affiliation, motivation, and practice. The second type involved characteristics representing insight, positive feelings, and improved connections to other people and to nature. This type of entheogenic experience was predicted by spiritual motivation, but not by spiritual affiliation or practices. The article discusses the implications of these findings, which may indicate competing conceptualizations of spirituality among the participants in the study.