Altered States of Consciousness and New Horizons of the Sacred

The article examines the varied and contradictory discourse surrounding altered states of consciousness and the "emerging scientific paradigm" that claims these states can restore transcendental meaning and reconnect humans to sacred reality. The psychedelic movement includes approaches ranging from the use of psychoactive substances advocated by figures like Aldous Huxley, Terence McKenna, and Timothy Leary to yogic breathing practices promoted by Stanislav Grof. Despite their differences, proponents agree that altered states of consciousness provide access to cosmic sacred reality, making the discourse inherently ambiguous.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The article studies the complex and rather equivocal discourse set around the altered states of consciousness and so-called “emerging scientific paradigm” which claims to return to human existence a certain supreme transcendental meaning that could help rebuilding a universal symbolic space, and thus return a man himself to the sacred reality. The psychedelic trend unites concepts and approaches that differ significantly from each other both in their degree of proximity to academic science and in their conclusions regarding the dominant mental paradigm. However, representatives of this trend, despite all the differences, stand together for that the so-called altered states of consciousness are the key to comprehending the cosmic reality of the sacred. The technique for achieving these states varies from the use of semi-legal and illegal psychoactive substances (A. Huxley, T. McKenna, T. Leary) to yogic breathing practices (S. Grof) what makes the studied discourse evidently ambiguous. Keywords—altered states of consciousness; anthropology; dominator cultures; ecological thinking; human evolution; nature; partnership cultures; the sacred; transcendence