Entheogenic Experience and Spirituality

Introduction

Psychedelics (also referred to as entheogens when used in spiritual contexts) have a long history of research into their spiritual or mystical effects, with classic work reporting profound mystical‑type experiences after substances such as mescaline, psilocybin and DMT. Much of that literature has equated entheogenic spirituality with intense, ineffable mystical experiences defined across domains such as unity, transcendence, noetic quality, sacredness and deep positive affect. More recent qualitative work, however, has suggested that many entheogen users describe less intense experiences—characterised by insight, peace, and connectedness—that they nonetheless consider spiritual, challenging the assumption that entheogenic spirituality is synonymous with full‑blown mystical episodes. This exploratory study, using data from the Cannabis and Psychedelics User Survey, aimed to identify the characteristic features of entheogenic experiences and to examine which user characteristics predict two empirically derived types of experience that participants themselves described as spiritual. Specifically, the investigators sought to determine whether indicators of spirituality (motivations for use, religious/spiritual affiliation, and ongoing spiritual practices) and personality traits predict (a) mystical‑type experiences and (b) experiences of insight, positivity and connectedness, and thereby to clarify whether different conceptualisations of spirituality coexist among entheogen users.