Survey of subjective “God encounter experiences”: Comparisons among naturally occurring experiences and those occasioned by the classic psychedelics psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, or DMT
This survey study (n=4258) compares natural (non-drug) and psychedelic (LSD, psilocybin, ayahuasca, DMT) reported God encounter experiences and finds very similar descriptions. For half of the participants the experience qualified as a full mystical experience, more than 67% of participants who identified as atheists didn't do so after the experience (e.g. became agnostic).
Authors
- Roland Griffiths
- Matthew Johnson
- Alan Davis
Published
Abstract
Naturally occurring and psychedelic drug-occasioned experiences interpreted as personal encounters with God are well described but have not been systematically compared. In this study, five groups of individuals participated in an online survey with detailed questions characterizing the subjective phenomena, interpretation, and persisting changes attributed to their single most memorable God encounter experience (n = 809 Non-Drug, 1184 psilocybin, 1251 lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), 435 ayahuasca, and 606 N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT)). Analyses of differences in experiences were adjusted statistically for demographic differences between groups. The Non-Drug Group was most likely to choose God as the best descriptor of that which was encountered while the psychedelic groups were most likely to choose Ultimate Reality. Although there were some other differences between non-drug and the combined psychedelic group, as well as between the four psychedelic groups, the similarities among these groups were most striking. Most participants reported vivid memories of the encounter experience, which frequently involved communication with something having the attributes of being conscious, benevolent, intelligent, sacred, eternal, and all-knowing. The encounter experience fulfilled a priori criteria for being a complete mystical experience in approximately half of the participants. More than two-thirds of those who identified as atheist before the experience no longer identified as atheist afterwards. These experiences were rated as among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant lifetime experiences, with moderate to strong persisting positive changes in life satisfaction, purpose, and meaning attributed to these experiences. Among the four groups of psychedelic users, the psilocybin and LSD groups were most similar and the ayahuasca group tended to have the highest rates of endorsing positive features and enduring consequences of the experience. Future exploration of predisposing factors and phenomenological and neural correlates of such experiences may provide new insights into religious and spiritual beliefs that have been integral to shaping human culture since time immemorial.
Research Summary of 'Survey of subjective “God encounter experiences”: Comparisons among naturally occurring experiences and those occasioned by the classic psychedelics psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, or DMT'
Introduction
Salient personal experiences interpreted as encounters with God, gods, or emissaries of God have long been described in religious history and overlap in many respects with mystical-type experiences. Earlier empirical research has focused on naturally occurring mystical experiences and on psychedelic-occasioned mystical states, including laboratory studies showing that psilocybin can reliably occasion mystical experiences measured with instruments such as the Hood M Scale and the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30). Debate persists among scholars as to whether drug-occasioned experiences should be considered genuine religious or mystical experiences, in part because classical definitions of mystical experience sometimes exclude visions and voice phenomena. Griffiths and colleagues conducted a large cross-sectional internet survey to characterise and directly compare single, memorable God encounter experiences that were either naturally occurring (non-drug) or occurred after ingestion of a classic psychedelic (psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, or DMT). The investigators aimed to describe demographic and phenomenological features of these encounters, test whether they meet a priori criteria for a complete mystical experience (MEQ30 ≥60% on all four subscales), compare interpretation and persisting consequences between non-drug and psychedelic-occasioned encounters, and explore differences among the four psychedelic substances.
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Study Details
- Study Typeindividual
- Journal
- Compounds
- Authors
- APA Citation
Griffiths, R. R., Hurwitz, E. S., Davis, A. K., Johnson, M. W., & Jesse, R. (2019). Survey of subjective “God encounter experiences”: Comparisons among naturally occurring experiences and those occasioned by the classic psychedelics psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, or DMT. PLOS ONE, 14(4), e0214377. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214377
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