Nova Religio The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions
February 1, 2020
Christopher Partridge
119 citations
Psychedelic cultures in the West often link inner consciousness with perceptions of extraterrestrial outer space. Terence McKenna, a key psychedelic thinker since the 1960s, synthesized ideas from esotericism, shamanism, and science fiction to build an occult theory called psychedelic ufology. This article argues that McKenna was deeply influenced by Carl Jung, and that this Jungian foundation shapes much of later psychedelic ufology.
Oxford University Press eBooks
May 24, 2018
Christopher Partridge
34 citations
Since the late eighteenth century, many Western thinkers and writers have used psychoactive substances to seek transcendence, meaning, and mystical states. The book traces this history through figures such as Thomas De Quincey, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Humphry Davy, Charles Baudelaire, William James, Aldous Huxley, and Timothy Leary, among others. It covers the Romantic fascination with opium, the discovery of anesthetics, psychiatric and religious interest in hashish, the use of mescaline and hallucinogenic fungi, and later LSD. Central to the account is how drugs have been employed to induce nonordinary realities, access gnosis, and lift users out of everyday ennui and pain, despite rising addiction levels.
Oxford University Press eBooks
May 24, 2018
Christopher Partridge
2 citations
The final chapter examines post-1960s developments in the study of shamanism, focusing on the ideas of Carlos Castaneda and Terence McKenna, both shaped by the psychedelic revolution. It discusses the growing tendency to frame contemporary indigenous and ancient shamanic cultures as psychedelic cultures. Since the late nineteenth century, interest in psychoactive plant use within indigenous religious contexts has increased, significantly stimulated by R. Gordon Wasson's theories.
International Journal for the Study of New Religions
February 20, 2017
Christopher Partridge
1 citation
Aleister Crowley's drug use, particularly his heroin addiction and incorporation of psychoactive substances into his occult practices, was a more significant force in his life than previously recognized. He discussed psychological effects of drugs, commented on drug-related social issues, critiqued drug legislation, published drug literature, and translated Charles Baudelaire's "Poem of Hashish." The article suggests his addiction made drugs a central influence on his thought and religious experiences.
Oxford Scholarship Online
May 24, 2018
Christopher Partridge
During the early nineteenth century, opium held significant cultural and literary importance, particularly within the Romantic movement. This chapter examines how Thomas De Quincey's "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater" and the work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge shaped Romantic theories about dreams and induced altered states of consciousness. It also explores how Romantic writers' interest in opium's geographical and cultural origins connected to Orientalist perspectives, linking drug use to broader colonial and exoticizing attitudes toward the East.