Journal of Psychedelic Studies
June 1, 2019
Michael Winkelman
63 citations
This introduction to the special issue reviews research that supports the hypothesis that psychedelics, particularly psilocybin, were central features in the development of religion. The greater response of the human serotonergic system to psychedelics than is the case for chimpanzees’ serotonergic receptors indicates that these substances were environmental factors that affected hominin...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
June 1, 2019
Matthew D Clark
22 citations
In this article, the origins of the cult of the ritual drink known as soma/haoma are explored. Various shortcomings of the main botanical candidates that have so far been proposed for this so-called “nectar of immortality” are assessed. Attention is brought to a variety of plants identified as soma/haoma in ancient Asian literature. Some of these plants are included in complex formulas and are...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
June 1, 2019
Jerry B. Brown, Julie M. Brown
6 citations
In light of new historical evidence regarding ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson’s correspondence with art historian Erwin Panofsky, this article provides an in-depth analysis of the presence of entheogenic mushroom images in Christian art within the context of the controversy between Wasson and philologist John Marco Allegro over the identification of a Garden of Eden fresco in the 12th century...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
June 1, 2019
Robert Beckstead, Bryce Blankenagel, Cody Noconi et al.
1 citation
Historical documents relating to early Mormonism suggest that Joseph Smith (1805–1844) employed entheogen-infused sacraments to fulfill his promise that every Mormon convert would experience visions of God and spiritual ecstasies. Early Mormon scriptures and Smith’s teachings contain descriptions consistent with using entheogenic material. Compiled descriptions of Joseph Smith’s earliest...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
June 1, 2019
Tom Hatsis
A commonly misunderstood area of Western psychedelic history involves psychoactive ointments that have become part of popular lore during the early modern and Renaissance eras. These substances amorphously considered as “flying ointments” have various histories. This paper addresses four separate histories regarding these beliefs: (a) one conveyed in the writings of anthropologist Michael...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
May 29, 2019
Meena Maillart-Garg, Michael Winkelman
21 citations
The essay proposes that entheogenic mushrooms and shamanic experiences are encoded in the Khajuraho Temples of India. Erotic sculptures of Khajuraho have statues with limbs depicted in strange positions, separated from the body or with orientations that are anatomically impossible. These represent dismemberment experiences typical of shamanic and mystical initiation, a phenomenon with...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
March 29, 2019
Tom Wolff, Simon Ruffell, Nigel Netzband et al.
41 citations
Aims This heuristic study reports observations on the phenomenology of ayahuasca experiences of nine foreign tourist participants of an ayahuasca retreat in Peru. Methods Narrative interviews, reflecting individual experiences after ayahuasca “night ceremony,” have been analyzed by qualitative content analysis using a data-driven strategy in order to extract themes and categories inherent in...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
March 7, 2019
Danny Nemu
10 citations
This article collects evidence from psychopharmacology, scripture, and archeology to explore several preparations for consumption described in the Old Testament: Manna, Showbread, the Holy Ointment, and the Tabernacle Incense. The Ointment and the Incense are herbal preparations used by the priestly caste to facilitate a direct experience of the Israelite God. A wide variety of psychoactive...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
March 1, 2019
Giordano Novak Rossi, Eduardo José Crevelin, Gabriela de Oliveira Silveira et al.
10 citations
Background and aims The psychoactive capacity of the alkaloid N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) has been known for decades, and its presence in beverages used in religious contexts around the world – such as ayahuasca – has attracted growing attention from the scientific community due to its possible anxiolytic and antidepressant effects. Mimosa hostilis, popularly known as jurema preta in Brazil,...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
February 25, 2019
Jenna Varley
4 citations
Psychedelics have been investigated for their therapeutic applications in end-of-life care as early as 1960. Recently, there have been four main groups conducting clinical trials for either lysergic acid diethylamide or psilocybin for the treatment of anxiety and depression in patients with terminal illnesses. The recent trials have higher methodological quality and demonstrate the profound...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
February 21, 2019
Zuzana Postránecká, Čestmír Vejmola, Filip Tylš
6 citations
Psychedelic research has been associated with the Czech Republic since the early 19th century and, after a long period of involuntary dormancy, it has recently gained new opportunities to follow up on its roots and evolve. This article briefly describes the history of psychedelic research in the Czech Republic, summarizes the role of the UN Drug Conventions, and discusses the Czech and...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
February 12, 2019
Genís Ona, Sebastián Troncoso
13 citations
Pain is the most prevalent symptom of a health condition, and it is inappropriately treated in many cases. Here, we present a case report in which we observe a long-lasting analgesic effect produced by changa, a psychedelic drug that contains the psychoactive N,N-dimethyltryptamine and ground seeds of Peganum harmala, which are rich in β-carbolines. We describe the case and offer a brief review...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
December 1, 2018
David Luke
20 citations
In a recent article in this journal, Dos Santos et al. (2018) report a case of ayahuasca use by a man with aphantasia. This account is the first such report of the use of a psychedelic agent by someone with aphantasia. Surprisingly, the case, SE, reported an improvement in their visual imagery following one particular instance of ayahuasca use. In support of Dos Santos et al.’s (2018) favored...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
November 22, 2018
Michael A. Winkelman
Doce’s book (translated title Drugs in Prehistory: Archaeological Evidence of the Use of Psychoactive Substances in Europe) has broader considerations going wellbeyond Europe. Doce notes that the contemporary societal debates about the use of psychoactive substances can be informed by the wide variety of botanical substances used as psychoactives across human history and prehistory. Doce notes...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
November 9, 2018
Tom Wolff, Torsten Passie
10 citations
The international distribution and commodification of ayahuasca has created virtual communicative realms in the Internet in which members intensively exchange personal narratives, advertisements, and beliefs about ayahuasca and its reputed native background. Common consumption standards and beliefs about ayahuasca have developed among western ayahuasca drinkers who are often only loosely...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
October 5, 2018
Elizabeth M. Nielson, Jeffrey Guss
104 citations
Clinical research on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is rapidly advancing in the USA, with two drugs, psilocybin and MDMA, progressing through a structure of FDA-approved trials on a trajectory toward Drug Enforcement Agency rescheduling for therapeutic use. Researcher’s and clinician’s personal use of psychedelics was cited as a potential confound in psychedelic research studies conducted...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
October 5, 2018
Orsolya Fehér
1 citation
Background and aims: This paper aims to shed light on the prevailing public narrative regarding psychedelics and the media's role in cultivating it. The study focuses on the four states of the Visegrad Alliance, whose members gained independence from the Soviet Union and later joined the European Union simultaneously. Thus, ominous substances were introduced to their drug markets and wider...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
July 25, 2018
Rafael G. Dos Santos, Scotty Enyart, José Carlos Bouso et al.
18 citations
Aphantasia ("blind imagination") is a poorly described condition with an uncertain etiology, characterized by reduced or lack of voluntary visual imagery. Preliminary evidence in humans suggests that hallucinogenic or psychedelic drugs that act as agonists of cortical 5-HT2A receptors [lysergic acid diethylamide, psilocybin, and dimethyltryptamine (DMT)] enhance visual imagery. Interview and...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
June 1, 2018
Natasha L. Mason, Kim P. C. Kuypers
27 citations
A substantial number of people worldwide suffer from mental health problems during their lifetime. First-line treatments are not effective for everybody. Recent studies suggest that psychedelic drugs have high therapeutic potential for a variety of mental disorders. This survey study aimed to assess the tendency of psychedelic users to self-medicate with psychedelics and to compare the...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
June 1, 2018
Thaddeus James Camlin, Donald Eulert, A. Thomas Horvath et al.
21 citations
This study examined the lived experience of individuals who underwent ibogaine treatment for an opioid use disorder. Semi-structured interview questions probed for potential changes in predetermined categories derived from a literature review. Participants' experiences with ibogaine were analyzed for commonalities and emergent themes. Categories that emerged revealed themes about subjective...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
May 10, 2018
Rick J. Strassman
9 citations
With an extreme range of terms for psychedelic drugsfrom "schizotoxic" to "entheogenic" -"psychedelic," nonetheless remains the most salient one.These substances manifest or disclose aspects of the mind of those who take them as well as the mind of those who study them.Proponents for the innumerable terms for these drugs are all able to adduce supportive evidence.Necessarily, this evidence is a...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
March 26, 2018
Michael Winkelman
42 citations
Psychedelic entity experiences are examined from perspectives of evolutionary psychology and neurophenomenology. Their similarities with other entity experiences illustrate the need for a general biological explanation of entity experiences. Mechanisms are proposed to involve innate modules, operators, and intelligences that underlie ordinary cognitive inferences and provide the basis for...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
March 21, 2018
Genís Ona
26 citations
This study aimed to clarify the influence of extra-pharmacological factors in the etiology of bad trips, a common adverse reaction related to the consumption of psychedelic drugs. A descriptive approach was adopted. The information was collected using a web-based survey. The survey respondents volunteered to participate based on the condition that they had suffered a bad trip in the past. This...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
November 1, 2017
Alan K. Davis, Joseph P Barsuglia, Austin-Marley Windham-Herman et al.
60 citations
Very few studies have reported the effectiveness of ibogaine as a treatment for chronic opioid use. Therefore, this study evaluated the acute subjective effects of ibogaine, outcomes on problematic opioid consumption, and the long-term associations with psychological functioning. Using online data collection, 88 patients who received ibogaine treatment in Mexico between 2012 and 2015 completed...
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
October 17, 2017
Jared Wildberger, Cassandra N. John, Robert M. Hallock
22 citations
This survey examined perceptions among college students about the potential medicinal benefits of hallucinogenic drugs. Current research and potential benefits include an ability to help anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction with hallucinogen-assisted psychotherapy. We devised and administered a survey on 124 students at two college campuses, one small private college in the...