God’s Pharmacy: On the Use of Entheogens in Jewish Mystical Traditions
Anna Sierka
January 13, 2025 DOI: 10.70423/0001.05 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Keywords | Judaism Pharmacy Religious studies Theology Family medicine |
| Key points | Argues that the marking nut (baldhur) exemplifies blurred lines between medicine and poison in Jewish spiritual traditions, and that Walter Benjamin's intoxication trials attempted to revive this recondite pharmacology. |
Abstract
Building on Derrida's essay Plato's Pharmacy, the current article examines sacred versus profane illuminations within the spiritual realm of Judaism.As exemplified by the marking nut (baldhur), I survey exoteric-curative and esoteric-altered states of consciousness inducing deployments of this medicinal plant fruit.Retracing the veiled pharmacopoeias that blur the lines between medicine and poison, I point to Walter Benjamin's later intoxication trials, which attempted to revive this recondite pharmacology.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |