Mystical experience

Single-dose psilocybin produced rapid and sustained reductions in anxiety and depression, with mystical experience mediating the therapeutic effect.

double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial Sample size: 29

Psilocybin increased measures of mystical experience compared to methylphenidate, with volunteers rating the experience as personally and spiritually significant at 2 months.

double-blind study Sample size: 36

Doses of 20 and 30 mg/70 kg psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences in 72% of volunteers, with persisting positive effects on attitudes, mood, and behavior at 14 months.

randomized controlled trial Sample size: 18

High-dose psilocybin significantly increased Openness, and in participants who had mystical experiences, Openness remained higher than baseline more than a year later.

double-blind controlled study

At 14-month follow-up, 58% rated the psilocybin experience as among the five most personally meaningful and 67% as among the five most spiritually significant, with mystical experience playing a central role.

double-blind study with follow-up Sample size: 36

The MEQ30 reliably and validly measures mystical-type experiences, and its scores positively predict persisting changes in attitudes, behavior, and well-being.

validation study using pooled data from five laboratory experiments Sample size: 184

High-dose psilocybin combined with meditation produced enduring increases in prosocial attitudes and healthy psychological functioning at 6 months, mediated by mystical-type experience and practice rates.

randomized controlled trial Sample size: 75

Classic psychedelics show strong potential as therapeutics and as tools for studying mystical experiences and brain function.

integrative review

Psilocybin-occasioned mystical experience, rather than overall drug intensity, was linked to biologically verified smoking abstinence at 6-month follow-up.

open-label pilot study Sample size: 15

The 30-item Mystical Experience Questionnaire has a valid four-factor structure and distinguishes those who had a mystical experience from those who did not.

exploratory factor analysis with confirmatory factor analysis in a replication sample Sample size: 1602

Mystical experiences were associated with activation in multiple brain regions, including orbitofrontal, temporal, parietal, and prefrontal cortices.

observational cohort

Argues that mystical and religious experiences are caused by transient electrical microseizures in the temporal lobe, which can be triggered by existential trauma and reduce death anxiety.

theoretical or philosophical paper

Ten of twelve reviewed studies found a significant association between mystical experience and symptom reduction in psychedelic therapy for conditions including cancer-related distress, substance use disorder, and depressive disorders.

systematic review

Psilocybin can occasion complete mystical experiences in the majority of people studied under double-blind conditions, with enduring positive effects on mood, attitudes, and behavior.

review

Pharmacological and psychological actions of psychedelics appear to contribute differently to therapeutic effects depending on the pathology.

review

This is a protocol for a scoping review, so no findings are reported; it will map evidence on measuring psychedelic-occasioned mystical experience and its association with clinical outcomes.

scoping review protocol

Mystical-type experiences during ketamine-assisted psychotherapy appeared to play a meaningful role in therapeutic change, with greater gains following sessions with higher mystical experience scores.

case study Sample size: 1

Social media users articulate mystical experiences in detailed narratives shaped by community identity, challenging the traditional view that such experiences are inherently ineffable.

mixed-method analysis

Argues that in Rumi's Mathnawi, mystical experience is an inward, sensory knowing of the Beloved, where the soul becomes like the Divine without being identical to it.

theoretical or philosophical paper

This is a preregistration describing a planned study; no results are reported. The authors propose that concert context, including expectations, personality, and substance use, will influence awe, mystical-type experiences, and aesthetic chills.

preregistered observational field study

Argues that the psychology of mysticism is an ancient tradition of a 'science of the soul' that modern secular approaches risk distorting by reducing spiritual realities to psychological order.

theoretical or philosophical paper

The writings of Blessed Marcelina Darowska reveal mystical experiences—including visions, revelations, mystical marriages, and prophetic gifts—that place her among the great Christian mystics.

qualitative study

Classical metaphors in mystical texts are not merely aesthetic but are epistemic mechanisms that render ineffable spiritual experiences intelligible and constitute part of the experiential process itself.

qualitative descriptive-analytical study

Argues that Byzantine holy mountains were integral to the development of Eastern Christian mystical experience through their unique combination of physical isolation and spiritual symbolism.

historical analysis

Music in modern psychedelic-assisted therapy, traditional entheogenic rituals, and musically-induced peak experiences shows conflicting features in complexity, constancy, and tempo, likely due to differences in music's assumed role and the associated non-ordinary state of consciousness.

interdisciplinary literature review