RATIONALE: Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and other serotonergic hallucinogens can induce profound alterations of consciousness and mystical-type experiences, with reportedly long-lasting effects on subjective well-being and personality. METHODS: We investigated the lasting effects of a single dose of LSD (200 μg) that was administered in a laboratory setting in 16 healthy participants. The...
‘Altered states of consciousness’ discusses the states of consciousness during sleep, dreaming, hallucinations, out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, meditation, and after taking psychoactive drugs. Psychologist Charles Tart defines an altered state of consciousness (ASC) as ‘a qualitative alteration in the overall pattern of mental functioning, such that the experiencer feels his...
Amanita muscaria, the red fly agaric, is the most famous of all Amanita. The initial history of this fascinating mushroom dates back to at least the 13th century. The use of mushrooms began in antiquity and is associated with mysticism. The collection and consumption of mushrooms and other plants containing psychoactive substances is now very popular, especially among young people who are...
This chapter focuses on three themes: a life limited by illness, aesthetic experience and the return enhanced. The tension of Jane&s;s dying has been resolved as the rhythmic patterns of the lifeworld have been understood through the process of reflecting on the experience. A more recent sociological interpretation of Kant suggests that the aesthetic experience of cultural objects is...
This article provides an ethnographic account of Goth subculture within a major metropolitan city in the northeastern United States. We situate our study in the context of previous literature in nightlife and dance subcultures, including Delgado and Muñoz's work on Latin-American dance culture, Bailey's research on drag queen culture, Saldanha's study of Goa freaks, and the Goth studies of...
Strange-face illusions are produced when two individuals gaze at each other in the eyes in low illumination for more than a few minutes. Usually, the members of the dyad perceive numinous apparitions, like the other's face deformations and perception of a stranger or a monster in place of the other, and feel a short lasting dissociation. In the present experiment, the influence of the...
The Concept of Spiritual Emergency T here exists increasing evidence that many individuals experiencing episodes of nonordinary states of consciousness accompanied by various emotional, perceptual, and psychosomatic manifestations are undergoing an evolutionary crisis rather than suffering from a mental disease (Grof, 1985).The recognition of this fact has important practical and theoretical...
Efforts to present valid evidence for perennialist models do not withstand critical scrutiny.One strategy common to most versions of perennialism points to perceived patterns in reports of spiritual experiences, whether from traditional, clinical, or phenomenological accounts as evidence for such an approach; the shortcoming is that these same patterns are the basis for perennialist...
In reply to This discussion illustrates that perennialist perspectives are far from outmoded. I discuss the metaphysical aspects of my model, suggesting that there is no reason why transpersonal psychology should not address metaphysical issues, as long as they are secondary to phenomenological issues, and as long as they are based on evidence rather than wholly speculative. Attempts to exclude...
Yeats as a visionary poet displays the basic Kabalistic creative mind or the instinctual Zen self-reawakening insight; ignorant but wise, barbarian but civilized, beastly but non-intellectually spiritual, rough but pure, which can be compared with the mysterious power of the humming bird who experiences two conflicting states of torpor and freedom. To find his poetic “fornits” (mystic elves) or...