Behavioral SciencesApril 30, 2026Dylan Briggs, Thomas B Sease, Ruthie Menou et al.
Mystical experiences are characterized by a profound sense of interconnectedness and transcendence of ordinary reality. These experiences can facilitate feelings of connectedness with oneself and others and have been documented as leading to significant positive changes in thoughts, emotions, and behavior. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the extent to which the four mindfulness...
Emerging evidence suggests psychedelic-assisted therapies ameliorate symptoms of psychopathology. However, less is known about how psychedelics influence positive psychological functioning (e.g., compassionate love, self-compassion, and life satisfaction). These constructs may be relevant in understanding how psychedelics exert their therapeutic effects, as they are central to both intra- and...
Scholars of religion have had a long-standing interest in the study of mystical experiences (Schmidt, 2003), dating back to the work of William James (James, 1902). James listed ineffability, noeti...
medRxiv Preprint ServerMarch 31, 2026Maia Mallevays, Louise Fuet, Michel Danon et al.1 citation
preprint
Esketamine is a fast-acting antidepressant drug which induces acute psychoactive effects. The most frequent is a dissociative state which seems unrelated to therapeutic efficacy. Other esketamine-induced effects, including psychedelic-like mystical experiences, have been poorly studied in terms of phenomenology and frequency, and may carry specific therapeutic relevance. In this study, we...
This article examines how religious experience is articulated through genre in the poetry of the seventeenth-century Ottoman Mawlawī shaykh Neshāṭī (d. 1674), focusing on the striking contrast between his ghazals and non-ghazal compositions. While Neshāṭī’s qaṣīdas, mathnawīs and other formal genres employ an explicit and direct religious language—addressing God, the Prophet, sacred figures,...
“And while my whole heart and all my desires were engrossed in prayer and heavenly things, suddenly, I know not how, I felt within a symphony of song, and I overheard a most delightful heavenly harmony, which remained in my mind. For straightway, while I meditated, my thoughts were turned into melody of song, and for meditation J, as it were, sang songs. And that music voiced itself even in my...
Background: Psychedelic therapies are gaining attention as tools to alleviate anxiety and depression across various clinical populations. However, the mechanisms behind psychedelics' therapeutic efficacy and the potential differences in how patients with certain diagnoses experience their subjective effects remain unknown. One commonly suggested mediator of positive outcomes across psychedelics...
A mystical experience typically includes feelings of unity and heightened connection, an enhanced positive mood, the sensation of transcending time and space, and ineffability. They are understood as both common, significantly impactful for individuals who have them and can occur under several circumstances. The rise of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has seen an increased understanding of...
ABSTRACT: O. Rodionov recently discussed the work of three commentators on a much disputed passage in the Ladder of John Climacus, namely Michael Psellos, the Patriarch Photios, and an anonymous scholiast. The purpose of this article is to present arguments in favour of identifying that scholiast as Elias of Crete, the author of an extensive commentary on the Ladder. KEYWORDS: Rodionov,...
Findings indicate a "mindset-over-molecule" pattern wherein psychological context ("set") is more strongly associated with psychedelic outcomes than substance type alone.