The article examines the authenticity of mystical experiences within the context of craniosacral therapy and its theological implications. It employs aphenomenological method to analyze the personal testimony of the author, who experienced atranscendental experience during treatment, with this been interpreted as an encounter with God. The study examines how craniosacral therapy can create the...
This paper systematically investigates psychoactive substances and their ritual consumption practices within the Daoist cultivation tradition. As a category of Daoist ingestive (fushi 服食) culture, these substances, derived either from specific botanicals or through artificial synthesis, are ceremonially administered to induce mystical experiences in practitioners, ultimately facilitating their...
AANA journalApril 1, 2026Allan Lovern, M. Watson, A. Hollis et al.
Resident registered nurse anesthetists (RRNAs) face high levels of depression, anxiety, and stress (DAS) due to the academic, clinical, and financial demands of graduate anesthesia education. Nature-based mindfulness, which integrates nature exposure with mindfulness practices, has shown promise in reducing psychological distress but remains underexplored among RRNAs. This single-arm pilot,...
Abstract This study explores spiritual experiences in online video games and dreams from the perspective of analytical psychology, focusing on how such experiences activate the archetype of initiation in adolescents. Method: The present study adopted a Jungian psychological perspective to analyse symbols and psychological processes emerging in dreams that occurred after interaction with video...
This paper develops a quadripartite panpsychist theory of shamanism(s). This fourpart framework revives and combines four theories: (i) mystical constructivism, (ii) role-taking theory, and (iii) mental imagery cultivation as a cultural practice founded upon (iv) a panpsychist philosophy of ultimate reality. I argue that this quadripartite model allows for the recognition of something ‘real’ in...
Mystical experiences are commonly described in the context of psychedelic use and other forms of expanded states of consciousness. Although the Mystical Orientation Scale Revised (MOSR) has been used in international studies, no Brazilian Portuguese version had been tested to date. This exploratory study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and examine the psychometric properties of the MOSR...
This paper develops a comparative philosophical analysis of minimal-duality and “bare” consciousness as introspective limit-concepts—notions that emerge when reflexive awareness approaches the edges of self-representation and differentiation. By examining selected traditions (Neoplatonism, Advaita Vedānta, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Taoism, and Kabbalah) as illustrative case studies rather than an...
Mystical dynamics—the notion that mystical oneness may unfold involving ego disintegration, renewal, and luminous light—has been discussed anecdotally by psychedelic researchers and therapists but has not yet been empirically examined in controlled settings. This study investigated the occurrence and dose-dependency of mystical dynamics in healthy participants after administration of...
Major depressive disorder remains a leading cause of disability worldwide, and current antidepressants are limited by delayed onset and incomplete response. Building on advances driven by ketamine research, renewed interest has focused on classical serotonergic psychedelics—particularly psilocybin, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), 5-methoxy-DMT, and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)—which, under...
This chapter explores the many ways Mexico became central in Ginsberg’s poetic evolution. Inspired by the example of his mentor, William S. Burroughs, Ginsberg visited several archaeological sites in Mexico such as Palenque, which inspired one of his most successful early poems, “Siesta in Xbalba.” Ginsberg traveled widely throughout the country and continued the mystical quest which began with...