September 30, 2025
Thierry Zarcone
This book is a unique attempt by historians, anthropologists and specialists of different religions and esoteric trends to investigate the mental and physical ‘techniques’ for obtaining an ‘experience’ of the Absolute or the Sacred. Cognitive techniques include prayers or litanies practised in different ways, through repetition (Sufi dhikr, Christian Hesychasm, yoga) or motion (Sufi dance),...
St Tikhon’s University Theological Faculty Review
September 30, 2025
P. Khondzinskii
Russian theology of the early 20th century manifests itself as the intersection of many heterogeneous trends. Of these trends, we will highlight two: a keen interest in the legacy of St. Augustine and the problem of mystical (religious) experience, which was actualized both by the general desire to overcome “scholastic approaches” in theology, and by scientific and psychological developments of...
Psychology and Education: A Multidisciplinary Journal
September 29, 2025
Shiela Marie Ranque-Solera
Apart from being hailed as the country's first UNESCO Global Geopark, Bohol is also recognized for its efforts to preserve its rich cultural heritage despite adapting to modernization. This study uses discourse analysis to analyze the dominant endemic cultural heritage featured in Bol-anon narratives using Folklore Theory and Post-Colonial Theory. The study reveals that healing arts are...
Brazilian Journal of Science
September 29, 2025
Pinelopi Vlotinou, Konstantinos Christodoulou, Anna Tsiakiri et al.
Classical psychedelics encompass psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and mescaline and are psychoactive substances that primarily function as agonists at the serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors (5-HT). In the immediate term, they modify perception, cognition, emotional state, social processing, and introspection, leading to a subjective mystical...
BMC Psychology
September 26, 2025
Mahir Akbudak, Hasan Belli, Hasan Gökçay
This study is concerned with relationships between childhood trauma history, dissociative experiences, clinical phenomenology of Jinn-Possession Psychosis (JPP), and schizophrenia in an Islamic cultural context. Researchers have contacted local traditional and spiritual healers based in a city in the Southeast region of the Republic of Turkey. Traditional healers have contacted us with patients...
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 25, 2025
Jacob W. Glazier, Sean O’donnell
ABSTRACT This essay explores the conceptual and philosophical complexities surrounding ayahuasca use, focusing on its ability to reveal ghosts through the lens of hauntology. Ayahuasca, a psychoactive brew traditionally used in shamanic rituals, is known to evoke profound experiences involving spirits, mystical entities, and transformative states of consciousness. The brew's active compound,...
Experiment
September 24, 2025
Dennis Ioffe
This essay discusses the unique interplay between mushrooms and Russian Conceptualism, situating the mycological theme within the broader framework of Second Avant-garde aesthetics and socio-political critique. Russian artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Ilya Kabakov, Andrei Monastyrsky, and others embedded mushroom imagery into their works as a metaphorical device transcending mere visual...
Method & Theory in the Study of Religion
September 22, 2025
Alberto Cavallarin
2 citations
I take “neo-perennialists” to share the following, minimal claim: there exists a cross-cultural category of experiences that can be defined as “mystical”. I first clarify the neo-perennialist project and defend its overall feasibility. I then criticize the narrow focus on mystical experiences that has characterized much neo-perennialist research, and research based on the above-mentioned core...
Frontiers in Psychology
September 15, 2025
Judith Hooper, Jarrod M. Ellingson, Kent E. Hutchison
2 citations
Introduction Aesthetic experiences under psychedelics are often described as vivid, emotionally powerful, and meaningful, yet they remain under-measured in psychometric research. This study aimed to refine and validate the Psychedelic Aesthetic Experience Questionnaire (PAEQ), a novel instrument designed to assess the aesthetic dimensions of acute psychedelic experiences. Methods A total of 365...
Research Square
September 12, 2025
Christina Chwyl, Angelica Spata, Will Lucas et al.
preprint
Abstract Background Self-transcendent and mystical experiences may be key mechanisms underlying psychedelics’ therapeutic effects, yet how these experiences differ across substances remains unclear. This study compared mystical and self-transcendent experiences across psilocybin, 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and cannabis in a diverse, community-based sample, while accounting for...