The use of psychedelics to treat various conditions is increasingly being discussed, but the spiritual side effects are actually rarely mentioned. Now it appears that, particularly when using the psychedelic brew ayahuasca, a vast number of “supernatural” and “divine” experiences are involved. Now, scientists from PLOS One have assessed the effects on more than 4,000 psychedelic users—with rather remarkable results…
"25 percent of ayahuasca users were atheists before use. Only 7 percent of those same people remained so afterward."
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Contact with divine beings
In the article, psychiatry and neuroscience researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine describe the shifts these people experienced following drug-induced and non-drug-induced encounters with “God,” a “higher power,” an “ultimate reality,” or contact with “divine beings.”
Through anonymous online surveys, 3,476 people reported supernatural encounters they had while using psilocybin (magic mushrooms and magic truffles), LSD, ayahuasca, or DMT—the active ingredient in the Amazonian brew ayahuasca. In addition, another 809 people reported having encounters with supernatural or divine forces without using such substances, but the survey did not collect information on what apparently caused their experiences (though we are very curious about that).
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No longer an atheist
One of the most striking findings of the scientific journal is that a significant group of people who identified as atheists abandoned that identity after a psychedelic encounter with something that felt greater than themselves. Twenty-one percent of psychedelic users reported being atheists before their experience, while only 8 percent identified as atheists after use. The largest absolute change in atheist status occurred following mystical encounters induced by DMT: 25 percent were atheists before their experience, compared to just 7 percent afterward.
For Robert Jesse, a Johns Hopkins co-researcher on the study, the new findings confirm what he and his colleagues have learned about the important role of mystical experiences in psychedelic therapies. “From one perspective, it’s not surprising when people who previously identified as atheists take the time to report an encounter with God—whatever you want to call it—and then declare that they no longer identify as atheists,” Jesse tells Inverse, an American media outlet.
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Mystical experiences for a better mindset
The team of scientists had previously studied the role of psychedelic experiences in the treatment of terminally ill patients. They discovered that mystical experiences with psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms and magic truffles, could offer many patients long-lasting positive psychological effects. In the new article, the team noted that these lasting benefits occur regardless of whether a mystical experience takes place under the influence of psychedelic drugs or spontaneously, i.e., without such substances. In other words: mystical experiences in and of themselves can have enormous positive psychological effects.
And the studies confirm this as well. Although the drug group found their experiences, on average, more challenging and psychologically insightful than the non-drug group, most members of both groups reported that the encounters they had with these “supernatural” beings were among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives.
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