Psilocybin Mushrooms and Religion

Selected Literature Related to Religious Use of Psilocybin Mushrooms

John S. Uebersax PhDBrussels, Belgium

18 November, 2008

jsuebersax@gmail.comsatyagraha.wordpress.com

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom:

and with all thy getting get understanding. (Prov 4:7)

Contents:

Preface.............................................................................................................2Books and Chapters.........................................................................................3Articles and Talks............................................................................................7Reports..........................................................................................................10Legal/Policy..................................................................................................10

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Psilocybin Mushrooms and Religion

Selected Literature Related to Religious Use of Natural Entheogens

Preface

Government agencies and the popular press present use of psilocybin mushrooms as an exclusively recreational phenomenon, and one mainly associated with young adults. However, even a casual review of the related literature supplies a different picture: that modern use of these mushrooms occurs often, and perhaps even usually, in connection with a serious and disciplined search for religious, spiritual, and transcendent experiences.

Lacking empirical studies of the motives and practices of modern users of psilocybin mushrooms, this literature has special importance. Along with other evidence -- including (a) historical use of entheogenic1 substances for religious purposes, (b) current use of such substances by recognized religions, such as the Native American Church, and (c) recent scientific studies supporting the claim that chemicals in these substances may promote valid transcendent psychological experiences -- this literature provides a strong a priori argument that psilocybin mushrooms are often used today for valid religious purposes. Therefore, while irresponsible use does occur, that cannot be the only consideration in formulating social policy.

Any just social policy, in order to protect the essential civil right to free religious expression, must at least consider the issue. This requires that public health and law enforcement officials engage experts in other areas -- theology, philosophy, psychology, anthropology, sociology and history, among others. Failure to do so is inconsistent with the principles of a just and free society.

* * *

The following is intended as a selected bibliography on related to subject of religious and spiritual use of psilocybin mushrooms. An effort has been made to select from the larger set of available literature that which best adheres to traditional standards of science and scholarship.

1 Definable as 'manifesting the divine with'.

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Psilocybin Mushrooms and Religion

Books and Chapters

Akers BP. The Sacred Mushrooms of Mexico: Assorted Texts. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2006.

Aguirre, José Carlos. De la psiquedelia a la cultura enteogénica. Madrid: Amargord Ediciones, 2007.

Badiner, Alan H. (ed.). Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2002.

Ball, Martin W. Mushroom Wisdom: How Shamans Cultivate Spiritual Consciousness. Berkeley: Ronin Press, 2006

Castaneda, Carlos. The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge. Berkeley: University of California, 1968.

Clark, Walter Houston. Chemical Ecstasy: Psychedelic Drugs and Religion. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1969.

Clark, Walter Houston. The psychedelics and religion. In: Bernard Aaronson and Humphry Osmond (eds.), Psychedelics: The Uses and Implications of Hallucinogenic

Drugs. London: Hogarth Press, 1971.

Clark, Walter Houston. et al. Religious Experience: Its Nature and Function in the

Human Psyche. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 1973.

Dobkin de Rios, M. Hallucinogens: Cross-Cultural Perspectives. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1984.

Escohotado, Antonio. A Brief History of Drugs: From the Stone Age to the Stoned Age. Park Street Press, 1999.

de Félice, Philippe. Poisons Sacrés, Ivresses Divines: Essai sur Quelques Formes

Inférieurs de la Mystique. Paris: Albin Michel, 1936.

Estrada, Álvaro. Vida de María Sabina: la sabia de los hongos. Mexico City: Siglo Veintiuno, 1977. (English translation: H. Munn, 1981)

Fericgla, Josep Maria. El Hongo y la Génesis de las Culturas. Barcelona: Los Libros de la Liebre de Marzo, 1994.

Forte, Robert (ed.). Entheogens and the Future of Religion. San Francisco: Council on Spiritual Practices, 1997.

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Psilocybin Mushrooms and Religion

Furst, Peter T. (ed.). Flesh of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Hallucinogens. New York: Praeger, 1972.

Furst, Peter T. Hallucinogens and Culture. Novato, CA: Chandler & Sharp, 1976.

Grinspoon, Lester, Bakalar, James B. Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered. New York: Basic Books, 1979.

Grinspoon, Lester & James B. Bakalar. Psychedelic drugs in the twentieth century. In: Lester Grinspoon & James B. Bakalar (eds.), Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered (Ch. 3). New York: Basic Books, 1979.

Grob, C. Hallucinogens: A Reader. New York: Tarcher/Putnam, 2001.

Grob, Charles S. & Walsh, Roger (eds.). Higher Wisdom: Eminent Elders Explore the

Continuing Impact of Psychedelics. State University of New York Press, 2005.

Halifax, Joan. Shamanic Voices: A Survey Of Visionary Narratives. New York: Penguin, 1991.

Harner, Michael J. (ed.). Hallucinogens and Shamanism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973.

Harpignies, J. P. (ed.). Visionary Plant Consciousness: The Shamanic Teachings of the

Plant World. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2007.

Harris, Louis S. (ed). Hallucinogens and religion: historical to scientific perspectives. Proceedings of the 63rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. National Institute on Drug Abuse Research Monograph 182. Washington DC, 2001.

Hillman, D. C. A. The Chemical Muse: Drug Use and the Roots of Western Civilization. New York: Dunne Books/St Martin's Press, 2008.

Houston, Jean., Masters, Robert E. L. The experimental induction of religious-type experiences. In: J. White (ed.), The Highest State of Consciousness. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1972.

Huxley, Aldous. The Doors of Perception. London: Chatto & Windus, 1954.

Le Barre, Weston. Hallucinogens and the shamanic origins of religion. In: P. T. Furst (ed.), Flesh of the Gods. New York: Praeger, 1972.

Letcher, Andy. Shroom: A Cultural History Of The Magic Mushroom. New York:HarperCollins, 2007.

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Liggenstorfer, Roger; Rätsch, Christian. María Sabina: Botin der Heiligen Pilze. Freiburg: Nachtschattenverlag, 1996.

López Delgado, José Luis. Plantas maestras. Guía de uso de enteógenos. Natem, 2008.

Masters, Robert E. L., Houston, Jean. The Varieties Of Psychedelic Experience. New York: Dell, 1966.

Metzner Ralph. Teonanacatl: Sacred Mushroom of Visions. El Verano, CA: Four Trees, 2004.

Ott, Jonathan. Pharmacotheon: Entheogenic Drugs, Their Plant Sources and History. 2nd ed. Natural Products Company, 1993.

Pahnke,Walter N. Drugs and mysticism. In: J. White (ed.), The Highest State of

Consciousness. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1972.

Pinchbeck, Daniel. Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of

Contemporary Shamanism. New York: Broadway, 2003.

Puharich, Andrija. The Sacred Mushroom: Key to the Door of Eternity. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday, 1974 (1959).

Roberts, Thomas B. (ed.). Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on Entheogens and

Religion. San Franciso: Council on Spiritual Practices, 2001. Roberts, Thomas B., & Jesse, Robert. N. Recollections of the Good Friday experiment: an interview with Huston Smith. In: Grob, Charles S. (ed.) Hallucinogens: A Reader. New York: Tarcher, 2002. (Reprinted from: Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. Vol. 29(2): 99-104, 1997.)

Roberts, Thomas B. Academic and religious freedom in the study of the mind. In: Robert Forte (ed.), Entheogens and the Future of Religion (ch. 11). San Francisco: Council on Spiritual Practices, 1997; second edition, 2000.

Roberts, Thomas B. Chemical input, religious output--entheogens: a pharmatheology sampler. In: Patrick McNamara (ed.), The Psychology of Religious Experience. Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood, 2006.

Rothenberg, Jerome. María Sabina: Selections. Berkeley: University of California, 2003.

Rubio, Enrique González. Conversaciones con María Sabina y Otros Curanderos

Hongos Sagrados. Mexico: Ed. Cruz O., 1992.

Sandford, J. In Search of the Magic Mushroom. Clarkson N. Porter. New York, 1973.

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Salman, D. H., and Prince, R. H. (eds.) Do Psychedelics Have Religious Implications?

(Proceedings of the Third Annual Conference of the R. M. Bucke Society, October 1967, Pierrefonds, Quebec). Montreal: R. M. Bucke Society, 1967.

Schultes, Richard E; Hofmann, Albert; Rätsch, Christian. Plants of the Gods: Their

Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers. 2nd ed. Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press, 2001.

Smith, Huston. Cleansing the Doors of Perception: The Religious Significance of

Entheogenic Plants and Chemicals. 3rd ed. Sentient Publications, 2003.

Smith, Huston. Do drugs have religious import? A thirty-five year retrospect. In: Thomas B. Roberts (ed.), Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on Entheogens and

Religion. Ch. 2. San Franciso: Council on Spiritual Practices, 2001.

Spess, David. Soma: The Divine Hallucinogen. Rochester, VT: Park Street, 2000.

Strassman, Rick J. DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 2000.

Wasson, R. Gordon. Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1968.

Wasson, R. Gordon; Hofmann, Albert; Ruck Carl A. P. The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling

the Secret of the Mysteries. New York: Harcourt Brace & Jovanovich, 1978.

Wasson, R. Gordon. The Wondrous Mushroom: Mycolatry in Mesoamerica. McGraw-Hill Book Co. New York, 1980.

Wasson, R. Gordon; Kramrisch, S.; Ott, Jonathan; Ruck, Carl A.P. Persephone’s Quest:

Entheogens and the Origins of Religion. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1986.

Watts, Alan. The Joyous Cosmology: Adventures in the Chemistry of Consciousness. New York: Pantheon Books, 1962.

Watts, Alan. The new alchemy. In: Alan Watts, This is It and Other Essays on Zen and

Spiritual Experience. New York: Vintage Books, 1973 (1960).

Watts, Alan. A psychedelic experience - fact or fantasy? In: David Solomon (ed.), LSD,

The Consciousness-Expanding Drug. New York: Putnam, 1964.

Weil, Andrew. The Marriage of the Sun and the Moon: A Quest for Unity in

Consciousness. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980.

Winkelman, Michael J., Roberts, Thomas B. Psychedelic Medicine: New Evidence for

Hallucinogenic Substances As Treatments (Vols. 1 & 2). Westport, CT: praeger, 2007.

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Yonson, Jan. My Psychedelic Religion: The Kingdom of God Is Within You. Council on Spiritual Practices, 1994.

Zinberg, N. Drugs: Set and Setting. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984.

Articles and Talks

Allen, John W. María Sabina, saint mother of the sacred mushrooms. In: Allen, John W. Mushroom Pioneers. Seattle: John Allen, 1997.

Beckstead, Robert T. "Restoration and the Sacred Mushroom: Did Joseph Smith use Psychedelic Substances to Facilitate Visionary Experiences?" Paper Presented at the Sunstone Symposium, August 2007.

Carter, OL, Burr, DC, Pettigrew, JD, Wallis, GM, Hasler, F, Vollenweider, FX. Using psilocybin to investigate the relationship between attention, working memory, and the serotonin 1A and 2A receptors. J Cogn Neurosci 17: 1497–1508, 2005.

Doblin, Rick. Pahnke's "Good Friday experiment": a long-term follow-up and methodological critique. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1991, Vol. 23, No.1

Friedman, Harris. The renewal of psychedelic research: implications for humanistic and transpersonal psychology. The Humanistic Psychologist, 34(1), April 2006, 39 - 58.

Griffiths RR, Richards WA, Johnson MW, McCann UD, Jesse R. Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later. Journal of Psychopharmacology, Aug 2008; 22: 621–632.

Griffiths RR, Richards WA, McCann U, Jesse R. Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance. Psychopharmacology, 2006, 187:268–283.

Grob CS. Psychiatric research with hallucinogens: What have we learned? Yearbook for

Ethnomedicine and the Study of Consciousness, 3, 1994.

Hasler F, Grimberg U, Benz MA, Huber, T, Vollenweider FX. Acute psychological and physiological effects of psilocybin in healthy humans: a double-blind, placebo-controlled dose-effect study. Psychopharmacology 172, 145-156, 2004.

Krippner, S. Ritual Mushroom and Peyote Use in Mesoamerica. The use of altered conscious states in North and South American Indian shamanic healing rituals. In: Jarbuch Für Transkulturelle Medizin und Psychotherapie (Yearbook of Cross-Cultural

Medicine and Psychotherapy:1810202., 1994.

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Luna, L.E. The concept of plants as teachers among four mestizo shamans of Iquitos, northeastern Peru. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 11, pp. 135–56, 1984.

Moreno FA, Wiegand CB, Taitano EK, Delgado PL. Safety, tolerability, and efficacy of psilocybin in 9 patients with obsessive compulsive disorder. Journal of Clinical

Psychiatry 67, 1735-1740, 2006.

Janiger O. The use of hallucinogenic agents in psychiatry. California Clinician. 1959;55:222-224, 251-259.

Munn, Henry. The Mazatec Indians - the mushrooms speak. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=118&z=4. Accessed: 5 November 2008.

Pahnke, Walter N. Drugs and mysticism: An analysis of the relationship between psychedelic drugs and the mystical consciousness. Ph.D. dissertation. Harvard University, 1963.

Pahnke, Walter N. Drugs and mysticism. The International Journal of Parapsychology,Vol. 8, No. 2, Spring 1966, pp. 295-313.

Pahnke, Walter N. The psychedelic mystical experience and the human encounter with death. Harvard Theological Review, 62(1), 1 -32, 1969.

Pahnke, Walter N. Psychedelic drugs and mystical experience. Int. Psychiatry Clin

5:149–162, 1969.

Phifer, Betty. A review of the research and theological implications of the use of psychedelic drugs with terminal cancer patients. Journal of Drug Issues. Summer 1997; 7(3): pp. 287-292.

Reko, B. P. 1919. De los Nombres Botanicos Aztecos. El Mexico Antiguo vol. 1(5):113-117. February.

Roberts, Thomas B. Psychoactive sacraments: my entheogenic religion. Lindesmith Center of the Soros Foundation. New York. April 10, 1996.

Roberts, Thomas B. A menu of psychedelic policy ideas. Second Pacific Symposium on Psychedelics. Big Sur, CA, January 1995.

Roberts, Thomas B. Religious centers for exploration of psychoactive sacraments: Where do we go from here? Presented at the conference "Psychoactive Sacraments", Menlo Park, CA., February, 1995.

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Roberts, Thomas B. Multidisciplinary approaches to psychedelic scholarship. MAPS

Bulletin, 7(1), 38-41, 1998.

Roberts, Thomas B. and Paula Jo Hruby. Toward an entheogen research agenda. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 42(1), 71-89, 2002.

Rubio, Enrique Gonzalez. Account of mushroom healing ritual with Maria Sabina and

Don Pablo. Accessed online: 5 Novermber 2008.

Schultes, R. E. Teonanácatl: The narcotic mushroom of the Aztecs. American

Anthropologist vol. 42:429-443, 1940.

Schuster CR. Commentary on: Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance by Griffiths et al. Psychopharmacology 187:289–290, 2006.

Sellman JD, Baker MP, Adamson SJ, Geering LG. Future of God in recovery from drug addiction. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2007 Oct;41(10):800-

Sessa, B. Can psychedelics have a role in psychiatry again? British Journal of

Psychiatry 186: 457–458, 2005.

Sessa, B., Arnone, D and Schifano, F. Psychedelics in psychiatry: Author's reply. British

Journal of Psychiatry 188: 88-89, 2006.

Shanon, B. The divine within. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 8(2), pp. 91–96, 2001.

Singer, R. Mycological investigations on Teonanácatl, the Mexican hallucinogenic mushrooms. Part one: The history of Teonanácatl, field work and culture. Mycologia vol. 50(2)239-261. April 1958.

Singer, R. and A. H. Smith. Mycological investigations on Teonanácatl, the Mexican Hallucinogenic mushrooms. Part two: A taxonomic monograph of Psilocybe section Caerulescens. Mycologia vol. 50(2):262-303. March-April, 1958.

Smith, Huston. Do drugs have religious import? The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. LXI, No. 18, September 17, 1964.

Strassman RJ. Hallucinogenic drugs in psychiatric research and treatment: perspectives and prospects. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 183(3), 127-138, 1995.

Stolaroff, Myron J. Are psychedelics useful in the practice of buddhism? Journal of

Humanistic Psychology, Volume 39, No. 1, Winter 1999, pp. 60-80.

Tupper, Kenneth W. Entheogens and existential intelligence: the use of plant teachers as cognitive tools. Canadian Journal of Education 27, 4 (2002): 499–516.

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Tupper, K.W. The globalization of ayahuasca: Harm reduction or benefit maximization? International Journal of Drug Policy. 19(4), 297-303, 2008.

Wasson, R. Gordon. "The hallucinogenic mushrooms of Mexico and psilocybin: A bibliography." Botanical Museum Leaflets Harvard University 20(2): 25-73 (1962).

Wasson, R. Gordon; Cowan, George; Cowan, Florence; Rhodes, Willard. Maria Sabina

and Her Mazatec Mushroom Velada. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974.

Watts, Alan. Psychedelics and the religious experience. California Law Review, Vol. 56, No. 1, January 1968, pp. 74-85.

de Wit, Harriet. Towards a science of spiritual experience. Psychopharmacology

187:267, 2006.

Reports

Abraham MD, Kaal HL, Cohen PDA. Licit and illicit drug use in the Netherlands 2001. Amsterdam: CEDRO/Mets en Schilt, 2002.

Coordination Center for the Assessment and Monitoring of New Drugs (CAM). Risk Assessment report relating to paddos (psilocin and psilocybin). The Hague, Netherlands: RIVM, 2000.

Coordination Center for the Assessment and Monitoring of New Drugs (CAM). Risicoschatting van psilocine en psilocybine bevattende paddenstoelen (paddo’s) 2007. Den Haag, Netherlands: RIVM, 2007.

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).Hallucinogenic mushrooms: an emerging trend case study. Lisbon: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2006.

UK House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. Drug classification:

making a hash of it? Report HC 1031. London: The Stationary Office, 31 July 2006.

Legal/Policy

Boire, Richard Glen. Sacred Mushrooms and the Law. Berkeley: Ronin Press, 2002.

Bullis RK. The "vine of the soul" vs. the Controlled Substances Act: implications of the hoasca case. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2008 Jun;40(2):193-9.

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Davies, John Booth. Drugspeak: The Analysis of Drug Discourse. Newark: Harwood, 1997.

Davies, John Booth. The Myth of Addiction, 2nd ed. Newark: Harwood, 1997.

Council on Spiritual Practices, Ruck CAP, Smith H, Smith K, Walsh R.Amicus Curiae Brief to the Supreme Court Of The United States, No. 04-1084: Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General Of The United States, et al., v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal, et al.. 2005.

Duke, Stephen B. and Albert C. Gross. America's Longest War: Rethinking Our Tragic

Crusade Against Drugs. New York: Tarcher, 1994.

Entheogen Law Reported. Entheogens and the Free Exercise Clause: Practical Legal Aspects for Individuals. The Entheogen Law Reporter, 1994.

Esteban, Javier. El derecho a la ebriedad: Manifiesto libertario contra la prohibición. 2008

Evans, Bette Novit. Interpreting the Free Exercise of Religion: The Constitution and

American Pluralism. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina, 1997.

Husak, Douglas N. Drugs and Rights. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992

Nolan, James L. and James L. Nolan, Jr. The Therapeutic State: Justifying Government

at Century's End. New York: NYU Press, 1998.

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Roberts, Thomas B. Psychedelics: a First Amendment right. Gnosis Magazine, No. 26, 31-33, Winter 1993.

Sterling, E.E. Law enforcement against entheogens: Is it religious persecution? In: R. Forte (ed.), Entheogens and the Future of Religion. San Francisco, CA: Council on Spiritual Practices, 1997.

Sullum, Jacob. Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use. New York: Tarcher/Penguin, 2004.

Sullum, Jacob. Spiritual highs and legal blows: The power and peril of religious exemptions from drug prohibition. Reason Magazine, June 2007.

Szasz, Thomas S. Ceremonial Chemistry: The Ritual Persecution of Drugs, Addicts, and

Pushers. Doubleday, 1975.

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Szasz, Thomas S. Our Right to Drugs: The Case for a Free Market. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1992

Szasz, Thomas S. The Therapeutic State: the tyranny of pharmacracy. The Independent

Review, Volume 5 Number 4, Spring 2001.

Trebach, Arnold S., and Kevin B. Zeese, eds. Drug Prohibition and the Conscience of

Nations. Washington: Drug Policy Foundation, 1990.

United States Conference Of Catholic Bishops. Amicus Curiae Brief to the Supreme Court Of The United States, No. 04-1084: Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General Of The United States, et al., v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal, et al.., 9 September 2005.

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