After taking psilocybin, religious leaders report that the experience brought them closer to God or the divine, reinvigorated the practice of their faith and increased their receptiveness to other religions.
鈥淚 felt God the whole time,鈥� said a Muslim imam who was part of a study presented at a conference on psychedelics in Denver, Colorado, on 22 June. 鈥淕od says in the Quran that 鈥業 am so close to you, I鈥檓 closer to you than your jugular vein鈥�, and I knew that but now I feel that too.鈥�
Interest in psilocybin has grown in recent years and there is some evidence that it may help alleviate depression, treat substance use disorders and re-open critical learning periods in the brain. It is also known to induce what people describe as mystical or spiritual experiences.
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For that reason, researchers wanted to 鈥渂etter understand how individuals who are highly educated in particular religious doctrines would interpret their [psychedelic] experiences,鈥� says at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.
Yaden and his colleagues recruited 29 clergy from a wide variety of religions, including leaders in Zen Buddhism, Islam, evangelical Christianity and Orthodox Judaism.
They then gave each of them two doses of psilocybin about one month apart. The doses were larger than what most recreational users take and produced hallucinatory effects. The participants were split into two groups; 13 of them immediately received the intervention and 16 received it six months later.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not promoting uses [of psilocybin], and we鈥檙e also not saying that it makes sense to incorporate it in religious contexts,鈥� says Yaden.
All participants completed questionnaires at the start of the study, six months later and 16 months after their second psilocybin session. At six months, those who had taken the drug reported more positive changes in their attitudes and behaviours about religion. They also said they felt like they were more effective as a religious leader, compared with those who hadn鈥檛 yet used psilocybin.
After a year, most participants rated their psychedelic experiences as among the most spiritually significant and personally meaningful of their life. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we would expect based on a range of other studies in [non-religious leaders],鈥� said at Johns Hopkins University while presenting these findings at the conference.
Many participants also said their experience resonated with their theological beliefs and that they felt God, the divine or the transcendent while on psilocybin. It also deepened their relationship with religion and their congregates. Four of the participants reported that attendance at their church dramatically increased after their psychedelic experience, said at New York University.
A Greek Orthodox priest said he previously felt disconnected from leading the Eucharist, or Holy Communion, the ceremony in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed. It felt like a chore in which he simply went through the motions. 鈥淚 dreaded putting on my vestments. I felt exhausted,鈥� he said. After his experience with psilocybin, he said he now understands the meaning more deeply. 鈥淣ow, I look forward to [the Eucharist]. If it is a rotten day, and I serve the liturgy, I feel fulfilled,鈥� he said.
Meanwhile, an Episcopalian pastor said he felt like he was in hell, but one akin to a 鈥渂lue, cold, purging of the soul鈥�. The repentance made him feel renewed and led to 鈥渁 total deconstruction of patriarchal Christianity鈥�, he said.
Many clergy reported feeling as though they had lost their sense of self while on the drug. This may be because psilocybin reduces activity in the brain鈥檚 default mode network, which plays a role in creating our sense of self.
Another similarity among participants was greater receptiveness to other faiths. 鈥淭he experience has deepened and opened my appreciation of other religions as well as my own,鈥� said a rabbi who participated in the study. 鈥淚 realised that each had this incredible truth, and all the truths are in all religions to some degree, but some of them just highlight one facet more than the other. The active ingredients are all the same.鈥�
at Johns Hopkins University, who was not involved in this work, says it is unsurprising that religious leaders would have spiritual experiences while on psychedelics. 鈥淚 think this is a central property of psychedelics, that a person鈥檚 background knowledge has a profound impact on the context of the experience, even though the experience feels profound and like an unveiling of new knowledge,鈥� she says.
Article amended on 14 August 2023
We corrected the speaker of a quote that was misattributed
