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Mystical States achieved through Psychedelics: The Origins, Classical, and Contemporary Use of Psychedelics
Published in Andrew C. Papanicolaou, A Scientific Assessment of the Validity of Mystical Experiences, 2021
“I have never seen colors or experienced delusions of any sort while taking Peyote. What it feels like is that I am sitting right by God the Creator. I communicate with him., And whatever I pray for, I feel that he hears me” p. 11832. This is yet another form of contact of the self with God, besides beholding him or merging with his essence or his energy. The same form of contact with Divinity is expressed in the following quotes:
Ethnic and Special Social Groups
Published in Frank Lynn Iber, Alcohol and Drug Abuse as Encountered in Office Practice, 2020
Western Native American tribes have included peyote use in ritual for centuries. When alcohol was introduced to Native Americans by Europeans, the intensity of intoxication and the deep and recurrent inebriation was an early problem that made it illegal for a time to give an Indian alcohol. This problem continues in metropolitan areas where drinking to advanced drunkenness mimics that of Russians in the USSR. In a study of Minnesota Native Americans, high cultural affiliation diminished the severity of alcoholism and was associated with increased recovery, whereas lapse in close cultural relationship with tribe and relatives was associated with more severe drinking and less recovery.3 This is reasonable because without a tribal relationship many American city dwellers develop anger and alienation.
The Future of Narcotic Addiction
Published in Albert A. Kurland, S. Joseph Mulé, Psychiatric Aspects of Opiate Dependence, 2019
Albert A. Kurland, S. Joseph Mulé
The Indians attributed the consciousness-altering effects of these plant substances to the supernatural. They viewed the plants as a gift from the gods and a means of communicating with them, beyond human control. The plants’ unusual and dramatic effects following their ingestion led to their incorporation in religious ceremonies, a course followed almost universally by societies where such substances were discovered. The hold that these substances had because of their unique effects on the Indians is underscored by the strenuous efforts made by the early Spaniards to eradicate their usage as they sought to Christianize the natives. Despite the restrictive measures taken, the Indians were not easily dissuaded, for they continued to conduct their secret, vision-producing rituals even after they were “converted.” Their use has persisted to the present time, with the sacramental use of peyotl remaining incorporated in the ritual of the American Native Church by Indians in both Mexico and the U.S. Although certain groups have sought to outlaw the ritualistic use of peyotl, they have been singularly unsuccessful in proving that its use in this manner is detrimental. If anything, considerable evidence has been presented that it is a rather effective means for combating alcoholism among the Indians.
Beyond LSD: A Broader Psychedelic Zeitgeist during the Early to Mid-20th Century
Published in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2019
Jacob S. Aday, Emily K. Bloesch, Christopher C. Davoli
Much of the psychedelic research conducted in the 1950s and 1960s focused on either LSD’s basic effects on cognition, as a potential adjunct to psychotherapy/clinical applications, or as a model for psychosis (see Masters and Houston 1966). Subsequently, the progression of LSD research mirrored that of mescaline and employed very similar methods. Mescaline is the principle alkaloid in the peyote cactus found in many parts of the Southwestern U.S. and Mexico and has been used for thousands of years by Native Americans. Its effects were popularized in The Doors of Perception (1954), Aldous Huxley’s classic account of his experience taking the psychedelic substance. This section elaborates on the ways in which much of the early mescaline research paralleled the LSD research that would follow, suggesting that LSD researchers were influenced by this early work.
Ayahuasca and Public Health: Health Status, Psychosocial Well-Being, Lifestyle, and Coping Strategies in a Large Sample of Ritual Ayahuasca Users
Published in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2019
Genís Ona, Maja Kohek, Tomàs Massaguer, Alfred Gomariz, Daniel F. Jiménez, Rafael G. Dos Santos, Jaime E. C. Hallak, Miguel Ángel Alcázar-Córcoles, José Carlos Bouso
Alongside evidence from clinical trials, some study populations that use data from national epidemiologic surveys also conclude that psychedelics can offer beneficial outcomes with regards to mental health (Hendricks et al. 2015; Johansen and Krebs 2015; Krebs and Johansen 2013). Additionally, studies comparing ritualistic peyote (a mescaline-containing cacti) users (Halpern et al. 2005) and ritualistic ayahuasca users (Barbosa et al. 2016; Bouso et al. 2012, 2015; Fábregas et al. 2010; Grob et al. 1996) with non-users have indicated that the former performed better regarding some neuropsychological and psychopathological variables, including showing less use of alcohol and illegal drugs and reporting remission from anxiety and mood disorders. Although psychedelics can also trigger psychopathological crises (dos Santos, Bouso, and Hallak 2017), their occurrence seems to be limited and preventable when doing proper screenings (Johnson, Richards, and Griffiths 2008).
Psychedelics as anti-inflammatory agents
Published in International Review of Psychiatry, 2018
Thomas W. Flanagan, Charles D. Nichols
Although all psychedelics tested were anti-inflammatory, the super-potency of (R)-DOI was unexpected, because other structurally similar psychedelics were orders of magnitude less potent. From a structural standpoint, (R)-DOI is a phenethylamine (Nichols, 2012) and related to mescaline. Mescaline naturally occurs in the peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii), and was first isolated by the chemist Dr Arthur Heffter in 1898 (Heffter, 1898). Not only has peyote been consumed by Native North Americans for millennia for religious ceremonies (Bruhn, De Smet, El-Seedi, & Beck, 2002), it has also been shown to activate several immune parameters (nitric oxide and cytokine production in macrophages and lymphocyte proliferation) and directly kill tumour cells (Franco-Molina et al., 2003). In the mid 20th century, the mescaline structural template was used to develop a series of hallucinogenic phenethylamines (Hey, 1947; Peretz, Smythies, & Gibson, 1955; Shulgin, Sargent, & Naranjo, 1969). One of these, (R)-DOI, was found to selectively label 5-HT2 receptors in studies incorporating a radioactive iodine isotope (Johnson, Hoffman, Nichols, & Mathis, 1987; McKenna et al., 1989), and currently represents one of the best tools for pharmacologists to study selective activation of 5-HT2 receptors. Subjectively, the behavioural effects of (R)-DOI in humans are similar to those of LSD; however, the duration is significantly longer (> 24 h vs ∼8 h), and there are reported differences in tactile body sensation (i.e. muscle tension, nausea, etc.) (Shulgin, 1991).