Abstract:
The occurrence of transpersonal
experiences with psychedelic
substances is well attested, and several surveys have consistently found a
small relationship between paranormal experiences and the use of such drugs in
general. Isolated investigations of experiences with specific drugs exist, but
no surveys have systematically examined whether particular experiences relate
to particular drugs. In an online survey, 139 respondents were recruited
through parapsychology or
psychedelic interest groups and completed a questionnaire detailing
psychoactive drug-use behaviour and the frequency of occurrence of a number of
paranormal, shamanic, and mystical type experiences. Patterns of drug-induced
transpersonal experiences reported elsewhere were mostly corroborated,
particularly the proclivity for telepathic experiences with cannabis,
out-of-body experiences with
ketamine, entity encounter experiences with N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and
plant-spirit encounters with a host of psychedelic plants. Several small correlations
were found between drug-use frequency and experience frequency with certain
drug and experience types, particularly those termed mystical. As expected,
alcohol and opiate/opioid-use did not correlate with any transpersonal
experiences although, surprisingly, no sizable correlations were found for psi
experiences and the use of any one type of drug, possibly due to the high rate
of occurrence of psi experiences among both drug users and non-drug users with
this particular sample.
Full article
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An Interview with James Kent of Dose Nation