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  • Re: This Is Your Priest on Drugs

    From Eli the Bearded@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Wed Jun 4 01:59:55 2025
    In misc.news.internet.discuss, JAB <[email protected]d> wrote:
    Dozens of religious leaders experienced magic mushrooms in a
    university study. Many are now evangelists for psychedelics.

    https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/05/26/this-is-your-priest-on-drugs?

    I would say the central, if not explicitly stated, thesis of the 2012
    book _Hallucinations_ by neurologist Dr Oliver Sacks is that all
    reglious and spiritual visions (including seeing things like pixies,
    gnomes, and fairies) are caused by different types hallucinations, some relatively common and some relatively rare.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinations_(book)

    Sacks died in 2015, so it was one of the last books he wrote.

    Elijah
    ------
    has read at least four books by Dr Sacks

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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jun 3 20:41:50 2025
    Dozens of religious leaders experienced magic mushrooms in a
    university study. Many are now evangelists for psychedelics.

    https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/05/26/this-is-your-priest-on-drugs?utm_campaign=falcon_FCzP&utm_brand=tny&utm_medium=social&utm_social-type=owned&mbid=social_twitter&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to *@eli.users.panix.com on Tue Jun 3 21:55:47 2025
    On Wed, 4 Jun 2025 01:59:55 -0000 (UTC), Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> wrote:

    I would say....reglious and spiritual visions
    caused by different types hallucinations

    I believe meditation is different from chemically induced experiences.

    I'm not aware of 'tripping out' by those meditating, who are not using
    these chemicals.

    hallucinations

    Interesting word.....say one has ingested a psilocybin-containing
    mushroom and can see 3 dimensions in a 2d picture. Or can see their
    footprints on a carpeted floor. On the other hand, seeing pictureless
    content in their mind is descriptive of hallucinations that most
    likely are created via chemical(s) acting upon neurons.

    I believe YMMV (different experiences) happen with chemical usage, but
    for those who mediate, a common set of experiences without "trips".

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  • From vallor@21:1/5 to *@eli.users.panix.com on Wed Jun 4 02:55:30 2025
    On Wed, 4 Jun 2025 01:59:55 -0000 (UTC), Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> wrote in <eli$[email protected]>:

    In misc.news.internet.discuss, JAB <[email protected]d> wrote:
    Dozens of religious leaders experienced magic mushrooms in a university
    study. Many are now evangelists for psychedelics.

    https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/05/26/this-is-your-priest-on-
    drugs?

    I would say the central, if not explicitly stated, thesis of the 2012
    book _Hallucinations_ by neurologist Dr Oliver Sacks is that all
    reglious and spiritual visions (including seeing things like pixies,
    gnomes, and fairies) are caused by different types hallucinations, some relatively common and some relatively rare.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinations_(book)

    Sacks died in 2015, so it was one of the last books he wrote.

    Elijah ------
    has read at least four books by Dr Sacks

    I've read (but can't remember where) that temporal lobe
    epilepsy can bring on religious experiences.

    The next step away from hallucinations toward reality
    are "illusions", which are actual sensory input(s) that
    are misinterpreted. For example, there is the
    "Sun Miracle of Fatima".

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_the_Sun

    --
    -v

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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to All on Wed Jun 4 07:11:32 2025
    On Wed, 4 Jun 2025 02:55:30 -0000 (UTC), vallor <[email protected]>
    wrote:

    The next step away from hallucinations toward reality
    are "illusions", which are actual sensory input(s) that
    are misinterpreted.

    Oh, the T-Borg syndrome...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to *@eli.users.panix.com on Fri Jun 6 20:16:00 2025
    On Wed, 4 Jun 2025 01:59:55 -0000 (UTC), Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> wrote:

    different types hallucinations

    Superficially aware of this topic, but I suspect most all represent
    what has been seen/experienced before, but 'amplified/embellished.'

    "Set and setting" can/will affect a person's 'trip'

    "In 1966, Timothy Leary conducted a series of experiments with dimethyltryptamine (DMT) with controlled set and setting. The aim was
    to see whether DMT, which had then been mostly thought of as a
    terror-inducing drug, could produce pleasant experiences under a
    supportive set and setting. It was found that it could." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_and_setting

    RE: "Dozens of religious leaders experienced magic mushrooms in a
    university study."

    Hence, it could be expected they could experience "reglious and
    spiritual visions" since they had serious time in the religous saddle.

    Sidebar

    Toxicity From Blue Lotus (Nymphaea caerulea) After Ingestion or
    Inhalation: A Case Series

    Plant extracts and other novel psychoactives can be ingested, vaped,
    injected, or insufflated. This includes products such as extracts from
    the blue lotus flower (Nypmhaea caerulea), which is known to produce
    euphoria and hallucinations at high doses. https://academic.oup.com/milmed/advance-article/doi/10.1093/milmed/usab328/6338457

    The lotus has long been regarded as sacred by many of the world's
    religions, especially in India and Egypt,

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