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In the Netherlands, scientific interest in psychedelics and their subjective effects has been increasing. The present study examined the reliability, construct and predictive validity of the Dutch 30-item Revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30), a self-report measure that has been used to assess subjective and mystical experiences occasioned by psychedelics. In an online survey, 322 Dutch-speaking adults retrospectively reported on profound experiences with psychedelics. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that both a four-factor structure and the same model extended with the MEQ30-total score as a second-order latent variable fit the data. Factor scores showed good internal reliability (α = between.81 and.94) and were significantly higher in participants that beforehand endorsed having had a mystical experience compared to those that did not, providing evidence for the construct validity of the questionnaire as a measure for self-reported mystical experiences. Additionally, MEQ30 scores significantly predicted the meaningfulness and spiritual significance of the psychedelic experience, as well as self-reported positive changes in well-being, life satisfaction and behavior, providing preliminary evidence for the predictive validity of the Dutch MEQ30. Findings suggest the reliability and validity of the Dutch MEQ30 and support the use of the scale in future studies on the subjective effects of psychedelics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in psychedelics and their possible therapeutic potential has been growing. Metaphysical belief theory asserts that these benefits stem from the adoption of comforting supernatural beliefs following a mystical experience. By contrast, predictive self-binding theory suggests that the beneficial outcomes of psychedelics are primarily driven by psychological insights. The present study tests these competing models of psychedelic benefits. We conducted a quantitative content analysis on unsolicited self-reports of psychedelic users available on Erowid.org, to examine the potential relations between psychological insight, ego dissolution, therapeutic intent, altered metaphysical belief, and enduring health outcomes. We randomly selected, coded, and analyzed two hundred forty psychedelic experience reports from the website. Path analysis using structural equation modeling showed that psychological insight, not metaphysical beliefs, uniquely predicted beneficial outcomes. Moreover, beneficial outcomes’ positive relation to ego dissolution and therapeutic intent was fully mediated by psychological insight. These findings support the predictive self-binding model over the metaphysical belief model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests positive changes in both well-being and psychiatric symptoms following a psychedelic experience. One explanation may be the ability of psychedelic compounds to occasion mystical-type experiences. The Revised Mystical Experiences Questionnaire (MEQ30) is designed to assess the intensity and quality of such experiences. We examined the validity, reliability, and factor structure of a Danish translation of the MEQ30 in one sample of healthy volunteers receiving psilocybin in a laboratory setting (N = 47) and two samples of recreative users of psychedelics, in which MEQ30 was reported retrospectively through an online survey based on their most recent experience with psilocybin (N = 834) or their most memorable experience with any psychedelic (N = 500). We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis of the previously suggested factor structures, calculated alpha and omega, and tested the associations between MEQ30 total score and setting, intention and dose. We found excellent internal reliability estimates across all samples, and confirmatory factor analysis showed that a four-factor structure, had the best, fair fit to the data. We further found that the MEQ30 total score was correlated with dose and a spiritual/religious intention, but not with setting. The Danish MEQ30 seems to be a valid tool for accessing mystical-type experiences among Danish-speaking individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mystical experiences triggered by psychedelic drugs predict symptom reduction in various psychiatric disorders, and increased well-being in healthy individuals. This work aimed at validating a French version of a tool used to measure mystical experiences: the Revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire-30 items (MEQ30). Construct validity, internal consistencies, concurrent, discriminant, and predictive validities of the French MEQ30 were examined using data about the most significant psychedelic experience of 320 French individuals. Results showed that the original fourfactor (i.e., mystical, positive mood, transcendence, and ineffability) structure fit the data best, with good to excellent statistical indices. Total French MEQ30 score was strongly associated with subjective ratings of the mystical (i.e., mystical, spiritual, or religious, and personally significant) and drug intensity-related qualities of the experience, but not with non-mystical (i.e., fun, inebriating, and easy) qualities. Moreover, French MEQ30 score was a significant predictor of subjective positive changes in psychological well-being, relations with self and others, feeling of proximity or connection with nature, and creativity, whereas drug intensity-related and non-mystical qualities of the experience were not, or were only weakly associated with such changes. This French version of the MEQ30 seems to be an appropriate tool for measuring mystical experiences among French speaking individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both psychedelics and mindfulness are recently emerging topics of interest in academia and popular culture. The Prevalence of personal meditation practices and recreational psychedelic use has consistently increased in the past decade. While clinical work has shown both to improve long-term wellbeing, data on naturalistic applications of psychedelics and mindfulness are lacking. The current study examined the relationship between psychedelic use, mindfulness, and multifaceted wellbeing as an outcome. Hierarchical regression was used to quantify these associations on a sample of people (N = 1,219) who engage in both meditation practices and psychedelic use. Results show that both mindfulness and mystical experiences are associated with substantial increases in wellbeing. Psychedelics were found to be a moderator of the relationship between mystical experience wellbeing. These data are among the first to establish a strong relationship between personal mindfulness practice, recreational psychedelic use, and overall psychological wellbeing in a naturalistic framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Katherine Olivetti reflects on the chapter she wrote, "Letting the Light Get In," for the Spiritual Psyche in Psychotherapy, recalling the mystical experience of singing and being with her mother as she passed. Exploring the connection between masochism and her childhood fascination with saints and martyrs, she locates the first crack in the foundation of her spiritual life in a traumatic experience with her mother when she was in first grade. She notes the importance of delving into early trauma for healing emotional, psychological, and spiritual wounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In religious individuals, spontaneous mystical experiences (SMEs) tend to reinforce pre-existing beliefs and are associated with enhanced wellbeing, mediated by adaptive interpretive frameworks and accepting social environments. The meaning-making and outcomes of SMEs among atheists have not been investigated to date. Using a grounded theory approach, the present study found that the SMEs of eight male and female atheists of diverse backgrounds resembled those of religious experiencers in phenomenal content, but differed with respect to appraisal, coping, and outcome. Challenges in reconciling the SME with secular views and values were common and linked to varying degrees and durations of psychological distress, especially in relation to negative reactions from the social environment. No participant embraced organised religion, but most adopted more agnostic or spiritual worldviews, and ultimately associated their SMEs with enhanced wellbeing in various domains. However, participants who reported persisting doubt and preoccupation about their SMEs experienced deteriorating mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their acutely inebriating and sometimes unpleasant effects, some people report positive changes in life satisfaction, well-being, or mental health after taking psychedelic drugs. One explanation may be the ability of psychedelics to trigger mystical-type experiences. We examined the validity, reliability, and factor structure of a novel Finnish translation of the Revised Mystical Experiences Questionnaire (MEQ30) among 288 people retrospectively reporting on their first time using a psychedelic. We found evidence for internal consistency reliability and preliminary evidence for criterion and discriminant validity of the Finnish MEQ30. A four-factor structure with factors for mystical qualities, positive mood, transcendence, and ineffability had the best, fair to reasonable fit to the data. MEQ30 scores and having a full mystical experience were highly associated with describing the experience as mystical, spiritual, or religious, and as personally significant, and somewhat associated with the experience being sad or difficult. Mystical experiences were especially associated with positive changes in relationships with nature and oneself and in creativity. Mystical experiences were more common with larger doses. Increasing research suggests mystical-type experiences to relate to positive changes after taking psychedelics. The Finnish MEQ30 is able to tap into relevant information about this aspect of people's psychedelic experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on 'mountain mysticism' includes a wide array of interpretations: Reductively, mystical states experienced on mountains may be viewed as neurological or psychological epiphenomena. Anthropomorphised as mystical agents themselves, the mountain is seen as capable of engendering non-ordinary awareness. This article makes space for interpretations falling outside of or combining such constructivist and universalised interpretations by first examining what ontological interpolations may be available after 'the peak has been reached.' I track the mystic's descent 'back' to ordinary consciousness as a pivotal determinative moment in the narrative construction of mystical noesis. I consider three examples of 19th and 20th century nature mysticisms (naturalist John Muir, Vedantic sage Ramana Maharshi, journalist Rob Schultheis) to illustrate my assertion that it is the mystic's grappling with the paradox inherent in the ontological trauma of descent which performs the pivotal negotiation between the collapsed boundaries of subject/object or self/Other that characterizes mystical experience. I suggest further that we look to this narrative grappling as inevitably determining the content of the experience of noesis itself. Rather than reasserting a radical constructivism, I point more specifically to 'descent' as one juncture in which a remarkable ontological agency directly engages with the mystic's moment of self-construal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Daoism, especially classical Daoism, is often constructed as a 'philosophy,' 'set of ideas,' or 'system of thought.' This is particularly the case in studies of Chinese philosophy and comparative philosophy. The present article draws attention to the central importance of clarity and stillness (qingjing 清靜) as a Daoist form of meditative practice, contemplative experience, and way of being. Examining historical precedents in classical Daoism, the article gives particular attention to the Tang dynasty (618-907) 'Clarity-and-Stillness Literature,' specifically the eighth-century Qingjing jing 清靜經 (Scripture on Clarity and Stillness; DZ 620). In the process, one finds that qingjing is one of the major connective strands throughout the Daoist tradition, a connective strand that reveals the central importance of embodied, experiential, and applied dimensions of human being from a Daoist perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A recent open-label pilot study (N = 15) found that two to three moderate to high doses (20 and 30 mg/70 kg) of the serotonin 2A receptor agonist, psilocybin, in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for smoking cessation, resulted in substantially higher 6-month smoking abstinence rates than are typically observed with other medications or CBT alone.Objectives: To assess long-term effects of a psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation program at ≥12 months after psilocybin administration.Methods: The present report describes biologically verified smoking abstinence outcomes of the previous pilot study at ≥12 months, and related data on subjective effects of psilocybin.Results: All 15 participants completed a 12-month follow-up, and 12 (80%) returned for a long-term (≥16 months) follow-up, with a mean interval of 30 months (range = 16-57 months) between target-quit date (i.e., first psilocybin session) and long-term follow-up. At 12-month follow-up, 10 participants (67%) were confirmed as smoking abstinent. At long-term follow-up, nine participants (60%) were confirmed as smoking abstinent. At 12-month follow-up 13 participants (86.7%) rated their psilocybin experiences among the five most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives.Conclusion: These results suggest that in the context of a structured treatment program, psilocybin holds considerable promise in promoting long-term smoking abstinence. The present study adds to recent and historical evidence suggesting high success rates when using classic psychedelics in the treatment of addiction. Further research investigating psilocybin-facilitated treatment of substance use disorders is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing methods for improving creativity is of broad interest. Classic psychedelics may enhance creativity; however, the underlying mechanisms of action are unknown. This study was designed to assess whether a relationship exists between naturalistic classic psychedelic use and heightened creative problem-solving ability and if so, whether this is mediated by lifetime mystical experience. Participants (N = 68) completed a survey battery assessing lifetime mystical experience and circumstances surrounding the most memorable experience. They were then administered a functional fixedness task in which faster completion times indicate greater creative problem-solving ability. Participants reporting classic psychedelic use concurrent with mystical experience (n = 11) exhibited significantly faster times on the functional fixedness task (Cohen’sd = –.87; large effect) and significantly greater lifetime mystical experience (Cohen’sd = .93; large effect) than participants not reporting classic psychedelic use concurrent with mystical experience. However, lifetime mystical experience was unrelated to completion times on the functional fixedness task (standardizedβ = –.06), and was therefore not a significant mediator. Classic psychedelic use may increase creativity independent of its effects on mystical experience. Maximizing the likelihood of mystical experience may need not be a goal of psychedelic interventions designed to boost creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examines the responses of Nepali Christians and Hindus to the newly developed Dreaming Mysticism Scale (DMS). Factor breakdowns of the DMS for Christians and Hindus were basically identical, and together they and the factor breakdown of the combined sample suggest an interpretation–extraversion–interpretation typology that corresponds to the typical finding of studies employing the cognate M Scale. Differences between the DMS and the Spiritual Dreams Scale (SDS) with regard to factor structure appear to be linguistic in origin. Overall, the language employed in the DMS is more generic than that found in the SDS, making the former more suitable for cross-cultural investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present study draws on two sets of theories developed within the psychology of religion (concerning religious experience and religious motivation) to test three six-item measures of religious orientation (intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest) and to develop two seven-item measures of religious experience (mystical and charismatic) among Catholic (N = 626) and Mainstream Protestant (N = 505) churchgoers participating in the 2011 Australian National Church Life Survey. The data demonstrated satisfactory levels of internal consistency reliability for all five scales. The mean scale scores revealed higher levels of intrinsic religiosity among Mainstream Protestants and higher levels of extrinsic religiosity among Catholics; but little variation between the two groups in terms of quest religious orientation, mystical orientation, or charismatic orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Current research on mystical experience is offering community mental health professionals the opportunity to re-consider the role of love within clinical care. In psychological literature the historical conflation of love and sexuality is fraught with ethical concerns about professional impropriety, and the abuse of power. But the intimacy, intensity and beauty to be found within the therapeutic process bears the hallmark of the mystical, alluded to by Carl Rogers near the end of his career. This embodied experience that researchers are striving to understand in client populations is overlooked within the context of the therapeutic relationship. Described as the “essence” of love, or mystical consciousness, this liminal and transformational experience has the capacity to challenge and refresh the medicalised, often inhospitable, culture of community mental health by helping “professionals” re-discover that in treating the help-seeker they are always treating the Sacred Self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If all experiences are generated by brain activity, then experiences of God and spirits should also be produced by the appropriate cerebral stimulation. During the last 15 years experiments have shown that the sensed presence of a “Sentient Being” can be reliably evoked by very specific temporal patterns of weak ( before exposure to the experimental setting were moderately correlated with exotic beliefs and temporal lobe sensitivity. Several recent experiments have shown that the side attributed to the presence at the time of the experience is sensitive to the temporal parameters of the fields, the hemisphere to which they are maximized, and the person's a priori beliefs. The importance of verifying the specific timing and temporal pattern of the software-generated fields and following an effective protocol is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]