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Tracing the Mystical Roots of LSD, Ergot, and Psilocybin
From ancient Greek rituals to Harvard’s infamous Good Friday experiment: mind-manifesting substances for science, spirituality, and society
This is an excerpt of Sky Gods and the Recipe for Immortality: The secret influence of psychoactivity over science, society, and the supernatural.
Today, billions of people consume alcohol — and often in ritual contexts such as Christianity. However, it’s hard to reason that it can invoke the great mystical experiences described in the world’s sacred texts. If anything, psychoactive alcohol likely deters the supernatural experiences more closely associated with psychedelics such as LSD or psilocybin.
The term psychedelic is a Greek word combining psyche with delos, i.e. to clear or manifest your mind. Originating from a letter by psychiatrist Humphry Osmond to Aldous Huxley, psychedelic rhymes with: “To fathom Hell or soar angelic.”
Dr Osmond used LSD to treat alcoholics under carefully controlled conditions. Remarkably, his research team reported that 40% to 45% of those treated with LSD had not returned to drinking a year later. Scientist Albert Hofmann discovered the psychoactive substance from ergot — a common fungus infecting grain.
