Psychedelics may Aid the Spirit and Body
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Psychedelics may Aid the Spirit and Body

Recent Emory initiative explores the relationship between psychiatry, spirituality and psychedelics.

Psychedelics may help the development of spirituality as well as the body.
Psychedelics may help the development of spirituality as well as the body.

In recent years, psychologists and medical researchers have developed a renewed interest in intense religious experiences. These experiences sometimes resemble the ecstatic visions of Ezekiel, the Jewish prophet of the sixth century BCE.

The holy scriptures record a half-dozen of his highly imaginative narratives, the most famous of which has G-d as a divine warrior riding his war chariot drawn by four creatures — each of which had four faces and four wings — beside which is a wheel within a wheel full of human eyes. Was it divinely inspired or could he, like such Biblical figures as Isaiah, Daniel, or Elisha have been under the influence of what, today, we call psychedelic drugs?

Rabbi Jay Michaelson believes the Jewish spiritual tradition may have had a psychedelic component.

Could the kinea bosem, a substance that was a component of the anointing oil used by the ancient Israelites in their Tent of Meeting have been marijuana? According to Rabbi Jay Michaelson, a field scholar at the Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality, there is no evidence that this is the case.  Nevertheless, Michaelson wrote last January in JTA that in “the record of Jewish prophecy and revelation he found ample analogues to psychedelic experiences. Read the JTA article here: https://www.jta.org/2024/02/08/ideas/what-jewish-mysticism-can-teach-us-about-psychedelics

“Likewise, today.” Michelson continued, “many psychedelic users search for a language, conceptual framework and community through which to understand the profound experiences they have had.”

That’s also part of the mission of a recent new initiative at Emory University, which has established its Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality, the first such institution to fully combine a clinical practice of psychiatry with the spiritual experience of patients to better understand the rapidly developing research around psychedelic medicines.

A small pilot study completed by the center last fall is typical of the research work the center has undertaken. It involved administering a single dose of 25 milligrams of psilocybin, a psychedelic drug derived from hallucinogenic mushrooms.

The drug was given to seriously ill cancer patients to ease their symptoms of hopelessness and chronic pain. It was felt there was as much to be learned from what was measurable of the physical effects of the drugs as there was to learn from the immeasurable, spiritual dimensions of the drug-induced experience.

During the several hours in which the substance took effect, the patients were monitored not just by a mental health clinician but by a religious chaplain with special training to help the patient manage whatever spiritual insights that might arise during the experience.

The Rev. Caroline Peacock, director of spiritual health at Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute, described for “Health Wanted,” the WABE podcast, the role the spiritual guide takes on during the monitoring of the lengthy psychedelic vision.

“If the patient is talking about some kind of higher power or experience with G-d or something with some kind of religious or spiritual component, a person who’s a spiritual health clinician is trained to hear that with some objectivity.”

Psilocybin-assisted therapy of this sort has had the effect of decreasing anxiety and fear in those who may be facing serious or even deadly threats to their health. It has also been shown to aid serious cases of depression. But the drug is just one of several treatments that have been developed during what been called the “Psychedelic Renaissance” of recent years.

The drug MDMA, which is known recreationally as “molly” or ecstasy, has shown to have a dramatic effect on those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), particularly by veterans afflicted by memories of their combat experiences. Ketamine, which was originally used as an anesthetic during surgery, has also been effective in treating drug-resistant depression and bi-polar conditions. In some cases, it took only three sessions with the psychedelic drug to produce dramatic results.

The use of psychedelic drugs is carefully monitored in the clinical setting

But the new Emory center seeks to go beyond just a search for cures for the body. Dr. Roman Palitzky, director of research at the Emory facility, described for the WABE podcast the three areas of his work.

“The first is understanding the spiritual and religious impacts of these powerful interventions that we use. Another is really within the clinical psychology domain, trying to improve the actual psychotherapies that we use that are part of these interventions. And the third and rapidly growing bucket is trying to understand what happens when these treatments don’t go as we would like them to, for the people who have adverse effects, and how can we be responsible and accountable to those patients.”

It’s not just at Emory that the spiritual dimensions of psychedelics are being explored. In recent years, health researchers and religious leaders convened the Jewish Psychedelic Summit. It was developed with Rabbi Zac Kamenetz, founder and CEO of the nonprofit, Shefa, which has encouraged psychedelic use as a reflection of Jewish spiritual traditions. Approximately 1,500 people attended.

Emory is set to host a conference on this topic in April in Atlanta. For more information, please visit https://psychedelics.emory.edu/events/sos-twenty-five.html

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