Psychedelics & the Transcendent Experience

RR Griffiths, WA Richards, MW Johnson, UD McCann, R Jesse. "Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later." Journal of Psychopharmacology, 01 July 2008.  (See Background and Q&A and the CNN report)

RR Griffiths, WA Richards, U McCann, R Jesse. "Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance." Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2006 Aug;187(3):268-83; discussion 284-92.  (See Journal Editorial/Commentary and the Q&A)

Unsolicited Email to MormonElixirs

On Mon Jul 7 14:50 (Name withheld)

I joined the church when I was 23 and had had lots of experience with alcohol of many varieties. I have been so drunk I don't even know how I got home and I have never experienced visions or hallucinations. A couple of months ago, I tried marijuana because I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. I had never tried it as a young person and certainly not as a TBM. I have a daughter who suffers with anxiety and possibly is bi-polar or something. She finds that marijuana really relaxes her. With my new found freedom I wanted to know for myself and make decisions for myself. I wanted to know what it was doing for my daughter or to her; I was concerned about her health. I can tell you that alcohol never produced the effect that 3 puffs of marijuana did. I have never and I mean never, in 64 years experienced such joy. I was floating out in the universe at one point. I had so many ideas that were profound but was unable to retain a thought in my head long enough to complete my expression of the idea. I had visions of /////////// just like that! Diagonal rows in which my thought processes were being channeled. When I got almost to the top of one row while expressing my "profound" ideas, the next idea would jump to the bottom of the next compartment and I would start on the next idea while expressing that I really wanted to finish the previous one. I was saying, "I shouldn't be feeling this way, but who the hell cares; this is wonderful. Everyone should use pot and then there would be no wars."

This was the reason I had started trying to find out if JS had access to marijuana. Certainly if I had not, in the past almost two years gone through the deconstructing process of church history and if I was searching for God, I'm sure that I would have found what I was looking for. As it was, I did find what I was looking for; peace and joy without a belief in God. I was just one with the universe. That is why I am so interested in the possibility of JS's use of entheogenics to produce his experiences.

I also wondered if his anointings might have had "medicine" in the oil. I wondered if it was possible that he gave anointing type blessings to the women to whom he proposed marriage.  At least one of them had to go off and get her own testimony that it was right. What's the bet that he didn't give her a blessing to help her with this task?

[The things of God are of deep import; and time and experience and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, 0 man, if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God....None but fools will trifle with the souls of men.  Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, B. H. Roberts, ed.. 7 vols., 2nd ed. rev. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1951), 3:295.]