Consciusness Studies Entheogens and Psychedelics in Relation to Psychology
Consciousness Studies: Entheogens and Psychedelics in Relation to Psychology “Our normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different. ... From the ancient mushroom rituals of shamans in South America to the modern practices of transpersonal psychology, mind altering substances known as psychedelics (psychedelic meaning “mind-manifesting”) and entheogens (“releasing or expressing the divine within”) have played major roles in the exploration of consciousness. ... These are not drugs such as heroin or crack, which do not have the deeply introspective experience of entheogens. ... To a certain extent , depending on how they are used, psychedelics and entheogens can be seen as a sort of key, unlocking parts of the mind that could not be possible without their aid. ... Stanislov Grof worked with entheogens and psychedelics for decades. ... At his acceptance speech he said that “ decades of work with non-ordinary states of consciousness have convinced me that responsible work with them has extraordinary therapeutic potential and that the research of these states would revolutionize psychology, psychiatry and psychotherapy. ... I have found psychedelics to be powerful and relatively unspecified catalysts of psychological processes, which bring deep unconscious material into consciousness. ... ” Stanislov Grof was a fundamental thinker in transpersonal psychology. As an extension on humanistic psychology, founded by Abraham Maslow , transpersonal psychology was developed to add a spiritual dimension to already existing psychological theories. This type of psychology recognized spirituality as an important component of the human psyche. Transpersonal psychology was deeply influenced by experiences and observations from the study of non-ordinary states of consciousness, such as those experienced under the influence of psychedelics. Psychedelics and Entheogens ( the terms can actually be used interchangeably) have provided psychologists with a new frontier. ... As a firm believer in the powers of the unconscious it is probable that if Freud were around today he would not oppose, but rather embrace the idea of using chemicals such as entheogens to explore the mind.