Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on Entheogens and Religion (The Csp Entheogen Project Series, 3) [Paperback]

Stanislav Grof (Author), Huston Smith (Author), Albert Hofmann (Author), Charles T. Tart (Author), Alexander T. Shulgin (Author), Mike Young (Author), Roger N. Walsh (Author), Frances Vaughan (Author), Thomas B. Roberts (Editor), David Steindl-Rast (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1889725021 | ISBN-13: 978-1889725024 | Publication Date: November 2001

Said to help occasion direct spiritual experience, entheogens include such psychoactives as ayahausca, the peyote used by the Native American Church, and psilocybin mushrooms. What place might psychoactive sacramentals have in contemporary spiritual practices? Can the careful use of entheogens aid in spiritual development? What cautions ought to be considered? 25 new essays from leaders in religion, mental health, and allied fields address these questions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Editor Thomas B. Roberts, Ph.D. (Stanford) is a theoretical educational psychologist at Northern Illinois University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Council on Spiritual Practices (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1889725021
• ISBN-13: 978-1889725024
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,111,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo, then just say Know!, February 27, 2004

By 

Author Brian Wallace (Mind Transmission, Inc.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on Entheogens and Religion (The Csp Entheogen Project Series, 3) (Paperback)

Among the wonderful psychoactive/entheogen works out there, this one ranks way up at the top - in terms of its scope, intelligence and diversity of ideas. Every inclusion has something unique to offer and - like Zig Zag Zen, and others - creates an intriguing web of ideas that intertwine and give such flesh to the overall topic.

One is taken through the spiritual, scientific and cultural dimensions by real experts in this increasingly less esoteric field.

An immaculate job. My highest compliments to Dr. Roberts.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entheogens and "real" religious experiences., March 4, 2009

By 

J Irvin "author of The Holy Mushroom" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on Entheogens and Religion (The Csp Entheogen Project Series, 3) (Paperback)

Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on Entheogens and Religion
Ed. By Thomas B. Roberts, 2001

Entheogens and "real" religious experiences.

For decades the debates have raged over whether plants and other psychoactive substances, the entheogens, which remain outside our physical bodies, could possibly facilitate "real" religious experiences. But how do we define religious experiences? And how do we decide which ones are real, and which ones aren't?

In 1995 the Chicago Theological Seminary held a conference on this very subject, organized by Prof. Em. Thomas Roberts of Northern Illinois University. Probably the first (and most important) work of its kind, this book, which is the product of the essays given by the speakers at that seminar, lays out the arguments of what religious experiences are; as well as a detailed history of entheogenic religious use by shamanic cultures; and the scientific studies in the field up to that time - such as the Good Friday Experiment.

In a co-operational tone, this book is a blend of both religious and scientific presenters all addressing the topic of the entheogenic uses of psychedelics in an effort to combine their knowledge. In this way it is interesting, because sometimes we find the scientists presenting the more spiritual view; and other times the religious presenting a more typically scientific view - all of which makes for fascinating reading.

Speakers at the event included: Houston Smith, Stanislav Grof, Alexander Shulgin, Rick Doblin, Dan Merkur, Charles Tart, Rev. George Cairns, and many others.

Many times over the years in my own studies in this field, people have tried to argue with me that these substances couldn't possibly provide a real religious experience. Usually these positions are argued by people who've never experienced any of the entheogens, much less their own transpersonal experience (with or without entheogens). I have often said that if the plants are what provide us our (including the animals we eat) food, the very sustenance which provides us the ability to ask these very questions, then how could we argue to the contrary? For without the very existence of plants outside of us, we would not exist to ask the question of the validity of the entheogen triggered religious experience.

But regardless of my own feelings on this subject, this book is probably the most important available for dealing with this specific topic, which will allow doubters an understanding of just how deep and complicated this subject really is. While many of the presenters refrained from drawing final conclusion, the obvious begins to appear as one progresses through the book - that often the differences are so subtle, and often so indistinguishable, that to attempt to differentiate them seems absurd. Then the question shifts to a "religious lifestyle" instead of a religious experience, and the debate continues.

And of course we must consider these substances being used religiously throughout history. So then comes, again, the trouble of defining what is the religious experience, and defined by whom?

A very enlightening read regarding many of the major positions, and an essential (and welcome) part of any entheogenic library.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Collection of Essays, March 16, 2010

By 

Professor K (Loma Linda, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on Entheogens and Religion (The Csp Entheogen Project Series, 3) (Paperback)

An excellent compilation of short essays by a wide range of contributors from a 1995 conference put on by the Chicago Theological Seminary and the Council on Spiritual Practices. A serious look at psychoactives and their place relative to mystical experience. It was enjoyable and refreshing to read such well considered and scholarly discussions without the nonsense of New Age 'experience seeking'.