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

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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.

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.

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'.

Rational, varied and still relevant more than a decade after the original conference. The brilliant, top eschelon writers included here cover a broad and deep ground with the topic. They ask more questions than they answer, I suppose, but just maybe this book will inspire others to find those answers somehow.

Dr. Tom Roberts has been an important figure in this field of study. I have presented a paper on "PSI and ENTHEOGENS: Stories from the Underground" at the 22rd International Conference on the Study of Shamanism and Alternate Modes of Healing. It is available from those proceedings.
Jean Millay, PH.D.