Psychonautics (from theAncient Greekψυχήpsychē 'soul, spirit, mind' andναύτηςnaútēs 'sailor, navigator')[1] refers both to a methodology for describing and explaining the subjective effects ofaltered states of consciousness, including those induced bymeditation ormind-altering substances, and to a research group in which the researcher voluntarily immerses themself in an altered mental state in order to explore the accompanying experiences.[2]
The term has been applied diversely, to cover all activities by whichaltered states are induced and utilized forspiritual purposes or the exploration of thehuman condition, includingshamanism,lamas of theTibetanBuddhist tradition,[3] theSiddhars of Ancient India,[4]sensory deprivation,[1] and archaic/modern drug users who useentheogenic substances in order to gain deeper insights and spiritual experiences.[5] Self-experimentation of psychedelics in groups may foster innovation of alternative medication treatment.[6] A person who uses altered states for such exploration is known as apsychonaut.
The termpsychonautics derives from the prior termpsychonaut, which began appearing in North American works in the late 1950s. The first reference that corresponds to contemporary usages of the term was in the 1965 edition of theGroup Psychotherapy journal. A 1968 magazine,Beyond Baroque, refers toTimothy Leary as a psychonaut.[citation needed]
German authorErnst Jünger describes ideas related to psychonautics - in reference toArthur Heffter - in his 1970 essay on his own extensive drug experiencesAnnäherungen: Drogen und Rausch (literally: "Approaches: Drugs and Inebriation").[1][7] In this essay, Jünger draws many parallels between drug experience and physical exploration—for example, the danger of encountering hidden "reefs."
Clinical psychiatrist Jan Dirk Blom describes psychonautics as denoting "the exploration of the psyche by means of techniques such aslucid dreaming,brainwave entrainment,sensory deprivation, and the use ofhallucinogens orentheogens, and a psychonaut as one who "seeks to investigate their mind using intentionally induced altered states of consciousness" for spiritual, scientific, or research purposes.[1]
Psychologist Dr. Elliot Cohen ofLeeds Beckett University and the UK Institute of Psychosomanautics defines psychonautics as "the means to study and explore consciousness (including the unconscious) and altered states of consciousness; it rests on the realization that to study consciousness is to transform it." He associates it with a long tradition of historical cultures worldwide.[10] Leeds Beckett University offers a module in Psychonautics[11][12] and may be the only university in the UK to do so.[citation needed]
American Buddhist writerRobert Thurman depicts theTibetan Buddhistmaster as a psychonaut, stating that "Tibetan lamas could be called psychonauts, since they journey across the frontiers of death into the in-between realm."[3]
The aims and methods of psychonautics, when state-altering substances are involved, is commonly distinguished fromrecreational drug use by research sources.[1] Psychonautics as a means of exploration need not involve drugs, and may take place in a spiritual context with an established history. Cohen considers psychonautics closer in its association to wisdom traditions and other transpersonal and integral movements.[10]
However, there is considerable overlap withmodern drug use and due to its modern close association withpsychedelics and other drugs, it is also studied in the context ofdrug abuse from a perspective of addiction,[2] the drug abuse market andonline psychology,[13] and studies into existing and emerging drugs withintoxicology.[5]
Themescaline-containing San Pedro cactus (Echinopsis pachanoi) has been used for healing and religious divination in the Andes Mountains region for over 3000 years.[14]
Icaros, which are the songs (i.e. something verbal that is ordinarily perceived as an auditory sensation) theAyahuasceros sing to induce pictorial representations, rich tapestries of colors and patterns that are visually seen by the listener. (See:synesthesia) The ayahuasca ingredient, harmine, was once known as telepathine because of this group-facilitated activity of singing icaros and the shared perception it cultivates. A shaman who is one of the Ayahuascero people is expected to memorize as many icaros as they can.[15]
Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) refers to all forms of music-imaging in an expanded state of consciousness, including not only the specific individual and group forms that music therapist and researcher Helen Bonny developed, but also all variations and modifications in those forms created by her followers.
These may be used in combination; for example, traditions such as shamanism may combine ritual, fasting, and hallucinogenic substances.
One of the best known psychonautic works isAldous Huxley'sThe Doors of Perception, which recounts his experience after taking 400mg of mescaline.[16][17][18][19] The American physician, neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, philosopher, writer and inventorJohn C. Lilly was a well-known psychonaut. Lilly was interested in the nature ofconsciousness and, amongst other techniques, he used isolation tanks in his research.[20]
In the early 21st century, ayahuasca practice in the Amazon became increasingly linked to psychonautic exploration. Hamilton Souther, an American ayahuasquero, is known for his work with ayahuasca at Blue Morpho in Peru, gaining recognition through international media coverage[23][24][25] and later for his books describing his apprenticeship in Amazonian shamanism.[26][27]
Among the most influential figures are undoubtedlyAlexander Shulgin andAnn Shulgin who together authoredPiHKAL andTiHKAL, a pair of books which contain fictionalized autobiographies and detailed notes on over 230 psychoactive compounds. Some present-day psychonauts refer to themselves as "Shulginists" to denote a belief in the principles they identify in Shulgins' work.[28]
^abNewcombe, Russell (2008). "Ketamine Case Study: The Phenomenology of a Ketamine Experience".Addiction Research & Theory.16 (3):209–215.doi:10.1080/16066350801983707.S2CID143462683.
^Schifano, Fabrizio; Leoni, Mauro; Martinotti, Giovanni; Rawaf, Salman; Rovetto, Francesco (August 2003). "Importance of Cyberspace for the Assessment of the Drug Abuse Market: Preliminary Results from the Psychonaut 2002 Project".CyberPsychology & Behavior.6 (4):405–410.doi:10.1089/109493103322278790.PMID14511453.
^abDoyle, Richard M. (2011).Darwin's Pharmacy: Sex, Plants, and the Evolution of the Noösphere. University of Washington Press.ISBN978-0-295-99095-8.
^abCarpenter, Dan (2006).A Psychonaut's Guide to the Invisible Landscape: The Topography of the Psychedelic Experience. Park Street Press.ISBN978-1-59477-090-6.
