Religious Leaders Call Magic Mushroom Trip “Profoundly Sacred”

Religious Leaders Take Psilocybin — and Call the Experience “Profoundly Sacred“

Psychedelic substances have played roles in various spiritual traditions throughout history. However, a new, groundbreaking study is the first to explore how they might affect the professional lives and spiritual perspectives of leaders from four of the world’s major religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism.

Exploring the Spiritual Side of Psychedelics

The undersøgelse, led by the late Roland Griffiths from Johns Hopkins University alongside Stephen Ross and Anthony Bossis of NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine, builds on previous research into the spiritual potential of psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin, peyote, og ayahuasca. These substances have long been used in some Indigenous and religious ceremonies and are known to produce deeply meaningful, sometimes mystical experiences.

“Mystical experiences,” the researchers explain, often include sensations of unity, a powerful sense of truth (known as “noetic quality”), transcendence of time and space, feelings of awe and sacredness, elevated mood, and an awareness of seemingly contradictory states. Many people find them difficult to put into words.

Such states, they note, aren’t exclusive to psychedelics. Similar experiences can also arise through practices like meditation, fasting, breathwork, music, or even near-death experiences. Still, despite their spiritual potential, psychedelics are generally absent from the formal* practices of major world religions like Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

This led the researchers to wonder: What might happen if religious leaders — people already deeply immersed in spiritual life — were introduced to a psychedelic experience?

* There are, of course, schools of thought and research that theorize that psychedelics may have had an influence over alle world religions in various, hidden, ways… but that’s a wormhole for a different day… 😉

A Rabbi, a Minister, a Monk, and a Priest… (No it’s not the beginning of a joke!)

To find out, the team recruited 33 religious professionals from well-established faith communities. Participants had to be formally trained, ordained (or the equivalent), and recognized as legitimate representatives of their religious tradition. They also needed to spend a significant portion of their professional life offering spiritual care or guidance.

The final group included 22 Christian leaders (from Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, and other denominations), five rabbis (from Orthodox, Reconstructionist, and Renewal branches of Judaism), one Sunni Muslim, and one Zen Buddhist monk.

The study took place in a comforting environment, a room designed to feel like a living room, complete with couches, rugs, and soft lighting. Participants were invited to bring meaningful religious or personal objects. Each session began with a “moderately high” dose of psilocybin (20mg per 70kg of body weight). Participants lay on a couch wearing eyeshades and headphones, listening to the same curated music while turning their focus inward.

About a month later, 24 of the original participants returned for a second session. Of those, 18 received a higher dose of 30mg/70kg.

Deeply Sacred and Spiritually Transformative

Follow-ups conducted at six and sixteen months aimed to evaluate how the experiences impacted participants’ spiritual lives and work. Compared to a control group that did not receive psilocybin, those who did reported “significantly greater positive changes” in their religious outlook, practices, and leadership effectiveness, as well as improvements in broader aspects of mood, behavior, and social interactions.

In an in-depth questionnaire administered to those who had received two sessions, participants reflected on their experiences. A remarkable 96% said at least one session ranked among the five most spiritually significant experiences of their lives. Nearly as many (92%) called them “profoundly sacred,” with 83% describing them as psychologically insightful and 79% saying they were deeply meaningful. For 42%, one of the sessions stood out as the single most profound experience of their lifetime.

When it came to professional impact, the results were equally compelling. About 78% said the experience had a strongly positive influence on their spiritual practices (such as prayer or meditation) and deepened their daily sense of the sacred. Another 71% reported a heightened appreciation for spiritual traditions (such as other religions) outside of their own.

Challenges and Benefits

The study reported no serious adverse effects. However, it wasn’t all easy. Nearly half of the participants (46%) said that at least one session ranked among the top five most psychologically challenging experiences of their lives. (However, studies show that even challenging or ‘difficult’ psychedelic experiences are often, ultimately, spiritually rewarding.)

Still, the takeaway was largely positive. According to the researchers, psilocybin may offer religious leaders a new, deeply personal lens through which to view their faith — and, by extension, their work.

In a world where spiritual burnout and disconnection can weigh heavily on those in religious leadership, this unconventional approach might just offer a surprising new path to renewal.