Biography/Memoir

…controversial paper… psychedelic research…

Doblin reached out to several politicians for help too. He even wrote a letter to Pope John Paul II.  [Matthew] Johnson also accused Griffiths of infusing his research with his own spiritual beliefs and advancing a political agenda aimed at spreading the use of psychedelics. All this, Johnson said, created a “cult-like atmosphere.” Not everyone…

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Spirituality

A Federal judge in Utah orders local officials to return a religious group’s psychedelic sacrament

That raid happened on November 11, 2024, less than eight months after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox had signed the state’s version of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). That law likely protects Singularism’s psychedelic rituals, a federal judge ruled last month [Feb. 2025]  Jensen wrote in a September 2023 letter to the Provo City Council and Mayor…

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Spirituality

“Sincere religious belief” is an evolving standard for psychedelic churches

Interest has grown in establishing legal churches centered around the use of such substances, particularly as states like Oregon and Colorado have legalized forms of psychedelic-assisted therapy. …does not follow a rigid set of prescribed beliefs but instead encourages adherents to explore their own spiritual experiences…  This court’s order underscores that religious practice does not need to conform to…

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Spirituality

Psychedelic Church of Colorado Springs: magic mushrooms legally handed out to a community honoring “three universal truths”

In a seemingly normal El Paso County house, the Psychedelic Church of Colorado Springs has been open for one year and has gained more than 300 members. Benji Dezaval is the church’s founder. He says he is legally allowed to hand out magic mushrooms because of a law Coloradans passed in 2023, which decriminalizes the gifting and…

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Spirituality

Muslims navigate the tension between psychedelics for mental health and Koran teachings

Yasir Qadhi is chair of the Fiqh Council of North America, which issues religious rulings, or fatwas… [says], “Technically, psychedelics don’t fall under the exact same category as alcohol.” Islam is the second-largest faith community in the world… whether Muslims will see this as an outlawed substance, medical healing or mystical revelation remains an open…

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Anthropology

Oregon psilocybin: state of the state

This summer [2024], the Oregon Capital Chronicle kicked off a raft of reporting on lack of customer demand in the OPS system, noting at least one service center closure… [At]… Harris Sliwoski… we’ve since become aware of a few more, and others operating on a limited or part-time basis. Fundamentally, the program is also imbalanced. There are…

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Spirituality

The day the Pope met a psychedelic evangelist

The pope met an emissary from the psychedelic world at a “holy meeting” at the Vatican, where a Jesuit lawyer named Brian Muraresku presented Pope Francis with a manifesto for a psychedelic “New Reformation.” Pope Francis accepted a copy of Muraresku’s 2020 book The Immortality Key at the meeting, which took place in late 2021 or early…

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Spirituality

SF psychedelic church dedicated to psilocybin mushrooms to close, cites harassment from city

Zide Door will close its location in the city’s SOMA neighborhood with its pastor citing harassment from the San Francisco Planning Department. The church also accused the planning department of criticizing the church in the media. Hodges said that he is concerned that the Planning Department’s “targeting” of the church could constitute religious discrimination… Zide…

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