Psychonautics (from the
Ancient Greekψυχήpsychē 'soul, spirit, mind' and ναύτηςnaútēs 'sailor, navigator')[1] refers both to a methodology for describing and explaining the subjective effects of
altered states of consciousness, including those induced by
meditation or
mind-altering substances, and to a research cabal in which the researcher voluntarily immerses themselves into an altered mental state in order to explore the accompanying experiences.[2]
The term has been applied diversely, to cover all activities by which
altered states are induced and utilized for
spiritual purposes or the exploration of the
human condition, including
shamanism,
lamas of the
TibetanBuddhist tradition,[3] the
Siddhars of Ancient India,[4]sensory deprivation,[1] and archaic/modern drug users who use
entheogenic 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 a psychonaut.
Etymology and categorization
The term psychonautics derives from the prior term psychonaut, 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 the Group Psychotherapy journal. A 1968 magazine, Beyond Baroque, refers to
Timothy Leary as a psychonaut.[citation needed]
German author
Ernst Jünger describes ideas related to psychonautics - in reference to
Arthur Heffter - in his 1970 essay on his own extensive drug experiences Annäherungen: 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 as
lucid dreaming,
brainwave entrainment,
sensory deprivation, and the use of
hallucinogens or
entheogens, 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 of
Leeds 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 writer
Robert Thurman depicts the
Tibetan 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]
Categorization
The aims and methods of psychonautics, when state-altering substances are involved, is commonly distinguished from
recreational drug use by research sources.[1] Psychonautics as a means of exploration need not involve drugs, and may take place in a religious context with an established history. Cohen considers psychonautics closer in association to wisdom traditions and other transpersonal and integral movements.[10]
However, there is considerable overlap with
modern drug use and due to its modern close association with
psychedelics and other drugs, it is also studied in the context of
drug abuse from a perspective of addiction,[2] the drug abuse market and
online psychology,[13] and studies into existing and emerging drugs within
toxicology.[5]
Icaros, which are the songs (i.e. something verbal that is ordinarily perceived as an auditory sensation) the
Ayahuasceros 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 is
Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception, which recounts his experience after taking 400mg of mescaline.[16][17][18][19] The American physician, neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, philosopher, writer and inventor
John C. Lilly was a well-known psychonaut. Lilly was interested in the nature of
consciousness and, amongst other techniques, he used isolation tanks in his research.[20]
Among the most influential figures are undoubtedly
Alexander Shulgin and
Ann Shulgin who together authored
PiHKAL and
TiHKAL, 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.[23]
^
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.