Prophet or Mystic? The Future of Psychedelic Spirituality

Psychedelics magnify and clarify spiritual feelings and ideas. Within the modern Western tradition, the mystical-unitive state is a popular point of departure. Modeled on an Eastern religious platform of enlightenment, it shapes one’s preparation for a psychedelic session, determines how one approaches and manages the acute experience, and then interprets and integrates it. Another Western tradition is that of the interactive-relational spiritual experience whose highest attainment is biblical prophecy. The DMT state is also interactive-relational, and the degree of overlap with prophetic experience is striking. I will discuss the prophetic model, its relevance to the psychedelic state, and advantages over the mystical unifying approach.