The pre-ceremony meditation includes a mantra based on Jewish Kabbalah. It is a simplified version with seven elements, which differ very slightly from the traditional meanings:

Keter (Divine Light)

Hokhmah (Insight)

Binah (Knowledge)

Da’at (Wisdom)

Chesed (Love)

Gevurah (Restraint)

Tiferet (Beauty)

The basic idea is the same: the first sefirah (emanation) from the transcendent Godhead is an influx of divine light. This works its way down the human organism via the remaining sefirot, enlightening both mind and body in the process.

In my version, the first sefirah is located at the the third eye chakra. This is Keter, the divine light. The other six sefirot are arranged in two down-pointing triangles. The upper triangle is made up of Hokhmah, Binah and Da’at, with Hokhmah at the left shoulder, Binah at the right shoulder and Da’at at the heart chakra. The lower triangle is made up of Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferet, with Chesed at the left hip, Gevurah at the right hip and Tiferet at the root chakra.

These two triangles represent analogous processes, whereby the exuberant, superabundant energy of the divine source of light and life is channeled into the human realm.

Hokhmah represents the influx of insight in the form of thoughts and visions. These are extremely compelling because of the divine charge they contain. However, they can be easily misunderstood and can lead to grave errors and delusions. Therefore we need the balancing force of Binah to correct the errors and curtail the excesses of Hokhmah. The result of the interplay of Hokhmah (insight) and Binah (knowledge) is Da’at (wisdom).

Chesed represents the influx of love in the form of emotions and sensations. These are also extremely powerful because of the intense energy released. Unchecked, they can overwhelm the usual bounds of human affection, friendship and eros, sweeping away all boundaries in a tsunami of “free love”. This can lead to emotional and sexual abuse, both of oneself and of others. Therefore we need the disciplined restraint of Gevurah to contain the love and channel it in a healthy and nurturing direction. The result of the interplay of Chesed (love) and Gevurah (restraint) is Tiferet (beauty).

Don’t worry, don’t be scared, don’t be anxious, don’t be afraid.

Be cool. Take inspiration from the saints and martyrs.

There is nothing to fear but fear itself.

Take courage my heart.

Stay steadfast my soul.

“Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

(Matthew 22:36-40)

Christianity can also be boiled down to two other commandments: repent and believe.

Repentance opens us up to the possibility of forgiveness, which Christians believe will be freely given to those who truly repent. Human beings are not perfect – we are careless, we make mistakes, we do stupid things, we are selfish and blind, we hurt ourselves and others. We’re only human. But if we are unrepentant, we are unforgiven. We carry a heavy weight of existential anxiety, the existential anxiety of guilt and condemnation.

The weight of our guilt is proportionate to the weight of our sin, the weight of our accumulated karma. This is not just an abstract idea. The body remembers. It carries a toxic “body of sin”, a “pain body”. Whether or not we are “more sinned against than sinning”, the trauma of sin is in us. It creates discomfort and disease. It cries out for healing. It cries out for release and purging, for detox and purification.

Each of the four gospels begins with John the Baptist’s call to repentance and the symbolic cleansing rite of baptism with the promise of an even more powerful cleansing to come:

“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matthew 3:11)

But modern secular people have forgotten how to repent and how to be cleansed of their sins. Liberalism has put paid to both sin and repentance and has pathologized guilt, which it claims can be treated with psychotherapy and psychiatric drugs. However, no amount of therapy or drugs can expiate the existential anxiety of an unrepentant soul. Liberalism is so deeply ingrained that even Westerners exposed to ancient shamanic traditions close their ears to the plant medicine’s clarion call to repentance and reformation, however much they may purge.

Another major source of existential anxiety, according to Paul Tillich, is doubt and meaninglessness. This is a problem in its own right, which can result in the despair of a full-blown existential crisis, and even suicide. However, in its less acute form, it also has negative consequences. Where there is doubt, there is vacillation and relativism. There is no motivation to do the right thing, no moral conviction, no firm resolve. There is no compelling reason to not sin again, nothing to prevent you from creating more bad karma.

The forgiveness that comes with repentance clears you of past transgressions and emotional baggage. The righteousness that comes with belief restrains you from committing further transgressions in the present. Love forgives. Faith guides. These are two of the Christian virtues, dealing with the existential anxiety of guilt and condemnation in relation to the past and the existential anxiety of doubt and meaninglessness in relation to the present. The third is hope, which deals with the existential anxiety of fate and death in relation to the future.

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Psychedelic Christian Zen has three “moments”: gnosis, pistis and kenosis, which form the three stages of a psychedelic cycle of knowledge:

Kenosis

(Purification)

/oooooooooo\

Pistisoooo<-ooooGnosis

(Dalliance)oooooooo(Perception)

Kenosis is the temporary suspension or bracketing of all interpretative theories and models, gnosis is direct experiential revelation or insight and pistis is the processing and integration of this direct perception into one’s existing model of reality. Kenosis empties the mind of preconceptions, prejudices, assumptions and biases in order that fresh gnosis can occur as clearly and cleanly as possible, and better modify and refine our evolving pistis.

This cycle of knowledge is a simplified version of the scientific method. The “purification” is the clearing necessary for scientific objectivity and neutrality, the “perception” is the scientific experiment itself and the “dalliance” is scientific hypothesis-testing and theory-building. In the psychedelic setting, kenosis (purification) is the preparation before a trip and pistis (dalliance) is the integration after a trip.

However, these three “moments”, kenosis, gnosis, pistis, also form the basis of a spiritual method:

Gnosis

(Communion)

/oooooooooo\

KenosisooooooooooPistis

(Meditation)oooooooo(Prayer)

Here both meditation and prayer aid communion with the spirit of the plant medicine and the Great Spirit beyond. A successful, transformative trip requires both presence of mind (meditation) and effective self-soothing (prayer). This is most powerfully achieved through self-emptying (kenosis) and faith (pistis).

On the other hand, powerful psychedelic experiences, especially mystical ones, strengthen and deepen the meditation and prayer life of the individual post-trip. It is a virtuous cycle, wherein meditation and prayer produce a stronger psychedelic communion and a stronger psychedelic communion produces stronger meditation and prayer, peace and love, zen and faith.

Forty days and forty nights

Thou wast fasting in the wild,

Forty days and forty nights

Tempted and yet undefiled.

.

Sunbeams scorching all the day,

Chilly dewdrops nightly shed,

Prowling beasts about thy way,

Stones thy pillow, earth thy bed.

.

Let us thine endurance share,

And awhile from joys abstain,

With thee watching unto prayer,

Strong with thee to suffer pain.

.

And if Satan, vexing sore,

Flesh or spirit should assail,

Thou, his vanquisher before,

Grant we may not faint nor fail.

.

So shall we have peace divine,

Holier gladness ours shall be,

Round us too shall angels shine,

Such as ministered to thee.

.

Keep, O keep us, Saviour dear,

Ever constant by thy side,

That with thee we may appear

At the eternal Eastertide.

Recreational psychedelic use is social; therapeutic psychedelic use is personal; sacramental psychedelic use is transpersonal.

The shift from the social to the personal is an inward movement away from superficial social relations and occasions towards greater psychological depth and maturity. This involves individuation and self-actualisation, and the clarification, revision and refinement of personal goals and values. It is a genuine and sincere response to the Delphic call to “know thyself”.

This personal psychological journey can be undertaken alone or with the aid of a psychotherapist, counsellor or life coach. It will invariably involve confronting family issues, relationship issues, self-esteem issues, and a host of other related issues. Personal psychological work can also be facilitated by psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP), which helps plumb the depths of the psyche more powerfully and effectively than other modalities.

However, there is a class of issues which go beyond the personal and cannot be properly addressed in a purely therapeutic context. These are commonly referred to as “existential” or “transpersonal” issues. Here we must move beyond the domain of the psychological into metaphysical, theological and mystical realms.

The shift from the personal to the transpersonal is a movement away from self-concern and the pursuit of personal happiness and fulfillment towards a deeper sense of connection and alignment with a Higher Power, however conceived. For most people, this shift occurs later in life, if at all. Where it does occur, it is also a genuine and sincere response, this time to “a serious call to a devout and holy life”.

Spirituality can be of the personal or the transpersonal kind. If it is in the service of the personal self, that is, if it is primarily of therapeutic interest, then it is personal spirituality. If it is in the service of a higher power or principle, “for the glory of God”, then it is transpersonal spirituality.

The sacramental use of psychedelics has social and psychological benefits, but it is ultimately rooted in the transpersonal rather than the personal. It is about re-connection with the source and of existence, life and consciousness, not for our own personal benefit, but in order that we may be become channels of peace and love for the benefit of all. It is not just psychology or spirituality. It is religion.

To the rational mind, mystery is madness.

But to body and soul, it’s medicine.

There are three great mysteries in the life of the spirit:

The mystery of zen, the mystery of psychedelics and the mystery of faith.

The first is presence, here and now, beyond space and time, body and mind.

It is the still, small voice of the self which is no-self in the boundless field of nonduality.

The second is encounter with the numinous, the mysterium tremendum et fascinans.

It is the wholly other, the alternating wrath and grace of the unapproachable divine source of all.

The third is the divine logos, the peace which passes all understanding, the love which never fails.

It is the covering atonement, the propitiation, absolution, reconciliation and redemption.

These three great mysteries of kenosis, gnosis and pistis are mutually reinforcing.

Each precedes and succeeds the other two, preparing the soul to receive the holy mysteries in ever greater fullness.

Great is the mystery of zen.

Great is the mystery of psychedelics.

Great is the mystery of faith.

The Way of the Holy Mushroom depends on three elements: kenosis, gnosis and pistis.

Kenosis is all about self-emptying and not-knowing. It is the recognition that the honest answer to the perennial questions, “who am I?”, “what is the nature of reality?” and “what is God?” is I don’t know. Kenosis is rooted in radical humility before the fathomless mystery of existence. Any glib answers to these questions, whether theistic or atheistic, are ultimately dishonest and worthless – the facile pretensions of an arrogant human mind. As Einstein put it, you cannot understand “that which the mind cannot grasp”.

Gnosis is about being filled with the spirit (the mushroom spirit) and intimate knowing. However, gnostic knowing is not the same as ordinary, rational knowing. It is supra-mundane, super-natural, transcendental knowing. It is “out of this world”. It carries profound conviction, known in the trade as “noetic quality”, but is at the same time strangely intangible and “ineffable”, impossible to communicate in ordinary language. This is why it is so difficult to “integrate” it, that is, to transfer it to the ordinary human world and human mind.

The mode of expression best suited to the translation of this supra-mundane gnosis into human understanding is not the rational, logical, propositional mode. It is the mytho-poetic mode, which is not irrational or illogical, but non-rational. It blends truth with beauty and goodness, story-telling with poetry, architecture with music, art with artlessness, revelation with tradition, reason with faith. This is pistis, or religion. Without it, we are left with dry philosophy or moist emotivism.

When it comes to the ritual use of psychedelics, human reason has its place, but it is essential that it know its place. It must give way to these three other types of knowing: the not-knowing of kenosis, the psychedelic, super-natural knowing of gnosis and the religious knowing of pistis. However, because we are proud and lack humility, we cannot enter fully into kenosis, gnosis and pistis, and develop the docta ignorantia or “learned ignorance” necessary to progress in holiness, virtue and wisdom. Instead, we fall back on the conventional wisdom of the world, which is foolishness with God.

A Christian is a follower of Christ, who “overcame the world”. (John 16:33)

Therefore a follower of Christ must strive to overcome the world.

To overcome the world is to overcome conventional society, or “Babylon”.

Three things necessary to overcome Babylon are “Heaven”, “Earth” and “the Word”.

Heaven is reached in the gnosis of psychedelic mystical experience.

Earth is reached in the kenosis of mindful presence and zen.

The Word is reached in the pistis of religious contemplation.

Psychonauts who believe in Heaven but not Earth or the Word are defeated by Babylon.

Neo-Pagans who believe in the Earth but not Heaven or the Word are defeated by Babylon.

Christians who believe in the Word but not Earth or Heaven are defeated by Babylon.

One out of three is not enough. Two out of three is not enough.

The only way to overcome the world and defeat Babylon and extract yourself from the Matrix

is by fully engaging mind, body and spirit with the Word and with Heaven and Earth.

This is the Way of Psychedelic Christian Zen.

This is the Way of the Holy Mushroom.