The finger should be unerring and straight.

The sky should be cloudless and clear.

The moon should be full and bright.

o

The finger is pistis.

The sky is kenosis.

The moon is gnosis.

o

Christian Zen Shamanism

Is the psychedelic lunar cycle

Of pistis-kenosis-gnosis.

What the mind hears as music, the body feels as vibration:

The bass below the belt, the mid-range in the torso, the high notes in the head.

Good music is healing for both body and mind,

Especially when psychedelically sensitized.

My poetry is jamming your machine

It broke the photo-copier, I’m to blame,

With pictures copied from a world unseen.

o

My poem is in the works -I’m on the scene

We free my verse, and I confess my shame,

My poetry is jamming your machine.

o

Though you berate me with what might have been,

You stop to read the poem, just the same,

And pictures, copied from a world unseen,

o

Subvert the icons on your mental screen

And open windows with a whispered name;

My poetry is jamming your machine.

o

For chosen words can change the things they mean

And set the once-familiar world aflame

With pictures copied from a world unseen

o

The mental props give way, on which you lean

The world you see will never be the same,

My poetry is jamming your machine

With pictures copied from a world unseen

o

Malcolm Guite

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.