Editing Entheogen (section)

== Research ==
{{also|Eleusinian Mysteries|Soma (drink)}}
[[File:Marsh-chapel-window.jpg|thumb|left|[[Mandala]]-like [[Rose window|round window]] above the altar at [[Boston University]]'s Marsh Chapel, site of [[Marsh Chapel Experiment]]]]

Notable early testing of the entheogenic experience includes the [[Marsh Chapel Experiment]], conducted by physician and theology doctoral candidate [[Walter Pahnke]] under the supervision of psychologist [[Timothy Leary]] and the [[Harvard Psilocybin Project]]. In this [[double-blind]] experiment, volunteer graduate school divinity students from the Boston area almost all claimed to have had profound [[religious experience]]s subsequent to the ingestion of pure [[psilocybin]].{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Beginning in 2006, experiments have been conducted at [[Johns Hopkins University]], showing that under controlled conditions psilocybin causes [[mystical experience]]s in most participants and that they rank the personal and spiritual meaningfulness of the experiences very highly.<ref name="Griffiths">{{cite journal | title = Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance | journal = Psychopharmacology | date = 7 July 2006 | author = R. R. Griffiths |author2=W. A. Richards |author3=U. McCann |author4=R. Jesse  | volume = 187 | issue = 3 | pages = 268–283| doi=10.1007/s00213-006-0457-5 | pmid=16826400| s2cid = 7845214 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=MacLean, Katherine A.|author2=Johnson, Matthew W.|author3=Griffiths, Roland R.|title=Mystical Experiences Occasioned by the Hallucinogen Psilcybin Lead to Increases in the Personality Domain of Openness|journal=Journal of Psychopharmacology|date=2011|volume=25|issue=11|pages=1453–1461|doi=10.1177/0269881111420188|pmid=21956378|pmc=3537171}}</ref>

Except in Mexico, research with psychedelics is limited due to ongoing widespread [[Prohibition (drugs)|drug prohibition]]. The amount of [[peer review|peer-reviewed research]] on psychedelics has accordingly been limited due to the difficulty of getting approval from [[institutional review board]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Nutt|first1=David J.|last2=King|first2=Leslie A.|last3=Nichols|first3=David E.|title=Effects of Schedule I Drug Laws on Neuroscience Research and Treatment Innovation|journal=Nature Reviews Neuroscience|volume=14|issue=8|pages=577–85|year=2013|doi=10.1038/nrn3530|pmid=23756634|s2cid=1956833}}</ref> Furthermore, scientific studies on entheogens present some significant challenges to researchers, including philosophical questions relating to [[ontology]], [[epistemology]] and [[objectivity (science)|objectivity]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tupper|first1=Kenneth W.|last2=Labate|first2=Beatriz C.|title=Ayahuasca, Psychedelic Studies and Health Sciences: The Politics of Knowledge and Inquiry into an Amazonian Plant Brew|journal=Current Drug Abuse Reviews|volume=7|issue=2|pages=71–80|year=2014|doi=10.2174/1874473708666150107155042|pmid=25563448}}</ref>

In recent decades, entheogens have been revisited in clinical research for their potential therapeutic benefits. According to Richards (2009), studies have shown promise in treating depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety associated with terminal illness using substances such as psilocybin and MDMA.<ref name=":0" />

This modern research highlights a shift toward integrating the traditional spiritual insights associated with entheogens into clinical practice, promoting healing and psychological growth.