The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.
It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.
— Albert Einstein
“Mystical” is an umbrella term for the profound personal revelations that someone might encounter. Either through psychedelics or other means.
Broadly speaking, a mystical experience is anything that is hard to comprehend or describe with rational or simple language. It is an experience that grants acquaintance with realities that are not accessible through mere sense perception, somatosensory modalities, or standard introspection. (source)
These mystical experiences can be produced by psilocybin, the naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in magic truffles.
Evidence has shown that psilocybin-occasioned mystical experiences, or psychedelic-induced peaks, reliably produce profound and transformative psychological experiences as well as notable and persisting increases in:
- higher-order psychological constructs (such as enhanced motivation and self-efficacy and reduced craving, anxiety, and cognitive bias)
- psychological well-being
- good mood
- positive behavior (such as smoking cessation)
- altruism (care for others) in social interaction
These mystical-type experiences have a lasting impact and are predictive of subsequent positive long-term outcomes after a high-dose session.
In fact, in a 2006 Johns Hopkins study of psilocybin, 83% of the participants rated their psilocybin session as “among the five most personally and spiritually significant” of their lives…14 months later!
It goes without saying that the idea that a single experience can result in lasting beneficial effects in an individual’s attitudes or behavior is highly unusual if not unprecedented within the modern biomedical paradigm.
Inspired to learn more about psychedelics? Check my What are psychedelics? What does science say? article.
If you’re interested in a personalized psilocybin retreat, please have a look at the Truffle Transformation Experience.
