Quakerism and Psychedelics

It is hard to find much information on the connections between Quakerism (or the Religious Society of Friends) and psychedelic use. This is in contrast to discussions on the (actual or possible) influence of psychedelics on other religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and animistic religions. Unlike these other traditions, there are no signs or evidence that psychedelic experiences were connected to either the origin of Quakerism itself or key figures in the movement. However, this doesn’t mean Quakers haven’t tackled the subject of psychedelics. Furthermore, given that Quakerism is an experiential tradition – and, some say, a form of mysticism – many people find a resonance between the tradition and psychedelic experiences. For some, these experiences set them on the path to Quakerism.

Direct Experience of the Divine

Quakerism began as an offshoot of Protestant Christianity in mid-17th-century England. It originated during the Civil War and the republican era of Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth. This was a time of social, political, and religious upheaval. Many other radical religious sects emerged during this time, including the Shakers, Ranters, Diggers, Levellers, Muggletonians, Seekers, Congregationalists, Brownists, and Fifth Monarchists. ‘Quakers’ was a nickname that others ascribed to members of the Religious Society of Friends, owing to their ‘quaking’ when they felt moved by the Holy Spirit. This trembling is a common aspect of ecstatic experiences.

Quakerism is an experiential religion that encourages direct experience of the divine (which Quakers commonly refer to as the ‘inner light’, among many other names). This inner light, or light within, is associated with Christ and God. Quakers see every single person as possessing this spark of the divine, and they believe everyone can access it and perceive it in others. It is this belief – ‘that of God in everyone’, to use the Quaker phrasing – that underpins their commitment to the principles of equality and peace.

Since its founding by George Fox, Quakerism has emphasised the authority of one’s own direct and immediate experience of the divine, and rejected the so-called ‘authority’ of religious clergy and dogma. Quakerism is creedless and non-hierarchical. For this reason, the Quakers were initially seen by mainstream Protestant Christianity as heretics. Despite this, Fox travelled around England, preaching Quakerism to crowds (including other religious groups, such as the Seekers and Puritans). He and other Quaker preachers, including James Naylor, were often arrested and imprisoned for blasphemy.

While Quakers today aren’t viewed as heretics, their movement is still not very popular. The number of Quakers worldwide is 400,000, with the majority living in Africa and the Americas. Today, there are around 12,000 Quakers in Britain, which is a tiny membership, especially when we compare it to the 27.5 million who identify as Christians. (While Quakerism began as an offshoot of Christianity, many now consider the movement to be non-Christian. In fact, it accepts people with a wide range of beliefs, including those who hold no theistic beliefs.)

Buddhism can also be considered an experiential religion (or philosophy), and there are similarities between it and Quakerism, although there are important differences too. When I describe to people how Quakers worship in silence, they sometimes remark that it sounds like meditation, but Quaker worship does not involve focusing on an object of attention (e.g. the breath or certain phrases). It is not so much a developed meditation practice as ‘expectant waiting’ – one is waiting for the inward presence of the divine to appear. Buddhism does not refer to a divine presence (as it is, fundamentally, an atheistic tradition: the Buddha was not divine). Nonetheless, the emphasis on stillness in Quakerism accords somewhat with Buddhist thought, as does its emphasis on certain virtues.

Quakers access the divine (non-theist Quakers will use a different term) through silent worship. By attending Quaker meetings with a preparedness to experience the inner light, and by sinking into a state of deep communal silence, the feeling of a guiding presence can manifest. If someone feels called to speak based on this experience, they stand up and do so (which is known as ‘ministry’). There is no priest delivering a sermon. Anyone can share a spiritual message with the group. There are also no religious symbols present or hymns. Quaker meetings are centred on direct and unmediated experience.

Rufus Jones (1863–1948) established the mystical foundations of Quakerism, arguing that we should seek direct experience of God, rather than rely on second-hand descriptions of mystical experiences found in books and scriptures. He wrote that mystical experience “makes God sure to the person who has had the experience.” Jones was influenced by the American philosopher (and psychonaut) William James, who in The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) said, “Mystical states, when well developed, usually are, and have the right to be, absolutely authoritative over the individuals to whom they come.” James acknowledged, however, that those who have not had the experience are justified in being sceptical about the revelations described by those who have had them. This further stresses the value of direct experience, rather than putting faith in outside sources.

This experiential and mystical aspect of Quakerism may appeal to many psychedelic users, who might be looking for non-drug methods of accessing ‘the divine’ that they encountered in a psychedelic state. Moreover, Quakerism can provide a community and ethical framework that helps people to make sense of, and integrate, psychedelic-induced divine encounters.

For those who don’t resonate with the term ‘the divine’, for metaphysical or personal reasons, other terms can be used to encapsulate one’s direct experiences during Quaker worship. ‘Unity’ is one. Feeling connected to other group members in the deep stillness is common, as is feeling more connected to oneself and the world at large. Since unity and interconnectedness are common themes of the psychedelic mystical experience, this aspect of Quaker worship can also be appealing to psychedelic users. For the non-theist Quaker, ‘that of God in everyone’ can take on a different meaning in the experience of unity; it might instead be interpreted as the ‘inherent goodness in everyone’.

Quaker meetings can bring up feelings of inner warmth, compassion, and wisdom, which for psychedelic users might feel similar to what they experienced in their altered states, or it could be viewed as bringing to the surface mental states already unlocked by psychedelics. Aligned with Quaker principles, these direct experiences can then inform their lives in meaningful ways, influencing their careers, lifestyles, interactions with others, and moral decision-making. Many Quakers, for example, are passionate activists, which is often an outcome – or at least something informed by – their experiences during Quaker meetings. (Quakers were involved in the founding of groups like Amnesty International, Oxfam, Greenpeace, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Conscience, and Peace Tax International. They were also the first religious group to condemn slavery.)

The Attitudes of Quakers and Psychonauts

Quakers’ rejection of authority, and history of ‘speaking truth to power’, may also resonate with the mindset of those in the psychedelic community. People who use psychedelics (understandably) tend to have higher levels of openness to experience than non-users. Psychedelics themselves also lead to increases in this personality trait, an aspect of which is ‘challenging authority’. We can often see this in statements from key psychedelic figures, such as Timothy Leary, who famously advised, “Think for yourself, question authority.” I think many parallels can be drawn between Quakers and the countercultural movement of the 60s (e.g. the focus of both movements on peace, opposition to war, social justice, equality of the sexes, and environmentalism).

Quakerism also stresses the importance of being countercultural if it means acting in accordance with one’s conscience. Take this recommendation from Advices and Queries, which perhaps many psychonauts can relate to after shifting their worldview and attitudes post-psychedelics:

If pressure is brought upon you to lower your standard of integrity, are you prepared to resist it? Our responsibilities to God and our neighbour may involve us in taking unpopular stands. Do not let the desire to be sociable, or the fear of seeming peculiar, determine your decisions.

Similarly, psychedelics may encourage people to make big life and lifestyle changes, in ways that reflect insights and attitudinal changes occasioned by the psychedelic experience. Others may perceive some of these changes as strange or unwise (sometimes they are genuinely unwise), but if they feel authentic and healthier, then this can outweigh the social pressures or expectations to follow the former life trajectory. ‘Seeming peculiar’ may no longer be of concern – to either Quakers or psychonauts – because they have decided that a peculiarity or weirdness based on integrity should be embraced. The paragraph above from Advices and Queries, as well as other recommendations from the same text, reminds me of this well-known quote from Leary:

Admit it. You aren’t like them. You’re not even close. You may occasionally dress yourself up as one of them, watch the same mindless television shows as they do, maybe even eat the same fast food sometimes. But it seems that the more you try to fit in, the more you feel like an outsider, watching the “normal people” as they go about their automatic existences…. Trust your instincts. Do the unexpected. Find the others…

However, this doesn’t mean Quakers are necessarily eccentric in the ways many hippies and psychonauts are – at least that’s been my impression so far. Many Quakers, as part of their commitment to simplicity, choose plain dress, the opposite of how many psychonauts dress. Unprogrammed Quaker worship (the silent worship practised in Britain) is staid and calm, whereas it’s common for psychonauts to be drawn to more ecstatic forms of communal gatherings, such as ecstatic dance, raves, parties, festivals, breathwork, and ceremonies featuring psychoactive substances. Nonetheless, Quaker communities differ; some may be made up of more hippie and eccentric types than others.

Quaker Views on Psychedelics

There is no official or common Quaker view on psychedelics specifically. However, in the Quaker text Advices and Queries, the following view on alcohol and drugs is offered:

In view of the harm done by the use of alcohol, tobacco and other habit-forming drugs, consider whether you should limit your use of them or refrain from using them altogether. Remember that any use of alcohol or drugs may impair judgement and put both the user and others in danger.

Classic psychedelics aren’t considered habit-forming drugs (although it is possible, albeit uncommon, for an unhealthy pattern of use to arise). It is also possible for psychedelics to impair judgement (if one’s mind is intensely altered), putting oneself and others at risk. Nevertheless, causing harm to oneself or others on psychedelics is rare. In any case, the risk of addiction and harm to oneself and others is certainly lower than that of alcohol. And while early Quakers were teetotal (the founders of Cadbury, Rowntree, and Fry were Quakers who wanted to provide chocolate, an alternative indulgence to alcohol, to people), many modern Quakers drink alcohol in moderation. Thus, Quakers do not necessarily reject all drinking as harmful; they just want to avoid the harms associated with excessive drinking.

Similarly, if psychedelics are framed in these terms – used sensibly, not impairing one’s judgement (perhaps even being used to improve judgement and wisdom), and not having a tendency to cause harm to oneself or others – then they don’t seem comparable to the kind of drinking and drug use that Advices and Queries refers to.

Additionally, a Quaker could subscribe to what is known as ‘the principle of causal indifference’ in the philosophy of mysticism. This is the view, promoted by Walter Terence Stace, that all mystical experiences are valid, regardless of what causes them. After all, mystical experiences occur outside of Quaker meetings. Jones argued that these experiences were common, writing that “many people have had this vital experience.” Mystical or ecstatic states can be triggered not just by worship but also by psychedelics, the natural world, music, meditation, fasting, ecstatic dance, repetitive drumming, breathwork, singing hymns, chanting, and reading sacred texts. For Jones, the founders of most world religions gained their spiritual understanding through mystical states.

The historian Mary K. Mattosian has suggested in an article published in Quaker History that the unusual mental and physical states experienced by early Quakers may have been related to ergotism. This is a form of poisoning caused by ingestion of a fungus, Claviceps purpurea (or ergot), which commonly grows on rye. Ergot alkaloids are chemically similar to LSD. The Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann first synthesised LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) by isolating ergotamine (a precursor of lysergic acid) from ergot. Ergotism, or ergot poisoning, can cause a range of physical symptoms, such as muscle spasms and convulsions, as well as mental effects like mania, hallucinations, and psychosis. Mattosian’s hypothesis, if correct, perhaps lends weight to the view that experiences related to Quakerism can legitimately result from psychoactive drugs. (Mattosian had previously suggested that an outbreak of ergotism may have led to the 1692 accusations of witchcraft, most famously occurring in Salem.)

From personal experience, I have not found Quakers to hold stigmatising views on psychedelics (this could also speak to the fact that Quakers, in general, tend to be open-minded, non-judgemental, and pluralistic in their outlook). The subject of psychedelics has come up when talking to others at Quaker meetings if I’m asked what I do for a living. I’ll mention I’ve been covering psychedelic science and psychedelic therapy. People usually show interest and curiosity in the subject (this could also be related to the trend of mainstreaming and destigmatising psychedelics). One older woman I spoke to, currently an addiction therapist, opened up to me about her use of psychedelics in her hippie days, and she was aware of their current mental health application.

Joseph Havens, a Quaker, addressed the subject of psychedelics in a 1964 article published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Here he connected these substances to Quakerism:

It is just possible that God, in His inscrutable Grace, may wish to shatter all our Pharisaic pretensions, and through these remarkable substances gracefully provide glimpses of the realm of the Spirit precisely to those whose path would otherwise never have come near it….Seldom has the demand for the rethinking of the nature of mystical, experiential religion been so insistent. And this demand rests with unusual weight upon the Society of Friends, because of its claim to be a religion of immediate experience, of the inward Christ.

In 2017, researchers at Johns Hopkins gave the psychedelic psilocybin (found in magic mushrooms) to senior religious figures from a diverse range of faiths (Zen Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), with many saying they ‘felt God’ during the experience. Quakers weren’t included in the study (which is not surprising, given that they don’t belong to a major religion), but I would suspect they would have a similar experience. Quakers might be especially prone to have mystical experiences after ingesting psychedelics given that they belong to an experiential religion, which gives members the expectation that they will directly encounter the divine.

Less positive perspectives on psychedelics from Quakers can be found in a 1967 edition of Friends Journal. Two letters offer contrasting viewpoints on the use of LSD: one defends it, whereas the other deplores it, recommending instead that people seek similar objectives through non-drug means. Separate from these letters, the editorial comments read:

Why this obsession for escaping from harsh reality into a half-world of fantasy? Is it that man is becoming more and more disillusioned with himself – that young people find the world their elders have made so repulsive that to declare their independence of it they must escape into the never-never land of drugs, defiantly paying no attention to abundant warnings of the dangers they are courting? Is there any basis whatever for the insistent claim of LSD’s apologists that, in their drug-induced nirvana, they attain new insight into life’s meaning – that they have, in fact, a genuine religious experience?…. [W]e cannot help recalling an experience cited by Marghanita Lasky in the book called Ecstasy, as quoted by Ralph Hetherington in The Friends’ Quarterly:

Whilst under the anesthetic for a short operation, I had a complete revelation about the ultimate truth of everything…. It was a tremendous illumination. I was filled with unspeakable joy…. When I came around I told the doctor I understood the meaning of everything. He … said, “Well, what is it?” and I faltered out, “Well, it’s a sort of green light.”

In short, can it be that the “religious experience” claimed by those who probe so eagerly into their inner lives, with or without benefit of drugs, is to be found in the ” tripper’s” bemused condition, even as witticisms that seem excruciatingly funny to someone under the influence of alcohol, yet not at all funny to a companion who is cold sober, are likely to be witty only in the light of an alcoholic distortion of values?

Certainly there is an inner world that few of us can perceive or understand, but we have a feeling (perhaps completely unjustified) that its discovery is less likely to be achieved by those who self-consciously probe for it – who are constantly in search of self – than by those who keep their goals outer-directed and attain self discovery as a by-product. Or, to quote a recent editorial note in the Unitarian-Universalist Register-Leader,  “‘The unexamined life is not worth living’ … seems to be our … currently fashionable quote. But a few are beginning to wonder whether the endlessly examined life doesn’t become unlivable.”

This is obviously a more dismissive view of psychedelics, which doubts the validity of the insights and spiritual experiences that users report. Nonetheless – despite the use of dismissive, judgemental, and stigmatising language – I do think the editors raise legitimate questions and doubts regarding the purported profundity of psychedelic realisations as well as the potential pitfalls of becoming too introspective.

It’s worth putting these more negative and closed-minded attitudes in the context of the late 60s, a time when psychedelic stigma was strong and influential, pervading the media in the form of scare stories. Yet clearly there were still Quakers at that time who had favourable opinions about psychedelics, such as Havens. Quakers like him, both in the past and today, may adopt the principle of causal indifference and view psychedelic mystical states as entirely valid.

Quakerism and the Environment

An additional way that Quakerism and psychedelics can reinforce each other is through concern for the environment. Modern Quakers take sustainability seriously, so much so that it is now one of the main principles they try to live by, alongside truth, simplicity, peace, and equality. Sustainability is also related to the other principles; one lives simply as a way to live sustainably, and living in a way that doesn’t damage the environment is part of following a path of non-violence. Advices and Queries states:

We do not own the world, and its riches are not ours to dispose of at will. Show a loving consideration for all creatures and seek to maintain the beauty and variety of the world. Work to ensure that our increasing power over nature is used responsibly, with reverence for life.

Such a mindset may resonate with many psychedelic users, as research has shown that psychedelics can enhance nature connectedness and, in turn, encourage pro-environmental behaviour. The psychedelic experience can evoke the attitudes and feelings towards the environment that are described in Advices and Queries: anti-anthropocentrism, care, appreciation, and reverence. One crucial way that psychedelics seem to evoke this nature connectedness and concern for the environment is through the mystical experience. In this state, characterised by interconnectedness and unity, there is the undeniable sense that one is part of nature, an equal constituent, with all other constituents having worth and deserving protection, and all parts being interdependent.

As a result of feeling more strongly connected to – and identified with – the natural world, psychedelic users can feel drawn to the kind of behaviours and lifestyle choices that Quakers themselves often recommend. These include not falling prey to the culture of consumerism; reusing and recycling; doing away with unnecessary goods; buying local, fair-traded, and organically produced food; reducing or eliminating the consumption of animal products; composting food and garden waste; driving and flying less; and reducing waste.

Concluding Thoughts

Many psychedelic users want to find a community of people they can relate to after they’ve had profoundly transformative and spiritual experiences. Psychedelic communities exist, but finding one that one resonates with can be difficult. Some may be attracted to the New Age spirituality that is often a part of the psychedelic community, whereas others (myself included) are put off by this. Wanting to find a spiritually-minded community post-psychedelics does not mean that the community has to be psychedelic-focused. In fact, a community not focused on psychedelics might, for some people, be more helpful for integrating psychedelic experiences and being part of a relatable community, if that group better promotes the values and attitudes that one is attracted to.

Some psychedelic users, therefore, may feel at home in the Quaker community. This community can offer the opportunity to have spiritual experiences without psychedelics as well as help people integrate psychedelic experiences in a meaningful way.