Part of the appeal of horror films – which is underappreciated, I think – is their capacity to evoke the sublime. This is a curious and complex emotion. It’s a mixture of fear and fascination. It involves feeling simultaneously nervous or threatened by some perceptual phenomenon – because of its vastness or power – and…
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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…
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Different forms of meditation can be helpful for perfectionism. Mindfulness can interrupt ruminative thinking focused on perfectionism – stopping an initial thought spiralling into a distressing chain of thoughts, or cycles of thoughts. Compassion (karuna) or loving-kindness (metta) meditation can challenge the default attitudes and emotions behind perfectionist thinking – regret, self-blame, and self-criticism –…
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The ‘archaic revival’ is one of Terence McKenna’s most popular ideas, and it is the title of his 1991 book that explores a variety of topics related to psychedelics. The core of the idea is that several 20th-century movements represent a return to the spiritual and ecological sensibilities of Paleolithic and Neolithic shamanistic societies. The…
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In his latest book Why? The Purpose of the Universe, and in his defence of a heretical form of Christianity, the philosopher Philip Goff makes a case for the ‘limited God hypothesis’. This is the idea that a god with limited abilities best explains what we observe in the universe. The hypothesis, therefore, challenges the…
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