Crack Psychonaut

[Cori Lenon]

Psychonautics (from the Ancient Greek ψυχή psychē 'soul, spirit, mind' and ναύτης natēs 'sailor, navigator')[1] refers both to a methodology for describing and explaining the subjective effects of altered states of consciousness, including those induced by meditation or mind-altering substances, and to a research cabal in which the researcher voluntarily immerses themselves into an altered mental state in order to explore the accompanying experiences.[2]

The term has been applied diversely, to cover all activities by which altered states are induced and utilized for spiritual purposes or the exploration of the human condition, including shamanism, lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition,[3] the Siddhars of Ancient India,[4] sensory deprivation,[1] and archaic/modern drug users who use entheogenic substances in order to gain deeper insights and spiritual experiences.[5] Self-experimentation of psychedelics in groups may foster innovation of alternative medication treatment.[6] A person who uses altered states for such exploration is known as a psychonaut.

The term psychonautics derives from the prior term psychonaut, which began appearing in North American works in the late 1950s. The first reference that corresponds to contemporary usages of the term was in the 1965 edition of the Group Psychotherapy journal. A 1968 magazine, Beyond Baroque, refers to Timothy Leary as a psychonaut.[citation needed]

Peter J. Carroll made Psychonaut the title of a 1982 book on the experimental use of meditation, ritual and drugs in the experimental exploration of consciousness and of psychic phenomena, or "chaos magic".[8]

Clinical psychiatrist Jan Dirk Blom describes psychonautics as denoting "the exploration of the psyche by means of techniques such as lucid dreaming, brainwave entrainment, sensory deprivation, and the use of hallucinogens or entheogens, and a psychonaut as one who "seeks to investigate their mind using intentionally induced altered states of consciousness" for spiritual, scientific, or research purposes.[1]

Psychologist Dr. Elliot Cohen of Leeds Beckett University and the UK Institute of Psychosomanautics defines psychonautics as "the means to study and explore consciousness (including the unconscious) and altered states of consciousness; it rests on the realization that to study consciousness is to transform it." He associates it with a long tradition of historical cultures worldwide.[10] Leeds Beckett University offers a module in Psychonautics[11][12] and may be the only university in the UK to do so.[citation needed]

American Buddhist writer Robert Thurman depicts the Tibetan Buddhist master as a psychonaut, stating that "Tibetan lamas could be called psychonauts, since they journey across the frontiers of death into the in-between realm."[3]

The aims and methods of psychonautics, when state-altering substances are involved, is commonly distinguished from recreational drug use by research sources.[1] Psychonautics as a means of exploration need not involve drugs, and may take place in a religious context with an established history. Cohen considers psychonautics closer in association to wisdom traditions and other transpersonal and integral movements.[10]

However, there is considerable overlap with modern drug use and due to its modern close association with psychedelics and other drugs, it is also studied in the context of drug abuse from a perspective of addiction,[2] the drug abuse market and online psychology,[13] and studies into existing and emerging drugs within toxicology.[5]

Works such as Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey, The Hasheesh Eater by Fitz Hugh Ludlow, and On Hashish by Walter Benjamin have psychonautic elements insofar as they explore human and drug-induced experiences. They may be considered precursors to psychonautic literature, but they are not psychonautic works in their own right.

One of the best known psychonautic works is Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception, which recounts his experience after taking 400mg of mescaline.[16][17][18][19] The American physician, neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, philosopher, writer and inventor John C. Lilly was a well-known psychonaut. Lilly was interested in the nature of consciousness and, amongst other techniques, he used isolation tanks in his research.[20]

Ken Kesey is an author well-known for accounts of his experimentation with psychedelic drugs. Philosophical- and Science-fiction author Philip K. Dick has also been described as a psychonaut for several of his works such as The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.[17]

Another influential figure is the psychologist and writer Timothy Leary.[18] Leary is known for controversial talks and research on the subject; he wrote several books including The Psychedelic Experience. Another widely known name is that of American philosopher, ethnobotanist, lecturer, and author Terence McKenna.[21][22] McKenna spoke and wrote about subjects including psychedelic drugs, plant-based entheogens, shamanism, metaphysics, alchemy, language, culture, technology, and the theoretical origins of human consciousness.

Among the most influential figures are undoubtedly Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin who together authored PiHKAL and TiHKAL, a pair of books which contain fictionalized autobiographies and detailed notes on over 230 psychoactive compounds. Some present-day psychonauts refer to themselves as "Shulginists" to denote a belief in the principles they identify in Shulgins' work.[23]

The word psychonaut refers to someone who experiments with altered states of consciousness, particularly as brought on by hallucinogenic drugs like ayahuasca, for the sake of spiritual or intrapersonal exploration. While the term is often associated of drug use, a psychonaut might also experiment with meditation, sensory deprivation, lucid dreaming, and other mind-altering practices. Psychonaut, like the drug sense of trip, uses the metaphor of a journey to describe a hallucinogenic experience.

Since the term psychonaut is heavily associated with drug use, it can have a negative connotation in some circles. However, psychonautic studies are not confined to drug use. Self-proclaimed psychonauts take pains to emphasize that any drug use they may or may not partake in is motivated by non-recreational purposes, and is more in line with spiritual drug use as practiced by some cultures.

This is not meant to be a formal definition of psychonaut like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of psychonaut that will help our users expand their word mastery.

Background: There is growing availability of novel psychoactive substances (NPS), including cognitive enhancers (CEs) which can be used in the treatment of certain mental health disorders. While treating cognitive deficit symptoms in neuropsychiatric or neurodegenerative disorders using CEs might have significant benefits for patients, the increasing recreational use of these substances by healthy individuals raises many clinical, medico-legal, and ethical issues. Moreover, it has become very challenging for clinicians to keep up-to-date with CEs currently available as comprehensive official lists do not exist.

Methods: Using a web crawler (NPSfinder), the present study aimed at assessing psychonaut fora/platforms to better understand the online situation regarding CEs. We compared NPSfinder entries with those from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) NPS databases up to spring 2019. Any substance that was identified by NPSfinder was considered a CE if it was either described as having nootropic abilities by psychonauts or if it was listed among the known CEs by Froestl and colleagues.

Copyright 2020 Napoletano, Schifano, Corkery, Guirguis, Arillotta, Zangani and Vento. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Pollan, whose previous books include The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense Of Food, started researching different experimental therapeutic uses of psychedelics, and found that the drugs were being used to treat depression, addiction and the fear of death.

Then he decided to go one step further: A self-described "reluctant psychonaut," Pollan enlisted guides to help him experiment with LSD, psilocybin and 5-MeO-DMT, a substance in the venom of the Sonoran Desert toad.

Each of Pollan's experiences with psychedelics was preceded by worry and self-doubt. But, he says, "I realized later that was my ego trying to convince me not to do this thing that was going to challenge my ego."

Pollan's new book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, recounts his experiences with the drugs and also examines the history of psychedelics as well as their possible therapeutic uses.

Someone is kind of looking out for you, and they prepare you very carefully in advance. They give you a set of "flight instructions," as they call them, which is what to do if you get really scared or you're beginning to have a bad trip. If you see a monster, for example, don't try to run away. Walk right up to it, plant your feet and say, "What do you have to teach me? What are you doing in my mind?" And if you do that, according to the flight instructions, your fear will morph into something much more positive very quickly.

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