Mystical and Religious Experiences

Question 1

Thorner (1966) - Definition of mystical experience

Answer 1

The person believes what they are seeing is extraordinary, more important than real perceptions, and unexplainable

Question 2

Hay and Morisy (1978)

Answer 2

Out of 1865 respondents, 36.4% said they had experiences a mystical or religious experience.

24% of atheists studies said they had experiences a mystical experience.

Question 3

William James - what causes mystical experiences?

Answer 3

1. Ineffability – Incapable of being expressed through words
2. Noetic Quality – Compelling sense the experience is real
3. Passivity
4. Transiency – Limited in duration

Question 4

Walter T Stance cause of mystical experiences

Answer 4

1. Unity (extrovertive or introvertive) – Sense of unity can either be ‘one with everyone’ or you lose a sense of self.
2. Transcendence
3. Noetic Quality
4. Ineffability
5. Positive affect
6. Sacredness
7. Paradoxicality

Question 5

Qualitative questionnaire for mystical experiences

Answer 5

Hardy’s Questions

Question 6

Quantitative questionnaires for mystical experiences

Answer 6

Mysticism Scale and Mystical Experience Questionnaire

Question 7

What are Hardy’s Questions?

Answer 7

In Hardy’s questions, participants are asked to write a simple account of their feelings and effects.

Question 8

Religious Experience Episode Measure (Hood, 1970; Rosegrant, 1976)

Answer 8

Based on William James’ accounts (ineffability, noetic quality, passivity and transiency). Participants rate similarity compared to their own experience (rating 1-9).

Question 9

Mysticism Scale (Hood, 1975)

Answer 9

Based on Stave’s categories, questions answered in Likert scale.

This scale is related to intrinsic, openness to experience, REEM and hypernotisability.

Question 10

Mystical Experience Questionnaire (Griffiths et al, 2016)

Answer 10

Also known as Pahnke-Richards MEQ.

43 items based on Stace’s categories and developed from those used in Pahnke’s experiment.

Used in research on psychedelic experience.

Question 11

Triggers for Religious Experience

Answer 11

• Church attendance
• Significant life events
• Stress
• Aesthetic experiences
• Meditation and Prayer
• Sex
• Solitude
• Nature
• Drugs

Question 12

Hood and Morris (1981)

Answer 12

Used a sensory deprivation tank to look into intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity and mystical experience. Religious figures were more likely to be generated by intrinsic religious people, even when asked to think about cartoon figures.

Question 13

Entheogens definition

Answer 13

Neologism (new word) for “that which causes God to be within an individual”

Question 14

Examples of entheogens

Answer 14

• LSD-25
• Psilocybin (Magic Mushrooms)
• Mescaline (Peyote Cactus)
• Cannabis
• Ayahuasca

Question 15

Watts (1968) - causes of mystical experience

Answer 15

• Concentration in the present
• Awareness of Polarity
• Awareness of Relativity
• Awareness of Eternal Energy

Question 16

Pahnke’s “Good Friday” Experiment (1962)

Answer 16

Wanted to evoke a mystical experience in a chapel using psychedelic drugs. Participants were students and the experiment was double blind drug-placebo (although we don’t know). They then attended Good Friday Mass.

Question 17

God Encounter Experiences (Griffiths et al, 2019)

Answer 17

Non-drug versus drug condition

Striking similarities, regardless of condition

Non-drug = God, Drug = Higher Power, Ultimate reality

Half of the participants, regardless of condition, fulfilled criteria of a mystical experience.

More than 2/3rd of those who identified as atheist, no longer identified as this after the experience

Long lasting change in well-being and positive imagery.

Question 18

Classic Hallucinogens and Mystical Experiences: Phenomenology and Neural Correlates (Barrett and Griffiths, 2018)

Answer 18

Review of the literature.

Experimental evidence of mystical experience using psilocybin.

Review of therapeutic interventions:
* Anxiety and depression
* Substance-dependence – alcohol/nicotine

Neural correlates
* Default Mode Network