Psychonautics

Illustration from *The Secret of the Golden Flower*, a Chinese book of alchemy and meditation.

Psychonautics (from the Ancient Greek ψυχή psychē 'soul, spirit, mind' and ναύτης naútēs '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.

^ ^a ^b Blom, Jan Dirk (2009). A Dictionary of Hallucinations. Springer. p. 434. ISBN 978-1-4419-1222-0. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
^ Newcombe, Russell (2008). "Ketamine Case Study: The Phenomenology of a Ketamine Experience". Addiction Research & Theory. 16 (3): 209–215. doi:10.1080/16066350801983707. S2CID 143462683.
^ As noted by Flores, Ralph (2008). Buddhist scriptures as literature: sacred rhetoric and the uses of theory. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-7339-9. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
^ R. N. Hema (December 2019). Biography of the 18 Siddhars (Thesis). National Institute of Siddha.
^ van Riel (2007). "New Drugs of Abuse". Clinical Toxicology. 45 (4): 372–3. doi:10.1080/15563650701284894. S2CID 218860546. Retrieved 5 March 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Kempner, Joanna; Bailey, John (1 October 2019). "Collective self-experimentation in patient-led research: How online health communities foster innovation". Social Science & Medicine. 238: 112366. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112366. PMID 31345612. S2CID 196544851.

[dictionary_of_hallucinations-1] Blom, Jan Dirk (2009). A Dictionary of Hallucinations. Springer. p. 434. ISBN 978-1-4419-1222-0. Retrieved 5 March 2010.

[addiction_research-2] Newcombe, Russell (2008). "Ketamine Case Study: The Phenomenology of a Ketamine Experience". Addiction Research & Theory. 16 (3): 209–215. doi:10.1080/16066350801983707. S2CID 143462683.

[flores-3] As noted by Flores, Ralph (2008). Buddhist scriptures as literature: sacred rhetoric and the uses of theory. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-7339-9. Retrieved 5 March 2010.

[4] R. N. Hema (December 2019). Biography of the 18 Siddhars (Thesis). National Institute of Siddha.

[toxicology-5] van Riel (2007). "New Drugs of Abuse". Clinical Toxicology. 45 (4): 372–3. doi:10.1080/15563650701284894. S2CID 218860546. Retrieved 5 March 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}

[6] Kempner, Joanna; Bailey, John (1 October 2019). "Collective self-experimentation in patient-led research: How online health communities foster innovation". Social Science & Medicine. 238: 112366. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112366. PMID 31345612. S2CID 196544851.

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