What Are the Predictors of Peak Psychedelic Experiences?

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Mystical or ‘peak’ experiences can be among the most profound and meaningful events of a person’s life. Such experiences have been reported for centuries, occurring in both religious and non-religious individuals and transcending cultural, geographic, and religious boundaries. While they may occur spontaneously or as a result of intensive or extended spiritual practice, psychedelic substances – used in a certain way – can provide a fairly reliable conduit to such experiences.

Mystical experiences encompass experiential facets of unity, oneness and interconnectedness, transcendence of time and space, deeply felt positive mood (joy, peace, and love), a sense of sacredness, reverence or awe, ineffability, and a noetic quality (an intuitive belief that what is being revealed has authenticity and validity). Many different labels have been applied to this experience, but what it refers to is much less important than the effects it can evoke. Research suggests that mystical experiences catalysed by psychedelics are no less profound or impactful than experiences occurring spontaneously.

Why are Mystical Experiences Important?

Mystical experiences have been associated with a deepened appreciation for life, prosocial feelings for others, a greater sense of life meaning and purpose, greater self-acceptance and spirituality, and increased concern with social and planetary values.

Psychedelic research has highlighted the importance of this experience in predicting positive outcomes, in both healthy people and those suffering from a mental affliction. They have been linked to reductions in alcohol and tobacco addiction, existential anxiety, and major depression in clinical studies. Mystical experiences occurring in healthy populations of psychedelic users are also associated with enduring benefits, including enhanced psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and life meaning/purpose, in addition to positive changes in attitudes, moods, and behaviour. 

Such experiences have also been associated with enduring self-reported positive shifts in creativity, relationships with self and with nature, and pro-environmental awareness. These experiences may also have the power to shift personality traits, with increases in openness and reductions in neuroticism linked to them, with potentially positive implications for health and cognition. The intensity or depth of the mystical experience has also been found to bolster positive outcomes in some studies.

Together with experiences of psychological insight and emotional breakthrough, the occurrence of mystical experiences has been found to more reliably predict long-term positive changes and shifts in psychological flexibility than other assessed aspects of the psychedelic experience, or its overall intensity. Psychological flexibility refers to the ability to adapt one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours to changing circumstances while staying connected to one’s values and goals. This ability is considered a vital aspect of mental health and well-being.

While a mystical experience is never guaranteed, research has revealed that a number of factors – including set and setting, drug dosage and type, trait absorption, intention, and states of surrender and acceptance – all appear to influence the occurrence of mystical experiences. Other factors may further augment the occurrence and intensity of mystical experiences and enhance their long-term benefits, including music, meditation, spiritual practices, and nature-based settings.

The Potential Perils and Pitfalls of Mystical Experiences

Frequent, repeated mystical or spiritual experiences and leapfrogging between them with a lack of subsequent integration could potentially result in spiritual narcissism, with emphasis placed on the content of the acute experience, with a lack of positive or transformative change. This can potentially result in spiritual bypassing, where people avoid engaging with areas of their lives which may be less exciting but more in need of attention.

Psychedelics enhance suggestibility, and allowing the person undergoing a psychedelic session to find their own meaning from their experience in an open, trusting and supportive context is important. Therapists or people facilitating psychedelic sessions should be mindful not to impose their own personal spiritual or religious beliefs on people undergoing the sessions. In a clinical context, concerns have been raised about the potential for directive priming due to this, and the potential for biased clinical interpretations of the mystical experience has been argued by others. 

Interpretation of mystical experiences from a purportedly neutral and purely secular and reductionist standpoint may also have limitations. It has been argued that this may diminish the effectiveness of psychedelic psychotherapy and be ill-suited to help people process the ontological shock that may be associated with such experiences. More diverse and nuanced perspectives and holistic approaches that encompass multiple narrative frameworks may be beneficial.

Tumultuous mystical experiences may pose challenges due to their potentially disruptive nature and, on occasion, may be associated with spiritual emergencies or transpersonal crises. These can take a range of forms and are associated with an intense and abrupt transformation that leaves little time for understanding, interpretation, or adaptation, potentially disrupting the sense of self. Stan and Christine Grof have recommended respectful therapeutic support and facilitating situations (such as through meditation and music-accompanied reflection) in everyday life, whereby individuals can confront emerging material along with recommendations of relevant literature as ways of helping people process such experiences. Processing such experiences in turn has the potential for eliciting positive, transformative, and therapeutic effects. Support is worth seeking in the unlikely event that signs of distress, derealisation, or confusion persist beyond a few weeks following an experience.

It can be considered that ingestion of a psychedelic substance is not the cause of the mystical experience but rather a catalyst that occasions it. We will examine some of the key factors that play into the potential for a person to have a mystical experience on a psychedelic trip. An awareness of these factors will not just increase the likelihood of mystical experiences occurring but also help ensure safe and beneficial psychedelic experiences more broadly.

Key Factors Contributing to Mystical or Peak Experiences

1.     Set & Setting

The set and setting for a psychedelic experience are known to be key determinants of outcomes, including the occurrence of mystical experiences. The ‘set’ refers to the psychological context of the person having the experience (encompassing factors such as motivations, expectations, personality structure, mindset, and mood), while the ‘setting’ refers to the physical location and sociocultural context in which it occurs. While the concept of ‘set and setting’ was popularised in the 1960s, psychedelic-using Indigenous groups have long recognised the importance of context underpinning psychedelic usage, with a tendency to use them in structured ceremonial spaces, often following preparation.

In a modern psychotherapeutic context, great care is taken to ensure a comfortable and secure setting, with interpersonal support provided in the session, in addition to interpersonal preparation and integration prior to and following it. During the psychedelic session, participants are encouraged to recline on a sofa or bed and close their eyes while wearing eyeshades and listen to a carefully selected accompanying musical playlist through headphones, with the suggestion that they focus their attention inwards for the duration of the session. 

Exposure to language has been negatively associated with the occurrence of mystical experience, so verbal interactions may best be minimised during the peak effects. When the brain’s language centres are activated under psilocybin, it may shift the brain state in such a manner that it makes accessing the mystical experience harder. The Mazatec have used mushrooms ceremonially for centuries in Mexico, and they also recommend adhering to silence or speaking as little as possible, at least during the earlier phases of the experience.

In religious contexts, elements of ceremony and ritual may be incorporated to help elicit mystical experiences, with Indigenous groups also tending to use psychedelics in a ceremonial or ritualised context. Ritual elements can help shape set and setting, while a structured ceremony can help foster feelings of safety, intention, and reverence, which in turn can promote openness to non-ordinary experiences. Ceremonial elements in a psychedelic setting can create a symbolically rich environment, which may help prime the mind towards transcendent interpretations of psychedelic experiences while enhancing meaning-making.

Feelings of comfort and safety, and an inward focus are all likely important contributing factors and a calm, accepting, unburdened, and positive mindset going into a psychedelic experience has been shown to be conducive to the occurrence of mystical experiences.

2.     Drug Dosage

The dosage of the psychedelic substance ingested is a key predictor of mystical experiences, with higher dosages more commonly associated with their occurrence. Higher dosages are also associated with ego-dissolution experiences, which appear to be intimately linked to mystical experiences. 

However, beyond optimal dosage, higher dosages are more likely to trigger adverse reactions, such as extreme fear, delusions, or paranoid reactions. In research conducted by Johns Hopkins, 20mg and 30mg dosages of psilocybin (per 70kg of bodyweight) were tested. The 20mg dosage resulted in mystical experiences in just under half of participants, with negligible adverse reactions at that dosage. The occurrence of mystical experiences was higher at the 30mg dosage, but the chances of adverse reactions were also much higher. A dosage of 25mg of psilocybin (roughly equivalent to 4-5g of dry Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms)  was settled on as a recommended (high) ‘goldilocks’ dosage, that would help maximise the chances of mystical experiences occurring while minimising the chances of adverse reactions associated with higher dosages. This is the dosage commonly used in modern clinical studies.

An ascending sequence of dose exposure was also associated with increased likelihood of catalysing mystical experiences and sustained positive changes, suggesting that having prior experience with lower doses of psilocybin can bolster benefits evoked by subsequent higher dosage experiences. In addition, the sustained positive outcomes associated with mystical experiences (such as shifts in attitudes about life and self, positive behavioural changes, prosocial effects, and enhanced spirituality) have also been found to increase in response to dose.

3.     Drug Type

While all classical psychedelics can catalyse mystical experiences, much of the modern research has centred on psilocybin. However, some studies suggest that when administered in a supportive context, the psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT can elicit mystical experiences at higher rates than psilocybin did in research studies conducted by Johns Hopkins. While more research is needed, this suggests that different psychedelics may vary in their capacity to catalyse mystical experiences.

4.     Absorption 

Absorption is a personality trait that encompasses an individual’s propensity to become fully immersed or engaged in sensory and imaginative experiences. It is a robust predictor of mystical experiences – occurring both with and without psychedelics – and is strongly related to openness to experience, a personality trait also found to predict the occurrence of mystical experiences under psychedelics. 

While traits are considered to be deeply ingrained and resistant to change, research has revealed that psychedelics such as psilocybin can shift both openness and absorption in a way that is sustained. This suggests these personality traits may be malleable to change through other means, and there may be ways of honing one’s capacity for absorption. Meditation and yoga practitioners have been found to rate higher in absorption than non-practising controls, and it is possible that a training effect of these practices elicits an enhancement in absorption.

Comfortable settings have been proposed to facilitate enhanced absorption in the present moment, and listening to music has been associated with eliciting states of absorption. In a psychedelic psychotherapy session, the capacity for inner absorption is maximised through the setting, with people lying comfortably on a couch or bed, listening to music through headphones and wearing eyeshades. These conditions maximise the capacity for absorptive experiencing, reducing the potential for disturbances and distractions and promoting an inner journey.

It has also been proposed that practices conducted in a ceremonial and ritualistic fashion may elevate absorption in a religious context, and this may also apply to a context of psychedelic usage, with psychedelic-using Indigenous groups almost invariably using them in this manner.

5.     Personal Intention

Having clear intentions prior to a psychedelic session so that an individual feels prepared for the experience is predictive of mystical experiences. Psychedelics are not used frivolously by Indigenous groups, with intention comprising a key aspect of their usage. Of a range of different motivations behind psychedelic usage, approaching the experience with an emotional intent or with a spiritual motivation has been associated with a greater likelihood of mystical-type experiences and enhanced well-being.

6.     Surrender

The ability to let go and surrender (the voluntary release of goals, constructs, preferences, and habits) at the beginning of a psychedelic session has been found to be an important predictor of mystical experiences occurring within a session, whereas a state of mental apprehension can block them. 

Achieving the ability to mentally let go and surrender to the experience, or what has been termed the “surrender state”, is partly underpinned by setting factors, with feelings of safety, security, and trust being conducive to cultivating such a state. A psychedelic experience occurring in a safe, secure and soothing setting with trusted people is likely to support this.

“Trust, let go, be open” was the mantra central to the therapeutic approach used by psychedelic therapists overseeing psychedelic sessions at Johns Hopkins, and was adopted by other research groups pursuing psychedelic research elsewhere. Practices such as Holotropic Breathwork place an emphasis on surrendering to the experience, and so the application of such a practice going into another altered state prior to a psychedelic session may assist people in learning to surrender and let go prior to having a psychedelic experience.

7.     Acceptance

A state of acceptance has been found to be predictive of mystical experiences. Acceptance is related to a non-judgemental, accepting, and appreciative attitude to oneself and one’s experiences, or the ability to allow events to unfold without trying to control them. 

Acceptance is a key aspect of mindfulness and has been found to be enhanced by mindfulness practice. An emphasis is placed on cultivating a state of acceptance by a number of different therapeutic approaches used as part of psychedelic therapy. Entering into an experience with acceptance may also help reduce mental barriers, or the tendency to reject phenomena having no rational explanation, which is negatively associated with the occurrence of mystical experiences.

8.     Music

Music has been associated with provoking mystical experiences outside a context of psychedelic usage, and it likely plays a key role in evoking these experiences under psychedelics. Psychedelics enhance our emotional response to music, which has been referred to as the “hidden therapist”, given the central role it plays in psychedelic sessions. It can enhance feelings of wonder and transcendence under a psychedelic, these being core facets of the mystical experience. 

The type of music played is likely to influence the occurrence of mystical experiences. One study surveyed individuals with extensive experience of administering psilocybin, and it was reported that music possessing certain qualities, such as a regular, predictable, formulaic phrase structure, orchestration, and a feeling of continuous movement and forward motion that builds over time, was important. Exposure to language has been negatively associated with the occurrence of mystical experiences under psychedelics, so music with recognisable lyrics may be best avoided or minimised – at least until the re-entry phase of the experience following peak effects.

Another small study reported that overtone-based music (emphasising instruments with a particularly strong overtone signature, such as Tibetan singing bowls, gongs, didgeridoo, chimes, bells, sitar, human voice overtone singing) was associated with greater overall mystical experiences than compositions dominated by Western classical music. (It may be that classical music has more cultural connotations than world music, which could influence outcomes.) It should be noted that this study was small (with a sample size of only 10 people, and the result was not significant), but further research on how types of music might influence the occurrence of mystical experiences is warranted.

9.     Meditation and Spiritual Practices

Disciplined contemplative practices such as meditation have been associated with the occurrence of mystical experiences on occasion, although such experiences are more likely to occur following intensive or sustained long-term practice. Research suggests that spiritual practices such as meditation can amplify the occurrence and intensity of mystical experiences while enhancing the long-term psychological benefits associated with them. In this way, the use of psychedelics alongside a meditative or spiritual practice can potentially impart a positive synergy.

One study administered psilocybin to experienced Zen Buddhist meditation practitioners on a five-day mindfulness meditation group retreat in the Swiss Alps. All but one of the 20 participants who received psilocybin reported a ‘complete’ mystical experience, with this being over double the rate in a study conducted by Johns Hopkins using an equivalent dosage of psilocybin.

Prior levels of meditation depth were positively associated with mystical experiences, and psilocybin was found to enhance mindfulness and yield greater sustained positive changes in psychological functioning following the retreat. Meditation practice also appeared to positively shape the acute psilocybin experience, enhancing its positive effects while buffering against possible adverse reactions (with no adverse reactions recorded). This suggests that mindfulness meditation practice may synergise with the experience of psilocybin in a number of ways.

Even shorter-term meditation practice prior to a psychedelic experience may be beneficial. One study assessed how spiritual practices, including meditation and awareness and self-reflective practices, might interact with the psilocybin experience and its associated outcomes. Engagement with spiritual practices commenced 1–2 months prior to the psilocybin experiences and was kept up for 6–8 months following them. Those engaging with the spiritual practices reported higher mystical experience scores in addition to greater long-term psychological benefits, with 96% of this group rating their psilocybin experiences as among the top five most spiritually significant experiences of their lives. This suggests that the spiritual practices enhanced the spiritual significance of the experience and the attribution of enhanced spirituality to it following it.

10. Nature-Based Settings

Immersion in natural settings can elicit spiritual feelings and mystical experiences. The Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann – who invented and discovered LSD and was the first person to isolate and synthesise psilocybin – was initially put onto his chemistry career path due to mystical experiences he experienced while walking in the woods in his younger days. These experiences made Hofmann fascinated in the nature of the fabric by which the world is constructed, and he felt that chemistry would allow him to explore this. His interest in nature led him to pursue animal and plant chemistry, and this would eventually lead him to create LSD. Reflecting on his own LSD experiences, he felt them to be reminiscent of these earlier mystical experiences he underwent while out in nature.

Using psychedelics with the intent to connect with nature has been associated with a greater likelihood of mystical experiences and greater well-being scores in comparison to a number of other motivations informing usage. Natural settings may be supportive of mystical experiences in a number of ways. They can have a soothing effect while supporting meditative and reflective mind states, while promoting states of mindfulness, absorption, and awe. Awe has been associated with spiritual experiences and feelings, and a state of profound awe has been associated with psychedelic mystical experiences.

Feelings of interconnectedness are another core facet of the mystical experience, and a particularly direct perspective of this interconnection may come through recognition of our shared place in the wider web of life in natural settings. Feelings of awe and interconnectedness may persist beyond the psychedelic experience, and contact with nature may help sustain these feelings.

What Comes After a Mystical Experience?

As outlined above, spiritual practices such as meditation appear to enhance the occurrence and depth of mystical experiences while amplifying the sustained psychological benefits associated with them. Practices designed to boost gratitude, positive emotions, or mindfulness may enhance the psychological benefits associated with psychedelic mystical experiences. A reflective practice such as journaling – including gratitude journaling – can offer a potent practice to people in the wake of such an experience. Others may find artistic, musical, or poetic expression beneficial. Breathwork practices may offer a potential means of accessing an altered state following a psychedelic mystical experience to reconnect or re-enliven the memories of a past experience, also possessing the power to elicit mystical experiences. Rhythmic chanting can also catalyse mystical states, something that can be practised in a group context. Other people may resonate more with movement-based practices such as ecstatic dance or a percussive practice such as drumming.

Being able to openly talk about such experiences with others who can relate may also be helpful when making sense of such experiences. Such sharing may be particularly well-suited to group contexts. Given that shifts in people’s relationships with nature are also reported in their wake, greater contact with nature or ecotherapy practices may synergise with such a shift. Translating insights from states of expanded awareness into compassionate action (such as through volunteering, activism, or simply showing up more deeply for loved ones) offers a pathway towards enriching our own lives and the lives of others in the wake of such experiences.

While the mystical or peak experience catalysed by psychedelics appears to be a key aspect of their transformative and therapeutic potential, our knowledge of them is still in its infancy. Much work remains to be done to enhance our understanding of them and on how to maximise their occurrence and the beneficial effects associated with them. Such work is well warranted, as denying the relevance and importance of these phenomena will limit the therapeutic utility of psychedelics, and a deeper knowledge of such experiences could open up further fruitful and enriching avenues.

Sam Gandy | Community Blogger at Chemical Collective

Sam is one of our community bloggers here at Chemical Collective. If you’re interested in joining our blogging team and getting paid to write about subjects you’re passionate about, please reach out to Sam via email at samwoolfe@gmail.com