Psychedelics can enable a broad and paradoxical spectrum of linguistic phenomena from the unspeakability of mystical experience to the eloquence of the songs of the shaman or curandera. Interior dialogues with the Other, whether framed as the voice of the Logos, an alien download, or communion with ancestors and spirits, are relatively common. Sentient visual languages are encountered, their forms unrelated to the representation of speech in natural language writing systems. This thesis constructs a theoretical model of linguistic phenomena encountered in the psychedelic sphere for the field of altered states of consciousness research (ASCR). The model is developed from a neurophenomenological perspective, especially the work of Francisco Varela, and Michael Winkelman’s work in shamanistic ASC, which in turn builds on the biogenetic structuralism of Charles Laughlin, John McManus, and Eugene d’Aquili. Neurophenomenology relates the physical and functional organization of the brain to the subjective reports of lived experience in altered states as mutually informative, without reducing consciousness to one or the other. Consciousness is seen as a dynamic multistate process of the recursive interaction of biology and culture, thereby navigating the traditional dichotomies of objective/subjective, body/mind, and inner/outer realities that problematically characterize much of the discourse in consciousness studies. The theoretical work of Renaissance scholar Stephen Farmer on the evolution of syncretic and correlative systems and their relation to neurobiological structures provides a further framework for the exegesis of the descriptions of linguistic phenomena in first-person texts of long-term psychedelic selfexploration. Since the classification of most psychedelics as Schedule I drugs, legal research came to a halt; self-experimentation as research did not. Scientists such as Timothy Leary and John Lilly became outlaw scientists, a social aspect of the “unspeakability” of these experiences. Academic ASCR has largely side-stepped examination of the extensive literature of psychedelic selfexploration. This thesis examines aspects of both form and content from these works, focusing on those that treat linguistic phenomena, and asking what these linguistic experiences can tell us about how the psychedelic landscape is constructed, how it can be navigated, interpreted, and communicated within its own experiential field, and communicated about to make the data accessible to inter-subjective comparison and validation. The methodological core of this practice-based research is a technoetic practice as defined by artist and theoretician Roy Ascott: the exploration of consciousness through interactive, artistic, and psychoactive technologies. The iterative process of psychedelic self-exploration and creation of interactive software defines my own technoetic practice and is the means by which I examine my states of consciousness employing the multidimensional visual language Glide.

Background: Following years of inactivity, psychedelic research has rapidly expanded within clinical and therapeutic fields. In particular, magic mushrooms (psilocybin), a plant-based psychedelic, have been researched for the treatment of complex mental health and substance dependence conditions, and yielded promising results. Largely due to the historical baggage of the psychedelic movement in the 1950s-1970s, and the stigma of recreational substance use, recreational magic mushroom users have been ignored within the current psychedelic revival. This thesis addressed this gap, examining the magic mushroom recreational substance use patterns of emerging adults in Victoria, British Columbia. Theory and Methods: Using the normalization thesis as the guiding theoretical framework, this thesis used a sequential-exploratory mixed methods design. Statistical analysis of quantitative cross-sectional interviews (n=558) conducted between 2008 -2016 generated rates of use, availability, and self-rated knowledge rates of magic mushrooms users. Qualitative cross-sectional semi-structured interviews (n=20) analyzed through thematic analysis determined substance use behaviors with reference to the current social and cultural context. Participants were recreational magic mushroom users, aged 19- 24. Results: Quantitative results indicated high overall rates of lifetime and past year magic mushroom use, with the lowest reported prevalence rate of lifetime use occurring in 2014 (86%), suggesting high rates of use within the recreational substance using population. There were no statistically significant relationships between year and lifetime or past year rates magic mushroom use. Gender was statistically significantly associated with magic mushroom use, with males being more likely to use magic mushrooms. Qualitative results indicated dynamic and strategically planned magic mushroom experiences. Themes developed include: shifting understandings, optimizing experience, purpose driven use; and post-trip impact. Participants reported using for transformational, micro-dosing, and leisure purposes. Discussion: Results suggested that magic mushroom use is in the process of differentiated normalization and assimilative normalization, influenced by developmental, social and cultural forces. Recreational users report substance use practices that have not been widely reported with the substance use literature, including using small doses of magic mushrooms (i.e. micro-dosing) for self-enhancement and therapeutic purposes. Results can be applied to the current psychedelic revival in three ways: (1) directing future clinical research directions and; (2) provide lived and experience and relevancy to clinical research, which will improve applicability and; (3) re-conceptualizing the identity of a recreational substance user, which has important implications regarding stigmatization. / Graduate

The client for this study, the Entheogenic Research, Integration, and Education (ERIE), was interested in the use of anthropological methods to examine the experiences of people who use psychedelics beyond the clinical setting. Through collaborative discussions with the client, we decided that the central questions guiding this research are to understand the various reasons why people consume psychedelic substances across the United States as well as examine the self-reported influences of psychedelics in various areas of participants' life and identity. Participants were recruited using stratified sampling and were given a confidential, online survey that also provided an option to arrange a semi-structured interview. In total, there were 103 completed survey responses and 25 interviews. The results of this research indicate that the reasons for participants' psychedelic use often change over time from strictly recreational or out of curiosity to intentions based on therapeutic and psychospiritual development. Additionally, the majority of both survey and interview participants believed their psychedelic use to have had a transformative influence on their health and well-being, perception of nature, identity, spirituality, and creative expression of art and music. Another theme uncovered in this research is the impacts of punitive drug laws on psychedelic use such as creating barriers to availability, fear of arrest and incarceration, and lack of social support due to the stigma associated with psychedelic substances.

Depression and anxiety are two of the world’s most common neuropsychiatric conditions. There has been some success in treating depression and anxiety by using classic psychedelic drugs to cause positive changes in psychological well-being. Depression and anxiety are often correlated to self-rumination and a heightened sense of self, making sufferers unable to withdraw from repetitive negative self-referenced thought patterns. Some researchers hypothesize that the therapeutic effects of psychedelics come from their acute subjective effects, specifically ego-dissolution. This systematic review aimed to investigate what clinical studies can support this hypothesis. By reviewing five studies that examined this correlation, this review found that the majority of the studies could present a moderate correlation. This suggests a negative correlation between the degree of ego-dissolution and the therapeutic improvements in disorders with a heightened sense of self.

The clinical application of MDMA has long been an issue of great interest for doctors, counselors, researchers, and users alike. Originally synthesized by a pharmaceutical company and subsequently tested on military personnel, the drug was then used by many clinicians and physicians prior to the DEA's strict regulation of the drug, which began in the mid 1980s (Mithoefer et al, 2010). The DEA has classified MDMA a "Schedule 1" drug, which means that it among the most controlled substances, a fact which has hindered the progress of research. For a detailed explanation of the DEA's scheduling of controlled substances, please refer to appendix A. Exception was made to this restriction, however, in 2003 when the US government permitted one organization, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies ("MAPS," for short), to conduct studies wherein the drug was to be administered to human participants in a clinically controlled experimental environment--a setting which allows for many of the most prevalent confounds found in MDMA research to be minimized and, in some cases, eliminated (Mithoefer et al., 2007; Mithoefer et al, 2010; MAPS.org, 2012). Though MAPS' studies are only just beginning, they have already had promising results in treating protracted cases of PTSD. These recent developments in MDMA research and the results of the subsequent studies have piqued the interest of academics and advocates alike as well as motive numerous other organizations to lend their support to the MAPS organization. This literature review aims to provide an overview of past and present paradigms within the body of MDMA research in order to provide an informational framework within which the recent works regarding the drug's therapeutic merit can be adequately examined.

The psychedelic field has generated a vast body of work in terms of psychology, art, spirituality and understandings of the mind and consciousness. Having engaged with the field for the last ten years, I have been curious as to why issues of race, gender and class are not included in the analysis and theories that are generated from the field. My background in feminism, queer studies, anti-racism, critical theory and social justice, as well as my interest in consciousness and psychedelics, led me to conduct a literature review and analyze it with a critical framework. The literature showed an overwhelming gap in the field in regards to inclusion and analysis of issues pertaining to race, gender and class. This gap needs to be addressed and I look forward to conducting fieldwork in the future such as interviewing people about their experiences of race, class and gender and its intersection with psychedelics. I hope to contribute to the field in terms of creatively and productively including an analysis of race, class and gender to the psychedelics field.

The psychedelic field has generated a vast body of work in terms of psychology, art, spirituality and understandings of the mind and consciousness. Having engaged with the field for the last ten years, I have been curious as to why issues of race, gender and class are not included in the analysis and theories that are generated from the field. My background in feminism, queer studies, anti-racism, critical theory and social justice, as well as my interest in consciousness and psychedelics, led me to conduct a literature review and analyze it with a critical framework. The literature showed an overwhelming gap in the field in regards to inclusion and analysis of issues pertaining to race, gender and class. This gap needs to be addressed and I look forward to conducting fieldwork in the future such as interviewing people about their experiences of race, class and gender and its intersection with psychedelics. I hope to contribute to the field in terms of creatively and productively including an analysis of race, class and gender to the psychedelics field.

Public interest and scientific inquiry are currently bringing psychedelic research back into the spotlight after a decades-long respite from clinical human trials. A majority of the research during this recent renaissance has surrounded applications of psychedelics in the fields of mental health. Less attention is being focused to other research areas where psychedelics may also prove informative, such as cognition and information processing. A common trend taking place is the act of administering very small doses of psychedelics as a potential cognitive enhancer, called microdosing. With less research being focused on these areas however, it is not well documented whether the effects of microdosing provide consistent or measurable results. The current study aimed to test the effects of microdosing on information processing using a research design originally administered in stimulant research on attention. Participants were anonymously recruited from various psychedelic microdosing forums online (N = 4), and compared in a between-subjects design against a separate sample who did not microdose (N = 10). Results from the task did not yield significant effects, possibly due to an underpowered sample. However, trends in the results highlighted the potential for an effect opposite to that of the proposed hypothesis. Recommendations have been provided for additional research to improve upon the design of the study and to also propose alternate hypotheses regarding the effects microdosing on information processing as well as other areas of study that may also benefit from microdosing research.

Major depression disorder is increasing globally, causing great personal suffering and economic burdens to society. Current antidepressant medications are not sufficiently able to treat all cases of depression and are often associated with troubling side effects. There is a great need for the development of novel treatments, and classic psychedelic drugs are currently being investigated with new interest. The legal status has hindered research, but promising results from pioneering studies on the antidepressant effect of psilocybin have recently given psilocybin breakthrough therapy status, allowing further research to occur more freely. This systematic review aims to investigate the literature available on psilocybin’s effect on major depressive disorder. Five studies were selected according to set inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results are suggesting that psilocybin combined with psychological support is a fast-acting antidepressant agent, able to produce a sustained decrease in symptoms of depression with minimal side effects. However, current studies come with several limitations and further research is needed before the antidepressant effect of psilocybin can be stated as a fact.

Although the self is central to human beings and has been pondered on for thousands and thousands of years, its nature remains unknown to us. Many want to solve the question of self but where does one even begin? Philosophers have investigated the self for hundreds if not thousands of years, and many theories and concepts exist. In more recent years it has become possible for science to investigate the self through the use of psychoactive substances. Most notably is the use of drug-induced ego-dissolution, where individuals report a state of self devoid of many of the characteristics that would normally be considered crucial for our everyday lives. This has created new circumstances, it is no longer solely philosophy that can investigate the self, but also science. By measuring the brain activity of participants who are experiencing this ego-dissolution, information about a disrupted self can be gathered. And by using this data more can be known about the normal state of self than ever before. Even though current research is young, it has still revealed certain elements of the self, such as the importance of connectivity between multiple brain regions. These findings strongly support the materialist network approach to the self, which philosophers are taking note of. Although many of the findings are of interest, they can still be underwhelming due to the vagueness of the exact nature of ego disruption being investigated and the lack of sophistication regarding the conceptualization of self.