Encounters with supernatural entities due to drug effects

Throughout history, encounters with supernatural entities have been described, be they gods, aliens, or beings from other worlds and dimensions.

This type of encounter is a key element in all religions, having historically recorded cases such as the case of Saint Teresa of Jesus, however, to what extent is modern pharmacology capable of explaining these events?

Next we will see what are, in general, the characteristics of encounters with supernatural entities due to drug effects, discovering the specific case of the most recently studied in depth ayahuasca.

• Related article: "The 15 types of hallucinations (and their possible causes)"

What do we know about encounters with supernatural entities due to drug effects?

Throughout history, there have been many characters who have claimed to have experienced near-death experiences or have met with supernatural entities. Some of the most notable cases are the mystic-religious experiences of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, among many other cases. We do not know exactly if they were taking any type of drug, but the truth is that these types of experiences have been related to the consumption of certain narcotics.

Recently, the effects of the active compound of ayahuasca, N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) have been investigated., a serotonergic psychoactive substance that is to blame for this indigenous drink living up to its name in Quechua, “the rope of the spirits”. In the culture where it comes from, it is believed that taking ayahuasca frees the soul from its bodily chains, leaving the body and traveling to other worlds.

What does ayahuasca do?

Yes ok The type of paranormal effects that this drug induces are practically the same, regardless of whether it is used one way or another., its duration and peak varies. If consumed orally, that is, in the form of the traditional indigenous drink, its effect can last up to hours. On the other hand, if it is consumed by inhalation or intravenously, its effect is much faster and briefer, having its peak at 5 minutes and lasting half an hour.

It is curious to know that the active component of ayahuasca, DMT, has been found in the brain of mammals, and the human brain is no exception. It is for this reason that the possibility has been raised that this substance is behind dreams and, as it has hallucinogenic effects, It has been linked to alien abduction experiences and other supernatural events, such as near-life experiences. death. Even with this hypothesis, it has also been seen that endogenous DMT concentrations are very low, too small to cause a psychotic picture.

Among the most common and striking effects of ayahuasca, attributed to DMT, we have all kinds of paranormal experiences, especially related to encounters with supernatural entities. Among them we have to meet celestial beings, such as gods or their emissaries, beings typical of science fiction such as aliens or monsters and mythological creatures, depending on what the individual believes or is part of his beliefs, both religious and more paranormal.

An attempt has been made to see to what extent the suggestion could be behind seeing one or another type of supernatural being after the consumption of ayahuasca. Surprisingly, and according to several investigations in which people who have consumed ever used this substance, few dare to try it with the clear intention of meeting a being in special. In most cases the person planned to try it to know what it feels like.

This draws attention, since it seems that the encounters with supernatural entities associated with the consumption of ayahuasca they are not, for the most part, the result of previous suggestion attached to any psychedelic. There is something about DMT that makes things look regardless of what the person believes.

What are these hallucinogenic experiences?

In the specific case of ayahuasca, the supernatural encounters after its consumption are emotionally intense. In most cases, those who experience them see it as something that does not leave them indifferent at all, and are combined with multisensory sensations, with extrasensory perceptions and striking visual effects. Olfactory and taste perceptions may also appear, as if smelling and tasting something real.

On most occasions, after consuming ayahuasca, it is the supernatural entity who initiates the meeting. It speaks to the consumer and can be shown as a celestial being, coming from another world or dimension, like gods, aliens or even elves. In most cases the entity is conscious and benevolent, with sacral powers and intentions, capable of even to "interact" with the real world, in peace and love, and with the intention of entrusting a mission. In very few cases this entity has bad intentions.

Encounters are perceived more real than reality itself, something that affects the person's belief system and even her conception of the world in which she had lived up to that moment. In most cases, the ayahuasca experience is lived as the most important event in the person's life, so strong that it has changed their life. There are not a few cases of convinced atheists who, after trying this indigenous concoction, joined a religion. After the effects of the drug have passed, many believe that the entity with which they met is real, and continues to exist.

Based on everything that has been explained, it is not surprising that, from a more scientific and modern point of view, it is considering the possibility that great religious revelations, such as those of Saint Teresa of Jesus, were the product of the effects of DMT. It is difficult to posit that this mystical saint consumed ayahuasca, given that the concoction was first described by Europeans in texts no older than 1637, and she lived from 1515-1582.

However, taking into account his mystical revelations and those of other "enlightened", both of the time as more modern, we are faced with several questions: could he have had an endogenous DMT especially high? Did you consume anything that contained it? What happened in her brain to see and hear what she saw and heard? Of course, her mystical experiences and those of many more saints and not so saints have to have a pharmacochemical explanation... or do these supernatural entities really visit us?

Bibliographic references:

• Dean, J., Liu, T., Huff, S. et al (2019). Biosynthesis and Extracellular Concentrations of N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in Mammalian Brain. Sci Rep 9, 9333. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-45812-w
• Timmermann, C., Roseman, L., Williams, L., Erritzoe, D., Martial, C., Cassol, H., Laureys, S., Nutt, D. and Carhart-Harris, R. (2018). DMT Models the Near-Death Experience. Front. Psychol., 9.
• Nichols D. AND. (2018). N, N-dimethyltryptamine and the pineal gland: Separating fact from myth. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 32(1), 30–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881117736919
• Davis, a. K., Clifton, J. M., Weaver, E. G., Hurwitz, E. S., Johnson, M. W., & Griffiths, R. R. (2020). Survey of entity encounter experiences occasioned by inhaled N, N-dimethyltryptamine: Phenomenology, interpretation, and enduring effects. Journal of Psychopharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881120916143