psychonaut

For the trance band Psychonaut, see Psychonaut (band). For the occult book Psychonaut, see Psychonaut (book). A psychonaut (literally, an explorer of the psyche) is a person who uses psychoactive entheogens as guides, or means, to achieve inward spiritual experiences, and who reflects upon these experiences and applies them to his or her own life in a positive way, with the intent of bettering themselves. This is quite distinct from religious use, or social and leisure use of drugs, although invariably these overlap.

Use of the term

Psychonaut is a modern term, used to describe one who uses mind-altering substances more with a view to their ability to act as entheogens, than for their inebriating (or social) effect. In effect, they are used as a means to achieve states of mind in which different perceptions unhindered by everyday mental filters and processes, can arise. As such, their effects, used with this intent, can be life altering, and are not considered by their proponents to be mere hallucinations. An alternate description is that while some aspects of the experience may be hallucinatory, the realizations caused by those hallucinations, and the mental, emotional and long term impact of the experience, is real, usually positive, and enduring. Opponents of the use of these substances tend to ignore their religious and spiritual use, and consider such claims as unsubstantiated fabrication, or mere justification of an inebriated and potentially dangerous state, and/or substance abuse.

Psychonautica

The frequency of use and type of use is highly individual. Some psychonauts are also neoshamans. Eventually, the individual often gains a sense or feeling of control over the entheogen they are taking. Because their motive is primarily for personal growth by means of wider scope of mental perception, rather than social and leisure use, psychonauts usually resist over-use and respect the substances they take. Many psychoactive substances used as entheogens are not physically addictive (but may be psychologically addictive if over-used), and unlike crack or other drugs, there is not normally any spiral of dependency and/or harm involved. Personal reports on websites suggest psychonauts might typically use such substances between once every few weeks, to once or twice a year.