More Talk on Ecstasies

I am very grateful to GG for his thoughtful DM yesterday on my article published in Progressive Christianity on the Johns Hopkins/NYU study done with clergy using LSD.

Let me add some more points. When I was a young Dominican studying in Europe in the 1960s, I was part of a movement of about 80 young Dominicans from all over Europe (about four from America) gathered to critique the order from our perspective.

During a break from the discussions, one young Dutch Dominican who was a very free spirit stood on his hands with a rose in his mouth. I approached him to chat and asked him this question: “Do you do drugs?” I remember his reply to his day. “No,” he said. “I get high on life.”

That is exactly my position on drugs. We are here to get high on life. That is what I mean by defining prayer as a “radical (i.e. deep) response to life.” Radical being a deep Yes (our mysticism therefore); and a deep No (our prophetic vocation). See my book on Prayer: A Radical Response to Life. By the way, in that book I do speak of drugs.

Another story is this. When I sat down with members of the Rave community in the Bay Area previous to launching our Cosmic Masses, a critical issue was that they wanted to bring drugs to the Mass. I said “No. We will prove to you that you can get high on good liturgy and won’t need drugs.” We lost about 50% of them, but those who came got the message.

A therapist who counseled teenagers about drugs brought ten of them to a TCM at Historic Sweets Ballroom in Oakland and on the way home they all said to her: “This is the first time in our life we’ve gotten high without drugs.”

One Latina teenage said to me one day, “Are you telling me that I can go to Mass and dance? Praying and dancing are my favorite things to do. I am bored at Mass now–I only go because my parents demand it.”

Why aren’t the churches—so empty of young people–shouting about this?

Recently the Episcopal Church fired a priest for being part of the LSD experiment.* Without getting into the weeds about that ecclesial fight—that priest has now moved on to pastor a UCC church—I must ask: Why do our clergy feel the need for LSD to have an experience of transcendence? What is missing in our seminary training and in our liturgy?

What is missing is the mystics. And the way to becoming a mystic and democratizing mysticism. And liturgy that incorporates all seven chakras…is missing.

One of the best students I ever taught was a young woman at Barat College who had taken LSD as teenager. After four years majoring in religion, she went on to become a Catholic sister and activist. But it was LSD that first got her interested in spirituality.

As it did Rupert Sheldrake, one of the most impactful scientists of our generation. He took LSD and he learned yoga in India and then he met Father Bede Griffith and has been a practicing Anglican ever since.** 

What does one do after an LSD trip? One seeks out healthy religion where the mystics and mysticism are out front and not forgotten behind institutional religious agendas. As John Dominic Crossan has written, for St. Paul, you cannot be a Christian without being a mystic. The prophet, after all, is the mystic in action. Jesus was both.

*Kathryn Post, “Episcopal Church removes priest who founded Christian psychedelic society,” ReligionNews.com, August 20, 2025.

**See Rupert Sheldrake, “Cannabis, Psychedelics and Spiritual Openings,” in Sheldrake, Ways To Go Beyond and Why They Work, pp. 94-140

See Matthew Fox, Prayer: A Radical Response to Life (originally titled, On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style).

And Fox, Whee! We, wee All the Way Home: A Guide to a Sensual, Prophetic, Spirituality.

And Fox, Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations.

And Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Post-denominational Priest.

And Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance.

Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake, Natural Grace: Dialogues on Creation, Darkness, and the Soul in Spirituality and Science

Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake, The Physics of Angels: Exploring the Realm Where Science & Spirit Meet.

Banner Image: A visual jockey’s conception of an angel, projected during a Cosmic Mass.

Queries for Contemplation

Have you come to grips with the mystic in you? Have you done it without drugs? Or have you had assistance from drugs? If the latter, have you moved on from drugs to a deeper mysticism? And from mysticism to prophetic service?

Related Readings by Matthew Fox

Prayer: A Radical Response to Life

How do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? Fox defines prayer as a radical response to life that includes our “Yes” to life (mysticism) and our “No” to forces that combat life (prophecy). How do we define adult prayer? And how—if at all—do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? One of Matthew Fox’s earliest books, originally published under the title On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style, Prayer introduces a mystical/prophetic spirituality and a mature conception of how to pray. Called a “classic” when it first appeared, it lays out the difference between the creation spirituality tradition and the fall/redemption tradition that has so dominated Western theology since Augustine. A practical and theoretical book, it lays the groundwork for Fox’s later works. “One of the finest books I have read on contemporary spirituality.” – Rabbi Sholom A. Singer

Whee! We, Wee All the Way Home: A Guide to Sensual Prophetic Spirituality

Years ahead of its time when first published in 1976, this book is still bold and relevant today. Perfect for anyone who thinks mysticism needs to get out of the head and into the body. Matthew Fox begins the Preface to this book by stating, “This is a practical book about waking up and returning to a biblical, justice-oriented spirituality. Such a spirituality is a way of passion that leads to compassion. Such a way is necessarily one of coming to our senses in every meaning of that phrase.” One of Matthew Fox’s earliest books, this title explores the importance of ecstasy in the spiritual life. Fox considers the distinction between “natural” ecstasies (including nature, sex, friendship, music, art) and “tactical” ecstasies (like meditation, fasting, chanting); he goes on to consider that a truly authentic mysticism must be sensuous in its orientation, so to cultivate the maximum amount of ecstasy for the maximum amount of people.

Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations

As Matthew Fox notes, when an aging Albert Einstein was asked if he had any regrets, he replied, “I wish I had read more of the mystics earlier in my life.” The 365 writings in Christian Mystics represent a wide-ranging sampling of these readings for modern-day seekers of all faiths — or no faith. The visionaries quoted range from Julian of Norwich to Martin Luther King, Jr., from Thomas Merton to Dorothee Soelle and Thomas Berry.
“Our world is in crisis, and we need road maps that can ground us in wisdom, inspire us to action, and help us gather our talents in service of compassion and justice. This revolutionary book does just that. Matthew Fox takes some of the most profound spiritual teachings of the West and translates them into practical daily mediations. Study and practice these teachings. Take what’s in this book and teach it to the youth because the new generation cannot afford to suffer the spirit and ethical illiteracy of the past.” — Adam Bucko, spiritual activist and co-founder of the Reciprocity Foundation for Homeless Youth.

Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest (Revised/Updated Edition)

Matthew Fox’s stirring autobiography, Confessions, reveals his personal, intellectual, and spiritual journey from altar boy, to Dominican priest, to his eventual break with the Vatican. Five new chapters in this revised and updated edition bring added perspective in light of the author’s continued journey, and his reflections on the current changes taking place in church, society and the environment.
“The unfolding story of this irrepressible spiritual revolutionary enlivens the mind and emboldens the heart — must reading for anyone interested in courage, creativity, and the future of religion.”
—Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self

The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance

In what may be considered the most comprehensive outline of the Christian paradigm shift of our Age, Matthew Fox eloquently foreshadows the manner in which the spirit of Christ resurrects in terms of the return to an earth-based mysticism, the expression of creativity, mystical sexuality, the respect due the young, the rebirth of effective forms of worship—all of these mirroring the ongoing blessings of Mother Earth and the recovery of Eros, the feminine aspect of the Divine.
“The eighth wonder of the world…convincing proof that our Western religious tradition does indeed have the depth of imagination to reinvent its faith.” — Brian Swimme, author of The Universe Story and Journey of the Universe.
 “This book is a classic.” Thomas Berry, author of The Great Work and The Dream of the Earth.

Natural Grace: Dialogues on Creation, Darkness, and the Soul in Spirituality and Science 
by Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake

Natural Grace, a 208 page inspired dialogue between theologian Matthew Fox and scientist Rupert Sheldrake, unites wisdom and knowledge from unconventional angles. Considering themselves heretics in their own fields, Matthew and Rupert engage the conversation from postmodern and post-postmodern perspectives, deconstructing both religion and science—while setting the foundation for a new emerging worldview. Having outgrown the paradigms in which they were raised, both Fox and Sheldrake see it as part of their life missions to share the natural synthesis of spirituality and science rooted in a paradigm of evolutionary cosmology.

The Physics of Angels: Exploring the Realm Where Science & Spirit Meet
By Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake

When was the last time a scientist and a theologian discussed angels together? What are angels? Many people believe in angels, but few can define these enigmatic spirits. Now visionary theologian Matthew Fox and acclaimed biologist Rupert Sheldrake—pioneers in modern religious thinking and scientific theory—launch a groundbreaking exploration into the ancient concept of the angel and restore dignity, meaning, and joy to our time-honored belief in these heavenly beings.