Religious Leaders Who Tried Psilocybin Say It Made Them Better at Their Jobs

New study finds clergy from major world religions reported profound spiritual experiences and improved effectiveness as religious leaders after taking the psychedelic mushroom compound.

BALTIMORE — A Christian minister, Jewish rabbi, Muslim imam, and Buddhist monk walked into a research lab — and what happened next is turning heads in both religious and medical circles. For the first time, scientists systematically studied what happens when professionally trained religious leaders take psilocybin, the active compound in “magic mushrooms.”

The surprising results will certainly open up new paths for research when it comes to mixing psychedelics with faith. Rather than undermining their religious beliefs, the experience actually made these clergy members feel more effective in their roles and deepened their spiritual practices.

The study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and New York University followed 29 religious leaders from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism through carefully supervised psilocybin sessions. Six months later, compared to a control group that hadn’t yet received the drug, those who took psilocybin reported significant improvements in their religious practices, attitudes about their faith, and effectiveness as spiritual leaders.

Nearly all participants (96%) rated their psilocybin experience as among the five most spiritually significant of their entire lives, with 42% calling it the single most profound experience they’d ever had.

Rigorous Testing Under Laboratory Conditions

Led by the late Dr. Roland Griffiths, a renowned researcher in the field of psychedelic medicine who passed away in October 2023, the study used the same rigorous safety protocols developed for medical psilocybin research. All 29 participants had never used psilocybin or similar substances before. They held recognized leadership positions in established religious organizations and had formal training or ordination in their traditions. Most were highly educated (93% had post-graduate degrees) and averaged over 22 years of professional religious experience.

Each participant received two psilocybin sessions about a month apart, taking doses of 20 to 30 milligrams based on body weight. Sessions lasted about eight hours in comfortable, living room-like settings with trained facilitators present for support.

The study, published in Psychedelic Medicine, used a “waitlist control” design, meaning half the participants received psilocybin immediately while the other half waited six months. By comparing the two groups, researchers could measure the actual effects of the drug versus normal changes over time.

Lasting Changes in Religious Practice

According to the study’s measures, 88% met the criteria for having a “complete mystical experience” during at least one of their sessions. They described profound feelings of unity, transcendence of time and space, and encounters with what they considered sacred or divine.

But the effects lasted far beyond the immediate experience. Sixteen months after their sessions, participants continued to report lasting changes in their religious lives. Most said the experience had positively affected their prayer or meditation practices and their daily sense of the sacred. Notably, 71% reported increased appreciation for religious traditions other than their own.

The researchers found that 79% of participants gave “strong or extreme” ratings when asked if their experience “enriched their contemplative, prayer, or meditation practices,” “increased their effectiveness in their spiritual/religious vocation,” and “increased their sense of the sacred in daily life.”

Refuting Long-Held Skepticism

Some scholars have long argued that psychedelic experiences aren’t genuine religious experiences but rather chemically-induced distortions that people without proper theological training might misinterpret as spiritual. By including participants with extensive religious education and training, the study directly challenges that view.

The answer turned out to be that trained religious professionals were overwhelmingly likely to interpret their experiences as genuinely spiritual and beneficial to their religious practice. Before the study, 71% had at some point seriously considered leaving religious work. After psilocybin, rates of current consideration for leaving remained low and weren’t significantly different from before the study, indicating the experience didn’t drive people away from their religious careers.

The study found no serious adverse events, though 46% of participants rated their psilocybin experience as among the five most psychologically challenging of their lives. It’s a reminder that these substances can still produce difficult experiences for people even when they’re ultimately beneficial.

Broader Questions About Faith and Science

The research builds on the famous “Good Friday Experiment” conducted in 1962, which gave psilocybin to Protestant seminary students during a religious service. That study also found lasting positive effects, but the new research is far more rigorous and includes a broader range of religious traditions.

As psychedelic medicine gains mainstream acceptance for treating conditions like depression and PTSD, questions about the relationship between these substances and spirituality become increasingly relevant. The study has significant limitations—the sample was small and predominantly white, male, and highly educated, with no representation from Indigenous religious traditions or Hinduism. Participants were also self-selected, meaning clergy willing to try psilocybin might already hold more liberal religious views than typical religious leaders.

However, if religious leaders — community pillars who often counsel others through life’s challenges — report improved effectiveness in their roles after psilocybin experiences, it raises intriguing questions about potential applications in religious education, interfaith dialogue, and spiritual care in medical settings. For centuries, humans have sought transcendent experiences through prayer, meditation, fasting, and other practices. For some religious leaders, psilocybin may be another tool in that ancient quest—one that seemed to deepen rather than diminish their faith.