The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
Watch for Matthew Fox's video meditation — now appearing every Monday! Are you missing half the DM?
Some email
programs hide part of the message when it’s long. At the end of the email, look for a link such as "View entire message" or an ellipsis (…). Click that to see everything, including Queries for Contemplation, Recommended Reading, and Upcoming Events. |
By Gianluigi Gugliermetto 8/22/2025 |
There has been a resurgence of interest regarding the effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) on the brain, and particularly on its connection with spirituality, prayer, and mystical experiences. Yesterday, August 21, in the online magazine Progressing Spirit, Matthew Fox published
his comments about a scientific study which was conducted by the John Hopkins and NYU Schools of Medicine in 2016 but was published only now, almost ten years later, because of legal controversies. |
I approach the subject using a framework that Matthew introduced in one of his early books, Whee! We, Wee All the Way Home: A Guide to a Sensual, Prophetic Spirituality, which I consider both important and one of the most undervalued works in his bibliography. |
|
Matt’s frame of interpretation — which he also employs in the essay for Progressing Spirit — consists mainly in distinguishing natural ecstasies from tactical ecstasies. It is important to notice that such distinction does not involve a bias or a moral judgment toward the second type of ecstasies, but it does nonetheless engender some caveats. Matthew says that natural ecstasies include such experiences as Nature, art, music, study, friendship, love-making, sports, travel, thinking, and involuntary deprivations. It is relevant to understand that the experience of ecstasy, starting with awe and wonder before a natural phenomenon such as a waterfall or a rainbow, is not rare or reserved to a few. How often do we realize, for example, that our friendships
or our sport activities are in themselves ecstatic experiences, immediately available? |
Matthew Fox introduces two books by biologist/researcher Rupert Sheldrake on the
evolving interface between science and spirituality in the natural and tactical ecstasies. See the full DM HERE. | On the other side, tactical ecstasies constitute more elaborate practices,
which are ways that human tribes have found for facilitating transcendent experiences. The use of LSD falls into this category, together with voluntary deprivations of food, sex, or sleep; all kinds of deep meditation, retreats in unfamiliar locations and altering habitual patterns; |
hypnotic chanting or dancing; the use of psychodynamic substances such as incense and ayahuasca, or intoxicating substances such as wine, tobacco, or absinthe. For all tactical ecstasies Matthew offers the same structure of evaluation and caution, which I would summarize as follows: - Are you aware of natural ecstasies and are you enjoying them? If not, please do so before proceeding.
- Is the strategy (i.e. tactics) that you intend to adopt in order to achieve ecstasy really necessary in your situation?
- Are you aware of the risks entailed in such a strategy, and do you have a way to evaluate its consequences in your life? Especially, as always in Creation Spirituality, is your experience conducive to social change?
The experience of ecstasy — that is, to be transported out of
yourself — has always been sought after in all human cultures. It is frowned upon by those social systems which overvalue rationality and control. In reality, ecstasy is an integral and necessary aspect of human existence whose effects are often not limited to the experience itself but yield real breakthroughs. Ecstatic
experiences can and do open up the mind to possibilities that seemed hitherto non-existent to the individual. But what happens to ecstatic experiences in our present social system? |
We don’t live any more in traditional settings where the use of tactical ecstasies is regulated by the ritual group, and thus abuse is kept in check. In those situations, the integration of the natural and the tactical is itself quite a natural thing. In our situation, instead, we often frame the question in terms of the individual’s choice, thus laying a heavier responsibility on the individual herself. Then we involve the law as an overarching frame, but often the
law is outdated or too far from the real needs of people. |
Peyote drummer, Oklahoma, 1927. Description by photographer Edward S. Curtis: “No Indian custom has been the subject of greater controversy or has led to the adoption of more laws and regulations with a view of abolishing it, largely because its effects have been misunderstood by white people.”
Picryl. |
Matthew ends his essay in Progressing Spirit — which you can read here — with a cautious blessing on the
regulated use of LSD in spiritual settings. His reasoning is based on the fact that people seem to really need it, especially though not exclusively clergy, like those involved in the scientific study mentioned above, who reported truly positive effects. Moreover, most churches have become completely unable to offer rituals that include or stimulate ecstatic experiences. I agree, but I see the use of LSD almost as a desperate measure, which we all know includes some serious risks — we ALL know it: those in favor and those against, the people who administered the study and the participants, progressives and conservatives alike. Thus, this should not be a battle but a conversation. In the spirit of such conversation I offer two open and provocative questions for debate: |
"Benefits from the Johns Hopkins Psilocybin Study"- Lauri Kershman, M.D. describes her experience as a volunteer entering the study as part of her cancer journey. MAPS | 1. What are
we doing about the inability or unwillingness to experience natural ecstasies which — in my experience at least — seems to spread very rapidly in our societies? Is the access to stronger and stronger substances, including ayahuasca, the real answer that we are looking for? |
2. Why are so many of my colleagues in ministry in such a dire situation, as described in the study cited? If we have religious leaders who are worse off — spiritually speaking — than their parishioners, shouldn’t we look at how the churches work internally, before looking at new external substances to fix the problem? |
Matthew Fox, “Psychedelics, Mystical Experience, the Sacred and the Practical” in Progressing Spirit (note, the article is available only to subscribers)
See also Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest
And Fox, Wrestling with
the Prophets: Essays on Creation Spirituality and Everyday Life
And Fox, Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet
And Fox, Whee! We, wee All the Way Home: A Guide to a Sensual, Prophetic Spirituality
Banner Image:
“Psilocybin-Psychedelic2.” Photo by Merlin Lightpainting/Pexels/Creative Commons. Published in Religion News Service with “After a decade of controversy, clergy psychedelic study is published” in Religion News
Service. |
Mystic-Warriors at the Roof of the World In Monday's DM, we shared the story of Marianne Grosspietsch and the Shanti Leprosy Aid organization of Nepal: faced with the loss of food from USAID, her community is planting thousands of fruit trees to nourish the hungry in the region while mitigating the effects of climate change.
We invite you to consider supporting this work HERE (US$) or HERE (€ and other currencies). |
|
Queries for Contemplation |
What is your experience with natural and tactical ecstasies? |
Responses are welcomed. To add
your comment, or read other comments and enter into dialogue, please click HERE to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
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 Reinvention of Work: A New Vision of Livelihood For Our Time
Thomas Aquinas said, “To live well is to work well,” and in this bold call for the revitalization of
daily work, Fox shares his vision of a world where our personal and professional lives are celebrated in harmony–a world where the self is not sacrificed for a job but is sanctified by authentic “soul work.”
“Fox approaches the level of poetry in describing the reciprocity that must be present between one’s inner and outer work…[A]n important road map to social change.” ~~ National Catholic
Reporter |
|
Wrestling with the Prophets: Essays on Creation Spirituality and Everyday Life
In one of his foundational works, Fox engages with some of history’s
greatest mystics, philosophers, and prophets in profound and hard-hitting essays on such varied topics as Eco-Spirituality, AIDS, homosexuality, spiritual feminism, environmental revolution, Native American spirituality, Christian mysticism, Art and Spirituality, Art as Meditation, Interfaith or Deep Ecumenism and more. |
|
Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet
Because creativity is the key to both our genius and beauty as a species but also to our capacity for evil, we need to teach creativity and to
teach ways of steering this God-like power in directions that promote love of life (biophilia) and not love of death (necrophilia). Pushing well beyond the bounds of conventional Christian doctrine, Fox’s focus on creativity attempts nothing less than to shape a new ethic.
“Matt Fox is a pilgrim who seeks a path into the church of tomorrow. Countless numbers will be happy to follow his lead.” –Bishop John
Shelby Spong, author, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, Living in Sin |
|
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.
|
|
UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE |
Join Matthew Fox in a new 6-month program of mystical wisdom for a new world.
In this 6-month immersion program with Matthew, you’ll explore what it means to be a modern mystic and prophet, integrating this sacred knowledge into your life through the authentic teachings of Jesus and other wisdom keepers. This journey births what Matthew calls Christianity 2.0 — based not on dogma, but on a spirituality that recovers the sacred sense of original goodness. By Application only - apply HERERegister for a free information session HERE |
|
|
|
|
|
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book, Hildegard of Bingen’s Book of Divine Works with Letters and Songs, in an online Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, August 21, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox and others in an online gathering to honor the beloved teacher, author, and activist Joanna Macy. When you register you will receive a reminder, updates on who is speaking at the celebration, a Zoom Link, and finally the recording at the completion of the event. Saturday, August 23,
11:00am PT – Register HERE MONTHLY: Join Matthew Fox and Skylar Wilson of the Order of the Sacred Earth in a free virtual meeting for connection and networking with other mystic warriors. Last Tuesday of every month, 4:00-5:00pm PT.
Join Zoom Meeting HERE, Meeting ID: 886 6530 2478 Learn more at www.orderofthesacredearth.org |
Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Matthew Fox and Fr. Bede Griffiths each lecture for approximately 30 minutes followed by 30 minutes of dialogue. 91 minutes. 1990. You will receive a secure link to the file to download. |
|
Inspired by this post? Share your insights on BlueSky, Instagram, Universeodon, or Facebook using the hashtag #RevDrMatthewFox and tag Matt with @RevDrMatthewFox FOLLOW MATTHEW FOX: |
|
|
|
