The term “conspirituality” was coined in 2011 by Charlotte Ward and David Voas to describe the merging of conspiracy and spiritual thinking. This phenomenon isn’t new, but its relevance to the recent violent—if short-lived—seizure of the US Capitol building should be obvious. The motivation for the coup attempt was itself rooted in a conspiracy theory that the presidential election was stolen. Many of the participants were followers of “Q,” an anonymous Moses-like character promising to lead his people out of the elite pedophile-pizza-basement into an awakened promised-land of a morally cleansed America. Psymposia previously reported on one emblematic case of conspirituality at the Capitol: that of Jake Angeli Chansley, the “QAnon Shaman.” In his own words, Angeli made it clear that psychedelics are central to his understanding of the universe. But who would have guessed that not one, but two diehard psychedelic heads would have spearheaded (pun intended) the Capitol invasion? 

First reported by The Birmingham News, William Watson, 23 (photographed alongside Chansley in an oversized yellow hoodie) was out on $103,000 bond for LSD and cannabis trafficking charges. Watson was arrested last July in possession of a kilo of cannabis and more than 4 grams of LSD (roughly 40,000 doses at 100 micrograms each), according to court records. There was a brief spasm of paranoia on the right that Watson was actually “ANTIFA,” as it was alleged that his left hand tattoo was a stylized sickle and hammer, but Watson himself (and fact-checkers) rebutted the charge—the image was from the video game Dishonored 2. 

Yet fact-checkers missed what an astute Psymposia reader did not: Will Watson’s right hand is tattooed with the logo of a well-known psychedelic supplier, GammaGoblin. GammaGoblin is the nom de guerre of perhaps the most prolific darknet LSD distributor. In response to Psymposia’s request for comment, GammaGoblin wrote:

“Well, we have no power over what people put in and on their bodies. My only comment would be: that’s a nice tattoo, kudos to the artist. We always steered clear from political, religious or ideological matters in general. Of course we have our own beliefs but when it comes to our mission, we just believe in a free access to the medicine that we spread, nothing less, nothing more. So I really hope we will not be dragged into a political or extremist narrative on a basis that someone involved had our logo tattooed on his hand : )”

An avid Alex Jones listener, young Watson was allegedly sitting on a virtually inexhaustible supply of LSD (if this is indeed crystal LSD and not draconian courts weighing blotter paper). Jones, a far-right conspiracy commentator, has repeatedly addressed the significance of psychedelics (as more of a recurring, vivid fixation than an endorsement) and when Jones put out the call to rally in DC on January 6th, Watson was among the thousands who answered. It is now apparent that Jones played a significant role in securing funding for the rally.

Recent events highlight why it’s a problem that the “psychedelic community” doesn’t like to talk about politics. Some posture as though a personalized, chemically-induced revolution would render earthly disputes null and void. Others pull from the centrist bag of tricks, pretending that discussions of politics other than their own are divisive. Nevertheless, the biggest players in the psychedelic game have no such reservations about their own right-wing, reactionary politics. Billionaire Peter Thiel recently sunk $12 million into ATAI Life Sciences. Beyond his enthusiastic support for Trump, Buzzfeed reported that Thiel hosted a dinner for Kevin DeAnna, an influential white supremacist activist. Christian Angermayer is the founder of ATAI, a fan of Trump, and directly helps prop up at least one dictator. Rebekah Mercer pledged $1 million to MAPS. She has also backed Cambridge Analytica and Breitbart, and is the co-founder of Parler, a far-right response to Twitter where white supremacists, misogynists, anti-LGBTQ bigots, and antisemites take refuge—and which was instrumental in coordinating the storming of the Capitol. 

When these are the sort of folks throwing big money at psychedelic research, it’s no wonder that researchers are reticent to venture too deeply into political discourse. Another common anxiety among psychedelic reformers is that if the psychedelic community starts to look too unruly, Uncle Sam will bring the hammer down again. So when Eddie Jacobs penned a piece for Scientific American posing the question What if a Pill could Change your Political or Religious Beliefs?, a reply was inevitable. Jacobs posited that psilocybin may cause people to become more liberal or abandon religious orthodoxy, and that this might complicate bipartisan support for research. Dr. Matthew Johnson, Professor and Associate Center Director at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research, and Dr. David B. Yaden, a postdoc at Hopkins stepped in to soothe establishment fears. In their Scientific American reply, There’s No Good Evidence that Psychedelics can Change your Politics or Religion, Johnson and Yaden tamped down alarmism that psychedelics might bring about radical change, stating that there is no refereed scientific research that psychedelics are likely to change one’s party affiliation or religious membership. 

Prior to this exchange in Scientific American, I argued that psychedelics are unlikely to reduce  authoritarianism, because (anecdotally) there are too many dedicated authoritarians who seem to like them just fine. Another study (co-authored by Johnson) noted that a single dose of psilocybin can leave patients scoring higher on a personality trait called openness. Openness is a basic personality trait that describes individual receptivity to new ideas and experiences. And it is worth noting the 2014 Carhartt-Harris (et al.) study titled, LSD enhances suggestibility in healthy volunteers. Taken together, these studies lend weight to the idea that psychedelics can make people gullible. 

While the Carhartt-Harris study suffers from the small sample sizes that plague psychedelic research, its results do seem to comport with the body of psychedelic therapy literature, potentially pointing towards its very mechanism of action. Such effects could explain why experiencing chemical suggestibility while hanging out with someone offering (presumably) helpful suggestions for coping with your long-unsolved psychological problems has such value. In his paper Consciousness, Religion, and Gurus: Pitfalls of Psychedelic Medicine, Johnson calls this effect of psychedelics “behavioral plasticity.” Such behavioral plasticity can play a role in radicalization. According to a survey of 75 fascists conducted by Bellingcat entitled, From Memes to Infowars: How 75 Fascist Activists Were “Red-Pilled,” four cited tripping on LSD as key to their embrace of Nazi ideology. Indeed, Johnson devotes the majority of his article to discussing the dangers of clinicians imposing their beliefs on clients:

“The powerful subjective nature of psychedelic experiences can be leveraged toward explicit harm, as in the extreme case of Charles Manson and his followers.”

Johnson’s warnings are important and valid, but they raise the question: should we not also seriously consider the dangerous, antisocial political beliefs and actions of major funders of corporadelic endeavors? If, as Johnson argues, it is inappropriate for clinicians to introduce their worldviews to patients, how can psychedelic communities shield themselves from the open right-wing bent of the psychedelic industry’s biggest investors? I reached out to Dr. Johnson for comment but did not hear back before publication. 

A common misunderstanding about the social impact of investment and philanthropy holds that all money is good money as long as it’s going towards good work. First, this assumption ignores the real tax and brand benefits gained by philanthropic funders, who can point to the “good works” they support whenever critics enumerate their dirty deeds. Anand Giridharadas succinctly describes such reputation laundering by pointing out that many of these companies “create harm in billions and do good in millions.” With investment, there is no analogous argument, however poor—stakeholders have considerable power, and they use it to set agendas in pursuit of financial returns. Second, since funders spread cash to many docile pots, they can saturate the discourse with a curated set of ideas which serve those who paid for them. Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman called this “manufacturing consent.” For a synopsis, check out a video animation of the media theory, narrated by Amy Goodman of the nonprofit news outlet Democracy Now! 

The will of funders has immense cultural reach, and is used to assert the parameters of conversation. For example, the managing director of Thiel Capital—Dr. Eric Weinstein—coined the term “Intellectual Dark Web” (IDW), a moniker adopted to describe a loosely defined group of culture warriors whose main goal is to counter the gains made by various liberatory projects (e.g. Black Lives Matter, trans liberation, women wearing makeup in the workplace). Several nodes of the IDW have more than succeeded in broadcasting reactionary ideas while flirting with psychedelia to polish their “rebel” cred. 

One group that has successfully capitalized on the marriage between psychedelics and right-wing thought is Rebel Wisdom. Their founder, David Fuller, launched the platform explicitly riding the coattails of Jordan Peterson, producing a series of documentaries on the lobster king. Along with other “sensemakers” of the Intellectual Dark Web, Peterson and the Weinsteins (Eric has a brother) are recurring guests. Furthermore, Rebel Wisdom co-founder Alex Beiner is also an Executive Director of the UK-based psychedelics conference Breaking Convention—when not acting as a retreat assistant at the elite psychedelic spa, Synthesis. 

At minimum, the active promotion of extreme beliefs by those underwriting the psychedelic medicalization project affects the kinds of questions that researchers ask and the type of research that is deemed politically viable (see: veterans and PTSD). Such a realpolitik approach serves to further marginalize people whose lives and interests have historically been subjugated: those of the impoverished, women, POC, LGBTQ, disabled people, the criminalized, and the neurodivergent—a fact reflected in the paucity of psychedelic research dedicated to these demographics.

To probe further, the concern about psychedelics precipitating radical shifts in belief—political or  religious—has its roots in psychedelics’ own peculiar history. And while psychedelics are currently putting on a proverbial suit and tie to make them both marketable and palatable to the mainstream, few care to discuss what happened the last time institutions had a free hand with these mind-bending chemicals. That era was defined by MK-Ultra, the CIA’s decades-long attempt to subvert people’s deepest convictions by any means possible. Though the majority of the evidence was deliberately destroyed, what we do know about MK-Ultra is extremely disturbing, and remains an unresolved, profound violation of human autonomy and public trust. Frankly, society hasn’t adequately addressed this institutional betrayal and there is no time like the present “psychedelic renaissance” to revisit these difficult topics.  In other instances when human rights violations have become undeniable, a best practice for moving forward is truth and reconciliation. And if we are to avoid mistakes from the cannabis industry (which booms while many thousands remain incarcerated), this should precede entrepreneurs making their billions.  

What we do know is that many of the educational institutions currently investing heavily in psychedelic research have dark histories of conducting research for the CIA (witting and unwitting) to weaponize the very drugs these same institutions seek to wield as the healer’s scalpel. Not all of this research was specifically using drugs. Documents obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests indicate that at least 80 institutions and 44 universities played some role in the effort to covertly and overtly bend people’s will to the aims of another. Notable mention goes to Johns Hopkins, Stanford, and Mount Sinai Hospital—each of which received funding from MK-Ultra and today are positioning themselves as potential leaders in the revivified psychedelic field. Even my present employer, The Ohio State University, was connected to two MK-Ultra subprojects.

While the CIA famously tried and failed to use psychedelics as mind control pills in MK-Ultra, one of its real “successes” grew from Canadian psychiatrist D. Ewen Cameron’s experiments with drugs, sleep, and sensory deprivation. Cameron’s work resulted in the KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation and Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual. As Naomi Klein points out in her hugely influential book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Cameron’s tests on human subjects were ultimately not used for mind control, but “to design a scientifically based system for extracting information from ‘resistant sources.’ In other words, torture.” Consequently, some of the techniques developed for KUBARK are being used in present-day US black sites and detention facilities such as Guantánamo Bay, which is now approaching its 20th anniversary.

In addition to information extraction, shock can soften a person to new information. According to social theorists, a crucial first step on the path to radicalization is something called a cognitive opening: an experience that jerks the person out of their routine, or causes them to question the foundation of their belief structures or worldview. This post-shock opening leaves the person vulnerable to, as Klein puts it: “Whatever ideas happen to be lying around.” Of course, Klein is discussing policy ideas post-crisis, but for the purposes of this discussion, her assertion appears relevant to understanding the psychology of radicalization. 

In counterterrorism and radicalization literature, cognitive openings are usually characterized as resulting from an upsetting event—the disruption of a way of life or perhaps the loss of livelihood or a loved one—but strong psychedelic experiences can leave people feeling similarly shattered. In fact, a whole psychedelic integration industry has popped up to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again. But what if your integration therapist was also a fan of the Intellectual Dark Web? What if the person who introduced you to psychedelics also introduced you to Alex Jones, QAnon, or the Proud Boys? What if these dynamics are in play right now? 

Conspirituality doesn’t require psychedelics. Alternative spirituality employs syncretism to create bespoke, transcendent liberations, while conspiracy theory complexifies into ever-more insidious cages. Synergies abound. But be it conspiracy theory or spiritual practice, toss psychedelics into the mix and watch the fireworks. Psychedelic conspirituality has already demonstrated itself as contiguous with COVID denialism and the far-right. As such, it is well past time to acknowledge that right-wing ideologues have already staked a claim in psychedelia from multiple angles—from straight-laced ex-Goldman Sachs bankers introducing their psychedelic start-ups on Fox News and demanding we “make psychedelics boring again” to unhinged acid heads preaching the gospel of Alex Jones at the Capitol.  

To be clear, none of this should be taken as an argument that psychedelics themselves are shifting people’s ideologies in any particular way. Radicalization is too complicated to be attributable to a single cause, as outlined in Innuendo Studios’ excellent video, The Alt-Right Playbook: How to Radicalize a Normie. Rather, post-psychedelic neuroplasticity may leave some people vulnerable to the kind of stochastic terrorism that Trump, Fox News, and digital Nazis have employed for decades, culminating at the Capitol with a semiotic force that we forget at our own peril. 

A core insight in antifascist organizing is that no one is going to protect your community for you. So how do we disrupt the infiltration of psychedelic spaces by the right? Talking about it is a good start. Apart from preventing far-right insurrection, the decriminalization of all drugs and increasing equitable access to care (healthcare, housing, and substance use treatment) is another solid goal. As of February 1st, 2021, this is the policy reality for the entire state of Oregon and there is no reason it cannot be achieved elsewhere. 

Once people accept the reality that psychedelics won’t solve all the world’s problems, perhaps it will be harder for psychedelic community members to sell out marginalized people to outsider financial predators—collaborating with fascists to legalize psychedelics. 

In the 2009 Canadian film Wild Hunt, a live action role-playing game (LARP) goes wrong when a character playing Murtagh, a Viking shaman-king, abandons his real identity and takes psychedelic mushrooms with his companions, descending from play-fighting into an orgy of real violence. Proving once again that life imitates art, those long-dismissed as right-wing patriot LARPers took over the United States Capitol building, resulting in the evacuation of legislators assembled to certify the election of President-elect Joe Biden, and four confirmed deaths at the time of writing. 

Among the insurgents was a man dressed as an approximation of a patriot Viking shaman, wearing a horned headdress, red, white, and blue face paint, and sporting large black tattoos. He postured like a conqueror on the rostrum of the Senate chamber, in a fleeting moment of symbolic power. His name is Jake Angeli (born Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansely), also known as Yellowstone Wolf, Loan Wolf, and sometimes “The Q Shaman.” While Angeli was just one member of the group that stormed the Capitol, he is unique for being the only known self-ordained psychedelic guru of the bunch. His shamanic cosplay wasn’t just an act—it’s another example of the dangerous consequences of mixing psychedelics and far-right ideology.

Photo of Senate right now. 'Where's Pence, show yourself!' protester shouts pic.twitter.com/xGVKMnsf3T

— Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) January 6, 2021

According to his now-deactivated “Star Seed Academy” Facebook page, Angeli was offering courses and consulting on matters of the spirit, topics like ascension, how to expand your consciousness, and ESP (for just $44.44!). The page also featured at least one COVID denial meme, providing yet another point of contact between psychedelia and conspiracy. Here’s a scroll-through of his videos and a sampling of the transformative coursework offered by Star Seed Academy from his now deactivated Facebook page.

As early as late 2018, he was a guest on the (now defunct) podcast Psychedelic Milk, this time as Loan Wolf:

“Humblest regards to all my relations. During the podcast my name was Loan Wolf and since this podcast a new name was given to me, I am Yellowstone Wolf previously known as Loan Wolf. I was recently on a podcast with psychedelic milk’s Ed Liu. He had some very interesting questions, if you would like to listen to the podcast, here is the link.”

On his blog, Star Seed Academy, Angeli wrote an essay explaining how psychedelic neo-shamanism is central to his worldview and essential for saving humanity from its toxic, self-destructive ways.    

“For this reason I boldly recommend that these shamanic plants and techniques be used in the following ways: In substitute of pharmaceuticals and chemicals whenever possible to recover from illnesses and diseases, those seeking spiritual growth could be administered a psychoactive plant by a trained professional shaman or psychiatrist if the individual is at least 18 years of age and in a controlled shamanic ceremonial environment only, in retirement homes for people who wish to facilitate facing disease and the end of life, as well as using it for treating some forms of mental illness and criminal behavior essentially acting as a healing medicine to help heal the pain that puts people there and keeps them coming back. The plants act as an aid in correcting the criminal mentality and work to radically change the criminal’s view of the world, which is what drives the criminal to commit crimes in the first place.”

Angeli’s sentiment—that psychedelics can save the world—is boilerplate within psychedelic discourse, and presents a spin that has garnered significant media coverage as psychedelic research has gained increasing mainstream approval. Angeli’s psychedelic use did not seem to increase his empathy for the terrified legislators fleeing for their lives. Furthermore, his many public statements and writings indicate that psychedelics informed his certainty of aligning with a higher law, that of Q, the QAnon movement, and their mantra of interconnection: “Where We Go One We Go All.”

While Angeli is on record as a Q supporter, his own words on psychedelic use are unequivocal about their centrality to his theory of change:

“Only through a reintegration into nature and the consumption of plants that dissolve cultural programming, can we return to a symbiotic relationship with nature and the plants we consume. If we do not then we will most certainly destroy ourselves, the planet and all the life on it that we claim is so precious.”

As covered in a previous Psymposia piece, Lucy in the Sky with Nazis: Psychedelics and the Right Wing (and in conversation with scholar Alan Piper), the idea that progressive or leftwing politics have a monopoly on psychedelics, or even environmentalism is just wrong. Compare Angeli’s ideas with the sentiments of Nazi Botanist Ernst Lehmann, as noted by Jules Evans in Nazi Hippies: When the New Age and the Far Right Overlap:

 “We recognize that separating humanity from nature, from the whole of life, leads to humankind’s own destruction and to the death of nations. Only through a reintegration of humanity into the whole of nature can our people be made stronger… This striving toward connectedness with the totality of life, with nature itself, a nature into which we are born, this is the deepest meaning and the true essence of National Socialist thought”

Angeli seems to have first inserted himself into the protest scene as an anti-Black Lives Matter protester and police supporter in Arizona. It’s hard to ignore Angeli’s multiple tattoos of Nordic symbols, including a Valknut. Talia Lavin’s recent book, Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy, outlining the connections between white supremacist groups and appropriation of Norse symbology seems both timely and relevant in context of Angeli’s public activism in support of continued police impunity, murder, and violence against Black people:

“Every cause needs a myth, a founding story that imbues its adherents with purpose, making them feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves, something grander and necessary…In this sense, transnational white supremacy–the notion that all whites across the world share a common cause–is no different. It requires reaching back past the invention of race in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and reframing prior religious movements’ wars, and achievements as those of “whiteness” writ large. It requires creating a shared heritage out of disparate cultural artifacts, retrofitting the failures and brutalities of the Crusades and the piratical, ancient culture of the Vikings as parts of the relatively novel concept of whiteness.”

not to be like "my book!" but there is a chapter in my book about heathen/pagan symbols in white supremacy and what they represent (a macho aesthetic, but also mythmaking, linking themselves to an ahistorical Pure White Past) https://t.co/UgCQtxHxhL

— Talia Lavin (@swordsjew) January 7, 2021

This isn’t the first intersection of psychedelics and the far right, and it’s likely not the last. At the time of writing, Angeli is still at large, as (it appears) are the vast majority of those pursuing fascist insurrection. Magical thinking that psychedelics will somehow heal the world by healing our souls—while actual fascists organize for insurrection—wastes time we no longer have. 

The social problems we face can seem insurmountable and psychedelics can offer insight into addressing the political tensions at their core. However, no amount of tripping or appealing to chemical transcendence can substitute for real-world organizing and collective action to address the systemic abuses of capitalism, white supremacism, and ecological collapse. There is no short-cut to building a better (and yes, post-prohibitionist) world. 

 

 

(1/8/2020) Editor’s note: It is now confirmed that a police office succumbed to his injuries, bringing the death count to five.

As psychedelics reenter the public imagination on an industrial scale, advocates and reformers need to take a hard look at the assumption that the drugs themselves can bring about social progress. Decriminalization, medicalization, and legalization are advancing, but the socioeconomic context, the setting, in which the psychedelic renaissance unfolds, is capitalism. The climate has been irrevocably destabilized and right-wing extremism has risen. There is certainly room for change.

Yet there have long been vague implications that wider psychedelic use will somehow inspire progessive values, universal siblinghood, and an ecotopia of overlong, platonic hugs. Psychedelics are chemicals carrying a lot of cultural baggage, but there is something freeing, powerful–even dangerous–in embracing the understanding that there is nothing inherent or essential to their character. In any case, evidence mounts indicating that the full spectrum of right-wing ideology, from outright Nazism to conservative-leaning centrism, is demonstrably hospitable to psychedelics–not uniquely endangered by them. 

Jam band concerts, EDM raves, Rainbow Gathering, Burning Man, polyamorous organic potlucks: these are cultural loci associated with psychedelics. They evoke the work of countercultural intelligentsia like Ann Shulgin, The Teafaerie, Terence McKenna, Timothy Leary, and Aldous Huxley. Today, one is just as likely to hear of LSD, DMT, and psilocybin mushrooms from Joe Rogan; on Netflix or Reddit; from an elite food writer, perhaps. And while many harken back to the ‘60s and ‘70s to argue that psychedelics are key to opening one’s mind to revolutionary politics, this failed to fully convince committed radicals then.

Today, millennials in the USA appear to be taking psychedelics at least as much as boomers ever did. As more people “turn on” it may be that the status quo impacts popular conceptions of psychedelia more so than vice versa. Nevertheless, enthusiasts continue to insist that psychedelics can heal the world.

In 2018, Dr. Robin Carhartt-Harris, et al., of Imperial College London published a study that presented data indicating that one side-effect of psilocybin therapy for Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD) was a statistically significant reduction in authoritarian attitudes. The exuberant press that followed trumpeted that magic mushrooms can fight fascism. However, these findings were based on the answers to five questions posed to a mere 14 study participants—only half of whom had taken psilocybin. Carhartt-Harris and his team state, “the possibility of drug-induced changes in belief systems seems sufficiently intriguing and timely to deserve further investigation.” The authors seem to be suggesting that authoritarianism can be treated with a drug-therapy combo, like PTSD. But is the for-profit healthcare industry really equipped to “reeducate” anyone? Do people really believe “soma holidays” will save the world? 

 

 

In a sense, yes. Even now, prominent actors are positioning psychedelics as geopolitical panacea:

“Along with researchers at Imperial College London, MAPS plans on bringing Israelis and Palestinians together to take ayahuasca and, working with negotiation experts, sift through their respective traumas. The idea is that finding common ground in their spiritual and mystical experiences might help coax political reconciliation between the warring factions.”

It is worth revisiting these studies, however, because there are too many recent counter-examples to continue imagining that psychedelic drugs will transform individuals into trauma-free, progressive, anti-authoritarian citizens. Undoubtedly, psychedelics are powerful tools that have been neglected by society. But have the psychedelic cheerleaders overplayed their hand? To begin with the easiest of counterpoints: recently, ahead of a Virginia Second Ammendment rally, members of the international neo-Nazi group, The Base, were arrested on weapons and drug charges, including allegedly attempting to “manufacture” DMT (dimethyltriptamine is typically extracted from plant material and smoked, causing short-lived, profound, waking-dream-like states). Then there is Atomwaffen Division, the white supremacist group which reveres Hitler and Charles Manson–all while producing ghoulish propaganda. This nihilist, occult-leaning group has been connected with several murders and seeks to acquire a dirty bomb. Members of Atomwaffen were convicted in 2019 on weapons charges and possession of cannabis, opium, and psilocybin mushrooms.

“’Psychedelic Nazis . . . There’s nothing more Aryan than entheogenic drug use,’ Andrew Thomasberg, 21, texted a friend, according to prosecutors, referencing plants that have psychedelic effects. But, he added, “Drug addiction is untermensch” – a Nazi term for people considered subhuman. His friend replied: ‘That’s debatable. But I still have a bunch of shrooms anyway.’”

Consider Andrew Anglin, Ohio native and founder of The Daily Stormer. If we are to accept pharmacologically facile arguments for solving social and political problems, Anglin’s highschool psychonautical experimentations are stubborn data points to contend with:

“He also got deeply into drugs, according to half a dozen people who knew him at the time. He did LSD at school or while wandering through the scenic Highbanks Metro Park, north of the city. He took ketamine, ate psychedelic mushrooms, and snorted cocaine on weekends. He chugged Robitussin, and “robo tripped” so much that he damaged his stomach and would vomit into trash cans at school.”

As noted by James Kent of DoseNation in his scathing series, The Final 10, Anglin isn’t even the only “experienced” founder of a hate site: Frederick Brennen, the founder of 8chan was on mushrooms when he got the idea for the free-speech absolutist forum that became a haven for white supremacy. Before being shut down by Brennen (it has since escaped his grasp and been resurrected as 8kun), 8chan was the site where three mass shooters posted their manifestos, including the perpetrator of the Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shooting that left 51 dead and 50 more injured. 

Surely, this is a confused, early 21st Century phenomenon–“pearls before swine”, and all that. If only it were that simple. It’s no secret that Albert Hofmann’s early tripping buddy was conservative German war hero and novelist, Ernst Jünger. Hofmann devoted a whole chapter of LSD–My Problem Child to him, entitled, Radiance from Jünger. Jünger was a German army captain who never accepted Nazi Party membership (or a seat at the Reichstag), but by his own admission supported Hitler’s goals…until 1938. Most would not associate the word “psychonaut” with a Wehrmacht officer functioning as a Nazi censor in occupied France, however, that is precisely who coined the term. Jünger seems (intellectually, at the very least) to have rejected the Nazis at key moments in his career. Post-war, despite being regarded as a “fellow-traveller” of the Nazis, Jünger’s reputation was rehabilitated and he died a celebrated, if  controversial and enigmatic literary figure.

The person who has meditated most deeply on Jünger, psychedelics, and the far right thus far is author and researcher, Alan Piper. Piper plumbs the topic in his 2014 monograph, Strange Drugs Make for Strange Bedfellows. Therein, Piper asserts that psychedelic culture survived on the fringe, which put it in contact with the castoffs of both the right and left. Because the fringe (i.e. subcultures) often has low standards for membership, right-wing invasion of subcultures becomes possible through a recruitment strategy called entryism. A failed example of entryism is when alt-right media pariah Milo Yiannopolous’ recently rebranded himself as a furry in an attempt to insinuate himself into the furry community by announcing he would participate in MidWest FurFest 2019. The furs saw through the ruse and rejected Yinnopolous’ attempt to hijack their community, barring him from attendance. 

But Piper points to several examples where neopagan and goth/neofolk subcultures embraced psychedelics, but failed to reject neo-Nazis organizing in their midst. The fight continues today. 

Alan Piper provided comment for this piece:

“There is this assumption that psychedelics will turn one into a liberal kind of person with liberal kind of views. I think some work could be done on the cultural history to look at where, exactly, that comes from. It’s not, for example, associated with mescaline and its history, at least not in anything I’ve read … An interesting example was Henry Luce, [publisher] of Time Life magazine and his wife Claire Booth Luce. They both did LSD quite a number of times under the supervision of Sydney Cohen. And they were these virulent anti-communists. It didn’t turn them! … I don’t think psychedelics are going to fundamentally change society in this way, they aren’t going to change the world. The forces of capitalism and consumerism are far, far greater than those of psychedelics. The juggernaut trundles on regardless and turns everything to its own purposes, this is what I see happening with the current medicalisation and commodification of psychedelics.”

Nazism isn’t rational: it’s mystical, appealing to pathos. The future is charted in bold visions and hopeful narratives. Those who follow climate change are “rightly” concerned about the rise of ecofascism in response to ongoing collective crisis. Troublingly, the aforementioned Christchurch shooter was a self-described ecofascist. The New Zealand killings then inspired the El Paso shooter, who justified his crimes by arguing that environmental degradation and resource-scarcity necessitated the killing of brown people. The Base also describe themselves as ecofascists. Typically, the political right is not associated with an overwhelming mission to care for the earth. But ecofascism can be traced to the Völkisch movement of the 19th Century. Even so, the concept of vegan nazis is an understandable source of cognitive dissonance. But these are outsider takes. Inside fascism, Blood and Soil is not just an alt-right mantra, but an ethno-agrarian vision with esoteric significance. 

Clearly, actual Nazis would be considered hard cases for any well-meaning clinician seeking to cure ideological disease. What then, of conservative authoritarian Intellectual Dark Web-types such as Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris, and Joe Rogan? The Intellectual Dark Web engages in broad networking that has been demonstrated to serve as a gateway to the reactionary right. Nevertheless, several of these figures have paid homage to the wonders of psychedelic tryptamines. Canadian psychologist and Turning Point USA pal Jordan Peterson is one of the staunchest defenders of social and political hierarchy. Despite being one of modern authoritarianism’s leading spokespersons, Peterson is fascinated with the effects of ayahuasca and psilocybin (having tried psilocybin himself). His fans are not just on the right. Likely because of his praise for psychedelics, Peterson’s rules for life have gained traction in online psychedelic circles, exemplified in the multiple glowing posts by psychedelic lifestyle blog HighExistence (run by Synthesis Retreat co-founder Martijn Schirp). Many criticisms have been levied at Peterson, but being left-wing is not among them.

New Atheist neuroscientist Sam Harris single-handedly revived the reputation of long discredited race scientist and The Bell Curve author Charles Murray. Harris has written and spoken extensively about psychedelics on his podcast and in his book. He has also shared “thought experiments” about when it would be appropriate to preemptively nuke Muslim nations in the Middle East. Recently, Harris hosted lead psilocybin researcher at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Roland Griffiths, on his podcast. This encounter seems to have inspired Harris to embark on a Terence McKenna classic, 5-dried grams of psilocybin mushrooms “heroic dose,” after which Harris reported that he is, “thinking more clearly than ever.” 

Joe Rogan is an insurgent media force whose business model depends on a combination of novelty and controversy. His love of psychedelics is so much a part of his brand that he is caricatured online as ambushing virtually any podcast guest with a non sequitur question about DMT.  Rogan, at least, has colorfully expressed doubts about the possibility of changing Donald Trump’s political views via psychedelic intervention. While most aligned with a libertarian worldview, Rogan has tweeted birtherism and shared his enormous audience with right wing extremists such as Milo Yinnapolous, Ben Shapiro, and neo-eugenicists Stefan Molyneux and Gavin McInnes. He has also been a stalwart advocate of psychedelic research and recently stated on his show that he would likely vote for Bernie Sanders.

Venture capital is afoot in psychedelic country, practically boiling under the surface. Advertising for emerging psychedelic clinics and services will predictably tap into the same utopian rhetoric promising a bright, progressive future. A medical model treats psychedelic therapy as a solution to individual mental illnesses, but these individual neuroses have roots that draw nourishment from bedrock dysfunction. The irony that the entire industry of advertising is founded upon systemic exaggeration and targeted emotional manipulation should not be lost here. The Auryn Fund even helpfully gamed out the commodification of psychedelic therapy with their “Black Mirror” storybook parable We Will Call It Pala. That psychedelics can be perceived as an inherent “good” can and does serve as PR cover for billionaires who have begun to dabble in psychedelics. Rebecca Mercer, daughter of Billionaire Robert Mercer of Cambridge Analytica infamy, pledged to donate $1 million to MAPS over four years for the explicit use of healing PTSD for veterans. Facebook board member, Clearview AI investor, surveillance capitalism magnate, anti-suffragette, vocal Trump supporter, and COMPASS Pathways investor, Peter Thiel is positioned to own a large chunk of the nascent psychedelics industry. While it is unknown if Thiel has taken psychedelics himself, it seems clear from the immigrant surveillance activities of his company Palantir that his arch-conservative views remain unchanged. Oh, and Elon Musk allegedly took LSD with Grimes, but busting unions continues to be just a cost of doing business. 

It remains to be seen if psychedelics will again be used to re-educate anyone, although the CIA’s misadventures on the topic are ignored at our peril. Psychedelics entering the mainstream also means opening the doors to mainstream ideologies: liberals, conservatives, evangelicals, “socially-liberal-but-fiscally-conservatives,” the alt-right, fascists, garden-variety-racists…everyone. In terms of frequency, it does not appear that the far right has embraced psychedelics anywhere near the extent that other subcultures have, but a mainstream rollout could change that overnight. To be clear, if psychedelic fans hinted that mushrooms, LSD, psilocybin, ayahuasca, or MDMA might corrode authoritarianism, they haven’t delivered yet. 

Pretending psychedelics will cure ideological “diseases” without agitating for accompanying (and necessary!) systemic change is just that: pretend. Moreover, it’s a fiction that allows those in the psychedelic movement to separate themselves and be content with decriminalizing their drugs of choice, washing their hands of truly ending the drug war through the full decriminalization of all drugs. If those that have benefited from the real curative, consciousness-expanding properties of psychedelics want to see the world improve in some directional way, they should build power with broader drug reform and climate movements during the 99.99% of the time that they are not on drugs. Perhaps at the end, this is a call for an expanded, politically-active psychedelic integration, one that calls for us to embrace each other in the real world as lovingly as we do the void. If we want a better world, whatever we believe that looks like, we will have to fight for it, in our communities and beyond.

Over and over in psychedelic therapeutic spaces, people are reminded to confront the shadow, to move towards the fear, and unpack the pain. We have barely scratched the surface.