entheogen

[en-thee-uh-jen]

noun

1. a hallucinogenic or psychoactive substance, usually derived from a plant or fungus, and typically used as part of a religious or spiritual experience.

   The plant, a type of salvia, has a long history of use as an entheogen by the Indigenous Mazatec in Mexico.

Other Word Forms

• entheogenic adjective

Example Sentences

Humans have been using them as an entheogen — that is, a drug with a spiritual purpose — since ancient times in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

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"It has been speculated that it may well be the oldest entheogen or hallucinogen known to mankind," Blom wrote.

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In 1979, a group of classical scholars and ethnobotanists writing in the Journal of Psychedelic Drugs proposed a new word, “entheogen,” meaning that which brings the presence of God within us.

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The flower contains the alkaloids scopolamine and atropine, which are considered an entheogen—a psychoactive compound used in a spiritual context.

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“Those words trigger the audience into thinking of a recreational purpose when ‘entheogen’ means getting in touch with the spirit within you or having an experience with God.”

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