DMT and the Soul of Prophecy: A New Science of Spiritual Revelation in the Hebrew Bible

by Rick Strassman

Naturally occurring DMT may produce prophecy-like states of consciousness and thus represent a bridge between biology and religious experience

• Reveals the striking similarities between the visions of the Hebrew prophets and the DMT state described by Strassman’s research volunteers

• Explains how prophetic and psychedelic states may share biological mechanisms

• Presents a new top-down “theoneurological” model of spiritual experience

After completing his groundbreaking research chronicled in The Spirit Molecule , Rick Strassman was left with one fundamental What does it mean that DMT, a simple chemical naturally found in all of our bodies, instantaneously opens us to an interactive spirit world that feels more real than our own world?

When his decades of clinical psychiatric research and Buddhist practice were unable to provide answers to this question, Strassman began searching for a more resonant spiritual model. He found that the visions of the Hebrew prophets--such as Ezekiel, Moses, Adam, and Daniel--were strikingly similar to those of the volunteers in his DMT studies. Carefully examining the concept of prophecy in the Hebrew Bible, he characterizes a “prophetic state of consciousness” and explains how it may share biological and metaphysical mechanisms with the DMT effect.

Examining medieval commentaries on the Hebrew Bible, Strassman reveals how Jewish metaphysics provides a top-down model for both the prophetic and DMT states, a model he calls “theoneurology.” Theoneurology bridges biology and spirituality by proposing that the Divine communicates with us using the brain, and DMT--whether naturally produced or ingested--is a critical factor in such visionary experience. This model provides a counterpoint to “neurotheology,” which proposes that altered brain function simply generates the impression of a Divine-human encounter.

Theoneurology addresses issues critical to the full flowering of the psychedelic drug experience. Perhaps even more important, it points the way to a renewal of classical prophetic consciousness, the soul of Hebrew Bible prophecy, as well as unexpected directions for the evolution of contemporary spiritual practice.

Genres: Religion, Spirituality, Psychology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Science, Drugs

352 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 2014

About the author

Rick Strassman is a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. He trained as a medical doctor specialized in psychiatry with a fellowship in clinical psychopharmacology research and holds degrees from Stanford University and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.
He has held a fellowship in clinical psychopharmacology research at the University of California San Diego and was Professor of Psychiatry for eleven years at the University of New Mexico.
After twenty years of intermission, Strassman was the first person in the United States to undertake human research with psychedelic, hallucinogenic, or entheogenic substances with his research on DMT.
He is the author of the well-known book "DMT: The Spirit Molecule" which summarizes his academic research into DMT.

Reviews

[Lee Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

My guilty-pleasure bedtime reading for the first month of the year -- got it because I loved "The Spirit Molecule" documentary on Netflix about DMT, which featured the author of this one. Also I loved reading stuff like this when I was a teenager: The Doors of Perception, The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream, etc. This wonderfully crazy project compares the DMT/psychedelic experience with text in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) relating human interaction with God. Unlike assertions that endogenous psychedelics produced by the pineal gland create a spiritual sense in humans (neurotheology), this asserts that DMT we produce lets us interact with God (theoneurology). It pretty much too easily takes YHVH as a given, which seems like strike #1. Strike #2 is that comparisons between bibical passages and DMT commentaries the author collected don't seem as solid as he thinks they are -- guilty of seek-and-ye-shall-find-ism. Strike #3 is that, after a strong and promising start, the book really just gets sort of repetitive and dull about two thirds of the way through. An interesting study in general but not all that convincingly executed. Can't wait until we discover that the dark matter that accounts for 90% of the universe's mass consists of picture-pattern-puzzle doorways opening onto self-dribbling basketball elf machines with all their many eyes trained upon our moral existence.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am very appreciative of the work and thought Dr. Strassman has done. I also feel it commendable to publish something like this book whose premise will be controversial to a majority – both many of the scientific and the religious.

I came into the book leaning toward the idea that there is some sort of connection to the DMT experience and the prophetic one. Yet after reading, I had more doubts. Strassman would list various characteristics and then quote passages from both the Hebrew Bible and from his notes working with DMT subjects. At times the connection seemed weak to me. Other times it would seem quite similar but then there would be only one example. I found myself often asking “Is that the one and only correlation for this characteristic?”. Maybe he was choosing the best but that wasn't clear to me.

Strassman wants to set up his hypothesis under the premise that what is described in the Hebrew Bible is accurate. I understand this because having to take into account all of the variables in the construction of the Bible would bloat the book and probably make the hypothesis convoluted, possibly untenable. So to merely get the ball rolling on his idea I see the merit in this. However ultimately I feel this leaves far too many holes. The sociopolitical forces at play during the various times of both the writing and the editing of the Bible are not taken into consideration. Yet in discussing the rabbi's declaration of the end of prophecy the sociopolitical is addressed. Well surely these pressures weren't only put forth by the rabbis as Christianity was rearing its head but had been for the entire time in question. Strassman seems to posit that the possibility of prophecy continued despite the suppression of the rabbis. It seems to me then that the priests and judges of the Israelites probably had their share of prophets suppressed meaning the corpus of Hebrew prophetic writings says more or less what they wanted it to say and is thus affecting the message of prophecy.

It also seemed wrong to lump all experiences with God under the umbrella of prophetic. Both Adam speaking to God in the Garden of Eden and Ezekiel's utterly psychedelic vision are both prophecy in this book. One seems to me like a literary device and of a tale of myth or folklore in order to explain while the other seems like a legitimately altered state.

Strassman looked to the Hebrew Bible instead of shamanism because he took issue with shamanic messages promoting power, violence, and homophobia. Yet the Hebrew Bible is rife with God's instruction of rape, genocide, and warfare. He addressed this very briefly and it seemed like a quick dismissal though I forget precisely what he said so maybe I'll go back and read it. I just remember feeling it to be unsatisfactory.

I hope Strassman continues his work and I felt there was certainly value in this book but ultimately I was disappointed with it.

[Sam Warne · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been a while since I read this book, having got it just after release, but I feel it's worth giving my positive take on it in the midst of many quite negative reviews.
Firstly, this is a very well researched and thorough book. It is somewhat repetitive and dry in the middle, but this is purely due to Strassman's meticulous attention to detail and is what ultimately makes this book so strong.
With a thoroughly scientific approach, the book investigates apparent similarities between the astonishing experiences recorded through Strassman's groundbreaking study of administered DMT, and the historical accounts in the Hebrew Bible of human encounters with God. This immediately sounds inconceivable when approached with prejudice from either scientific or religious camps, and one has to admire the author's courage in pursuing a work that he knew would not be received kindly by many.
To me, as someone who sees value in what we can learn from both scientific investigation, and spiritual revelation, it is exciting to see these two huge influences and facets of human experience bridged together with such consideration. Throughout the book Strassman is careful to be objective, and the assumptions he makes, such as that God exists and wishes to communicate with people, are made for the purpose of exploring a completely new avenue of scientific thought. After all, this is how scientific breakthroughs occur in any field- following a reasonable assumption until it is either proven wrong and you have to follow another, or it leads to further avenues.
The conclusion of his investigation is intriguing and challenging, and I can understand why readers of a comfortably atheistic world view have reviewed it poorly, but ultimately Strassman does nothing more than present the evidence, and lay bare the entire thought process his years of research have taken him on, and his personal conclusion.
This book is, to my knowledge, the first real bridge that has been made between groundbreaking scientific research and the world of spirituality, and in decades to come it may well be considered a catalyst for a more progressive and unified approach to discovering more about who we (human beings) are, and what the human experience can encompass. For this reason it is a very important book.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 1 out of 5]

the wild Amazone


Was interested at the first pages but...
4/10

I read this book to see what the authors point of view was about the dmt experiences and experiments hes documented.

I understood by the title he was going to elaborate and compare psychedelic experiences to prophets in the Hebrew Bible.

The first few chapters were him introducing aspects of the Hebrew Bible which sparked my interest in the book, which I might read later down the path.

Then he just starts comparing the smallest aspects between prophets and dmt trips in a way that bored me away from reading the rest of the book.

I felt as if the comparisons were forced and the book was just a bunch of compiled quotes from his "test subjects" and excerpts from the Hebrew Bible.

He starts the book asking himself "so what" and I felt he was so desperately trying to fabricate and align everything to go along with what he wanted to believe and what he wanted to be true.

He even explains this in part at the beginning of the book were he states he left Buddhism because he wanted there to be more to the story. This of course is my bias and the author is entitled to his own but this book doesnt really expand on his previous work, instead he tries to classify dmt experiences under a religious system which I dont mind due to my belief that all religions have some truth in analogies and metaphors but again the way he presents the comparisons made me skim the book for information I could salvage but it was more of the same.

This might appeal to others but not me.

But I think I might check out the Hebrew Bible and make my own insights and assumptions. I hope you find what you're looking for, friend.

Andres Vazquez

[John Martindale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much of eastern religion seems to be influenced in part from mystical states of being, where the self seems to dissolve into ones with an impersonal universal force, and this scientist (who was part of the Buddhist tradition at the time of his original research) hoped he could spark such states in test subjects using DMT. He was taken back by how many however had an experience in which they were carried away to what seemed a completely real reality in which alien beings interacted with them. These experiences didn't seem to fit with the Eastern framework, and upon reflection, he wondered if their trips more coincided with the Hebraic prophetic tradition. In this book he compares and contrast the Hebrew prophets experiences and the content of their prophecies with the experiences of his DMT test subjects. Some of the similarities seemed rather tenuous, but he acknowledged as much, some similarities though seemed significant enough for notice. I thought the author did a pretty good job discussing Hebrew prophecy too, how it typically isn't fore-telling/divination.

What is likely to turn off many secular minded folks, is the author is religiously inclined, and is open to the possibility that God actually was communicating with the prophets, that the is thus top down, instead of just confabulated by the prophets minds.

It is interesting to think about the possibility of overlapping realities, how maybe an altered brain state could allow one to experience what isn't perceived in the normal state of being. Hmm... I am surrounded by every imaginable TV and Radio signal right now, but without a receiver none of it can be seen or heard. Hmm... a little Sci-fi idea here, what if there was some genetic engineering which allowed one to pick up satellite images and sounds within ones head, to be able to close ones eyes, go through some process and then watch a movie. The content would be objective and outside of us, and though invisible with the naked eyes, still seen within the mind's eye.

But yeah, even if we dismiss the speculation that possibly DMT (which is naturally produced within the brain) allows one to pick up an overlapping spiritual reality. I still think the author provides an interesting look at the prophets. Indeed from their descriptions of noises, whirlwinds, being carried away, and seeing bizarre creatures, it is likely they were having some kind of trip, rather naturally occurring from fasting or drug induced, it still had content, the mystical experience was combined messages from beings seen within the mind, instead of their just being absorbed in the impersonal Nothing. Whether the messages and beings were fully were generated by the brain in their prophetic trance, or were given by God, still it differs quite greatly with the Eastern tradition and this is interesting to think about.

[Darius · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unless you want to hear a load of biased unscientific Jewish-centric opinions don't waste your time on this book. Strassman grossly misrepresents eastern religions and arrogantly promotes his own Judaism as "superior" to all other religions as a model for explaining the DMT experience. He belittles the shamanic practitioners who use ayahuasca and ignorantly claims that American Zen Buddhism represents all "eastern religions" while insisting on blatantly wrong ideas about Zen itself.

Aside from his shameful and arrogant Jewish biases, he is very well versed and informative on the topic of the Jewish texts. His interpretations of the biblical texts as relevant to the DMT state are both opinion and unsubstantiated. But, being a non-scientific work. His idea that some biblical stories could have been records of a DMT experience is quite valid.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main thesis here is that prophecy of the sort described in the Hebrew Bible was actually a psychedelic experience triggered by endogenous DMT: that is, not that prophets were consuming substances to trigger psychedelic episodes, but rather that they experienced naturally occurring episodes, and perhaps had even trained to do so. It does not sound unreasonable considering the wildly trippy experiences commonly had, in full sobriety, by folks in meditation retreats.

Strassman arrived at this notion after having studied DMT in clinical settings. He tried but failed to find an explanation for the experiences people were having. Eastern spiritual traditions, for example, might explain DMT states as emanating from the mind itself and being ultimately illusory. But the folks in his DMT studies kept insisting that their experiences felt real: their self was maintained, their understanding was intact, and they were clearly seeing things they understood as externally real.

Strassman began wondering if there might be value in taking his subjects' claims at face value: could it be that DMT enables the mind see something that is typically hidden yet is objectively, externally real? An analogy he uses at one point is to imagine being given a microscope and suddenly gaining the ability to see cells and microbes: things that are always there, but typically not observable. In this case, the microscope is DMT, and the suddenly observable thing might be labeled God. This feels like a leap but is easier to understand if one imagines God to be an infinite unity within which everything everywhere is occurring. This happens to be an understanding of God in the Jewish tradition. This line of thinking leads Strassman to learn about experiences of prophecy as described in the Hebrew Bible and as understood in later Jewish philosophy. He examines whether the old descriptions of prophecy can serve as a model for understanding what is happening when people take DMT.

In the process of laying out these ideas, Strassman also gives thumbnail sketches of Buddhist and Jewish spirituality; a brief history of Eastern philosophy's introduction to the Western world in the 60s and after; and a digest of 'mystical' occurrences in the Hebrew Bible and various ideas about them. Perhaps inadvertently, he also offers a criticism of 20th-century American Judaism and his own upbringing: he sounds almost peeved at the fact that he'd been raised Jewish yet hadn't known that Judaism contained all this stuff. He had gone off and practiced Zen Buddhism for decades, he says, seeking spiritual learnings that were all along also available in his own backyard.

Strassman repeatedly clarifies how much is unknown about DMT. He also highlights all the ways in which the DMT experience and the old descriptions of prophecy seem to differ. Ultimately, more than making grand proclamations, he offers thoughts for the further scientific study of DMT.

[Tim Barnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yowza!

[Theo Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

- Dmt and the Soul of Prophecy is about a process Strassman went through in searching for a more resonant spiritual model for what happens in the "DMT state". Strassman provide a top-down model for the prophetic and DMT state which he calls "theoneurology". In the book, he discusses his DMT project, describes how to interpret the hebrew bible, compares prophetic experiences in the old testament with his patients' experiences, then discusses spiritual and material explanations.
- What I liked
- I liked the comparison between old testament prophetic states the reports of the "DMT World". It was interesting to read, however I think Strassman sometimes read into things a little too much. For example, the old testament describes a feeling of peace, and some of his patients said they felt peaceful. This is very vague and I felt he was trying to write into his study things that probably weren't really legitimate. However, for the most part the examples were accurate and described a strong link between DMT hallucinations and prophecy described in the Hebrew Bible.
- The book covered a lot of ground, but was also very in a lot of depth. While I think I probably didn't fully understand nor remember most of what was said in the book even understanding 30% of it is still a lot of information, so if someone was to truly take in this book they would certainly learn a lot.
- What I disliked
- Frankly, this book was just a bit boring at times. It went into a lot of detail about different ways to apply religious ideas to the "DMT State", which sounds interesting to me but actually while reading just wasn't very exciting or memorable.
- It took me ages to read this when I normally read about a book per week (7 times longer than it should have done), party because I was quite busy but also because I had zero motivation to read.
- I would recommend this book to people really interested in the world psychedelics seem to take you to, and how different religious concepts and neurological concepts can be applied to understanding it. You also need a lot of patience to get through it.

[Mauro Locarnini · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this interesting book dr. Strassman walks us through the similarities between DMT states and Hebrew prophecy inferring into the prophetic state. The reasoning is nicely explained in a current western cultural framework with no hidden assumptions making al of them open and clear to help the scepcitcs stay tuned with the reading and benefit from following his reasoning till the end.

I personally found interesting the wisdom hidden in old book like the Hebrew bible and it’s close resemblance with current business and sci-fi writing.

For example when Dr. strassman explains the end of days in the Hebrew bible as a state of shared awareness or the nirvana in Tibetan Buddhism as breaking the cycle of life and death and entering a state of comunión with the whole; they resemble very much the evolution towards higher levels of consciousness pósitos by Frederic Laloux in Reinventing organizations. At the same time it sound very likely that Steven Kotler was influenced by these readings when writing his attempt to science for croon in the last tango in cyberspace.

Deffinetly an interesting read that opens more new questions than it answers.

[Akiva Weisinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and unconventional explanation of prophecy in Judaism. If you read it in combination with "The Great Shift" by James Kugel and "Jewish Meditation" by R. Aryeh Kaplan and then read some Idel you'll be on your way to figuring out something cool

[Sean Butler · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Spirit Molecule started me on a whirlwind of exploration into the topic though I hesitated on picking up Strassmann‘s second book because I had a sense of what I might not like about it. The Spirit molecule was a very important work. I felt that his second book would be more of a discussion of how he applies the very challenging concepts from his DMT studies to his personal cosmology. I found that my concerns were definitely justified. The soul of prophecy is weighted down by self reference. If you were to remove all of the statements that begin with an “I” or “My”, the book would be about a third of its size. I really feel like the writing of this book was his way of finding identity once his reality was so shattered by what he learned from his DMT trials which led to the loss of his identity as a Buddhist. Obviously I’m not going to be as invested in that very internal struggle. The connections he drew seemed very over-extended and seemed more to serve his need to re-establish a personal cosmology that could fit both his Jewish identity and the concepts covered the Spirit Molecule. Ultimately I think his best work is done when he stays out of the way and let’s the subject present itself.

[Janaka · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting follow up to Strassman’s better known book about the groundbreaking clinical research work he did with DMT, this book explores how—in the years following that research—he found the Jewish prophetic tradition to be the most poignant lens through which to understand and unpack the DMT experience. I give this book a lot of points for being the first (and as far as I know, only) examination of its kind. It was personally exciting for me to learn of its existence because I found resonances between my own experience and Jewish ascent literature (in fact, I wrote a whole book inspired by that), but I found some of his religious exegesis troubling—as is the common issue. Sometimes he seems to interpret the scripture allegorically and sometimes more literarily. His break with his own Buddhist community also feels like it shadows his biases in some parts. Nonetheless it’s overall an interesting study, for anyone fascinated by the subject matter.

[Robert Patterson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rick Strassman an important psychedelic researcher argues in this collection that prophecies and accounts in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testement) parallel DMT trip reports. The parrallel he argues arises from natural produced DMT or possibly from ingested Biblical sources. He wrestles with Buddhis, specifically Zen and hinduism in search of similar parraelles but argues in this collection that the Hebrew bible better captures DMT like accounts and reports.

Ultimately unconvincing, Strassman stretches a sort of literary comparison between the bible and DMT trip reports. One could find similar patterns and accounts among many texts and Strassman forces his DMT lens on to the Hebrew Bible out of what appears to be bias. The comparison between peak states and mystical accounts arising from religious, psychedelic, other sources is sound, however this account and comparison between DMT reports and the bible falls flat.

[Carl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could the prophetic states from the Hebrew Bible be compared or even experienced through the psychedelic state triggered by NN-DMT? Well the answer could be both yes or no and the result is very underwhelming.
The main problem in this study is the fact that the similarities between the two states are for the most part strictly phenomenological. The prophetic state that Strassman describes could be compared to a number of psychedelic states triggered by other compounds.
The main aspect of the prophetic state is the direct experience between God, subject and the message transmitted between the two, which the NN-DMT reports from Strassman's study simply lack. The visual and auditory influxes are secondary.
A much more interesting study would be comparing prophecy with reports from subjects already familiar with the material in the Hebrew Bible and already religious.

[Kieran Forster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dmt is similar to the other psychedelics but has a shorter and thus more clinically challenging duration. While not yet available to psychiatrists to use in psychedelic assisted psychotherapy, I think it’s just a matter of time. Ofcourse us psychiatrists have to do a little online “education”, the real rate limiting steps are clinician caution and the lack of a business model / Medicare system that will pay for its use. Ketamine assisted therapy is doing very well.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confused and unconvincing in its aim but the action taking place behind the scenes is a fascinating voyeuristic peek in on his journey as he abandons a life of Zen Buddhism and rediscovers his Hebrew roots.

[Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating insights and exploration from one of the foremost Minds involved in the quest to understand the biology of spirituality I recommend accompanying this book with reading his blog on his website Rick strassman. Comm

[myHerb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Book, Although I expected more. If you are interested in the bible and psychedelics, try it. It may be a good read for you. I find it hard to turn to other books, after reading several books by Terence McKenna.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not finish it. I respect his work on DMT, but the attempt at bridging that with theology is sophomoric at best. I am giving it two stars because his research DMT is fascinating and due to his talk of the limitations of Zen Buddhism and psychedelic states.

[Dylan Mathews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Story but it needs more sunshine to be happy

[Jonathan Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting counterpoint to the Jew and the lotus where he finds whats lacking in for him in Buddism in Biblical Judism.

[Jesse Moran · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first. Would read it again due to the first and see how I go, but appeared to repeat the first in a different way which was less enjoyable.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good model for an alternative to esoteric Buddhist views of mystic experiences that have been prominent since the late 50s, but completely unscientific in its conclusions.

[Hazel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting theories. ... Would like to see more science

[Nestor Leal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting interpretation of the hebrew bible aka the old testament. This book becomes a comparison between all the DMT users experience and the bible prophetic accounts. 

Dr. Strassman's previous book and documentary are much more fascinating. Some ideas here to rescue are:

-Each translation of the bible is actually a commentary because the translator can add some interpretation. In the case of the bible, some people forget that the original texts in hebrew were written without vocals and commas. Here comes a lot of misinterpretations. Dr. Strassman's may be just another one of the translations which correlates with the DMT experience.
-Since Strassman also is well studied in zen, he describes the experiences trying to make sense of buddhism. As a student of buddhism I always had the notion that the images in the tibetan thangkas were product of DMT states of trance. The same may be true with the prophetic accounts of the bible, like the burning bush and many more.

After reading this book, it's clearer to me that charismatic people who allegedly speak in tongues may be experiencing an endogenous DMT prophetic state.

It's an ok read. I would just stick with his previous book. All these psychedelic states are really fascinating and we still have much to learn about. Too bad it is supressed from most public and only a few studies are permitted.

[Tyrone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whilst interesting, the core thesis employs a universe in which a psychedelic experience is the result of "God" interacting with the mind, not a more realistic notion of "god" being the result of a psychedelic experience.
So it really flawed my enjoyment of the book, which was disappointing given how highly I regard Strassman's 'DMT The Spirit Molecule'.

[James Haze]

I need a copy of this in case any friends here have one to loan. Or a good link will do. Tia.