We are pleased to announce the program for the 41st annual Cosmos & Creation conference. This will be held the weekend of June 9-11, 2023 at Loyola University Maryland and the lecture and work schedule will be as usual.
We have engaged Professor Ron Cole-Turner to speak on Entheogens. This topic has been researched at Johns Hopkins University and examines the expansion of the awareness of the mind under influence of the entheogen psilocybin, a psychoactive substance found in mushrooms used as a sacrament in some cultures. Initially examined for use in mental illness, the drugs seem to have a spiritual use. Loyola personnel have participated in the Hopkins research studies looking at the effect on spiritual experience and awareness.
Dr. Ron Cole-Turner will give two lectures:
Conference Theme: Rediscovering Psychedelics: Therapy, Spirituality, and Christian Faith
Lecture 1: Psychedelics, Therapy, and Spiritual Experience: What Are We Learning? Contrary to what many believe, new research shows that psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and LSD have therapeutic potential in treating a range of mental health issues. The drugs also bring on intense subjective experiences that are often described as spiritual or mystical. How should we view the relationship between psychedelics, therapy, and spiritual experience?
Lecture 2: Psychedelics, Spirituality, and Christian Faith: What Do We Need to Discover?
If psychedelic-assisted therapy develops as researchers hope, millions of people might undergo sessions with intense spiritual or mystical experience. And if psychedelics are decriminalized, many more might take advantage of legal access for purposes of personal or spiritual growth. What will this mean for Christianity, and how will individual Christians integrate their new-found spiritual experience into the broader dimensions of their faith?
The lhttps://loyola.zoom.us/j/85814848086uncheon talk will be given by two practitioners of medical uses of entheogens. The joint talk will be given by Eleanor Bramwell of the InnerPath Psychedelic + Holistic Wellness Center and BodyWise Trauma Institute with Lauren Going, InnerPath Psychedelic + Holistic Wellness Center.
Technical discourses on the Hopkins scientific studies may be found in two recent publications:
http://cup.columbia.edu/book/sacred-knowledge/9780231174060
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-varieties-of-spiritual-experience-9780190665678?lang=en&cc=ca
Spread the word to associates and colleagues about the 2023 Cosmos &Creation conference. We hope to see you at Loyola in June.
Co-Directors,
Robert Pond
David Gordon
Greg Derry
Here is the link for all of the lectures in McManus Theatre.
The format will be a webinar accessible through Zoom:
https://loyola.zoom.us/j/85814848086