“The Higher Powers of Man” - Frederick M. Smith was a prophet of the RLDS Mormons and paternal grandson of the founder Joseph Smith. In 1918 Frederick published this Ph.D. dissertation breaking down altered states of consciousness from an early psychologist’s perspective, specifically, religious states of ‘ecstacy’ as he called it. A lengthy chapter devoted to peyote is particularly worth reading.

“The Higher Powers: Fred M - Smith and the Peyote Ceremonies” - Shelby Barnes’ 1995 paper highlighting the curious psychedelic interests of Frederick M. Smith. While Barnes does not make any direct connections to Joseph Smith and psychedelics, Barnes does note that Frederick’s interests were an attempt to find the reliable keys to visionary revelation that his grandfather Joseph had demonstrated.

“Restoration and the Sacred Mushroom” - Dr. Robert Beckstead’s seminal research paper presented at the August 2007 Sunstone Symposium. Beckstead’s paper was the first to propose the possibility that Joseph Smith used psychedelics to facilitate visionary experiences.

“A 1920’s Harvard Psychedelic Circle with a Mormon Connection: Peyote Use amongst the Harvard Aesthetes” Alan Piper’s 2016 paper highlighting Frederick M. Smith’s interest in psychedelics, and how as a standing Mormon prophet Fred was funding a 1920s group of Harvard students with peyote.

“Revelation Through Hallucination: A discourse on the Joseph Smith-entheogen theory” - Bryce Blakenagel and Cody Noconi’s 2017 follow-up paper further explores the hypothesis originally put forward by Dr. Robert Beckstead a decade earlier.

“The Entheogenic Origins of Mormonism: A Working Hypothesis” - Dr. Robert Beckstead, Bryce Blankenagel, Cody Noconi, and Michael Winkelman’s paper published in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies in June 2019. This was the first paper on the subject published in an academic journal.

“Visions, Mushrooms, Fungi, Cacti, and Toads: Joseph Smith’s Reported Use of Entheogens” Brian Hales’ 2020 response paper to the one published in the Journal of Psychedelic Studies. As a believing Mormon engaged in academic apologetics, Hales details what he perceives to be holes in the proposed hypothesis.

“The Psychedelic History of Mormonism, Magic, and Drugs” - Cody Noconi’s book published in 2021.

“Psychedelics as a Means of Revelation in Early and Contemporary Mormonism (Part 1)” Alex Criddle's 2023 paper that was originally presented at the Forms of Psychedelic Life conference at UC Berkeley (April 14-15, 2023).

“Psychedelics as a Means of Revelation in Early and Contemporary Mormonism (Part 2)” A continuation of Alex Criddle’s 2023 paper.

“A Real Spiritual High: In Defense of Psychedelic Mysticism” An enlightening philosophical essay from Alex Criddle.

___

Much more to come in the near future.

If you are interested in proposing research on anything related to the psychedelic origins and history of Mormonism, please contact Cody Noconi at MormonsAndDrugs@gmail.com, Alex Criddle at AlexCriddle1@gmail.com, or Bryce Blankenagel at BryceBlankenagel@gmail.com.