Psychedelic Cults and Outlaw Churches

Acknowledgments
Foreword by J. Christian Greer, Ph.D.

Introduction

PART ONE
Major Sects
Superstars of the Entheogenic Spiritual Underground

ONE
The Native American Church
Trouble and Triumph on the Long Peyote Road

TWO
The Church of the Awakening
Heartland Explorations in Mescaline Awareness

THREE
The Peyote Way Church of God
Outlaw Stewards of the Magic Cactus

FOUR
The Oklevueha Native American Church
Bringing Many Medicines to the White Man

FIVE
The League for Spiritual Discovery
Turning On and Tuning In with Timothy Leary

SIX
The Neo-American Church
The Chief Boo Hoo Presents Massive Doses of Acid Absurdity

SEVEN
The Brotherhood of Eternal Love
The Orange Sunshine Conspiracy

EIGHT
Shivalila
The Wandering Entheogenic Tribe

NINE
The Church of Naturalism
From LSD Rescues to L.A. Murders

TEN
The Church of the Tree of Life
The Sacramental Garden of Legal Highs

ELEVEN
Temple of the True Inner Light
A DPT Eucharist on the Lower East Side

TWELVE
The Shiva Fellowship
Cannabis Communion on Hippie Hill

THIRTEEN
The Psychedelic Venus Church
Sex, Drugs, and the Goddess of Ecstasy

FOURTEEN
The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church
Burning Down Babylon with Jah’s Ganja

FIFTEEN
The Church of the Universe
Eden in the Great Green North

SIXTEEN
The Hawai’i Cannabis (THC) Ministry
Holy Smoke in Paradise

SEVENTEEN
The International Church of Cannabis
A Gothic Church, Urban Murals, and Elevationism

EIGHTEEN
Ayahuasca Healings
Plant Shamanism in the Internet Age

PART TWO
Minor Sects
An A–Z Guide from Ambrosia to Zide

CONCLUSION
Psychedelic Sects
From Prehistory into the Third Millennium

APPENDIX
Psychedelic Substances and Their Associated Sects

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Mike Marinacci is an independent expert on psychedelic spiritual groups and nontraditional American religious sects. He is the author of California Jesus and Mysterious California and coauthor of the bestselling Weird California. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“A well-researched and adeptly written history of the underground spiritual movement that swept through American popular culture in the 1960s and ’70s. It’s a concise and thoroughly engaging compendium of this important subculture and a must-read for any serious student of this revolutionary and awe-inspiring time.” Nick Schou, author of Orange Sunshine

“An essential encyclopedia of divine intoxication, documenting the dizzying parade of drug-crazed mystics and self-proclaiming prophets who’ve founded psychedelic cults and entheogenic churches over the past century. A long strange trip, indeed, from the obscure to the notorious, from the ridiculous to the sublime.” Don Lattin, author of The Harvard Psychedelic Club

“This book not only outlines the history and central principles of well-known modern entheogenic groups like the Native American Church and the Brotherhood of Eternal Love but also pulls from the shadows of history all-but-forgotten characters. Marinacci reproduces intriguing photos from the past as well as discusses the founding scriptures of these far out religions. All future research in this area will owe a debt of gratitude to this unique, well-written volume.” Thomas Hatsis, author of LSD—The Wonder Child

“Backed by indefatigable research, well-organized, and astonishingly comprehensive, this remarkable work brings together into one volume the true stories of the many saints and sinners, with a preponderance of the latter, who founded organizations that proclaim or proclaimed the religious value of psychedelics and who persisted under the threat and, in many cases, imposition of harsh prison sentences and confiscation of property. What is the point of all this work Marinacci has done? Why does it matter? Consider four possible positions on the issue of the religious value of psychedelics: they are a gift from God; they are a temptation from the Devil; they are both; they are neither. Whichever of these positions you choose and whatever other reasons you may give in defense, if that view is to have any hope of being the one closest to the Truth, it will have to be consistent with the history of the individuals and groups presented in this book.” Jack Call, author of Psychedelic Christianity

“Mike Marinacci has made the exciting, detailed, and adventurous journey back in time to chronicle the psychonauts of the era. Mike searched, found, and explains in a highly readable fashion some of the histories of those who crave to know more of our reality and more than what we’re legally allowed to find out. What’s beyond the ‘Do Not Enter’ signs? You can now sit comfortably and vicariously journey through the lives of some of the most infamous seekers of the past half century with no risk involved. This book is a reminder of the relatively unknown yet important history of human potential that will likely help make you smile and wonder and appreciate even more the gift of life we’re given on planet Earth.” Roger Christie, founder of THC Ministry and federal prisoner of the War on Cannabis

“Who other than the likes of Mike Marinacci knew there were so many psychedelics-focused groups, churches, and initiatives in our recent past, and especially in the expansive and chaotic glory days of the 1960s and ’70s? This is rich history in full color with a dose of bittersweet nostalgia for those who lived through and embraced the zeitgeist of the times; a cornucopia of inspiring, cautionary, and simply jaw-dropping true stories told in page-turning prose for younger readers and the rest of us. We owe a debt of gratitude to Mike for rescuing these invaluable segments and snippets of psychedelic and countercultural history from obscurity and giving them new life.” Stephen Gray, editor of How Psychedelics Can Help Save the World and Cannabis and Spirituality

PSYCHEDELICS/SOCIAL STUDIES

“A well-researched and adeptly written history of the underground spiritual movement that swept through American popular culture in the 1960s and ’70s. It’s a concise and thoroughly engaging compendium of this important subculture and a must-read for any serious student of this revolutionary and awe-inspiring time.”
– Nick Schou, author of Orange Sunshine

“An essential encyclopedia of divine intoxication, documenting the dizzying parade of drug-crazed mystics and self-proclaiming prophets who’ve founded psychedelic cults and entheogenic churches over the past century. A long strange trip, indeed, from the obscure to the notorious, from the ridiculous to the sublime.”
– Don Lattin, author of The Harvard Psychedelic Club

“This book not only outlines the history and central principles of well-known modern entheogenic groups like the Native American Church and the Brotherhood of Eternal Love but also pulls from the shadows of history all-but-forgotten characters. Marinacci reproduces intriguing photos from the past as well as discusses the founding scriptures of these far out religions. All future research in this area will owe a debt of gratitude to this unique, well-written volume.”
– Thomas Hatsis, author of LSD—The Wonder Child

From LSD-powered guru Timothy Leary to cannabis sex cults to psychedelic outlaw churches, Mike Marinacci presents a comprehensive tour of North American religious sects and spiritual groups who use entheogens and psychoactive drugs in the search for higher consciousness, mystical insight, and spiritual enlightenment. Exploring prominent churches and cults in depth, he examines the lives of their colorful leaders, the origins of their unorthodox beliefs, the controversial practices of their congregants, and their many conflicts with both law enforcement and public opinion. He looks at the Native American Church and their legal battle over their peyote rituals, the cannabis sex temple known as the Psychedelic Venus Church, the murderous end of the LSD-therapy cult known as the Church of Naturalism, and several other major groups and temples of psychedelic spirituality. He then offers an encyclopedic survey of dozens of minor organizations, many of which have never before been documented in an authoritative source.

Sharing personal interviews and anecdotes about the strange outrageous adventures of religious psychonauts alongside rare photos and illustrations, this extensively researched study of underground psychedelic religious sects in the United States reveals their spiritual and cultural influence from the 1960s to the present day.

Mike Marinacci is an independent expert on psychedelic spiritual groups and nontraditional American religious sects. He is the author of California Jesus and Mysterious California and coauthor of the bestselling Weird California. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.