Ep 150.1 — Psychedelics in Early Mormonism; Debunking a Mormon Apologist on Mormon Book Reviews pt. 1 Glass Box Podcast

Part 1 of Episode 150! Yay!! And now for something completely different. This episode is a bit of a departure from our regular show. We invite Alex Criddle and Cody Noconi, researchers into the psychedelic origins of Mormonism, to respond to the recent debate on the Mormon Book Reviews channel between ourselves and Mormon apologist, Brian Hales. Brian attempts to provide the apologetic response to the theory that Joseph Smith utilized psychedelics (entheogens) in the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in order to facilitate visionary experiences for the early Saints. Disinformation requires much greater effort than simply stating information so we do our best to debunk his debunking (rebunk the theory?). This one is a long haul so we split it into 2 episodes to make it a little more digestible.
 
Show notes:
Video version: https://youtu.be/3l0L1EHtQOo
Support our research and outreach: https://www.patreon.com/SeerStonedProductions
Original here: Psychedelics & Early Mormonism Theory Brian Hales Responds on Mormon Book Reviews
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE7J0y_cPpg
Further information:
“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 Blankenagel 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 phil