Music for Psychedelic Therapy – Psychedelic Therapy With Music
Music seems to be inextricably linked to the psychedelic experience. Who doesn’t like psychedelic trip music or call it mushroom music for those searching for the best songs to trip to.
So connected are the two that scieshantists at Johns Hopkins actually have a Johns Hopkins psychedelic playlist that gets used during research studies concerning psilocybin. How about that – a scientist-approved “tripping” playlist, mushroom trip playlist, or a psychedelic playlist which includes relaxing mushroom music and songs to trip to!
In today’s entry on The Psilocybe Philosophy blog, you’ll learn where to see that mushroom trip music playlist, and also get the chance to learn more about music, magic mushrooms, and their undoubtedly ancient relationship that can be had with the best mushroom trip music.
You’ll learn about the best music for mushrooms and about psychedelic therapy with music:
- The history of music and its relationship with the psychedelic experience
- The Johns Hopkins psilocybin playlist
- How to Avoid A Bad Trip
When the Magic of Music Merges With the Magic of Mushrooms
Nearly every known culture on the planet, both past and present, have practiced some form of music for psychedelic therapy. Perhaps most notable among the instruments are drums; most are familiar with the (perhaps stereotypical) image of a shaman wearing ceremonial garb, drumming or surrounded by drummers. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that music, dance, ritual, and the expansion of consciousness are fixtures of the human experience – and have been for a very long time indeed and that includes starting with medicinal mushroom spores.
Whether one is a card-carrying “hippy” or a suit-and-tie kind of person, few would deny the seemingly metaphysical effects of music. Rhythm healing, sometimes called shamanic drumming, is an ancient practice which utilizes a repeated pattern of drumming which practitioners believe will promote health and well-being in the listeners or participants which generates even more interest in psilocybe cubensis spores for therapy bnefits in multiple body systems.
If you’ve ever encountered a public drum circle – they’re very popular throughout the beaches of Southern California where one can hardly visit Santa Monica, Venice, or San Diego without having come across one of these groups—you’ll know that there is a strange sense of peace and unity that emerges from what logically should be a cacophony of competing drum-pounding. Online recordings don’t do the experience justice.
If those transformational experiences can happen without psychedelics, it’s no wonder that humans decided so long ago to combine the two experiences. Modern scientists studying the effects of psilocybin for therapeutic applications have even developed playlists specifically for the experience.
It seemed to capture the human condition, the beauty and sadness of existence. Melancholy but majestic. It was like I could see right into the heart of the matter with crystal clarity.
Rob Jacobs, after listening to Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3 during a Johns Hopkins formal psychedelic study in 2010
The Johns Hopkins Psilocybin Drug Trial Music Playlist or Mushroom Trip Playlist for Psilocybin Music Therapy
The Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research center has conducted countless studies and trials surrounding psilocybin and its effects, and music almost always plays an important role in the psychedelic experience for participants hence the mushroom trip playlist which is all about psilocybin therapy music.
The Johns Hopkins playlist is a sweeping, soothing seven-plus-hours long; enough for the average psilocybin experience. View the Johns Hopkins psychedelic music playlist here, along with more information about its formation, why certain music has been chosen, and the methodology of the scientists and why they believe music can enhance the psilocybin experience.
In a nutshell, the playlist is broken down into distinct segments, each designed to usher a study participant through their experience. The playlist even includes “background music” that plays while the subject arrives and waits for the session to begin. This is followed by music which plays during the beginning of the psychedelic experience, music carefully selected for the peak of the “trip”, and music for the come-down period.
Bill Richards, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins, says that the psychedelic mushroom playlist has been refined over many years and is generally perceived as positive – if not outright helpful – by psychedelic study participants. The mushroom music can provide structure, he says, and acts as something of a reality anchor point for those under the effects of psilocybin. “I think of it as a nonverbal support system, sort of like the net for a trapeze artist,” says Richards.
What Kind of Music is Best for a Magic Mushroom Trip?
If the Johns Hopkins playlist is any indication, the best kind of music for a psychedelic experience is soft, relaxing, familiar-feeling tunes. That’s not to say one couldn’t enjoy more upbeat music, but it’s probably a good rule of thumb to not take magic mushrooms alongside listening to Slayer’s best hits on full blast.
It’s worth noting that the Johns Hopkins playlist includes music most people would find familiar, like Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles, or Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World. These songs are placed toward the end of the playlist, during the “return to baseline” phase of the psychedelic experience—they’ve been described as a means to welcome the subject “back to reality.”
What this can tell us is that good choices for our own psilocybin therapy music playlists are songs that we personally find familiar and, critically, enjoyable—this author is familiar with, say, the varied works of Nickelback, but wouldn’t necessarily find it enjoyable to listen to on the heels of a spiritually-fulfilling psychedelic experience.
Songs selected should have a cultural relevance as well. What an American finds familiar and soothing may be very different for a person from Hong Kong or Ghana, for example. The Johns Hopkins playlist is a good starting point for starters for a psilocybe therapy playlist, but feel free to customize a playlist that you think would resonate with you personally and request that it be used at your next psilocybin-assisted therapy session.
Music for Microscopists: How to Legally Study Magic Mushroom Spores at Home
Psilocybin mushroom spores are legal in nearly the entire United States (spores contain no psilocybin themselves). While cultivating magic mushrooms is illegal, it’s perfectly fine to study the spores under a microscope—and psilocybin mushroom spores are a wonderful addition to any amateur microscopist’s collection of specimens.