I'm with Steppa on this one. I think whether you go to a mass or eat magic mushies in the woods, you're basically doing the same thing: trying to find relief from existential anxiety and make sense of your place in the universe.

Whether that relief comes in the form of "you are one of God's chosen children and you are saved while others are damned," or "man, the universe, and the colors, and the Grateful Dead, man," seems to me to be largely irrelevant (that's what it's like when an older psychonaut trips, right?).

No, you don't drop dead, but you radically increase your likelihood of developing depression, anxiety and shorten your life. Religion (especially the social kind) seems to be positively correlated with all kinds of mental and physical health benefits.

Speaking of which, are there anti-entheogens? Drugs that, instead of engendering religious experiences actually take away someones sense of connectivity with the universe and leave them spiritually "dead?"

I've often thought that 5-HT receptor antagonists might do that, although I don't think anyone has ever asked.

Blessings

~ND