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| Oldest known portrait in existence of the saint, dating back to St. Francis' retreat to Subiaco (1223–1224) |
The book is titled: Francis of Assisi: A New Biography (2012). The author, Dominican Friar Augustine Thompson, OP, professor of Medieval Church history, especially of Italy, appears to be highly qualified to produce a very scholarly work.
Pope Francis's concern for the environment, the poor and his criticism's of the excesses of Capitalism coincides with his chosen papal name Francis. St. Francis (will now be referred to as Francis), known as the patron saint of animals and ecology, spent his life as a cleric serving the poor and eschewing materialism.
It is fairly well known that Francis suffered from a profound case of PTSD following a brief local (Italian vs Italian) military campaign in which he saw many friends being killed and resulted in his year long captivity as a POW.
Following his release from captivity, he was noted to have changed from a gregarious young man from a middle class family with dreams of military glory to one who lost interest in money, social status, old friends and family. He appeared to be full of self-loathing and guilt, what is currently referred to as moral injury. During this time he wandered aimlessly around the house, suffered frequent war-related flashbacks and nightmares and took no interest in the beauties of nature.
His acute psychological crisis lasted about 18 months, from late 1203 until the spring of 1205 after which he appeared to break out of his depression and began preparing for a new military adventure in Southern Italy in support of the papacy. After a couple of feeble attempts to ride south to join the battle, he gave it up, sold his military equipment and horse and donned some cheap clothes and headed back towards Assisi.
Back at home, he refused his father's request to work in the family business and began practicing the prevailing remedy for expiating personal sin, works of almsgiving, prayer and bodily mortification.
Francis took to wandering the local forests with a friend "sometimes leaving him to stand outside near a cave near Assisi while the troubled young man spent long periods in isolation. Francis was racked by demonic fears and perhaps hallucinations."
This above quote from the book by Fr. Thompson appears to be significant since hallucinations are not typically ascribed to PTSD and Psilocybe sp mushrooms do grow wild in Italy.
One characteristic experience individuals may have while taking psilocybin with the proper Set and Setting is ego dissolution which Francis most definitely acquired. Following a therapeutic session with psilocybin, the mind has an opportunity to reset itself in light of the new experience gained during the session. This is a process that may take over an extended period of time as the psyche works through old traumas and grows spiritually through the newly gained insights.
Perhaps this is what happened to to Francis as on returning from his frequent visits to his forest refuge, he began spending more time at a local rural church, the church of San Damiano, repairing the church, caring for lepers and embracing a life free of material possessions. As his reputation grew over time he attracted followers to his simple life of labor, poverty, and caring for the sick. Francis did not set out to create his own religious Order and resisted being placed in a position of leadership. Some of the traits he is known for have similarities with those who have had profound spiritual experiences while taking psilocybin to include:
Oneness of all things
"Francis felt a deep union with living creatures, who, like the Lilies of the field and the birds of the air, lived the Gospel precept of complete reliance on God spontaneously and naturally.
In his love of God's creation, Francis encountered nature as a unified whole. Near his death, when he composed the "Canticle for Brother Sun and Sister Moon," he referred to the celestial bodies and the four classical elements (earth, air, fire, and water); he made no mention of any living creatures but no doubt saw them as part of the whole of creation.
Ego dissolution
Francis referred to himself and his followers as the "Lesser Brothers". "That true spiritual authority came from putting one's self below others lies at the heart of Francis's insistence, first seen in this document that those in charge not be called "prior," which meant one "above" or "ahead" but rather all were to be "lesser brothers."
Non-judgemental
By refusing to pass judgement on others, an act that placed one above another, friars could find the inner peace necessary to use Francis's peace greeting with sincerity.
Mindfulness
Francis focused on living in the present moment. "He found that the Brother cook was putting beans in water to soak the night before they were prepared, the usual culinary practice . Francis, noticing that this was "taking concern for the morrow," instructed him to wait until after Martins had sung the morning of the day they were to be used. Given that beans needed good 6 hours of soaking to be usable, this was cutting it short, but the cook obeyed Francis."
Compare Francis's worldview with that of cancer patients that have participated in a therapeutic psilocybin Clinical Trial to help them deal with their Existential Distress of not knowing if they will be alive even one year from now by reading the results of an article published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute that details some of the patients in the Clinical Trial at New York University:
Opening doors of perception: psychedelic drugs and end-of-life care (PDF)
Macready N.
J Natl Cancer Inst. 2012 Nov 7;104(21):1619-20. Epub 2012 Oct 25. No abstract available.
PMID: 23104218
Cited by (Google Scholar)
Results of this ongoing study at New York University that has involved 12 patients given 0.3mg/kg of psilocybin. Study goal is 32 patients. Patients received 9 months of psychotherapy as well as psilocybin.
- all subjects experienced rapid clinical improvement (Psychiatric)
- there was significant reduction or resolution of death anxiety
- there was a decrease in depression/anxiety in general
- patients became more spiritual/philosophical and more connected with others
- they reported feeling interconnected with other forms of energy and that their consciousness was a part of a larger consciousness
- they felt connected to transcendental forces and a sense of sacredness
"One patient, now deceased, said he realized that consciousness doesn't end, it doesn't die, it continuous and that his body is one aspect of life, that physical death is part of the life experience, but there is a broader continuum."
The Catholic Church appears to be open to the medical use of psilocybin and Pope Francis sampled coca leaves on a recent visit to Bolivia. St. Francis curing his PTSD with magic mushrooms appears to be something the Church would be willing to consider as a realistic possibility.
If Pope Francis wishes to get a bit more adventurous, a trait he seems to have had at least since working as a bouncer in a nightclub prior to entering the Seminary, he could take part in one of two Clinical Trials looking for religious professionals to take psilocybin in order to help delineate the mystical experience.
There are times when a soldier in warfare can, after prolonged exposure to the exquisite horror of war, experience a transcendent reality of the oneness of all things. Such was the case with Pierre Teilhard de Chardin who served for four and one half years as a priest/soldier stretcher bearer on the front lines of World War I.
"Somewhere in the blood, sweat, and death of never-ending trench warfare, Teilhard glimpsed something that would haunt him: the vast inter-connectedness of living things. That realization changed his life."
The quote above comes from an adroit story in Motherboard titled 'The Jesuit Priest Who Believed in God and the Singularity' which is a must read. Teilhard de Chardin can be referred to as the first to promote the concept of Singularity (termed the Omega Point by de Chardin) which is currently espoused by Ray Kurzweil. Kurzweil and de Chardin were written up in an article found in the medical journal Am J Neuroradiol (33:393–98 Mar 2012) titled The Omega Point and Beyond: The Singularity Event (PDF). Teilhard de Chardin, who was also an archaeologist, was whom William Peter Blatty based Father Merrin on in The Exorcist.
A series of quotes from the book "The Warriors: Reflections on Men in Battle" by J. Glenn Gray was presented by Jonathan Haidt in a thought provoking TED Talks Religion, evolution, and the ecstasy of self-transcendence.
Author J. Glen Gray entered the army as a private in May 1941, having been drafted on the same day he was informed of his doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University. He was discharged as a second lieutenant in October 1945, having been awarded a battlefield commission during fighting in France. Gray saw service in North Africa, Italy, France, and Germany in a counter-espionage unit.
Fourteen years after his discharge, Gray began to reread his war journals and letters in an attempt to find some meaning in his wartime experiences. The result is The Warriors, a philosophical meditation on what warfare does to us and an examination of the reasons soldiers act as they do.
Quotes from Gray's book as presented in Haidt's TED Talk reads as follows:
"Many veterans will admit that the experience of efforts in battle has been the high points of their lives. I passes insensibly into we. My becomes our and individual fate losses its central importance."
"I believe that it is nothing less than the assurance of immortality that makes self sacrifice at these moments so relatively easy. I may fall but I do not die for that which is real in me goes forward and lives in my comrades for whom I gave my physical life."
There are approximately 22 Veterans across the U.S. who commit suicide every day, many of those are PTSD related. There exists a very real possibility that those who had not experienced such a transcendence during battle and have returned with PTSD may get there with the therapeutic use of psilocybin. Perhaps this is what happened to St. Francis of Assisi. Let us move in that direction.
"Gentlemen, we are being killed on the beaches. Let us go inland and be killed."
Brigadier General Norman Cota - Omaha Beach 6 June 1944
With his troops pinned down and being slaughtered by the Germans and with a rising tide threatening them from the rear in the early minutes on Omaha Beach, General Norman 'Dutch' Cota's heroic efforts led the troops in a breakthrough off the beach to breach the German defensive position.
We are in need of some heroic researchers to lead the way forward with a Clinical Trial utilizing psilocybin to treat PTSD since there are currently no effective treatment available. We still have troops dying on the beaches, lets move forward.
The American public is becoming acutely aware of the vast potential psilocybin has for many mental health issues and its relative lack of serious adverse effects when given with professional supervision. The case for legalizing psychedelic drugs, published in The Business Insider on 11 June 2016, was originally published in a longer version in The Conversation titled Why do humans have an innate desire to get high? a few days earlier.
These are just a few recent examples of the rapidly changing societal views on the use of psychedelic substances that were undeservedly classified as Schedule I drugs as a political statement, not a medical or scientific one, during the Nixon Administration. Psilocybin need to be removed from Schedule I status to free researchers to examine its safe and ethical use for humanity.
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