entheogen means A psychoactive substance used for the purpose of inducing a mystical or spiritual experience. It carries an Arena rating of 1511, earned across 10 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, entheogen ranks #3,453 of 17,111 for Most Sublime Words, #5,140 of 17,118 for Scariest Words, #5,352 of 17,125 for Most Incisive Words, #5,468 of 17,118 for Most Ponderous Words.
Why “entheogen” is a great word
A psychoactive substance used in a ritual or religious context to induce a spiritual or mystical experience. From the Greek ἔνθεος (entheos, "inspired, possessed by a god") and -genēs ("born, produced"), the term was coined in 1978 by ethnobotanists and scholars including Carl A.P. Ruck, Jeremy Bigwood, Danny Staples, and Jonathan Ott. Unlike "psychedelic" (which emphasizes sensory and perceptual alterations without specific sacred intent) or "intoxicant" (which implies impairment for pleasure or recreation), entheogen carries the weight of deliberate, reverential use. It is the bitter sacrament brewed from a sacred vine, the precise geometry of peyote buttons shared in a circle, the silent mushroom gathered at the solstice—a substance that does not merely alter consciousness but opens it, temporarily, to something claimed as larger than the self.
noun
- A psychoactive substance used for the purpose of inducing a mystical or spiritual experience.
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