psychonaut

Etymology

From psycho- + -naut.

psychonaut means A person who explores their own psyche, commonly with the aid of psychedelic drugs. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.

Why “psychonaut” is a great word

PSYCHONAUT — [Noun] An explorer of the psyche who systematically charts its depths through the deliberate use of psychedelic drugs, meditation, or other consciousness-altering techniques. From psycho- (from Ancient Greek ψυχή (psykhḗ, "soul, mind, spirit")) + -naut (from Ancient Greek ναύτης (naútēs, "sailor"), as in astronaut and aquanaut); a compound modeled on a German lexical item. Unlike shaman, who operates as a spiritual intermediary within a communal tradition, or astronaut, who voyages into the physical cosmos, the psychonaut embarks on a solitary, often secular journey into interior space. It is the chemical dissolution of the self against a backdrop of fractal geometry, the meticulous logbook kept in the trembling aftermath, and the quiet return to a shore that now feels less solid—the ultimate frontier being the unmapped universe behind one's own eyes.

noun

A person who explores their own psyche, commonly with the aid of psychedelic drugs.“It has also become an influential subculture in the Bay Area, where devotees commonly refer to themselves as effective altruists in the same way they might describe themselves as leftists or psychonauts.”