Participants cited feelings of intense joy, "distance from ordinary reality," and feelings of peace

Though psilocybin mushrooms, which can be found growing wild throughout the world, have been used for centuries in some societies during spiritual rituals, they also were agents, along with such hallucinogens as LSD and mescaline, that fueled the "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out" counterculture of the 1960s personified by Timothy Leary.

Participants cited feelings of intense joy, "distance from ordinary reality," and feelings of peace and harmony after taking the drug. Two-thirds described the effects of the drug, called psilocybin, as among the five most meaningful experiences of their lives.