## Summary: The Mystical Experiences Questionnaire (MEQ30) is a 30-item psychometric assessment that quantifies mystical experiences. The instrument is specifically utilized within the context of psychedelic research to appraise subjective experiences often reported during or after the ingestion of psychedelic substances. Developed from classical mystical literature and validated through empirical studies, the MEQ30 evaluates aspects such as the transcendence of time and space, unity, noetic quality, and sacredness.
## Instructions for Clinicians: ### Pre-administration: - Ensure the participant is in a conducive environment for reflection on their psychedelic experience. ### During Administration: - Explain the rating scale and its meanings to the participant. - Encourage the participant to answer all items based on their most potent mystical experience during the session. ### Post-administration: - Review the responses to confirm completion and address any participant questions.
## Scoring Guidelines: ### Overview: - Each item is rated on a scale from 0 (none; not at all) to 5 (extreme). ### Calculation: - Sum the scores of all 30 items. - Divide the score of each subscale by the total possible points to get a percentage for that subscale. - Determine whether a "complete mystical experience" has been achieved based on the percentage thresholds. ### Interpretation: - Consider high scores as indicators of a substantial mystical experience. transcendence (T) = /30 = %; positive mood (P) = /30 = % ineffability (I) = /15 = %; mystical = /75 = %; total score = /150 = %.
## Citations: - Barrett, F. S., et al. (2015). "Validation of the revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire in experimental sessions with psilocybin." Journal of Psychopharmacology, 29(11): 1182-1190. - Johnson, M. W., et al. (2018). "Classic psychedelics: An integrative review of epidemiology, mystical experience, brain network function, and therapeutics." Pharmacology & Therapeutics.
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Item No. | Subscale | Item Description | None/not at all | None at all | So slight
cannot decide | Moderate | Strong (equivalent in degree to any other strong
experience) | Extreme (more than any other time in my life) |
1 | transcendence | Loss of your usual sense of time. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
2 | positive mood | Experience of amazement. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
3 | ineffability | Sense that the experience cannot be described adequately in words. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
4 | mystical | Gain of insightful knowledge experienced at an intuitive level | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
5 | mystical | Feeling that you experienced eternity or infinity. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
6 | mystical | Experience of oneness or unity with the objects and/or persons perceived in your surroundings. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
7 | transcendence | Loss of your usual sense of space. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
8 | positive mood | Feelings of tenderness and gentleness. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
9 | mystical | Certainty of encounter with ultimate reality (in the sense of being able to ‘know’ and ‘see’ what is really real at some point during your experience). | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
10 | ineffability | Feeling that you could not do justice to your experience by describing it in words. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
11 | transcendence | Loss of your usual sense of where you were. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
12 | positive mood | Feelings of peace and tranquillity. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
13 | transcendence | Sense of being ‘outside of’ time, beyond past and future. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
14 | mystical | Freedom from the limitations of your personal self and feeling of unity or bond with what was felt to be greater than your personal self. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
15 | mystical | Sense of being at a spiritual height. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
16 | mystical | Experience of pure being and pure awareness (beyond the world of sense impressions). | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
17 | positive mood | Experience of ecstasy. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
18 | mystical | Experience of the insight that “all is One”. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
19 | transcendence | Being in a realm with no space boundaries. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
20 | mystical | Experience of oneness in relation to an “inner world” within. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
21 | mystical | Sense of reverence. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
22 | transcendence | Experience of timelessness. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
23 | mystical | You are convinced now, as you look back on your experience, that in it you encountered ultimate reality (that you ‘knew’ and ‘saw’ what was really real). | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
24 | mystical | Feeling that you experienced something profoundly sacred and holy. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
25 | mystical | Awareness of the life or living presence in all things. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
26 | mystical | Experience of the fusion of your personal self into a larger whole. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
27 | positive mood | Sense of awe or awesomeness. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
28 | mystical | Experience of unity with ultimate reality. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
29 | ineffability | Feeling that it would be difficult to communicate your own experience to others who have not had similar experiences. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
30 | positive mood | Feelings of joy. | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |