Church of the Awakening

John and Louisa Aiken founded the Church of the Awakening. The Church of the Awakening is the oldest psychedelic church. In presenting the account of its founding and development, John Aiken presents a contemporary account of an age-old problem common to all who develop a new religious vision. Parts of the account are reminiscent of some of the accounts of the difficulties of the early Christians and of the early history of any new sect. This is probably no accident, but is rather part of the sociological consequence of trying to... 

The Church of the Awakening is a fellowship of those who are dedicated to conscious participation in their own spiritual... 

The idea seemed to have merit, and continued to develop. On October 14, 1963, the Church of the Awakening... 

The name Church of the Awakening was selected after careful consideration of our orientation and motivation. The explorations in awareness, of "inner space," such as those we have described, result for many in a new perspective. It is a... 

The Church of the Awakening, therefore, encourages doubt, questioning, and experiment as the way of growth, the way of... 

The Church of the Awakening is dedicated to this ideal of enhancing the growth of the inner life of each member, and also the expression of that growth through more-enlightened... 

We would avoid, in the Church of the Awakening, the temptation to rely on the momentary experience and the desire to seek to repeat it frequently. We would encourage the application of insights and the development of new patterns of thought, feeling, and action more nearly in line with That which we have seen is our real Self. 

JOHN W. Aiken founded the Church of the Awakening in 1963 and retired from general medical practice in New Mexico in 1964. Since then, he has lectured to various metaphysical and religious groups throughout the United States. 

There haven t yet been any studies comparing effects from mescaline with those from peyote. The Church of the Awakening used both fairly extensively and characterized mescaline effects as "identical with those we had obtained through the use of peyote itself (in John Aiken s words). 

The most fundamental societal change remained however reserved to the discovery of the pill . In times of economic awakening, student upheaval, women s emancipation movement, hippie culture, liberalisation in the Roman Catholic Church (in the wake of the 2nd Vatican Council, 1962-1965) and sexual laxity, the first hormonal oral contraceptives came on the market. In 1964, 2% of the women of child-bearing age took ovulation inhibitors by 1968, this number had already increased to 12 %, and by 1986, to more than 35 %. Nowadays, the pill is ranked as one ofthe safest contraceptives. Not only the active ingredients were improved, but also their dosages and dosing schedules. Through the experience over the last 30 years with many millions of women on the pill , the associated risks and side-effects are now well-known. 

In those early years, racial awareness formed a large part of my ethical awakening. I was aware that my household included Mertella, an African-American woman who worked as a maid during the day and helped to care for my great-grandmother. I was also aware that our church included quarters for a... 

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