The Messiah, the Sedative, and the Missing Good Friday Truth

The Messiah, the Sedative, and the Missing Good Friday Truth A man bolted out of Marsh Chapel during a Good Friday service convinced he'd been chosen to announce the Messiah - then he was physically restrained and injected with a sedative, and that incident was omitted from the published study for twenty-five years. The Good Friday Truth claimed psilocybin reliably produced mystical states, but the full story inside that chapel on April 20, 1962, complicates that claim - what exactly was hidden, and why? In this episode, we recount what the session covered, who was involved, and the gap between the published account and what witnesses later reported, asking how an experiment about religious experience could erase a moment like the restraint and injection. Person: Walter N. Pahnke Event: Good Friday Truth Date: April 20, 1962 Location: Marsh Chapel Topic: Psilocybin and religious experience - Twenty graduate divinity students were randomized into two groups of ten for the experiment. - One group received psilocybin; the other received niacin as an active placebo. - Huston Smith, who received psilocybin, later called it "the most powerful cosmic homecoming I have ever experienced." - Paul Lee, who received niacin, kept a detailed journal titled "The Mushroom" noting heightened awareness and mundane sinus drainage. - The omission: an incident where a man was restrained and injected with a sedative was left out of the published study for twenty-five years. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].