Glossary

Entheogen

Entheogen is a term coined in the late 20th century as an alternative to "hallucinogen" and "psychedelic," built from Greek roots suggesting the generation of an inward experience of the divine.

A deliberately chosen word

The term draws on the Greek genesthai, "to come into being," combined with a root pointing to divinity within. It was proposed specifically to describe substances used in a religious or spiritual context and associated with feelings of inspiration, as distinct from the more clinical or countercultural connotations that had attached themselves to the older terms.