Methods
A survey consisting of 38 questions related to the hallucinogenic drug experience was posted to the Internet. Specifically, the survey was posted to the following four newsgroups on the Usenet: alt.drugs, alt.rave, alt.psychoactive and alt.drugs.psychedelic. These groups are dedicated to discussions amongst drug users and posting the survey in these forums ensured optimal responses.
Demographic data was incorporated into the survey to obtain a respondent profile. Usage questions were asked to gauge the length of time and general experience of the respondents. One question was asked about nonhallucinogenic drugs, and that was if the respondent used nonhallucinogenic drugs. The remaining survey questions focused on the effects of hallucinogenic drugs on the users. The effects fell into 5 categories: physiological (motor and autonomic efferent), sensory, emotional, cognitive and spiritual. Nineteen of 28 questions referred specifically to effects of awakened kundalini (for details see in Table 1: Effects of Kundalini). The remaining questions were specific to the hallucinogenic experience and served as an internal control to check reported drug effects against published effects. There was no mention in the survey of kundalini. As far as respondents were concerned, they were solely reporting on their hallucinogenic experiences. In this sense, the survey hypothesis was blinded to respondents.
Completed surveys were received through the author’s e-mail address and the data entered into a database (Microsoft Access, ver 1.1) where results were tabulated. For statistical analysis, yes/no questions were treated as a poll and the 95% confidence interval associated with percentiles calculated based on the final number of respondents (n=61). Statistical tests of independence were performed on 2x2 combinations of demographic data with psychedelic effects. All variables tested showed statistical independence. That is to say, there was no statistical evidence that any reported psychedelic effects were dependent upon such demographic factors as age, sex, or length of time using psychedelic drugs (not shown). However, such tests of independence were only marginally valid because of the relatively small sample size.