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236 * THE SESSIONS molecule's more sublime properties. By the time Cleo's spiritual experi- ence took place, I had already begun the process of leaving the university. Therefore, I cast a somewhat less idealistic eye on her sessions. Never- theless, if everyone's encounters with DMT had been as rewarding as hers, there would have been less reason to stop the research when I did. Supervising these sessions was relatively easy, at least at first. I knew the territory based upon training, study, and experience. The difficulties emerged in the interpretation of these effects, and my sense of their im- portance. Were they "real" enlightenment experiences? How would I know? And with whom could I consult about them? While Cleo's spiritual experience took place later than Elena's and Sean's, it was somewhat less complex than theirs. So I'd like to start with hers. It gives us a good introduction to where the other two subjects' encounters will lead us. Cleo was forty years old when she started our study. She was legally blind due to a genetic eye disorder. Nevertheless, she had persevered, having earned an academic degree and massage therapy certification. She now was enrolled in a master's program in counseling. Red-haired, petite, and with a fiery spirit, Cleo was born into a Jewish family but later began practicing nature-oriented rituals within the Wiccan faith. Once, while on LSD, Cleo saw a "past-life experience" in which she was burned at the stake for being a witch. Her father had molested her sexually when she was a child, memories of which emerged for the first time during a recent psilocybin mushroom trip. Curiously, Cleo had suffered from a phobia to snow as a child, hyperventilating and vomiting whenever she was out in it. She no longer was troubled by this irrational fear, having worked it through on psilocy- bin several years before. I usually don't use the word "indomitable," but Cleo is as close to exemplifying that attitude as few people I know. Her reasons for volunteering reflected her pioneering, altruistic spirit: "Iam curious. I think I am ready for the next step. I believe in this type of research—from an academic stance—and believe there may be a valid clinical/therapeutic use for hallucinogens."