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worth considering seriously whether it's possible that these experiences indeed were exactly what they seemed to be.' DMT: THE SPIRIT MOLECULE + 313 hormones vasopressin and prolactin. Scientists believe these compounds are important in feelings of bonding, attachment, and comfort with other mem- bers of the species. Perhaps the elevations in these brain chemicals made it easier for our volunteers to trust us, relax into the drug effects, and share powerfully personal issues in ways that previously were impossible. What happens when the spirit molecule pulls and pushes us beyond the physical and emotional levels of awareness? We enter into invisible realms, ones we cannot normally sense and whose presence we can scarcely imag- ine. Even more surprising, these realms appear to be inhabited. At a certain point, I decided to accept at face value volunteers' re- ports. This thought experiment replaced my original tendency to explain away, interpret, or reduce their experiences into something else, such as a disordered brain's hallucinations, dreams, or psychological symbolism. Now, after several years of additional study and reflection, I think it's I have struggled personally and professionally with developing the following radical explanations for our volunteers' apparent contact with nonmaterial beings. Even after stating them, I remain skeptical about their merit. Why couldn't I stick with tried and true biological or more traditional psychological models? At a brain science level, maybe what our volunteers encountered was a vivid hallucinatory experience, resulting from DMT activation of brain centers responsible for vision, emotion, and thought. After all, people dream and are completely swept up in the reality of the experience at the time. The rapid eye movements that sometimes took place in our subjects may have indicated the presence of a "waking" dream state. However, volunteers were convinced that there were differences be- tween what they experienced during DMT-induced contact with beings and their typical dreams. Observing the same things with eyes opened or closed, in an alert, awake state of consciousness, also made it difficult for them to accept that it was "just a dream." Neither did I feel the same way listening to their stories of encounters as I do when one normally relates a