Ecstatic-transcendental experiences, or fundamental changes in the individual's level of consciousness, have been an integral part of human life, particularly religious movements, throughout most of the world. By concentrating on the experience itself, this study is designed to determine how common such experiences are in Western society, whether such experiences are restricted to specifically religious contexts, and whether they can be related to various social and personality variables, including the individual's potential use of drugs. The subject population was composed of three groups: students from a traditionally white, southern university; students from a traditionally Negro, southern college; and students from a hospital school of nursing.Essentially, two different types of ecstatic-transcendental experiences were discovered. One is primarily an “aesthetic” experience, which relates to potential tendency to use drugs and greater self-confidence, and the other is primarily a “religious” experience, which relates to lower class, or minority group socioeconomic position, and high levels of social and religious value orientations.