SOLVED. Sci Fi short story about experiment to contact god [s]

[Andrew]

I had a feeling it might have been Phillip K Dick ...

[Andy]

"Rautavaara's Case" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rautavaa... perhaps?

[Andrew]

Thanks Andy - nope that's not it although it looks interesting. This one involves twins (or at least close siblings) who participate in an experiment to invoke god. I think they starve themselves and take various mind altering drugs in combination with sexual orgasm (maybe involving another long lost sibling) in an attempt to produce a heightened human experience. It turns out that god didn't even know we existed until the success of the experiment.
I thought it could be PKD but really it could be anyone, I can't remember.

[Cumbling Michael]

Oh dear. I've read this, and I can't remember the author / title, either. Plot centred around a woman who believed her sister had come under the influence of a malevolent cult, and was slowly killing herself by starvation as a result. In the end, the two sisters do a deal - the normal sister must accompany the cult sister and participate in the group's experiment. If the experiment fails, the cult sister agrees to come home. But the experiment succeeds, and they contact God. The rest is as you described.

As I said, I can't remember who wrote this - but it's here somewhere in my collection, and I'm looking.

I'll get back when I find it.

Mike

[Andrew]

Ah Mike, I think you might have it.

[Michele]

Mike, I hope you can find it because I want to read it too!

[Daphne]

I read this too! The man in the experiment is also related to the sisters, and he slept with the older sister before the experiment. I was thinking Nancy Kress but it seems unlikely.

edited to add: Ha, it was Nancy Kress! And it's called "Trinity". It appears in Trinity And Other Stories.

[Andrew]

Bingo. Thank you Daphne. Well done.