What Ceremony Does to Psychedelics: On the Importance of Applying Integrated Theories of Ritual Value Generation to Psychedelic Studies
July 2, 2024 Mark Juhan Schunemann 1 citation
Psychedelic experiences can fundamentally alter people's perceptions of beauty and goodness, their ways of acting in the world, and their sense of what is possible. An ethnographic study of former counter-culture members reveals they often faced a meaning crisis, which they resolved by joining ethically or ritually strict religious communities. Ritual generates value by defining group commitments, but Western psychedelic practice has often turned inward rather than outward, leading to cultural rejection rather than integration. Understanding and including surrounding rituals is central to psychedelic phenomenology. The development of new syncretic traditions is inevitable, and careful thought must be given to this process.